A new framework combining hydrological connectivity metrics and morphological spatial pattern analysis for the hydrological connectivity evaluation of wetlands

Abstract

The quantitative evaluation of wetland hydrological connectivity is essential to the hydrological connectivity restorationoriented ecological conservation and environmental management of wetlands. We proposed a framework to evaluate wetland hydrological connectivity with a combination of hydrological connectivity metrics and morphological spatial pattern analysis and recognized potential sites and links that had been generally overlooked in previous studies. Variations in hydrological connectivity revealed a decreasing trend followed by a gradual recovery from the critical time node of 2005 in Baiyangdian Lake. The core, one of the most important landscape types, played a dominant role in maintaining wetland hydrological connectivity at both temporal and spatial scales, and its variations matched those of hydrological connectivity. More importantly, we redressed the conventional ignorance of peripheral patches and links and recognized their importance in improving the hydrological connectivity of wetlands. The proposed framework provides an effective and practical tool for the hydrological connectivity evaluation of wetlands, expanding new insights into maintaining the health and integrity of wetland ecosystems.

Assessing petroleum contamination in parts of the Niger Delta based on a sub-catchment delineated field assessment

“…This approach offers a hydrological system defined sampling transect where the spatio-temporal variability of petroleum contamination is better captured for the assessment of current contamination levels and the monitoring of subsequent petroleum removal processes, ecological status and other restoration indicators (Erunova & Yakubailik, 2023 ; Wei et al, 2023 ).…”

“…For standard procedural purposes and to maintain sediment and water samples integrity, data on all collected samples were inventoried into a field datasheet (completed during field sampling) and a standard chain of custody (filled-in upon sampling completion). This approach offers a hydrological system defined sampling transect where the spatio-temporal variability of petroleum contamination is better captured for the assessment of current contamination levels and the monitoring of subsequent petroleum removal processes, ecological status and other restoration indicators (Erunova & Yakubailik, 2023;Wei et al, 2023).…”

“…Figure 1 represents the final output of the sub-catchment delineation process. It shows primarily the surface flow architecture of the Kporghor River Estuary sub-catchment, characterized by a main river channel (Strahler order 1) fed by two tributaries (Strahler order 2).This approach offers a hydrological system defined sampling transect where the spatio-temporal variability of petroleum contamination is better captured for the assessment of current contamination levels and the monitoring of subsequent petroleum removal processes, ecological status and other restoration indicators(Erunova & Yakubailik, 2023;Wei et al, 2023).…”

Construction and optimization of ecological network based on morphological spatial pattern analysis and minimum cumulative resistance models in Haihe River basin

“…MSPA model provides an effective and practical tool for the hydrological connectivity evaluation. It is important for guiding land development, ecological use, and the conservation of the landscape (Chen et al, 2022). (Nan et al, 2022).…”

Analysis of water source contributions and their impacts on hydrological structural connectivity in plain urban river network areas based on stable isotopes (δ2H, δ18O)

“…The structural connectivity of river networks refers to connectivity between surface forms that are susceptible to runoff generation and sediment transport (Williams et al, 2016), while the hydrological connectivity of the river network refers to the smoothness of the material, energy and biological transport processes in the river system regulated by hydrological processes, mainly depending on flow paths, bifurcation points, flows and water levels (Chi et al, 2018). In recent years, researchers have proposed a variety of hydrological connectivity assessment methods from different perspectives (Bracken et al, 2013, 2020; Tan et al, 2021; Wei et al, 2022). The common methods include the index monitoring method (Liu et al, 2020), graph theory method (Zhang et al, 2022), connected function method (Nguyen et al, 2021), hydrological model method (Li, Zhang, et al, 2019b), comprehensive index method (Li et al, 2018) and so on.…”