Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China
Abstract The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), as China’s socioeconomic core, faces compound pressures from water scarcity, pollution, and ecosystem degradation, with water ecological security emerging as a critical bottleneck for sustainable development. This study aims to construct a comprehensive evalua...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16748-1 |
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| author | Aishan Ye Xiaohua Li Jiayi Cai Yangyang Deng |
| author_facet | Aishan Ye Xiaohua Li Jiayi Cai Yangyang Deng |
| author_sort | Aishan Ye |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), as China’s socioeconomic core, faces compound pressures from water scarcity, pollution, and ecosystem degradation, with water ecological security emerging as a critical bottleneck for sustainable development. This study aims to construct a comprehensive evaluation system and identify key constraints to provide scientific guidance for urban agglomeration water security management. We innovatively established a four-dimensional evaluation framework encompassing water resource security, water environment security, water ecosystem health, and economic benefit management, employing the TOPSIS model with entropy-CRITIC combined weighting to assess water ecological security across four YRD provinces from 2010 to 2023. Results reveal a three-phase evolutionary pattern with provincial gradient distribution, exposing a “high economic–low ecological” resource curse effect in megacities; water resource security subsystem holds the highest weight (35.23%), indicating the synergistic role of economic regulation and natural restoration in system resilience; and dominant obstacles have shifted from industrial pollution to compound pressures including ecological water deficit, agricultural non-point pollution, and lagging water-saving technologies. This study proposes differentiated zoning strategies and cross-regional collaboration mechanisms, providing theoretical and methodological references for water security management in high-density urban agglomerations with global implications for analogous regions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0f6d237e3e5e4fd9aecf2ffd475c72ab |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-0f6d237e3e5e4fd9aecf2ffd475c72ab2025-08-24T11:24:13ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111610.1038/s41598-025-16748-1Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, ChinaAishan Ye0Xiaohua Li1Jiayi Cai2Yangyang Deng3Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Macao Polytechnic UniversityCollege of Yonyou Digital & Intelligence, Nantong Institute of TechnologyCollege of Yonyou Digital & Intelligence, Nantong Institute of TechnologyCollege of Yonyou Digital & Intelligence, Nantong Institute of TechnologyAbstract The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), as China’s socioeconomic core, faces compound pressures from water scarcity, pollution, and ecosystem degradation, with water ecological security emerging as a critical bottleneck for sustainable development. This study aims to construct a comprehensive evaluation system and identify key constraints to provide scientific guidance for urban agglomeration water security management. We innovatively established a four-dimensional evaluation framework encompassing water resource security, water environment security, water ecosystem health, and economic benefit management, employing the TOPSIS model with entropy-CRITIC combined weighting to assess water ecological security across four YRD provinces from 2010 to 2023. Results reveal a three-phase evolutionary pattern with provincial gradient distribution, exposing a “high economic–low ecological” resource curse effect in megacities; water resource security subsystem holds the highest weight (35.23%), indicating the synergistic role of economic regulation and natural restoration in system resilience; and dominant obstacles have shifted from industrial pollution to compound pressures including ecological water deficit, agricultural non-point pollution, and lagging water-saving technologies. This study proposes differentiated zoning strategies and cross-regional collaboration mechanisms, providing theoretical and methodological references for water security management in high-density urban agglomerations with global implications for analogous regions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16748-1Water ecological securityYangtze river deltaCombined weightingObstacle diagnosisMegaregion governance |
| spellingShingle | Aishan Ye Xiaohua Li Jiayi Cai Yangyang Deng Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China Scientific Reports Water ecological security Yangtze river delta Combined weighting Obstacle diagnosis Megaregion governance |
| title | Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China |
| title_full | Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China |
| title_short | Evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of Obstacles in the Yangtze river delta, China |
| title_sort | evaluation of water ecological security and diagnosis of obstacles in the yangtze river delta china |
| topic | Water ecological security Yangtze river delta Combined weighting Obstacle diagnosis Megaregion governance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16748-1 |
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