Basin integrity and temporal-spatial connectivity of the water ecological carrying capacity of the Yellow River

Abstract

<p indent=0mm>The Yellow River Basin is an important ecological barrier and economic zone in China, and both its ecological conservation and sustainable high-quality development are directly related to the success or failure of the ecological civilization construction of China. Currently, the Yellow River Basin, which is short on water resources, has a fragile natural ecology, and lags in economic and social development, is a key and difficult area for the ecological security and economic and social development of China. This paper summarizes the remarkable achievements in comprehensive prevention and control of soil erosion, such as the implementation of a series of major ecological projects, in the Yellow River Basin since the founding of New China, especially in recent years. These major ecological projects were implemented based on the different characteristics of the upstream, midstream, and downstream regions of the Yellow River Basin. However, the ecological function of the Yellow River Basin has not been fundamentally resolved. This is due to three main reasons. The first is the extent and spatial imbalance in the control of water and soil erosion in the Yellow River Basin watershed. Ecosystem quality has degraded and water conservation has declined in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, soil erosion is serious in the middle reaches, and the ecological flow is low and some estuary wetlands have shrunk in the lower reaches. The second reason is the adverse effect of water and sediment regulation on delta and coastal systems. Vegetation coverage has declined at the source of the Yellow River; there is the desertification of grasslands and the area of secondary bare lands has increased. Some degraded black-soil beaches have undergone secondary degradation and associated disasters have also increased. The third reason includes water and sediment problems caused by large-scale coal mining, such as serious changes in topography and landforms. There is the acceleration of land desertification and water shortages, where the original landforms are destroyed and some vegetation disappears in the upper reaches; the ground collapses and serious soil erosion causes increased sediments to flow into the Yellow River in the middle reaches. Surface subsidence deformation, water accumulation, and secondary salinization lead to a decrease in land productivity in the lower reaches. It is proposed that the key to solving the current outstanding problems restricting ecological protection and high-quality sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin lies in the integrity of the water ecology of the basin, spatial-temporal connectivity and ecosystem health to realize the scientific allocation of water resources in ecology, industry/mining, life, agriculture, and water and sediment regulation in the context of climate warming. To realize this scientific objective, three tasks of research are urgently needed. First, the clarification of the theory and technology of the digital Yellow River information platform, and timely and accurate determination of the river’s status are critical to understand and scientifically develop and manage the Yellow River Basin. Second, water resource monitoring and cloud water resource development and utilization across the entire Yellow River Basin must be carried out, which will require full use of advanced technologies, such as artificial weather modification, rational development and utilization of cloud water resources, the construction of water resource monitoring and cloud water resource development and utilization as soon as possible, and promotion of the effective use of water resources. Finally, identification and prediction of major ecological disaster risks are essential, which requires the integration of space-air-ground stereo observation; big data and machine learning; fusion of 5G, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and other technical methods to establish the intelligent perception and identification of precursors for major disasters; disaster scenario simulation and risk prediction; and disaster risk prevention and control technology systems to enhance risk identification and management capabilities in ecological protection and high-quality sustainable development.