IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p7151-d1460132.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Effectiveness of Large-Scale Ecological Restoration Measures in the Liaohe Estuary Using a Landscape Pattern Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Xiuzhong Li

    (School of Chemical Safety, North China Institute of Science and Technology, Langfang 065201, China)

  • Baocun Ji

    (Beijing Ougeng Ecological Agriculture and Forestry Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 101101, China)

  • Na Li

    (Beijing Ougeng Ecological Agriculture and Forestry Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 101101, China)

  • Qiuying Chen

    (School of Chemical Safety, North China Institute of Science and Technology, Langfang 065201, China)

  • Christopher J. Anderson

    (College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36830, USA)

  • Yuexuan Wang

    (School of Chemical Safety, North China Institute of Science and Technology, Langfang 065201, China)

Abstract

In recent years, the Chinese government implemented many policies and actions to restore coastal wetlands. This study focused on assessing how these projects have influenced the landscape patterns of the Liaohe Estuary, an area of critical importance. By analyzing remote sensing images from 2009 to 2022, we determined the spatiotemporal changes in landscape pattern, fragmentation, and conversion. Results showed that (1) Reed ( Phragmites australis ) fields were the dominant landscape feature and covered 46.3–48.2% of the area; however, road was the serious factor in fragmenting these wetlands. Seepweed ( Suaeda salsa ) marshes, an iconic and characteristic wetland of the region, gradually expanded towards the estuary and coast over the study years. (2) Landscape fragmentation increased and seasonally changed during the study period and restoration measures actually resulted in more fragmentation of the landscape. (3) Ponds replaced 14.28 km 2 natural landscape in the development stage and 40.93 km 2 were restored to natural landscape during restoration and maintenance. (4) Active restoration projects caused landscape fragmentation to sharply increase initially, but then fragmentation declined as passive restoration continued in the maintenance stage. This study suggests that road construction should be carefully deliberated in ecologically sensitive areas and that ecological restoration (a combination of active and passive restoration) in the Liaohe Estuary region showed evidence of temporal lag and hysteresis that may be important for research in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiuzhong Li & Baocun Ji & Na Li & Qiuying Chen & Christopher J. Anderson & Yuexuan Wang, 2024. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Large-Scale Ecological Restoration Measures in the Liaohe Estuary Using a Landscape Pattern Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7151-:d:1460132
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7151/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7151/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward B. Barbier, 2013. "Valuing Ecosystem Services for Coastal Wetland Protection and Restoration: Progress and Challenges," Resources, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-18, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Perla Irasema Rivadeneyra García & Federico Cornacchia & Alberto Gabino Martínez Hernández & Marco Bidoia & Carlo Giupponi, 2024. "Multi-platform assessment of coastal protection and carbon sequestration in the Venice Lagoon under future scenarios," Working Papers 2024.13, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    2. Mandla Dlamini & George Chirima & Nebo Jovanovic & Elhadi Adam, 2021. "Assessing the Effects of Land Use on Surface Water Quality in the Lower uMfolozi Floodplain System, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Deepanjana Saha & Devarajulu Suresh Kumar & Pandian Krishnan & Rajdeep Mukherjee & A. Vidhyavathi & M. Maheswari & M. Vijayabhama, 2024. "Balancing Nets and Lives: A Socio-Ecological Analysis of Sustainable Fisheries on the Indian Coast of the Gulf of Mannar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Rivadeneyra, Perla & Cornacchia, Federico & Martinez, Alberto & Bidoia, Marco & Giupponi, Carlo, 2024. "Multi-platform assessment of coastal protection and carbon sequestration in the Venice Lagoon under future scenarios," FEEM Working Papers 343511, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    5. Jun-Yi Zheng & Ying-Ying Hao & Yuan-Chen Wang & Si-Qi Zhou & Wan-Ben Wu & Qi Yuan & Yu Gao & Hai-Qiang Guo & Xing-Xing Cai & Bin Zhao, 2022. "Coastal Wetland Vegetation Classification Using Pixel-Based, Object-Based and Deep Learning Methods Based on RGB-UAV," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Alexander I. Belyaev & Anna M. Pugacheva & Evgenia A. Korneeva, 2022. "Assessment of Ecosystem Services of Wetlands of the Volga–Akhtuba Floodplain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-14, September.
    7. Miriam Fernandez-Nunez & Helene Burningham & Pilar Díaz-Cuevas & José Ojeda-Zújar, 2019. "Evaluating the Response of Mediterranean-Atlantic Saltmarshes to Sea-Level Rise," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Hua Wang & Walter Keithly & Rex Caffey, 2019. "Factors Influencing Landowners’ Decisions for Income-Generating Activities on Private Coastal Wetland in Louisiana," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7151-:d:1460132. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.