Integrating two aspects analysis of hydrological connectivity based on structure and process to support muddy coastal restoration

Interconnection among River Flow Levels, Sediments Loads and Tides Conditions and Its Effect on the Coastal Wetlands Reduction

“…In general, connectivity in these ecosystems is defined by characteristics of the physical landscape, climate, biota, and human impacts. The last one has partially restricted or completely obstructed tidally-driven aquatic habitats in coastal areas due to human developments (reclamation, species invasion, and environmental pollution), and infrastructure [18]. Thus, many coastal habitats have been disappearing because there is not enough space for inland movements.…”

“…Thus, many coastal habitats have been disappearing because there is not enough space for inland movements. It is not only a longitudinal consideration, but it also requires studying the lateral and vertical movement since the first links ditches and floodplains, and the second the surface and subsurface [18]. It is important to contemplate the three of them in order to achieve good projects of maintenance or adaptation of these areas.…”

“…Leibowitz et al [16] identified the proportion of the material from (or reduced by) streams and wetlands, the residence time of the material in the downstream water; and the relative importance of the material to river function or ecosystem services as the main factor that influences at the material and energy fluxes from streams, and wetlands downstream. As connectivity can be defined as the degree to which components of a system are connected and interact through various transport mechanisms, it varies over time and space, and there are several methods to characterize or quantify it at the watershed scale, such as field hydrological monitoring, hydrological models, connectivity index, remote sensing approach (e.g., LIDAR data or aerial imagery) and graph theory [18]. Park and Latrubesse [19] used remote sensing to map the seasonal water extent and quality variabilities.…”

A new framework combining hydrological connectivity metrics and morphological spatial pattern analysis for the hydrological connectivity evaluation of wetlands

“…However, few hydrological connectivity assessments have integrated functional and structural connectivity into a unified evaluation framework (Y. Li, Xu, et al, 2021; Najafi et al, 2021). Moreover, owing to the lack of comprehensive evaluation results of wetland hydrological connectivity, it is difficult to propose effective spatial strategies to optimize wetland landscape patterns.…”