Ecological Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Using trajectory modeling for delineation and valuation of protection forests against rockfalls and landslides","authors":"Elisa Marras ,&nbsp;Dominik May ,&nbsp;Ilenia Murgia ,&nbsp;Luuk Dorren ,&nbsp;Filippo Giadrossich","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107932","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107932","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Protection forests can significantly contribute to mitigating gravitational natural hazards such as rockfalls and landslides. A quantitative risk assessment, including areal delineation and economic valuation, is essential for an efficient hazard and forest management. The trajectories of gravity-driven rapid mass movements are a central element of such a risk assessment in order to link hazard processes and risk elements with forest stands. A quantitative framework is introduced for this purpose, which is based on trajectory modeling using the energy line principle. The trajectories enable a novel method for a comprehensive mapping, including protection forest maps and risk reduction maps. This method includes a novel tool that integrates the protective effect of forest stands against rockfall in the energy line principle, which is introduced as proof of concept and predicts plausible values for kinetic energy reduction up to 905 kJ. Furthermore, the method includes a novel concept for spatially resolving the risk reduction due to the protection forest and assigning it to the forest stand, whereby plausible values up to 175’269 €<span><math><mi>⋅</mi></math></span>y⁻¹ are estimated for the risk reduction. Two case studies at slope-scale in northern Italy demonstrate the application of this framework for rockfalls and landslides, and compare the outcomes with other studies from the Alpine region. This conceptual application of combining trajectory modeling with several other models contributes to a more informed and spatially explicit risk assessment for protection forest against gravitational natural hazards, which can serve as a basis for management decisions. This framework introduces the method on a conceptual level that is largely deterministic yet and shows ways for thorough validation and further development towards an applied level that could be fully probabilistic.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107932"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil and water bioengineering on moutain streambanks: Lessons learnt from extensive feedback on projects in the Alps","authors":"Juliette Rousset ,&nbsp;Guillaume Piton ,&nbsp;Marie Lou Hirschy ,&nbsp;Delphine Jaymond ,&nbsp;André Evette","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107910","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107910","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Channel mobility is essential to maintaining a river's healthy biogeomorphic and ecological functions. Although, local erosion processes can sometimes require stabilization to protect infrastructure. Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWB) techniques use vegetation as living construction materials to provide effective erosion control while preserving riparian ecological functions. Designing these structures depends significantly on expert knowledge and technical documentation that shares best practices and experiences, and provides specific hydraulic stress resistance thresholds. There is currently only limited documentation regarding the use and mechanical resistance of SWB on mountain streambanks where the harsh climate and steep slopes put a strain on vegetation growth and recovering, which in turn makes it challenging to design effective SWB structures. This study aims to fill this gap by providing an exhaustive record of SWB works throughout the French Alps, with additional sites in Italy and Switzerland. Hydraulic parameters, vegetation dynamics, and failure mechanisms were assessed across 48 SWB works. Drawing on our expertise, we assessed the key factors governing the implementation and success of SWB works in mountain streambanks.</div><div>Our survey revealed that the works could be classified along a “naturalness” gradient, with vegetation playing different structural roles. Riprap was commonly used at the bank toe and technical choices depended mostly on the cultural context of the watershed and the local knowledge of SWB rather than on the hydromorphological context or the assets to be protected. Ultimately, this study enhanced our understanding of the hydraulic stresses experienced by these structures and the most prevalent causes of failure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107910"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term bioaugmentation of a carrier enhanced duckweed-based wastewater treatment system via the addition of activated sludge and denitrifying phosphate-accumulating bacterium","authors":"Yonggui Zhao ,&nbsp;Ruidong Ma ,&nbsp;Xixi Li ,&nbsp;Jinquan Li ,&nbsp;Tianning Liang ,&nbsp;Wei Li ,&nbsp;Junjun Chang ,&nbsp;Changqun Duan","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Duckweed exhibits distinct advantages over other aquatic plants in phytoremediation. Bioaugmentation is a promising approach for enhancing the treatment performance of various wastewater treatment systems, including duckweed-based systems (DS). However, there is a lack of suitable inoculants for field-scale DS bioaugmentation, and the long-term viability and mechanisms of these inoculants are still poorly understood. To address this, a single strain (<em>Pseudomonas</em> sp. DWP1) and a mixed culture (activated sludge) were separately added into two carrier-enhanced DS to systematically evaluate their application potential for DS bioaugmentation by comparing with another control DS over a year. The results indicated that adding strain DWP1 and activated sludge increased the dissolved oxygen concentration and oxidation-reduction potential of pond water. Meanwhile, they promoted duckweed growth (by 64.95% and 41.39%, respectively), enhanced nutrient recovery (by 68.97% and 44.83% for nitrogen, and 71.43% and 42.86% for phosphorus, respectively) and pollutant removal in the DS, and reduced CH₄ emission (by 68.88% and 33.16%, respectively) from the DS. Compared with activated sludge, strain DWP1 had a more significant impact on microbial diversity, community composition, and the relative abundance of dominant assemblages probably due to its high adaptability and successful survival in the duckweed system, which results in the better bioaugmentation performance of strain DWP1 in terms of duckweed biomass production, water purification, and carbon emission reduction in the DS. Therefore, strain DWP1 has greater application potential than activated sludge for the bioaugmentation of the DS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107919"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146096066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of channel complexity and main-to-anabranch width ratio on fish habitat suitability across varying flow regimes","authors":"Pingping Zhou ,&nbsp;Hao Zheng ,&nbsp;Qianqian Wang ,&nbsp;Ruida Wang ,&nbsp;Nan Wang ,&nbsp;Yongsen Zhang ,&nbsp;Yike Li ,&nbsp;Zebin Zhang ,&nbsp;Li Tian ,&nbsp;Zhiyuan Yang ,&nbsp;Jiabin Lu ,&nbsp;Weiwei Yao","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107931","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107931","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The diversity of river morphology serves as a critical foundation for maintaining riverine biodiversity and ecosystem health. However, current research has predominantly focused on comparisons among different channel types, overlooking the interactive effects of specific channel morphological characteristics and flow regimes on habitat suitability. This study takes the typical anastomosing river—the Haba River—as a case study. By constructing a coupled hydrodynamic and fish habitat model, it systematically analyzes the effects of channel complexity and the main channel-to-anabranch channel width ratio on the habitat quality of <em>Thymallus arcticus</em> under different flow conditions. The results indicate that the influence of channel complexity is flow-dependent: under normal flow conditions, morphologically complex channels exhibit lower overall habitat suitability for <em>Thymallus arcticus</em>. This lower suitability is due to these channels' characteristically lower flow velocity and water depth, which are conditions unsuited for a species that prefers high-flow environments. However, during extreme flood events, complex channels provide more effective refugia, thereby demonstrating higher habitat quality. Regarding the river width ratio, the study reveals that the presence or absence of anabranching channels as a structural feature has a far greater impact on habitat quality than specific variations in the width allocation between the main channel and anabranches. Over the long term, habitat suitability remains relatively stable under the specific channel morphology. Nevertheless, the simpler morphology of non-anabranching channels provides higher flow velocities and greater water depths during sustained flow periods, conditions which are more suitable for <em>Thymallus arcticus</em>. This research emphasizes that river ecological restoration strategies should move beyond static channel classification and fully account for the combined effects of morphological structure and hydrological regimes. For species that prefer high-flow environments, the potential benefits and drawbacks of increasing channel complexity must be carefully evaluated across different flow scenarios to enhance the scientific rigor and foresight of habitat management strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107931"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological network construction and resilience optimization of coastal zones in megacity clusters: A case study of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area","authors":"Yilin Huang ,&nbsp;Hui Li ,&nbsp;Yun He ,&nbsp;Qing Xu ,&nbsp;Lixia Liao ,&nbsp;Han Sheng ,&nbsp;Jiaheng Du","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107916","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107916","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coastal zones in rapidly urbanizing regions are increasingly threatened by climate change and human activities, yet conventional static ecological network planning inadequately addresses future dynamic risks. Focusing on the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), we present a resilience-oriented optimization framework that couples dynamic ecosystem-service projections with multi-scenario climate stressors (sea-level rise, storm surges, and pluvial flooding). The framework integrates risk forecasting, spatial optimization, and dual resilience assessment based on complex-network metrics and simulated attack models. Results show that the optimized network substantially improved structural connectivity and functional redundancy: key and important corridors increased by 133.3% and 348.7%, respectively; robustness and redundancy rose by 11% and 30%. Under simulated dynamic attacks, the optimized network tolerated a substantially higher proportion of critical-node failures before functional collapse compared with the pre-optimization network. Our approach demonstrates that incorporating dynamic risk projections into ecological-network planning markedly enhances system resilience and provides transferable spatial solutions for balancing conservation and climate adaptation in densely urbanized coastal regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107916"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digging diversity: Constructed dune lakes support high plant richness but differ compositionally from natural systems","authors":"Michael Straarup ,&nbsp;Jens-Christian Svenning ,&nbsp;Signe Normand ,&nbsp;Tommy Dalgaard","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107935","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107935","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Constructed dune lakes and slacks are increasingly used to restore wetland biodiversity in stabilized European dune landscapes, yet their ecological equivalence to natural systems remains unclear. We surveyed vascular plant communities and water chemistry in 78 dune wetlands in western Jutland, Denmark (39 constructed, 39 natural). Species frequency data were Hellinger-transformed and analyzed with redundancy analysis (RDA), variance partitioning, and mixed models to identify environmental and contextual drivers of community assembly, richness and diversity. Communities in constructed and natural lakes differed significantly (overall RDA: <em>p</em> = 0.001, R²adj = 0.288). pH, total nitrogen (TN), and fine benthic organic matter (FBOM), together with lake origin and area, were the strongest predictors of species composition. Variance partitioning showed a dominant site effect (pure site fraction ≈ 15% of total variance), with smaller but significant pure fractions for environment (∼6%) and lake origin (∼3%), and substantial shared fractions among these components. Generalized linear mixed models indicated that constructed lakes supported higher plant richness and Shannon diversity than natural lakes (richness IRR ≈ 2.5; both <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001). Additionally, diversity increased with lake area and pH and decreased with nitrate; grazing had only marginal effects, likely reflecting low replication. Overall, constructed dune wetlands support diverse but compositionally distinct, early-successional plant species assemblages. Rather than replacing natural systems, they complement them at the landscape scale. Effective restoration should couple water-quality management (especially nitrogen control and pH buffering) with landscape-level planning to address strong site effects and dispersal limitations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107935"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolving soil water replenishment and plant water-use strategies with degradation of restoration materials in vertical greenery systems","authors":"Ye Hu ,&nbsp;Xiangjun Pei ,&nbsp;Xiaochao Zhang ,&nbsp;Guo Chen ,&nbsp;Tao Liu ,&nbsp;Jiale Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107917","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107917","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The ecological restoration of steep destroyed surfaces creates major challenges in ecologically fragile high-altitude regions because of the unknown ecohydrological patterns and restoration mechanisms. In this study, we investigated soil water replenishment and plant water uptake during dew and rain events in the early growth season in two vertical greenery systems restored by organic polymer materials for two and four years. Both restoration sites exhibited a relatively low contribution of dew to soil water, while direct foliar uptake from dew provided 22–25% of plant water during dew events. Compared to dew, rainfall contributed much more to soil water, while plant used only 6–21% of total water from recent rain. These two sites also exhibited some ecohydrological differences over time. In the two-year restoration site, rainwater was retained in the 0–20 cm layer because of interception by organic polymer materials, whereas in the four-year restoration site, rainwater infiltrated deeper (20–40 cm), forming preferential flow pathways and efficient water storage. During rainfall events, plants in the four-year restoration site did not immediately use infiltrated deep rainwater but adopted a more efficient water-use strategy to enhance long-term sustainability. These findings highlight the evolving plant water-use strategies as restoration materials degrade and different hydrological utilization patterns form in dew and rain events in vertical greening systems. Our study provides a theoretical support for the maintenance and irrigation of vertical greenery systems commonly exist in cold plateau areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107917"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oyster settlement is enhanced by confamilial cues, substrate complexity and orientation: A hatchery experiment","authors":"Daniel P. Varley ,&nbsp;Oscar Franken ,&nbsp;Stefan Berner Beltrán ,&nbsp;Tom van Leusden ,&nbsp;Tom Dijkstra ,&nbsp;Tjisse van der Heide ,&nbsp;Ralph J.M. Temmink","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107921","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107921","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biogenic oyster reefs are important structures in marine ecosystems, boosting biodiversity and providing many ecosystem services. However, they have undergone global degradation in recent decades with limited success in restoration. A key bottleneck in oyster restoration is the absence of a suitable settlement substrate. Accordingly, new restoration techniques are needed that provide adequate settlement material for target oyster species. Under hatchery conditions, we experimentally investigated the effects of settlement cues and substrate complexity on the settlement of larvae of the European flat oyster (<em>Ostrea edulis</em>) and of the Pacific oyster (<em>Crassostrea gigas</em>). We found that the presence of fresh shell material of both oyster species in a lime-pozzolan concrete-based substrate positively affected larval settlement of both oyster species compared to substrates containing fresh cockle (<em>Cerastoderma edule</em>) shell material. This highlights a family-specific but not species-specific effect of signalling cues provided by the shell material. Indeed, substrates with oyster shell material deprived of settlement cues by high-temperature exposure (350 °C for four hours), also showed lower settlement than substrates containing fresh oyster shell material. We also found that increased substrate surface complexity boosted Pacific oyster larval settlement, and that oyster larvae of both species preferentially settled on the bottom of horizontal substrate surfaces. Overall, our results show the importance of cue specificity, the complexity of the settlement substrate, and the orientation of the attachment surface. These findings can be used to improve restoration efforts of oyster species in their natural and human-engineered habitats worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107921"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vegetation restoration patterns and soil properties jointly affected the ecosystem multifunctionality in the karst region","authors":"Lihong Lu ,&nbsp;Fuping Zeng ,&nbsp;Zhaoxia Zeng ,&nbsp;Hu Du ,&nbsp;Wenhui Sun ,&nbsp;Xunyang He ,&nbsp;Hao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107915","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107915","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large-scale vegetation restoration has the potential to profoundly impact the ecosystem functions of the Karst region in southwest China. However, most existing studies primarily focused on individual aspects such as nutrient dynamics, water availability, biomass production, lacking comprehensive research on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). We collected 60 soil samples from three typical forest and grassland restoration patterns to investigate how plant restoration patterns influence EMF and soil microbial diversity. Based on correlation analysis and structural equation modeling, we explored the relationships between soil properties (e.g. soil pH, moisture, and microbial diversity in different soil layers) and EMF. The results demonstrate that, compared with the single forest and grass restoration models, the combined forest-grass model enhanced both EMF and the topsoil bacterial diversity. Across the three restoration models, microbial diversity decreased significantly with increasing soil depth, whereas fungal co-occurrence network complexity increased. Structural equation modeling identified soil bacterial co-occurrence network complexity as the key determinant of EMF in both top and subsurface soil layers. Moreover, soil pH, moisture, and microbial diversity affected EMF primarily through their effects on soil bacterial co-occurrence network complexity. Notably, subsurface soil properties explained a greater proportion of the variance in EMF (40%) than did topsoil properties (31%). These findings highlight the importance of multi-species integrated forest-grass restoration in enhancing EMF, while also emphasizing the crucial roles of bacterial co-occurrence network complexity and deeper soil layers in maintaining EMF.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107915"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diagnosing urban ecological vulnerability in multi-mountainous city from a 3D landscape perspective","authors":"Peijia Peng ,&nbsp;Xun Lin ,&nbsp;Yu Bao","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107920","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2026.107920","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In fragile karst mountain cities, the conflict between intense development activities and ecosystem integrity poses significant challenges to sustainable design. Although urban expansion is often studied through two-dimensional landscape patterns, the critical role of three-dimensional spatial structures remains poorly understood, limiting effective ecological engineering interventions. This study focuses on Guiyang's built-up area from 2010 to 2023, establishing a foundation for ecosystem restoration planning by diagnosing ecological vulnerability mechanisms. By integrating the PSR model with spatial analysis techniques (geodetector, bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis, and GTWR), we quantified the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecological vulnerability and elucidated the influence mechanisms of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional landscape patterns. The findings provide actionable insights for ecological engineering practice: (1) From 2010 to 2023, Guiyang's built-up area exhibited a distinct landscape pattern characterized by intensive, orderly development in the core zone and fragmented expansion in peripheral areas. Overall ecological vulnerability intensified, manifesting as a spatiotemporal pattern of expansion from the center to the periphery. (2) Three-dimensional building indicators—BN, BCR, FAR, and BRI—exhibit stronger explanatory power for ecological vulnerability, indicating that vertical urban expansion is the dominant driver of ecological fragility; (3) Natural topography exhibits a double-edged sword effect: contiguous vegetation in complex terrain can serve as natural buffers, while specific topographies in southern and peripheral areas require targeted engineering measures to prevent exacerbating anthropogenic pressures. (4) While two-dimensional landscape patterns are not direct pressure sources, high concentrations of developed land significantly amplify vulnerability. Landscape composition uniformity shows a significant negative correlation with ecological vulnerability, with high-vulnerability zones consistently occurring in overlapping areas of high building density and spatial concentration. The mechanism revealed in this study—“three-dimensional building drivers—two-dimensional pattern regulation—natural topography constraints”—provides a scientific framework for future ecological engineering practices. This framework aims to mitigate ecological vulnerability in karst mountain cities and promote sustainable ecosystem design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"226 ","pages":"Article 107920"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146171871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}