Given the exponential growth of the global population and the advancements in socio-economic development, ecological security has emerged as a pivotal factor for both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development strategies. Thus, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the relationship among ecological security, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development, as well as the future directions of ecological security research. Due to the lack of clearly defined ecological security assessment systems and evaluation factors, reconciling diverse conservation objectives within intricate ecosystems poses a formidable challenge, resulting in substantial disparities between anticipated and actual ecological security assessments. To address these challenges, the integration of research strategies focusing on ecological sensitivity, vulnerability, and importance is proposed to be included into the assessment of ecological security. This approach aims to enhance the clarity of conservation entities and targets, improve the timeliness of ecological security evaluations, and strengthen risk assessment and management by establishing close links with complex ecosystem processes. Furthermore, this research critically examines the current research methods and presents future prospects for investigation in terms of improving the selection of indices and evaluation methods for ecological security. It aims to overcome traditional approaches by comprehensively considering the roles and functions of ecological sensitivity, ecological vulnerability, and ecological importance. Additionally, it seeks to predict spatial trends in ecological security by incorporating various future scenarios. This aims to provide practical decision-making references for the conservation of biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable development.

ecological security  /  biodiversity  /  sustainable development goals  /  ecological sensitivity  /  ecological vulnerability  /  ecological importance