Ecology of China's pilot cities for creating healthy aquatic communities: Heterogeneity, niches and environmental factors

Abstract

Globally, climate change and human activities have greatly stressed the health of water ecological communities (WECs) in cities, and WEC restoration is therefore a critical issue, especially for developing cities. To restore healthy WECs and support humans into the future, the Ministry of Water Resources, China, proposed a project to build cities with healthy WECs. Jinan was designated the first pilot city for this project. The exploration of methodologies on WEC restoration in pilot cities is important because it can provide reliable theoretical evidence and methodological references for researchers and managers, and serve as an important decision-making basis for ecological resources management and remediation of fresh waters. In this Research Front, we have brought together studies on aquatic ecosystems of the first pilot cities project to build healthy WECs in China, including studies on the health, temporospatial heterogeneity and niches of WECs, as well as environmental factors. These studies can significantly increase our understanding of the ecology of the aquatic systems in China's pilot cities. It is anticipated that this ecosystem knowledge will help assess the effects of climate-And human-induced stress changes, and form the basis for making aquatic ecosystem protection and restoration decisions across the globe.