Ecological basis, difficulties and countermeasures for integrated land-sea ecological protection and restoration

Achieving the harmony between land and sea and promoting coordinated development has become one of the key issues for the construction of China's ecological civilization. A consensu has gradually been formed that a coastal city should integrate its land and sea space and ensure ecological safety, accompanying with its social and economic development. Here, we discussed the structure and function of land-sea ecosystem continuum and ecotone based on the ecological coupling between land and sea. These two terms originated from ecology and can provide a theoretical basis for integrated land-sea ecological protection and restoration. The rupture of ecosystem continuum and the loss of ecotone, resulted from the dual structure of land and sea management, are ecologically the critical security problems that need to be addressed urgently. Countermeasures and suggestions were put forward, including protection and restoration of the ecosystem continuum and ecological corridor, construction of multi-habitat ecological buffer zone and promotion of the synergy of land and sea. This study can provide a basic reference for promoting the integrated land-sea ecological protection and restoration in China.