A meandering riverbank plays a vital role in maintaining natural river ecosystems,providing habitats for riparian vegetation.However,dams have significantly altered riverbank shapes.To restore the riparian ecosystems,...A meandering riverbank plays a vital role in maintaining natural river ecosystems,providing habitats for riparian vegetation.However,dams have significantly altered riverbank shapes.To restore the riparian ecosystems,it is imperative to understand how different riverbank curvatures influence them.This study aims to uncover the ecological impacts of riverbank curvature on the structure and assembly process of plant communities in the riparian zone of the Yangtze River,regulated by the Three Gorges Dam(TGD)in China.We categorized the riparian zones into four types:cove,lobe,wavy and linear shapes.We documented the composition and diversity of riparian plant communities.Our findings revealed that wavy and cove riverbanks exhibited greater species diversity(with Shannon–Wiener diversity index values 1.5×higher)compared to communities along linear riverbanks.Furthermore,the analysis of functional traits indicated that wavy riverbanks promoted the differentiation of plant functional traits,thus enhancing ecosystem functions,with functional dispersion index(FDis)values 1.3 times higher than those of linear riverbanks.Significant variations in the assembly of riparian communities were also observed among different riverbanks,with standardized effect size(SES)values indicating a higher degree of niche differentiation in cove riverbanks(SES=0.4)compared to linear riverbanks(SES=–0.6).These results highlight the ecological importance of diverse riverbank curvatures in influencing the diversity,structure and assembly of riparian communities along the waterway.In summary,this study underscores the necessity of maintaining or restoring various natural morphological curvatures when rehabilitating riparian communities along rivers impacted by human activities.展开更多
基金supported by the Comprehensive Ecological Restoration Survey of the Maqu Area in the Zoige Basin(Grant No.DD20243100)Ecological Protection and Restoration Survey in the Dry Valley of the Upper Reaches of Minjiang River(Grant No.DD20220955)+4 种基金Ecological Environment Survey and Ecological Restoration Technology Demonstration in Three Gorges Reservoir Decline Area(Chongqing Section)(Grant No.5000002021BF40001)National Natural Science Foundation of China Supervisory Program(Grant No.42371071)the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology,Doctor Through Train Project(Grant No.sl202100000390)Chongqing Municipality Key Special Project for Technological Innovation and Application Development(Grant No.CSTB2023TIAD-KPX0077)Tibet Shigatse City Science and Technology Plan Project(Grant No.RKZ2021KJ03).
文摘A meandering riverbank plays a vital role in maintaining natural river ecosystems,providing habitats for riparian vegetation.However,dams have significantly altered riverbank shapes.To restore the riparian ecosystems,it is imperative to understand how different riverbank curvatures influence them.This study aims to uncover the ecological impacts of riverbank curvature on the structure and assembly process of plant communities in the riparian zone of the Yangtze River,regulated by the Three Gorges Dam(TGD)in China.We categorized the riparian zones into four types:cove,lobe,wavy and linear shapes.We documented the composition and diversity of riparian plant communities.Our findings revealed that wavy and cove riverbanks exhibited greater species diversity(with Shannon–Wiener diversity index values 1.5×higher)compared to communities along linear riverbanks.Furthermore,the analysis of functional traits indicated that wavy riverbanks promoted the differentiation of plant functional traits,thus enhancing ecosystem functions,with functional dispersion index(FDis)values 1.3 times higher than those of linear riverbanks.Significant variations in the assembly of riparian communities were also observed among different riverbanks,with standardized effect size(SES)values indicating a higher degree of niche differentiation in cove riverbanks(SES=0.4)compared to linear riverbanks(SES=–0.6).These results highlight the ecological importance of diverse riverbank curvatures in influencing the diversity,structure and assembly of riparian communities along the waterway.In summary,this study underscores the necessity of maintaining or restoring various natural morphological curvatures when rehabilitating riparian communities along rivers impacted by human activities.
