Objective  National parks are ecological spaces that carry unique natural resources and harmonious human-environment relationships. Precise spatial management and regulation is the core means to achieve national conservation and management objectives with respect to national parks. However, the commonly used spatial zoning methods in protected area planning mostly follow a basic framework of concentric circles. They fail to incorporate a perspective based on management objectives, lack clear hierarchical relationships in zoning, and are not dynamic enough. As a result, there are deficiencies such as imprecise management objectives and content, and a mismatch with the hierarchical and dynamic nature of the ecosystem. National parks in China, particularly in the southern region, often face human-land contradictions arising from such problems as excessively high proportion of collective forest land and insufficient precise conservation constraints. Exploring hierarchical spatial control methods based on management objectives is of great significance for achieving national park conservation objectives in a more scientific, precise and cost-effective manner.

Methods  Considering that the spatial zoning methods commonly used in the planning of protected areas cannot reflect the ecosystem, resulting in inaccurate management objectives, this research make the following efforts to improve the accurary of the spatial zoning of national parks. Firstly, by analyzing relevant cases on the management and control of protected areas at home and abroad, this research identifies such problems as the lack of accurate management and regulation of protected areas. In view of this, the research proposes the concept of ecological space management and regulation units at the methodological level. Secondly, the research establishes a multi-level spatial management and regulation system framework coupled with specific management and regulation objectives. Finally, taking Nanling National Park as an example, the research, based on data collected from the second forestry adjustment and the third territorial spatial adjustment of Nanling National Park, adopts the ArcGIS software to successively take the following steps: ecological matrix combing − grid unit division − management intensity classification − spatial information superposition − spatial clustering fitting. Nanling National Park is divided into 16 types of ecological space management and regulation units, with the protection focus of each unit being defined based on the management problems and protection needs in each district, based on which corresponding protection measures are proposed.

Results  The concept of ecological space management and regulation unit can be defined at two levels. At the methodological level, the ecological space management and regulation unit as a whole is a multi-level space management and regulation system coupled with management objectives. At the technical level, each specific space management and regulation unit is a spatial unit corresponding to a specific ecosystem level and management objective within the multi-level space management and regulation system. These units are defined by hierarchical characteristics, spatial boundaries, management objectives and regulatory measures. Therefore, the ecological space management and regulation unit can be expanded to further clarify the spatial nested hierarchical logic that conforms to the characteristics of the ecosystem and goes beyond the traditional zoning model, which is further supported by the research on Nanling National Park. The establishment of the ecological space management and regulation unit system further subdivides the original core conservation zones and general regulation zones into 16 types of regulation units along with corresponding positive and negative behavior lists. The proportion of strictly managed areas zones dominated by natural succession increases from 51.06% under the binary zoning system to 85.54% under the defined ecological space management and regulation unit system. Moreover, the ecological space management and regulation units can be further refined and delineated at deeper levels in specific areas based on specific management objectives as needed, thus providing a scientific basis for long-term monitoring and management.

Conclusion  The proposal and application of ecological space management and regulation units can effectively improve the intensity and accuracy of national park protection and management, and further support the implementation of special management work such as easement protection. Based on the traditional zoning mode, the ecological space management and regulation unit can further expand the spatial nested hierarchy logic that conforms to the characteristics of the ecosystem, which can exponentially improve the refinement of zoning theoretically, and at the same time strengthen the core zoning basis based on the management objectives of ecological protection, so as to ensure that the fine subdivision of control zones can be achieved as needed, thus more effectively serving the management objectives of ecological protection.