{"title":"Enhancing biodiversity on artificial coastlines with eco-engineered rock pools: Evidence from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman","authors":"Amin Afzali, Ali Nasrolahi","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107732","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107732","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coastal urbanization and climate change are driving the rapid expansion of artificial coastal structures worldwide, often at the cost of natural habitats and biodiversity. Eco-engineering approaches offer promising solutions to mitigate these negative impacts, yet remain largely unexplored in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman — regions experiencing both extreme environmental conditions and intensive coastal development. In this study, we assessed the ecological effectiveness of water-retaining structures (rock pools) incorporated into artificial infrastructures at three locations across the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman. Monthly monitoring of 41 water-retaining structures over a year resulted in the identification of 25 taxa, including gastropods, polychaetes, barnacles, and other intertidal species. Rock pools significantly enhanced species richness and abundance compared to emergent surfaces, with local environmental conditions influencing abundance patterns. Repeated measures ANOVA confirmed significant temporal variation, and PERMANOVA analyses revealed clear differences in community structure among locations. Notably, native species dominated the assemblages, suggesting that eco-engineered structures can promote native biodiversity even under highly stressful conditions. Our findings show that integrating rock pools into coastal infrastructure offers essential microhabitats that buffer environmental stressors, increase species diversity, and contribute to ecosystem resilience. This study represents one of the first empirical applications of marine eco-engineering in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, providing important lessons for strategies aimed at more biodiversity-friendly coastal development in arid and tropical environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 107732"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144580281","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":"Changes and driving of ecological environment quality in key ecological restoration projects implement zone in South China Karst","authors":"Min Zhang, Kangning Xiong, Wanmei Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107726","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107726","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ecological environment quality (EEQ) assessment is crucial for ecological management decisions making and coordinating ecological restoration and economic development in ecological restoration areas. As the largest karst contiguous area in the world and a key area for ecological restoration in China, the EEQ status of the South China Karst (SCK) is still unclear, and apply effective of karst remote sensing index (KRSEI) in big scale also dimness. Therefore, this study uses Google Earth Engine (GEE) to construct KRSEI, and uses Mann-Kendall and Hurst to evaluate the past and future trends of EEQ in SCK from 2001 to 2023. Then, using the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to reveal the driving force differences in EEQ between karst and non karst areas. The research results show that: (1) In the past 23 years, ecological restoration projects (ERPs) have effectively improved the EEQ in SCK, with the ecological improvement area accounting for 57.24 % of the total area, of which 68.78 % of the karst area, but it faces the risk of ecological degradation in the future; (2) The EEQ has shown a spatial distribution pattern of “high in the east and low in the west” in SCK, and the spatial accumulation type of “low-low” EEQ is decreasing, and Guizhou Province is the most typical; (3) The direct negative impact of human activities on EEQ is strengthening, and together with the climate, it indirectly weakens its positive effect on EEQ by directly affecting the terrain. This situation is more obvious in the karst region. This study provides a new perspective for the application and promotion of KRSEI on a large scale, and provides feasible suggestions for ERPs decision-making and management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 107726"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144572567","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}
Thales Castilhos de Freitas , Leonardo H. Teixeira , Rinaldo Garcia Júnior , Harry Olde Venterink , Fabrício Alvim Carvalho
{"title":"Assessing nucleation strategies and spatial dynamics in the restoration of neotropical terrestrial ecosystems: A comprehensive review","authors":"Thales Castilhos de Freitas , Leonardo H. Teixeira , Rinaldo Garcia Júnior , Harry Olde Venterink , Fabrício Alvim Carvalho","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107725","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107725","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Neotropical ecosystems have been significantly impacted by agricultural activities and urbanization, causing biodiversity and ecosystem services losses, and requiring extensive restoration efforts. Thus, nucleation strategies appears as a cost-effective restoration method, which promotes ecological succession by establishing vegetation patches that attract fauna and facilitate natural regeneration. Here, we systematically reviewed nucleation techniques applied for Neotropical ecosystems restoration. We assessed the focus and spatial distribution of nucleation in response to stakeholder preferences and land-use types. By examining 58 studies, we identified key aspects of the use of nucleation techniques, emphasizing the need for standardized protocols to optimize nucleation strategies for ecosystem recovery. Overall, 12 nucleation techniques were used in Neotropical ecosystem restoration, with artificial perches, topsoil transfer, seedling islets and brushwood being the most frequent. Stakeholders (i.e., researchers, private sector, and governmental agencies) applied various techniques, with researchers more frequently using multiple and combined techniques. Moreover, we observed that stakeholders and land use affect the spatial patterns of nucleation, whereas their focus only responds to land-use types. Nuclei had an average size of 67.58 m<sup>2</sup> ranging from 0.16 m<sup>2</sup> to 1225 m<sup>2</sup>, and techniques focused on flora and fauna showed the greatest spacing between nuclei. Fauna-related techniques were common across all land uses, and the greatest variety of techniques were used in abandoned pastures, former mining sites and protected areas. Although less frequent, using nucleation techniques in combination can contribute to restoration success by addressing multiple objectives. Research-driven innovation is advancing in this field, but single techniques dominate. Advancing the use of combined techniques and standardizing such practices is essential to scale up and optimize nucleation strategies during restoration efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 107725"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144572569","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":"Response of degraded Populus euphratica architectural variables to ecological engineering project in the lower Tarim River – A meta-analysis","authors":"Tayierjiang Aishan , Qianying Lei , Ümüt Halik , Yangyang Jia , Florian Betz","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107723","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107723","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since its implementation in 2000, the ecological water diversion project (EWDP) has played a pivotal role in rehabilitating degraded desert riparian woodlands in the Tarim River Basin. While an extensive body of peer-reviewed research has objectively quantified the EWDP impacts on <em>Populus euphratica</em> forest regeneration, the predominant reliance on limited tree architectural variables employed in previous studies has constrained deeper understanding of riparian forest-EWDP interactions. This study synthesizes 635 observational datasets extracted from 21 rigorously screened publications searched in Web of Science Core Collection and China Knowledge Network Literature Database (CNKI) through a meta-analytical framework to systematically evaluate EWDP-ecological responses of <em>P. euphratica</em> under varying water management regimes. Our results demonstrate that EWDP significantly enhanced degraded forest recovery metrics, with mean increases of 60.28 % (crown diameter), 6.73 % (radial growth), 8.1 % (branch growth), and 12.81 % (growth ring index), respectively. Multivariate analysis identified dual-channel water diversion as the optimal delivery method, with peak efficacy achieved at annual water allocations of 3 × 10<sup>8</sup> to 6 × 10<sup>8</sup> m<sup>3</sup> during the <em>P. euphratica</em> growing season (minimum 120 days duration). Notably, a 1–2-year lag effect was observed between water delivery initiation and measurable recovery responses. These findings establish an operational threshold for ecological flow releases and highlight the critical need for phenology-driven water scheduling aligned with <em>P. euphratica</em> species' hydraulic requirements. The proposed adaptive water management framework provides critical insights for optimizing water allocation strategies and ecological rehabilitation in arid regions under increasing hydrological uncertainty.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 107723"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570414","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}
Chuxiong Deng , Guangjie Zhang , Yaojun Liu , Yajing Gong , Jiawen Fu
{"title":"Integrating hotspots, trade-offs and bundles to reveal the spatial interactions among four water-related ecosystem services for systematic watershed management","authors":"Chuxiong Deng , Guangjie Zhang , Yaojun Liu , Yajing Gong , Jiawen Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107714","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107714","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China is committed to advancing the integrated governance reform of water resources, water environment, and water ecology (Three Water Integration, TWI), aiming to enhance the effectiveness of systematic watershed management. However, interaction analyses of TWI that rely on static element coupling remain inadequate for comprehensively supporting the demands of systematic watershed management. This study reveals the spatial interactions within TWI by analyzing the cold and hotspots, trade-offs and synergies, and bundles of water-related ecosystem services (WESs), through the dimensions of multifunctionality, correlation, and dominance. The results indicate significant differences in temporal variations, structural ratios, and spatial distributions among the four types of WESs, namely water provisioning, water purification, soil conservation, and flood regulation. Although the hotspots of individual WES exhibit significant spatial heterogeneity, the spatial overlap of multiple WESs hotspots encompasses 23.68 % of the watershed area, thereby identifying multifunctional ecological priority conservation zones. Six distinct trade-off and synergy relationships among WESs are identified, with synergies comprising two-thirds, highlighting their potential to support win-win outcomes in TWI implementation. Four functional areas with distinct dominant WESs are identified, corresponding to the low-level balanced bundle of WESs, the water purification-water provisioning synergy bundle, the soil conservation-water provisioning synergy bundle, and the flood regulation-water provisioning synergy bundle. Through quantitative characterization the spatial interactions of WESs, this study provides a new perspective for the systematic advancement of watershed TWI management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 107714"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144514078","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":"The role of Gala Lake Wetland Site on flood control","authors":"İsmail Bilal Peker , Kaan İlker Demirezen , Saffet Altındağ , Dilek Eren Akyüz , Furkan Atalar , Cevza Melek Kazezyılmaz-Alhan","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107719","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107719","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The negative impacts of climate change and rapid urbanization have led to an increase in flood events globally. Wetlands, as best management practices, play a key role in reducing flood peaks and improving water quality. Despite their significance, many natural wetland sites remain understudied, including the Gala Lake Wetland Site in Edirne, Türkiye, an important biodiversity area providing food and clean water, protecting communities from floods, and mitigating climate change impacts. This study presents a comprehensive and integrated hydrological modeling approach to assess the flood control function of the Gala Lake Wetland by coupling the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Environmental Protection Agency's Storm Water Management Model (EPA SWMM) supported with field observations. This integrated modeling framework contributes to the understanding of the hydrological behavior of basin-lake-wetland system by combining basin-scale rainfall-runoff simulation with detailed hydrological analysis of wetland site at the subbasin level, and by showing the EPA SWMM capability in representing wetland site characteristics and simulating wetland hydrology. First, a site investigation of the wetland site was conducted to support model development. Then, SWAT was employed to simulate the hydrological response of the Gala Lake Watershed. Subsequently, a detailed hydrological model of the subbasin involving the wetland-lake system was generated using EPA SWMM and incorporating field observations. The SWAT-simulated outflow was used as the inflow boundary condition for the EPA SWMM model, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of the wetland's flood attenuation performance. Results demonstrate that the Gala Lake Wetland significantly reduces peak flows by up to 90 % emphasizing its critical role in natural flood mitigation. This study contributes to the limited research on the Gala Lake Wetland and proposes a holistic approach for wetland flood control assessments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 107719"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144518004","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}
Jiewei Zhan , Zhaowei Yao , Yanjun Shen , Da Huang , Zhaoyue Yu , Jianbing Peng
{"title":"Sediment transport evolution and impact on vegetation recovery in the Hanping village landslide–debris flow disaster chain in Shaanxi, China","authors":"Jiewei Zhan , Zhaowei Yao , Yanjun Shen , Da Huang , Zhaoyue Yu , Jianbing Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107718","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107718","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The landslide–debris flow disaster chain, as a severe mode of slope material transport, significantly impacts regional geomorphological evolution and ecosystems. To better understand the long-term effects of sediment dynamics in the landslide–debris flow disaster chain, this study took the Hanping village landslide–debris flow disaster chain as a case study. By combining field investigations with dynamic simulations, the formation and evolutionary process of the disaster chain was reconstructed. A multisource remote sensing observation scheme integrating unmanned aerial vehicle and satellite remote sensing data was subsequently developed, which further revealed the characteristics of sediment transport and vegetation recovery over a prolonged postdisaster period. Our findings indicate that the formation and evolution of the disaster chain can be divided into four stages: landslide instability, landslide–debris flow transition, debris flow transport, and debris flow deposition. The transformation mechanism of the disaster chain is driven by the blockage failure effect at the bedrock narrows, followed by collision-induced disintegration that reduces particle size and increases water content. The deposits formed during different stages of the dynamic process exhibit significant compositional differences. Multisource remote sensing observations revealed significant spatiotemporal variations, with postdisaster deformation concentrated in channels and depositional regions. The time series deformation results further indicated that surface runoff induced by heavy rainfall exacerbated sediment transport, leading to notable deformation anomalies, with different material compositions exhibiting distinct transport patterns. Postdisaster monitoring revealed a significant increase in vegetation recovery, with an 80 % increase in vegetation area in the two years after the disaster (April 2022–March 2024). The proportion of areas with good recovery increased from 18.52 % to 41.34 % between 2022 and 2023. Moreover, a generalized feedback mechanism model describing sediment transport and vegetation recovery in landslide–debris flow disaster chains was proposed. This study, from a disaster evolutionary perspective, innovatively integrates numerical simulation with multisource remote sensing techniques to reveals the relationship between sediment transport and vegetation recovery, providing a foundation for ecological recovery efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 107718"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144501342","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}
Laura H. Härkönen , Antti Taskinen , Olga Tammeorg , Anna-Lena Granlund-Blomfelt
{"title":"Long-term water quality responses to sediment removal in a small, shallow, urban lake","authors":"Laura H. Härkönen , Antti Taskinen , Olga Tammeorg , Anna-Lena Granlund-Blomfelt","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107715","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107715","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sediment removal is a promising strategy for lake restoration that potentially provides long-lasting water quality improvement by directly tackling the source of internal phosphorus (P) loading. However, more studies evaluating the longevity of intervention results are needed to viably assess the method's restoration performance. We used long-term data to evaluate the water quality impacts of sediment removal in small, shallow Lake Gallträsk in southern Finland, where sediment removal by suction dredging was conducted in 2009–2011. The top 50–100 cm of surface sediment was removed from 18 % of the lake's total area to increase the lake depth for recreational purposes. Data before and after sediment removal were analyzed using a combination of structural break and interrupted time series analyses. Our results revealed a significant reduction in the water column P concentration after sediment removal, suggesting that lake recovery from past loading was substantially promoted by the intervention. Additionally, suspended solid concentration reduced after sediment removal, enabling favorable conditions for submerged macrophyte recolonization. Water color and chemical oxygen demand increased after the intervention, possibly due to both internal and external drivers. Nitrogen (N), in turn, was not unaffected by the sediment removal, and the N/P ratio subsequently increased. The long-term changes in water quality and submerged macrophyte abundance after suction dredging have resulted in the absence of harmful algal blooms. Our results demonstrate that sediment removal can enable the long-term recovery of lakes from legacy P loading and act as a powerful measure to mitigate eutrophication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 107715"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144501343","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}
Nusrat Ahmad, Mansoor Ahmad Malik, Abdul Hamid Wani, Mohd Yaqub Bhat
{"title":"Baseline study of soil and rhizospheric fungi for the conservation of threatened medicinal plants in Kashmir Himalaya","authors":"Nusrat Ahmad, Mansoor Ahmad Malik, Abdul Hamid Wani, Mohd Yaqub Bhat","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107717","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoleng.2025.107717","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>One of the key elements of the environment that influences how plants grow and develop is the soil and soil testing is one of the chemical methods used to assess the appropriateness of vital nutrients. In this study, a total of twenty composite rhizospheric soil samples were collected from different surveyed areas such as Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Daksum, and Kashmir University Botanical Garden (KUBG) and were analyzed for the fungal association and physiochemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, salinity, soil moisture, organic carbon, and macronutrients (P, K, N) with the medicinal plants <em>Valeriana jatamonsi</em> Jones<em>, Lavatera cashmeriana</em> L<em>.,</em> and <em>Artemisia absinthium</em> L. Results revealed that twenty-eight fungi were found associated with rhizosphere of these plants and showed significant variation across different surveyed sites and seasons. Likewise, chemical parameters such as soil pH, electrical conductivity, salinity, soil moisture, organic carbon, Phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen also showed significant variation which directly affected the fungal diversity associated with these plants. While soil samples from high-land soils (such as Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Daksum) were acidic, those from low- land soils (KUBG) were neutral to slightly alkaline. Every soil had a high level of organic carbon and a medium level of potassium, phosphorus, and accessible nitrogen. The Kashmir Valley is home to a wide variety of medicinal plants, but little is known about the fungi that are associated with these plants. Therefore, the present study was done in order to better understand the mechanism of native mycoflora's role, which is essential in regulating the microbial host relationship, improving soil structure, increasing plant stress tolerance, improving nutrient and water uptake, aiding in nutrient cycling, and physiology of the target plant species in a particular soil environment. Also, the current study may serve as a baseline for the artificial cultivation and protection of the tested endangered medicinal plants by applying the correct soil amendments in the near future. The study will address the critical identification of soil fungi associated with other medicinal plants and some of the new fungi can be used for their antibiotic or antibacterial properties against pathogenic fungi.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11490,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Engineering","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 107717"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144501344","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}