Search Results (1,646)

Soil erosion poses a significant threat to the sustainability of land systems in karst mountainous regions, where steep slopes, shallow soils, and intensive human activities exacerbate land degradation, undermining both the productive functions and ecological services of land resources. This study evaluated soil erosion susceptibility in the karst-dominated Qingshui River watershed, Southwest China, and identified key drivers of land degradation to support targeted land management strategies. Four machine learning models, BPANN, BRTs, RF, and SVR were trained using twelve geo-environmental variables representing lithological, topographic, pedological, hydrological, and anthropogenic factors. Variable importance analysis revealed that annual precipitation, land use type, distance to roads, slope, and aspect consistently had the greatest influence on soil erosion patterns. Model performance assessment indicated that BRTs achieved the highest predictive accuracy (RMSE = 0.161, MAE = 0.056), followed by RF, BPANN, and SVR. Spatial susceptibility maps showed that high and very high erosion risk zones were mainly concentrated in the central and southeastern areas with steep slopes and exposed carbonate rocks, while low-risk zones were located in flatter, vegetated southwestern regions. These results confirm that hydrological conditions, topography, and anthropogenic activities are the primary drivers of soil erosion in karst landscapes. Importantly, the findings provide actionable insights for land and landscape management—such as optimizing land use, restoring vegetation on steep slopes, and regulating human activities in sensitive areas—to mitigate erosion, preserve land quality, and enhance the sustainability of karst land systems. Full article

Urban green spaces are essential components of city ecosystems, providing environmental and social benefits while simultaneously serving as potential entry points for invasive plant pathogens. In recent years, increasing attention has been directed toward the role of urban environments as reservoirs and transmission corridors for oomycetes, a group of highly destructive microorganisms affecting trees and shrubs. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and potential introduction pathways of oomycetes in three Warsaw parks representing distinct ecological settings: a historical city park, a large landscape park with aquatic features, and a newly constructed linear park. Samples of soil, and surface water were collected and analysed using standard isolation and molecular identification methods. Four species were identified: Phytophthora cactorum, P. cambivora, Phytopythium vexans, and Ph. montanum—the latter two representing first records for urban parks in Poland. The results indicate that nursery plant material, surface water systems, and wildlife activity, particularly birds, are likely contributors to the introduction and spread of these pathogens in city landscapes. The findings underscore the growing phytosanitary risk associated with urban greenery, where the interplay of anthropogenic disturbance, high plant turnover, and complex hydrological networks facilitates pathogen establishment. This research highlights the urgent need to integrate urban biosecurity strategies with routine molecular monitoring, nursery inspections, and wildlife surveillance to limit further dissemination of invasive oomycetes and enhance the resilience of urban tree populations. Full article

Outcomes for urban green infrastructure (GI) and low-impact development (LID) vary; thus, we ask when and how public participation affects performance. We apply a four-dimensional framework—breadth (who participates), depth (decision influence), identity (values/place attachment), and potential (incentives/capacity)—to conduct a literature review of Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. After deduplication and screening, 107 English-language studies were coded and compared across cases. Across contexts, early and representative engagement combined with clearly specified decision rights was associated with designs better aligned with local hydrologic and social conditions. Processes that attend to identity were consistently linked to stewardship behaviors. Institutionalized incentives and capacity, such as dedicated funding, defined roles, and feedback mechanisms, coincided with more durable operations and maintenance (O&M). Conversely, broad outreach without decision influence or feedback tended to remain tokenistic, with technical complexity and resource limits attenuating public influence. Effects appeared configurational rather than linear, with particular combinations of the four dimensions more often associated with success. Embedding codesign and feedback across the project lifecycle, pairing equity safeguards with community partnerships, and resourcing participation through clearly defined roles and incentives may help translate participation into resilient ecological and social outcomes. Full article

Satellite-based surface soil moisture (SSM) products often contain spatial gaps and reduced reliability due to variations in vegetation cover and type, complex surface conditions such as heterogeneous topography and soil texture, or inherent limitations of satellite microwave sensors. This study presents a residual autoencoder model named TsSMNet, which combines multi-source remote sensing inputs with statistical features derived from SSM time series, including central tendency, dispersion and variability, extremes and distribution, temporal dynamics, magnitude and energy, and count-based features, to reconstruct gap-free SSM estimates. The model incorporates one-dimensional convolutional layers to efficiently capture local continuity patterns within the flattened SSM representations while reducing parameter complexity. TsSMNet was used to generate seamless 9 km SSM data over China from 2016 to 2022, based on the SMAP product, and was evaluated using in situ observations from six networks in the International Soil Moisture Network. The results show that TsSMNet outperforms AutoResNet, Transformer, Random Forest and XGBoost models, reducing the root mean square error (RMSE) by an average of 17.1 percent and achieving a mean RMSE of 0.09 cm³/cm³. Feature importance analysis highlights the strong contribution of temporal predictors to model accuracy. Compared to its variant without time-series features, TsSMNet provides better spatial representation, improved consistency with in situ temporal observations, and enhanced evaluation metrics. The reconstructed product offers improved spatial coverage and continuity relative to the original SMAP data, supporting broader applications in regional-scale hydrological analysis and large-scale climate, ecological, and agricultural studies. Full article

Waterfront wilderness landscapes in mountainous cities, such as Chongqing, play a vital role in sustaining urban biodiversity and human well-being amid steep topography and hydrological variations that create unique habitats. However, public recognition of their ecological values and potential ecological–aesthetic conflicts remain underexplored. This study investigated biodiversity features and public preferences in Chongqing’s central urban waterfront wilderness through field surveys of 218 quadrats for biodiversity assessment (e.g., Shannon–Wiener and Simpson indices, cluster analysis identifying 12 typical communities) and two questionnaire surveys (N = 260 and 306) evaluating spatial features and plant attributes, with correlation and regression analyses examining relationships between ecological indices and preference scores. Results recorded 116 plant species from 41 families, dominated by herbaceous plants (77.6%), with herbaceous, shrub-herbaceous, and tree-herbaceous communities prevalent. No significant correlations existed between objective diversity indices and preference scores; instead, structure (β = 0.444, p < 0.001) and color (β = 0.447, p < 0.001) drove preferences (explaining 96.7% variance), favoring accessible mid-successional shrub-herbaceous structures over dense, low-diversity evergreen types. These findings reveal ecological–aesthetic conflicts in mountainous settings where aesthetic dominance limits biodiversity recognition. Implications include user-centered zoning: restrict access in low-preference steep areas with buffers for conservation, while enhancing high-preference flat zones via selective pruning and native colorful species introduction, supplemented by educational signage. This research provides a mountainous city archetype, enriching global urban wilderness studies and informing sustainable management in rapidly urbanizing regions. Full article

As global climate change intensifies, hydrological processes in arid inland river basins are undergoing profound transformations, posing severe challenges to regional water security and ecological stability. This study aims to develop a coupled SWAT-LSTM model integrating glacier melt processes to simulate runoff dynamics in the Keria River basin under climate change, providing a basis for local water resource management. Based on natural monthly runoff observations from the Langgan hydrological station (1961–2015), glacier data extracted from Landsat 8 remote sensing imagery (2013–2019), and downscaled data from the CMIP6 Multi-Model Ensemble (MME), this study constructed a SWAT-LSTM coupled model to simulate future scenarios (2026–2100). Research indicates that this hybrid model significantly enhances the accuracy of hydrological simulations in high-altitude glacier-fed catchments. The Nash efficiency coefficient (NSE) during the validation period reached 0.847, representing a 15% improvement over the SWAT model. SSP5-8.5 is identified as a high-risk scenario, underscoring the urgency of emissions reduction; SSP1-2.6 represents the most desirable pathway, with its relatively stable pattern offering sustained advantages for long-term water resource management in the basin. The study further reveals a negative feedback mechanism between glacier ablation and runoff increase, validating the regulatory role of Jiyin Reservoir’s “store during floods to compensate for droughts” operation strategy in balancing basin water resources. This study explores the coupling path between the physical model and the deep learning model, and provides an effective integration scheme for the hydrological simulation of the global watershed with ice–snow meltwater as the main recharge runoff, especially for the adaptive management of water resources in inland river basins in arid areas. Full article

Salinization in the western Songnen Plain has limited regional ecology and land use for decades, with its primary cause closely tied to sediment transport. To elucidate sediment evolution and its role in soil salinization, a borehole from saline-alkali land in Taonan County, west of the Songnen Plain, was investigated within an AMS¹⁴C, OSL, and ESR dating framework. Grain size analysis, end-member modeling, and major-element geochemistry revealed four transport components—fluvial, aeolian, glacio-fluvial, and lacustrine. Five provenance stages from the late Early Pleistocene to the Early Holocene were found: (1) distal weathered volcanic rock transport with minor fluvial–alluvial input; (2) proximal alluvial–proluvial transport; (3) ice meltwater and wind-driven transport; (4) predominantly wind transport; and (5) renewed fluvial–proluvial transport. These shifts correspond to regional paleoclimate fluctuations driven by global ice volume cycles, which control sediment supply, hydrology, and consequently salt accumulation in warm humid periods and upward salt migration in cold dry periods. The findings of this study demonstrate that Pleistocene glacial–interglacial climate cycles are the dominant driver of sediment transport and salinization dynamics on the western Songnen Plain. Full article

Clear Lake in Lake County, CA, USA has experienced highly toxic cyanobacterial blooms for more than a decade, with multiple cyanobacterial taxa and cyanotoxins appearing sporadically, typically throughout much of the early-spring to late-fall seasons. Recurring blooms have been attributed to high internal nutrient loads within the lake, with hydrography and hydrology playing important but still poorly documented roles in controlling the availability of growth-limiting elements to the phytoplankton community. The lake is approximately 180 km² in areal extent and composed of three somewhat disjointed lobes, or ‘Arms’. The large size of the lake presents a formidable task for synoptic lakewide surveys and for understanding the specific features that stimulate the development and magnitude of harmful blooms. We conducted a study in August of 2020 that involved the use of an autonomous underwater vehicle and deployment of a hand-held water column profiler to describe the lakewide status of various biological, chemical, and physical features. Discrete water samples were also collected from ten stations located throughout the lake to produce a near-synoptic depiction of lake status. Additionally, a mechanically driven, continuously monitoring water-column profiler was deployed at a central lake location to document short-term temporal (minutes to months) changes in water-column structure and chemistry. Wind was a dominant feature affecting the lake’s chemistry and biology during the study, resulting in massive concentrations and dramatic spatial heterogeneity of phytoplankton biomass and cyanotoxins in the eastern and southeastern Arms of the lake, and confirmed by the analysis of discrete water samples. Unique insight into the processes leading to or prolonging blooms was revealed by the water column profiler, which demonstrated rapid development (within a few hours) of suboxic conditions during periods of calm winds. We speculate that these quiescent periods are fundamental events in the lake’s ecology, resulting in episodic ‘pulses’ of nutrient release from the sediments, which can stimulate or refuel blooms of cyanobacteria in the water column. Full article

Mining-induced subsidence has significantly altered the structure of the vadose zone in coal mining areas, where soil cracks act as preferential pathways controlling water infiltration and redistribution. In this study, a Hydrus-2D dual-domain seepage model incorporating geometric parameterization of cracks was developed to simulate water migration in the vadose zone of a typical subsidence area in the Ordos Basin. The model integrates field-measured crack geometry, soil texture, and rainfall characteristics to quantitatively analyze preferential flow formation under twelve combinations of crack width, soil type, and rainfall intensity. The results show that (i) crack width dominates preferential flow behavior, with wider cracks (≥5 cm) deepening the wetting front from approximately 107 cm to 144 cm within 120 h and sustaining high conductivity after rainfall; (ii) soil texture governs infiltration pathways, as sandy soils promote deeper wetting fronts (up to 99 cm, ~40% deeper than loam) and layered soils induce interface retention or “jump” infiltration; and (iii) rainfall intensity controls infiltration depth, with storm events producing wetting fronts more than four times deeper than those under light rain. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility and significance of integrating crack parameterization into vadose-zone hydrological modeling using Hydrus-2D, providing a quantitative basis for understanding rapid infiltration–migration–recharge processes and supporting ecological restoration and water resource management in arid and semi-arid mining regions. Full article

In this research, an innovative, integrative method is applied, which not only links media discourse and statutory planning documents but also involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis. By going beyond the traditional extreme of either policy review or text-based SETS frameworks, this study becomes the pioneer of a dual-coded, matrix-driven approach, which is capable of measuring policy–implementation gaps and empirically revealing the impact of media framing on disaster management outcomes. The 29 October 2024 Valencia flood, which claimed over 229 lives, highlights critical shortcomings in the region’s flood management policies. This study evaluates media and institutional sources to examine how public discourse aligns with post-flood management strategies. It focuses on Valencia’s statutory flood management plan, the “Pla d’acció territorial de caràcter sectorial sobre prevenció del risc d’inundació a la Comunitat Valenciana” (“Regional Action Plan for Flood Risk Prevention,” PATRICOVA) and its limited integration with the Socio–Ecological–Technological Systems (SETS) framework, which we identify as a central weakness. By analyzing Spanish media coverage, particularly from sources such as El País, ABC, and La Vanguardia, alongside government policy documents, the study reveals a gap between theoretical flood risk planning and practical disaster response. Our keyword-based text mining of leading newspapers highlights the neglect of social, ecological, and technological interactions. While PATRICOVA emphasizes nature protection and technological infrastructure, it overlooks critical societal dimensions and climate adaptation scenarios. Media analysis reveals significant failures at the SETS interfaces, especially in early warning systems, intergovernmental coordination, and community preparedness. Full article

The soil microbiome is an essential component of agroecosystems. However, managing it remains a challenge due to our limited knowledge of how various environmental factors interact and shape its spatial distribution. This study presents a hierarchical ecological model to explain the assembly of the microbiome in sloping agricultural landscapes. Through a comprehensive analysis of bacterial and fungal communities, as well as the examination of metabolic and phytopathogenic profiles across a topographic gradient, we have demonstrated that topography acts as the main filter, structuring bacterial communities. Land use, on the other hand, serves as a secondary filter, refining fungal functional guilds. Our results suggest that hydrological conditions in floodplains favor the growth of stress-tolerant bacterial communities with low diversity, dominated by Actinomycetota. Fungal communities, on the other hand, are directly influenced by land use. Long-term fallow periods lead to an enrichment of arbuscular mycorrhiza, while agroecosystems shift towards pathogenic and saprotrophic niches. Furthermore, we identify specific topographic positions that may be hotspots for phytopathogenic pressure. These hotspots are linked to certain taxa, such as Ustilaginaceae and Didymellaceae, which may pose a threat to plant health. The derived hierarchical model provides a scientific foundation for topography-aware precision agriculture. It promotes stratified management, prioritizing erosion control and soil restoration on slopes, customizing nutrient inputs in fertile floodplains, and implementing targeted phytosanitary monitoring in identified risk areas. Our research thus offers a practical framework for harnessing soil spatial variability to improve soil health and proactively manage disease risks in agricultural systems. Full article

The middle reaches of the Yangtze River are a crucial breeding habitat for four major Chinese carps. The ecohydrological characteristics of their spawning grounds are crucial factors influencing spawning for these species: black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), and bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis). To investigate the impact of ecohydrological processes within the Three Gorges Reservoir on spawning, this study focused on the spawning grounds of the four major Chinese carps in the Yichang–Yidu section of the Yangtze River. By identifying key ecohydrological indicators and leveraging hydrological and spawning monitoring data from 2013 to 2024, the response characteristics of the four major Chinese carps’ spawning to these hydrological processes were analyzed. The results showed that the key ecohydrological indicators currently stimulating spawning for the four major Chinese carps are the fish-perceived daily flow rate increase, the fish-perceived cumulative flow rate increase, and the daily flow rate increase. These three indicators are significantly positively correlated with the scale of spawning for the four major Chinese carps. The thresholds for spawning at least 20% of the annual spawning total are: a perceived daily flow increase (P_da) of 4.52–36.05%; a perceived cumulative flow increase (P_cu) of 36.15–180.23%; and a daily flow increase (Q_av) of 588–2825 m³/s. The optimal water temperature for the reproduction of the four major Chinese carps is 21–23 °C. Overall, since the Three Gorges Reservoir’s normal operation, the frequency and scale of spawning for the four major Chinese carps have been highest during periods of rising water. It is recommended that, within the corresponding thresholds, ecological operation be conducted twice a year, once in mid-June and once in early July or late June. Daily flow increases can be controlled within the range of 588–2000 m³/s. This study analyzed the correlation between eco-hydrological indicators and the stimulation of spawning of the four major Chinese carps, providing optimized flow ranges and habitat conditions for ecological operation, which is conducive to promoting the reproduction and spawning of the four major Chinese carps in the Yichang–Yidu spawning grounds in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Full article

Spatial pattern analysis is essential for understanding forest structure and successional dynamics. Focusing on natural secondary forests in the subalpine region of western Sichuan, China, we established two 1-hectare permanent plots to investigate the spatial distribution of dominant tree species and assess the soil’s water-holding properties, aiming to clarify the relationship between species spatial patterns and edaphic conditions. The pioneer species Betula albosinensis exhibited a unimodal diameter distribution with scarce seedling presence, indicating limited regeneration. In contrast, Abies fargesii var. faxoniana showed a typical inverse J-shaped diameter distribution, suggesting stable population recruitment. At fine spatial scales, dominant species generally exhibited aggregated distributions, with A. fargesii var. faxoniana seedlings showing the strongest clumping; however, as the spatial scale increased, distributions tended toward randomness, likely due to self-thinning and density-dependent interactions. Bivariate spatial association analysis revealed that B. albosinensis was positively associated with A. fargesii var. faxoniana and Picea asperata at small scales, suggesting a potential facilitative effect of B. albosinensis on Pinaceae species. Moreover, capillary water-holding capacity was significantly higher in areas with greater conifer dominance, underscoring the strong environmental filtering effect of microhabitat moisture on community spatial structure. Collectively, our results suggest an ongoing mid- to late-successional shift from pioneer broadleaved to shade-tolerant conifer dominance, with concurrent changes in species composition and soil conditions. This study provides empirical insight into spatial successional processes and highlights their ecological implications for hydrological regulation in subalpine secondary forests. Full article

Thermokarst lakes play a crucial role in regulating hydrological, ecological, and biogeochemical processes in permafrost regions. However, due to the limited spatial resolution of earlier satellite imagery, small thermokarst lakes—highly sensitive to climate change and permafrost degradation—have often been overlooked, hindering accurate spatiotemporal analyses. To address this limitation, five water indices—Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI), Multi-Band Water Index (MBWI), Automated Water Extraction Index (AWEI_sh and AWEI_nsh), and Red Edge Water Index (RWI)—were employed based on Sentinel-2 imagery from 2021 to extract thermokarst lakes in the Qinghai–Tibet Highway (QTH) region, China. Visual validation indicated that the Red Edge Water Index (RWI) yielded the best performance, with an error of only 10.21%, significantly lower than other indices (e.g., MNDWI: 41.36%; MBWI: 38.80%). Seasonal comparisons revealed that the applicability of different water indices varies, with autumn months (September to October) being the optimal period for lake extraction due to stable and unfrozen surface conditions. Using the RWI, 56 thermokarst lake drainage events were identified in the study area from 2016 to 2025 (as of September 2025), most occurring after 2019—likely associated with climatic factors—and small lakes were found to be more prone to drainage, accompanied by notable surface subsidence in drained regions. These findings are applicable across the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) and provide a scientific basis for monitoring thermokarst lakes, delineating accurate lake boundaries, and exploring drainage mechanisms. Full article

Inner Mongolia is an important energy producer and the sixth-largest grain-supplying region in China. To address crucial water security challenges, the spatiotemporal variations in terrestrial water storage (TWS) and groundwater storage (GWS) in semiarid Inner Mongolia from April 2002 to January 2025 were evaluated on the basis of the synergistic use of multisource data, including satellite gravimetry, hydrological models, and meteorological data. There was a loss of TWS in Inner Mongolia (−1.69 ± 0.17 mm/year), which was caused mainly by the depletion of groundwater (−4.90 ± 0.12 mm/year), and it offset a slight increase in surface water (+3.21 ± 0.19 mm/year). Marked declines were clustered mainly in the central/southern regions (e.g., Ordos: GWS of −10.20 ± 0.19 mm/year), whereas the northeastern region (e.g., Hulun Buir) experienced an increase (+5.09 mm/year), which was related to abundant rainfall. Notably, the declining trend of GWS across all of Inner Mongolia before 2022 (−5.49 ± 0.17 mm/year) achieved an unprecedented reversal after 2022 (+17.80 ± 0.21 mm/year), indicating the significant influence of policy interventions and precipitation changes. In the central/eastern agro-pastoral zones, water loss was driven mainly by human-related activities such as coal mining and farming; in contrast, aridity in the west was worsened by climate variability. Therefore, it is crucial to formulate urgent water redistribution strategies, promote efficient irrigation methods, and improve monitoring systems for the purpose of protecting energy and food security and strengthening ecological adaptability in the context of climate change. Full article