Abstract
An understanding of the scientific layout of surface water space is crucial for the sustainable development of human society and the ecological environment. The objective of this study was to use land-use/land-cover data to identify the spatiotemporal dynamic change processes and the influencing factors over the past three decades in Henan Province, central China. Multidisciplinary theories (landscape ecology and graph theory) and methods (GIS spatial analysis and SPSS correlation analysis) were used to quantify the dynamic changes in surface water pattern and connectivity. Our results revealed that the water area decreased significantly during the periods of 1990–2000 and 2010–2018 due to a decrease in tidal flats and linear waters, but increased significantly in 2000–2010 due to an increase in patchy waters. Human construction activities, socioeconomic development and topography were the key factors driving the dynamics of water pattern and connectivity. The use of graph metrics (node degree, betweenness centrality, and delta probability of connectivity) in combination with landscape metrics (Euclidean nearest-neighbor distance) can help establish the parameters of threshold distance between connected habitats, identify hubs and stepping stones, and determine the relatively important water patches that require priority protection or development.
Highlights
China has experienced rapid urbanization over the past 40 years of reform and opening
The surface waters of Henan Province are more prevalent in the south than in the north (Supplementary Materials Figure S1)
Our results showed that patchy waters in the catchments of the Yellow, Danjiang, Huai, Shaying, Tangbai, and Ru Rivers play very important roles in the water pattern and spatial connectivity of the whole province, especially the Yellow River and Danjiangkou Reservoir
Summary
China has experienced rapid urbanization over the past 40 years of reform and opening. The urbanization rate increased by approximately 40% during this time, from less than 20% in 1978 to 59.58% in 2018 (National Bureau of Statistics, China) Through this process, rapid population increase and economic development consumed a large amount of water [1], as well as land and other resources [2]. Reservoirs and aquaculture ponds have been built to support human livelihoods and production These human activities have increased the area of urban water bodies, and likely greatly changed the spatial pattern and morphological characteristics of surface water bodies [9]
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