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<p>Rapid urbanization in Guangdong Province has severely impacted river systems due to limited understanding of the sustainability of river connectivity and functions. This study applies the Minimum Cumulative Resistance Model (MCRM) to quantify expansion costs of natural and social processes, with their difference defined as the River Ecological Sensitivity (RES) index. Higher RES values indicate that surrounding land is more prone to conversion into built-up areas, whereas lower values favor river ecological land. RES values were assigned to river segments using a multi-ring buffer approach and integrated into a complex network framework to simulate potential evolution of river network connectivity and functions under coupled natural–social drivers. Conservation scenarios were constructed by sequentially resetting segments with RES &gt; 0 to zero in descending order of sensitivity, representing proactive protection of highly sensitive segments. Results show: (1) River segments with RES &gt; 0 account for 63.4% of all river segments, mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta Region (PRDR); (2) Under coupled drivers, river network connectivity (Closeness Centrality and Node Connection Strength) and key functions—flood control, water supply, and ecological function—decline by 7.9%, 8.3%, 5.7%, 20.6%, and 8.3%, respectively; (3) Preventing river network degradation requires protecting 33% of high-RES segments province-wide and over 48% in the PRDR. Specifically, eastern Guangdong requires protection of 15% of high-RES segments, while northern and western Guangdong exhibit inherent recovery potential without further intervention. These findings provide targeted, quantifiable guidance for sustainable urban river management and ecological infrastructure planning.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Sustainable Urban River Network: Integrating the River Ecological Sensitivity Index

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月20日

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  • Haibo Yang,
  • Fan Wu,
  • Tianji Dong,
  • Fei Chen,
  • Zheng Duan,
  • Lan Feng,
  • Longfei Hou

摘要

Rapid urbanization in Guangdong Province has severely impacted river systems due to limited understanding of the sustainability of river connectivity and functions. This study applies the Minimum Cumulative Resistance Model (MCRM) to quantify expansion costs of natural and social processes, with their difference defined as the River Ecological Sensitivity (RES) index. Higher RES values indicate that surrounding land is more prone to conversion into built-up areas, whereas lower values favor river ecological land. RES values were assigned to river segments using a multi-ring buffer approach and integrated into a complex network framework to simulate potential evolution of river network connectivity and functions under coupled natural–social drivers. Conservation scenarios were constructed by sequentially resetting segments with RES > 0 to zero in descending order of sensitivity, representing proactive protection of highly sensitive segments. Results show: (1) River segments with RES > 0 account for 63.4% of all river segments, mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta Region (PRDR); (2) Under coupled drivers, river network connectivity (Closeness Centrality and Node Connection Strength) and key functions—flood control, water supply, and ecological function—decline by 7.9%, 8.3%, 5.7%, 20.6%, and 8.3%, respectively; (3) Preventing river network degradation requires protecting 33% of high-RES segments province-wide and over 48% in the PRDR. Specifically, eastern Guangdong requires protection of 15% of high-RES segments, while northern and western Guangdong exhibit inherent recovery potential without further intervention. These findings provide targeted, quantifiable guidance for sustainable urban river management and ecological infrastructure planning.

Graphical Abstract