Jiang et al. (2025) Retention-driven water flow regulation: A network perspective

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Environmental Management
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-01
• Authors: Xuan Jiang, Jinsong Zhao, Zhiwen Cai, Jiating Li, Jian Wang, Ling Wang, Xiaolu Li, R. Hao, Shuxia Yu, Zhihua Shi
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128161

Research Groups

• State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Health and Green Remediation, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China

Short Summary

This study develops a network-based framework to conceptualize water retention as a time-spanning flow network, distinguishing three time-structured pathways and quantifying their contributions to hydrological regulatory functions. Applied to the Gongshui Watershed, the framework demonstrates that ecosystem retention significantly dampens hydrological variability and enhances dry-season water security, with connectivity maintenance pathways substantially improving water supply accessibility.

Objective

• To develop and apply a network-based framework that conceptualizes water retention as a time-spanning flow network to understand its structural functions in sustaining hydrological regulatory stability and quantify the contributions of different time-structured pathways to key regulatory functions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Gongshui Watershed, China
• Temporal Scale: 30 years (1990–2019)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Network-based framework integrating Input-Output Analysis with Ecological Network Analysis.
• Data sources: Not explicitly detailed, but implied to be hydrological data for the Gongshui Watershed over the specified period.

Main Results

• Ecosystem retention substantially dampened hydrological variability in the Gongshui Watershed.
• In 2019, coefficients of variation for evapotranspiration and socioeconomic water supply were 46.6 % and 13.9 % lower than that of precipitation, respectively, indicating enhanced flow stability.
• Retention enhanced dry-season water security, with the socioeconomic water accessibility index in the driest month decreasing from 3.43 in 1990 to 2.90 in 2015, reflecting easier access to water.
• Contemporaneous supply pathways accounted for approximately 30 % of the annual socioeconomic water supply.
• Connectivity maintenance pathways contributed an additional 16.3 % on average, and up to 53.7 %, to water supply accessibility in the driest month.
• These pathways also supported roughly 20 % of system resilience by maintaining temporal connectivity.

Contributions

• Presents a novel network-based framework that conceptualizes water retention as a time-spanning flow network, explicitly linking fast and slow-release processes.
• Distinguishes and quantifies the contributions of three time-structured pathways (contemporaneous supply, lagged supply, and connectivity maintenance) to key regulatory functions.
• Provides a scalable tool for adaptive water management and long-term planning by explicitly linking time-specific contributions to regulatory functions, addressing a gap in understanding the structural functions of retention.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Jiang2025Retentiondriven,
  author = {Jiang, Xuan and Zhao, Jinsong and Cai, Zhiwen and Li, Jiating and Wang, Jian and Wang, Ling and Li, Xiaolu and Hao, R. and Yu, Shuxia and Shi, Zhihua},
  title = {Retention-driven water flow regulation: A network perspective},
  journal = {Journal of Environmental Management},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128161},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128161}
}