ABSTRACT
While a consensus definition has yet to be reached, studies under the topic of ecological security have been active in the past two decades. This entry summarizes the diverse studies under this topic from perspectives of the growth-limit notion, national security concern, and geographic scale. At the city level, land use dynamics can be both the cause and consequence of a severe ecological security situation. Cellular automata (CA), integrated with geographic information systems (GIS), are an effective approach to: 1) predicting future land use dynamics of an area based on the historical trend; and 2) modeling the effect or consequence of certain planning measures or policies on urban land use. Therefore, CA-GIS models should be useful in decision support for planning and policy-making regarding urban ecological security. Case studies in Guangdong, one of the most economically active regions of China, are used to illustrate such a modeling process.
