Exploring lake ecological water levels via the Lake Ecological Comprehensive Evaluation Index (LECEI) approach in conjunction with terrestrial and aquatic environments

IF 7 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Ecological Indicators Pub Date : 2025-05-16 DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113582

Weifeng Yue , Changming Cao , Qingqing Fang , Guoqiang Wang , Ziyi Zan , Kun Wang , Tingxi Liu

{"title":"Exploring lake ecological water levels via the Lake Ecological Comprehensive Evaluation Index (LECEI) approach in conjunction with terrestrial and aquatic environments","authors":"Weifeng Yue , Changming Cao , Qingqing Fang , Guoqiang Wang , Ziyi Zan , Kun Wang , Tingxi Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113582","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Determining ecological water levels crucially lies in elucidating the relationship between water levels and ecological environmental quality, which are essential for the sustainable development of lake ecosystems. However, the response of lake environmental quality to water level fluctuations remains incompletely understood. This study employed forward and inverse modelling of remote sensing data at large spatiotemporal scales to propose a novel comprehensive evaluation framework, the Lake Ecological Comprehensive Evaluation Index (LECEI), which characterises lake environmental quality by integrating the terrestrial (lakeshore zones that are assessed using the remote sensing ecological index, RSEI) and aquatic (water bodies that are assessed using lake water quality indicators, LWQIs) indicators. The upper limit, lower limit, and optimal ecological water levels were subsequently quantitatively determined on the basis of the nonlinear relationship between the water level and the LECEI. This study revealed correlation coefficients between the LECEI and water levels ranging from 0.77 to 0.79 for Wuliangsuhai Lake from 1990 to 2017. Additionally, the upper and lower ecological water levels were determined to be 1018.77 m and 1019.23 m, respectively, by an analysis of the probability density distribution of the LECEI in conjunction with its nonlinear relationship with the water level. Furthermore, this study examined the relationship between the LECEI and water level elevation and identified 1019.13 m as the optimal ecological water level for maintaining lake environmental quality, indicating an inflection point from a slow to a significant increase in the LECEI. By employing this novel comprehensive evaluation framework, this study successfully determined the ecological water levels of the lake, thereby supporting the maintenance of health and sustainable development of lake ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11459,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Indicators","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 113582"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecological Indicators","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25005126","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Determining ecological water levels crucially lies in elucidating the relationship between water levels and ecological environmental quality, which are essential for the sustainable development of lake ecosystems. However, the response of lake environmental quality to water level fluctuations remains incompletely understood. This study employed forward and inverse modelling of remote sensing data at large spatiotemporal scales to propose a novel comprehensive evaluation framework, the Lake Ecological Comprehensive Evaluation Index (LECEI), which characterises lake environmental quality by integrating the terrestrial (lakeshore zones that are assessed using the remote sensing ecological index, RSEI) and aquatic (water bodies that are assessed using lake water quality indicators, LWQIs) indicators. The upper limit, lower limit, and optimal ecological water levels were subsequently quantitatively determined on the basis of the nonlinear relationship between the water level and the LECEI. This study revealed correlation coefficients between the LECEI and water levels ranging from 0.77 to 0.79 for Wuliangsuhai Lake from 1990 to 2017. Additionally, the upper and lower ecological water levels were determined to be 1018.77 m and 1019.23 m, respectively, by an analysis of the probability density distribution of the LECEI in conjunction with its nonlinear relationship with the water level. Furthermore, this study examined the relationship between the LECEI and water level elevation and identified 1019.13 m as the optimal ecological water level for maintaining lake environmental quality, indicating an inflection point from a slow to a significant increase in the LECEI. By employing this novel comprehensive evaluation framework, this study successfully determined the ecological water levels of the lake, thereby supporting the maintenance of health and sustainable development of lake ecosystems.

查看原文本刊更多论文

结合陆地环境和水生环境，采用湖泊生态综合评价指数（LECEI）法研究湖泊生态水位

确定生态水位的关键在于阐明水位与生态环境质量的关系，这对湖泊生态系统的可持续发展至关重要。然而，湖泊环境质量对水位波动的响应尚不完全清楚。本研究利用大时空尺度遥感数据的正、逆建模，提出了湖泊生态综合评价指数（LECEI），该指数通过整合陆地（利用遥感生态指数RSEI评价的湖岸区）和水生（利用湖泊水质指标LWQIs评价的水体）指标来表征湖泊环境质量。根据水位与LECEI的非线性关系，定量确定了上限、下限和最优生态水位。研究发现，1990 - 2017年，五粮素海LECEI与水位的相关系数在0.77 ~ 0.79之间。结合LECEI与水位的非线性关系，分析LECEI的概率密度分布，确定上游生态水位为1018.77 m，下游生态水位为1019.23 m。此外，本研究还分析了LECEI与水位高度的关系，确定了维持湖泊环境质量的最佳生态水位为1019.13 m，表明LECEI存在从缓慢上升到显著上升的拐点。通过采用这一新颖的综合评价框架，本研究成功地确定了湖泊的生态水位，从而支持湖泊生态系统的健康和可持续发展。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Ecological Indicators 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

11.80

自引率

8.70%

发文量

1163

审稿时长

78 days

期刊介绍： The ultimate aim of Ecological Indicators is to integrate the monitoring and assessment of ecological and environmental indicators with management practices. The journal provides a forum for the discussion of the applied scientific development and review of traditional indicator approaches as well as for theoretical, modelling and quantitative applications such as index development. Research into the following areas will be published. • All aspects of ecological and environmental indicators and indices. • New indicators, and new approaches and methods for indicator development, testing and use. • Development and modelling of indices, e.g. application of indicator suites across multiple scales and resources. • Analysis and research of resource, system- and scale-specific indicators. • Methods for integration of social and other valuation metrics for the production of scientifically rigorous and politically-relevant assessments using indicator-based monitoring and assessment programs. • How research indicators can be transformed into direct application for management purposes. • Broader assessment objectives and methods, e.g. biodiversity, biological integrity, and sustainability, through the use of indicators. • Resource-specific indicators such as landscape, agroecosystems, forests, wetlands, etc.