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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Exploring the spatiotemporal effects of urban scale and urban vitality on S&D balance in the Yangtze River Delta, China from 2015 to 2025
ClearEffects of Urbanization on Landscape Patterns in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Region
This remote sensing study analyzed how urbanization changed land use and landscape patterns in the middle Yangtze River region of China over several decades. Rapid urbanization replaced natural vegetation with impervious surfaces, reducing ecosystem services like water filtration. Urban expansion is closely linked to increases in plastic consumption and microplastic pollution in adjacent water bodies.
Recognizing resilience evolution and connectivity in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration
This is not a microplastics research paper; it is an urban planning and infrastructure study examining how resilience has evolved across 41 cities in China's Yangtze River Delta using complex network theory and the pressure-state-response model.
A Framework to Identify Priority Areas for Restoration: Integrating Human Demand and Ecosystem Services in Dongting Lake Eco-Economic Zone, China
Researchers developed a framework integrating human demand and ecosystem services to identify priority restoration areas in the Dongting Lake Eco-Economic Zone, enabling more targeted and beneficial ecological restoration planning.
Evaluation of the Spatiotemporal Change of Ecological Quality under the Context of Urban Expansion—A Case Study of Typical Urban Agglomerations in China
Researchers tracked changes in ecological quality across three major urban areas in China over two decades of rapid urbanization. They found that urban expansion significantly reduced ecological quality in surrounding areas, with the most severe impacts occurring in newly developed zones. The study provides a framework for monitoring how urbanization affects local ecosystems using remote sensing data.
The Urban River Syndrome: Achieving Sustainability Against a Backdrop of Accelerating Change
This review examines the Urban River Syndrome -- the cumulative degradation of rivers from millennia of human activity -- and explores frameworks for achieving sustainability in urban river management against a backdrop of accelerating environmental change.
Urbanization and the Emerging Water Crisis: Identifying Water Scarcity and Environmental Risk with Multiple Applications in Urban Agglomerations in Western China
Researchers developed a comprehensive index system to evaluate water scarcity and environmental risk across three major urban regions in Western China. They found that rapid urbanization has significantly worsened water resource shortages and ecological vulnerability in these areas. The study provides a framework for understanding how urban growth intensifies water stress and suggests approaches for sustainable water resource management.
Study on the influence of industrial structure optimization on water environment and economy: A case study of Changzhou city
Researchers used an EE-SBM-DEA model to classify industries in Changzhou city by environmental performance and then simulated industrial restructuring using coupled 0-D and MIKE11 hydrodynamic models, finding that optimising the industrial structure could increase water environment capacity for key pollutants including COD, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus in overloaded canals.
From headwaters to receiving waters: river dynamics in an increasingly urban world
This paper is not about microplastics; it synthesizes research on river dynamics from headwaters to receiving waters in urban environments, covering hydrological, ecological, and restoration topics.
Transdisciplinary, Co-Designed and Adaptive Management for the Sustainable Development of Rongcheng, a Coastal City in China in the Context of Human Activities and Climate Change
A transdisciplinary adaptive management framework was developed for sustainable coastal city development in Rongcheng, China, integrating ecological, social, and climate change considerations into a co-designed governance approach. The study demonstrates how systems thinking can guide coastal city management to balance economic growth with environmental resilience.
Relationships between microplastic pollution and land use in the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River
Researchers analyzed the relationship between land use patterns and microplastic pollution across 26 monitoring sites in the Yangtze River's Chongqing section. They found that microplastic concentrations were highest in urban areas and declined downstream, and that pollution levels dropped approximately 7.5-fold between 2016 and 2020, likely due to improved waste management. The study suggests that the amount of surrounding urban and garden land strongly predicts river microplastic levels, highlighting the connection between city planning and water quality.
Causes and consequences of tipping points in river delta social–ecological systems
This systematic review examines how cascading effects across anthropogenic, ecological, and geophysical processes trigger tipping points in river delta social-ecological systems, generally enhancing economic development at the expense of environmental sustainability. While not specifically about microplastics, the framework illustrates how cumulative environmental stressors — including pollution — push deltas toward collapse or transformation.
Spatiotemporal changes in land use and residential satisfaction in the Huai River-Gaoyou Lake Rim area
Researchers used two decades of satellite data to track land use changes and ecological risks in China's Jiangsu Province, focusing on shifts between agricultural, urban, and wetland areas. Land use changes alter how plastic waste and microplastics are transported and deposited in freshwater ecosystems.
Multiple Pollutants from Crop and Livestock Production in the Yangtze River: Status and Challenges
Researchers examined multiple agricultural pollutants -- including chemical fertilizers, organophosphorus pesticides, and plastic waste -- in the Yangtze River Basin, finding that intensified cash crop and livestock production is driving water quality degradation and threatening Agriculture Green Development goals.
Sustainable water resources development and management in large river basins: an introduction
Researchers introduced a thematic issue on sustainable water resource management across four major Asian and African river basins — the Yellow, Yangtze, Indus, and Nile — summarizing water quality challenges and outlining research priorities for balancing human development needs with long-term water security.
Early Warning and Joint Regulation of Water Quantity and Quality in the Daqing River Basin
Researchers developed a dynamic water quantity and quality simulation model for the Daqing River Basin in China, finding that reducing ammonia-nitrogen emissions by 38–85% and maintaining minimum base flows could bring the river's water quality up to standard under extreme flood scenarios.
Impacts of surface water interchange between urban rivers and fish ponds in Chu river of Nanjing, China: A potential cause of greenhouse gas emissions
This study found that surface water exchange between urban fish ponds and rivers in Nanjing, China affects greenhouse gas emissions from both water bodies, with implications for managing both water quality and climate impacts from urban aquaculture.
Under Pressure: Environmental Stressors in Urban Ecosystems and Their Ecological and Social Consequences on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being
This review synthesized current knowledge on seven major urban environmental stressors—including air pollution, water degradation, and microplastics—and their ecological and social consequences for urban ecosystems. It highlighted how these pressures interact to threaten biodiversity and human well-being in cities.
Evaluation of plateau wetland ecological security and its influencing factors in multi-climatic zones: A case study of Yunnan Province
Not a microplastics paper — this study assesses the ecological security of plateau wetlands across Yunnan Province, China using a pressure-state-response model based on remote sensing data, identifying climate and human activity as key threats to these fragile ecosystems.
Water quality's responses to water energy variability of the Yangtze River
Researchers used MIKE21 hydrodynamic-water quality models for the Yangtze River to study how river energy influences pollutant-carrying capacity and water quality. The models achieved average relative errors of 5.17-8.37%, quantifying how flow variability affects the distribution of water quality parameters.
Interventions of river network structures on urban aquatic microplastic footprint from a connectivity perspective
Researchers analyzed how urban river network structures influence microplastic distribution in Nanjing, China, finding that river connectivity patterns significantly affect the spatial variability of microplastic footprints in urban waterways.
Microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River Basin: Heterogeneity of abundances and characteristics in different environments
Researchers compiled microplastic data from 624 sampling sites across the Yangtze River Basin covering water, sediment, soil, and biota, revealing heterogeneous contamination patterns driven by local land use, population density, and wastewater infrastructure.
How to Make Cities Get across “The Valley of Death”? Exploring the Ecological Index System and Index Correlation of Green Cities
This paper examines how cities can navigate ecological security challenges from climate change and unexpected disasters by implementing green urban development strategies. The analysis of urban ecological security frameworks informs the design of more resilient cities that can simultaneously address environmental pollution and climate adaptation.
Environmental fate of microplastics in the world's third-largest river: Basin-wide investigation and microplastic community analysis
Researchers conducted a basin-wide investigation of microplastics throughout the entire Yangtze River system, sampling water, sediment, and soil. The study found microplastics in all samples with abundance increasing from upstream to downstream, driven by both geographical and human factors, with major cities at the middle and lower reaches identified as key pollution nodes.
What Determines the Future Ecological Risks of Wastewater Discharges in River Networks: Load, Location or Climate Change?
Researchers developed a systematic framework for assessing future ecological risks from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents in river networks by combining plant size class as a proxy for pollutant load with stream order as a proxy for discharge location, applying it under climate change scenarios to show that streamflow reduction in receiving rivers will significantly worsen ecological risk even without increases in pollutant loads.