Research
| Title： | Habitat Degradation and Its Key Indicators in Subtropical Rivers Under Urbanization in Shenzhen, China: Implications for Rehabilitation |
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| First author： | Li, Wenting; Gao, Wenqi; Lu, Ying; Qu, Xiao; Xin, Wei; Wang, Weimin; Tang, Lizhou; Chen, Yushun |
| Journal： | AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS |
| Years： | 2025 |
| DOI： | 10.1002/aqc.70219 |
| Abstract： | Habitat is less studied in subtropical rivers under rapid basin human development. We assessed river habitat quality (RHQ) in both urbanized and forested river basins in Shenzhen, the rapidly urbanized region with the fastest economic development in China. RHQ assessments were conducted in both wet (August) and dry (November) seasons of 2019 from a total of 61 sites: Maozhou River (urbanized, n = 11), Guanlan River (urbanized, n = 13), Shenzhen River (urbanized, n = 13), Pingshan River (forested, n = 12) and Dapeng Bay River (forested, n = 12). We used generalized additive models to detect relationships between urban intensity and RHQ, and principal components analysis to identify key indicators influencing RHQ. We found that scores of overall RHQ and most habitat indicators were significantly lower in urbanized basins than those in forested basins. Human activity intensity, vegetation diversity and riparian land use patterns were identified as key indicators affecting RHQ. Urban intensity had significantly negative relationships with overall RHQ and many of its indicators. This study enhances our understanding of the impacts of urbanization on river habitat, which has implications for the rehabilitation of subtropical rivers affected by urbanization. |
