Sustainable Development of City River Network Structural Connectivity and Functions: Integrating the River Ecological Sensitivity Index

Sustainable Development of City River Network Structural Connectivity and Functions: Integrating the River Ecological Sensitivity Index | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sustainable Development of City River Network Structural Connectivity and Functions: Integrating the River Ecological Sensitivity Index Haibo Yang, Fan Wu, Tianji Dong, Fei Chen, Zheng Duan, Lan Feng, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938165/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Water Resources Management → Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Urbanization has greatly accelerated the degradation of river systems, a trend likely to intensify in the future. While extensive research has examined the historical impacts of urbanization on river morphology, less attention has been paid to the present-day sustainability of river network structural connectivity and functions. To fill this gap, this study applies the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model in Guangdong Province to characterize spatial competition between ecological conservation and urban expansion. A River Ecological Sensitivity Index is derived from river buffer zones and incorporated into a complex network framework to adjust edge weights, allowing simulations of potential structural and functional changes in the current river network under a coordinated land-use expansion scenario. In addition, a conservation-priority scenario is simulated to evaluate its capacity to sustain and optimize network functionality. The results show that: (1) highly sensitive segments are concentrated in the Pearl River Delta but remain scattered in other regions; (2) high-sensitivity river segments are concentrated in urban agglomerations, while low-sensitivity segments are mainly distributed in suburban areas; (3) the current river network is dominated by nodes of degree 1 and 3, while coordinated expansion reduces level-4 closeness centrality nodes by 9.74% and increases level-1 connectivity nodes by 12.73%; (4) without proactive conservation, Guangdong’s network functionality will decline—protecting 24% of highly sensitive segments is sufficient to maintain ecological and water-supply functions, while 32% is required to secure flood control capacity. These findings provide practical insights for guiding urban river governance and advancing sustainable development. Graphic abstract Urbanization River network structural connectivity River network function Sustainability Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Water Resources Management → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 05 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Dec, 2025 Editor invited by journal 10 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 27 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 26 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7938165","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":557660814,"identity":"50ee4881-d74e-4bc4-aaad-e2f856042a43","order_by":0,"name":"Haibo 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Index","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"water-resources-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"warm","sideBox":"Learn more about [Water Resources Management](https://www.springer.com/journal/11269)","snPcode":"11269","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11269/3","title":"Water Resources Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Urbanization, River network structural connectivity, River network function, Sustainability","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938165/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938165/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eUrbanization has greatly accelerated the degradation of river systems, a trend likely to intensify in the future. While extensive research has examined the historical impacts of urbanization on river morphology, less attention has been paid to the present-day sustainability of river network structural connectivity and functions. To fill this gap, this study applies the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model in Guangdong Province to characterize spatial competition between ecological conservation and urban expansion. A River Ecological Sensitivity Index is derived from river buffer zones and incorporated into a complex network framework to adjust edge weights, allowing simulations of potential structural and functional changes in the current river network under a coordinated land-use expansion scenario. In addition, a conservation-priority scenario is simulated to evaluate its capacity to sustain and optimize network functionality. The results show that: (1) highly sensitive segments are concentrated in the Pearl River Delta but remain scattered in other regions; (2) high-sensitivity river segments are concentrated in urban agglomerations, while low-sensitivity segments are mainly distributed in suburban areas; (3) the current river network is dominated by nodes of degree 1 and 3, while coordinated expansion reduces level-4 closeness centrality nodes by 9.74% and increases level-1 connectivity nodes by 12.73%; (4) without proactive conservation, Guangdong\u0026rsquo;s network functionality will decline\u0026mdash;protecting 24% of highly sensitive segments is sufficient to maintain ecological and water-supply functions, while 32% is required to secure flood control capacity. These findings provide practical insights for guiding urban river governance and advancing sustainable development.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"ASec1\" class=\"AbstractSection\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003eGraphic abstract\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Sustainable Development of City River Network Structural Connectivity and Functions: Integrating the River Ecological Sensitivity Index","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-15 09:05:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7938165/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revisions","date":"2026-02-05T10:57:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2026-01-12T15:54:39+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-09T13:32:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Water Resources Management","date":"2025-11-10T13:59:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-10-27T10:09:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Water Resources Management","date":"2025-10-26T09:55:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"water-resources-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"warm","sideBox":"Learn more about [Water Resources Management](https://www.springer.com/journal/11269)","snPcode":"11269","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11269/3","title":"Water Resources Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"fc07d818-9d2a-49de-9334-afc0c21f9ecc","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-27T16:02:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7938165","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-026-04618-y","journal":{"identity":"water-resources-management","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Water Resources Management"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-20 15:58:46","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 20th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-15 09:05:32","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s11269-026-04618-y","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-026-04618-y","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7938165","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7938165","identity":"rs-7938165","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}