“…However, most studies in the literature have focused on the development of the methods for ESN identification, reconstruction, and optimization (Hu et al, 2018;Kong et al, 2010;Shen, Wang, & Fu, 2014;Shi et al, 2020;Xie, Zhou, & Guan, 2014;Yin et al, 2011;Zhang, Yang, & Fath, 2010). A few studies have dealt with spatial and temporal evolution and systematic assessment of the constructed ESNs (Fan & Yang, 2019;Wang et al, 2020;Yu et al, 2018;Zhou, Lin, Ma, Qi, & Yan, 2020). In China, assessing the constructed ESNs is still at the exploratory stage by using landscape pattern index or traditional network structure index of graph theory (Liu et al, 2019;Pascual-Hortal & Saura, 2006), apparently lacking a systematic evaluation index system based on the complex network theory.…”