Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures
Clarifying the changes in the structure and function of damaged river ecosystems in estuaries influenced by restoration measures is crucial for formulating regional ecosystem management and restoration strategies; however, research on the Yellow River estuary remains insufficient. This study aimed t...
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Elsevier
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25003589 |
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| author | Wang Yiping Yuan Longhu Lu Yongjun Zeng Yuhong Liu Huaixiang |
| author_facet | Wang Yiping Yuan Longhu Lu Yongjun Zeng Yuhong Liu Huaixiang |
| author_sort | Wang Yiping |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Clarifying the changes in the structure and function of damaged river ecosystems in estuaries influenced by restoration measures is crucial for formulating regional ecosystem management and restoration strategies; however, research on the Yellow River estuary remains insufficient. This study aimed to construct Ecopath models of the river ecosystem in the estuarine section of the Yellow River across different historical periods, based on previous biodiversity data. The results indicated that the sum of all production and total system throughput increased 107.3t/km2·a and 1288.4 t/km2·a respectively from 2013 to 2014 to 2019–2022, and the ratio of total primary production to total respiration was close to 1, thus the ecosystem became more mature. Moreover, Lateolabrax japonicus and Pseudorasbora parva were replaced by Mugil cephalus and Parabramis pekinensis, and most functional groups displayed lower integrated trophic levels but greater biomass and higher ecotrophic efficiency. Concurrently, functional groups became more interconnected, resulting in a more complex food web structure. Our study shows that the ecological capacity of functional groups in the study area is unsaturated, so future conservation activities should consider enhancing the biomass of carnivorous and detritivorous fish to promote the river ecosystem in the Yellow River estuary. These findings affirm the effectiveness of long-term implementation of river restoration measures such as stock enhancement and ecological scheduling, and propose optimizing the direction of restoration measures from an ecosystem perspective. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-85e88efaa4f042a0ac3ea7273f4545f3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-85e88efaa4f042a0ac3ea7273f4545f32025-08-20T02:26:51ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-04-0117311342810.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113428Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measuresWang Yiping0Yuan Longhu1Lu Yongjun2Zeng Yuhong3Liu Huaixiang4State Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China; The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210024, PR ChinaThe National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210024, PR ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China; The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210024, PR China; Corresponding authors.State Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR ChinaThe National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210024, PR China; Corresponding authors.Clarifying the changes in the structure and function of damaged river ecosystems in estuaries influenced by restoration measures is crucial for formulating regional ecosystem management and restoration strategies; however, research on the Yellow River estuary remains insufficient. This study aimed to construct Ecopath models of the river ecosystem in the estuarine section of the Yellow River across different historical periods, based on previous biodiversity data. The results indicated that the sum of all production and total system throughput increased 107.3t/km2·a and 1288.4 t/km2·a respectively from 2013 to 2014 to 2019–2022, and the ratio of total primary production to total respiration was close to 1, thus the ecosystem became more mature. Moreover, Lateolabrax japonicus and Pseudorasbora parva were replaced by Mugil cephalus and Parabramis pekinensis, and most functional groups displayed lower integrated trophic levels but greater biomass and higher ecotrophic efficiency. Concurrently, functional groups became more interconnected, resulting in a more complex food web structure. Our study shows that the ecological capacity of functional groups in the study area is unsaturated, so future conservation activities should consider enhancing the biomass of carnivorous and detritivorous fish to promote the river ecosystem in the Yellow River estuary. These findings affirm the effectiveness of long-term implementation of river restoration measures such as stock enhancement and ecological scheduling, and propose optimizing the direction of restoration measures from an ecosystem perspective.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25003589EstuaryEcopath modelTrophic levelEcosystem successionRestoration measure |
| spellingShingle | Wang Yiping Yuan Longhu Lu Yongjun Zeng Yuhong Liu Huaixiang Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures Ecological Indicators Estuary Ecopath model Trophic level Ecosystem succession Restoration measure |
| title | Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures |
| title_full | Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures |
| title_fullStr | Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures |
| title_short | Structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the Yellow River estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures |
| title_sort | structural succession and functional changes in the river ecosystem of the yellow river estuary under the influence of ecological restoration measures |
| topic | Estuary Ecopath model Trophic level Ecosystem succession Restoration measure |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25003589 |
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