Abstract: Ecological networks with high-quality green space can increase regional ecosystem service capacity and biodiversity, as well as support the sustainable growth of urban and rural areas. There is a dearth of study on geographical units with natural elements as the boundary and unique geographical pattern characteristics. There are issues like strong subjectivity and subpar implementation in green space ecological network optimization. Taking Ningshao Plain as an example, the changes of ecological source area, ecological resistance surface and ecological corridor in four periods of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 were compared and analyzed. The spatial and temporal pattern of the green space ecological network is analyzed and recommendations on layout optimization are made in light of the reversibility characteristics and current ecological source area conditions. The results of the study show that: (1)Urbanization has reduced the scale of Ningshao Plain's significant ecological source region by 20% over the past 30 years, and the ecological space exhibits clear characteristics of fragmentation; (2)The original gradient resistance pattern was broken by the high resistance radiation layer structure centered on each city, which significantly reduced the Plain's general biological mobility; (3) The Ningshao Plain's green space ecological network structure shows strong fluctuation and fragility, and the ecological corridor is absent in the west and east of the region; (4)Four significant ecological sources-Juyu Mountain, Yuyao River (Ningbo section), Hutou Mountain, Yushi Mountain near Fenghua, and the eastern coastline section of Hangzhou Bay-have been selected as important ecological sources for restoration. 21 important ecological sources of river and lake systems, hilly woodland and coastal shoreline have been added. A total of 132 ecological corridors totaling 985.8 km in length have been designed. 90 important ecological stepping stones and 252 ecological barrier points to be repaired were screened. Following the optimization, corridor current density and green space ecological network indicators will greatly outperform those from 2020. This research can serve as a guide for improving the ecological network of green spaces in Ningshao Plain and for future research on similar regional ecological networks.

Key words: green space ecological networks, spatial-temporal pattern, layout optimization, Ningshao Plain