Research On The Conservation Of Wild And Scenic Rivers Based On The Spatial Distribution Characteristics And Representation Extraction

As an important ecosystem,rivers not only nourish terrestrial life,but also undertake material production functions such as water energy development and navigation.However,as the human’s ability to transform and utilise rivers has increased,the ecological problems caused by over-exploitation of rivers are becoming increasingly evident.The wild and scenic rivers conservation system is an important initiative of developed countries such as the United States that have turned to river protection after large-scale river development.It was born out of the wave of opposition to damming,and protects natural rivers or river sections that are still in a certain freeflowing state and have superior scenic,cultural,recreational and other outstanding values.In the context of China’s recent proposal “protecting the Yangtze River economic zone without engaging in large-scale development” and to follow the path of“green development”,it is important to study the conservation of wild and scenic rivers in order to expand the path of river conservation in China.However,there is currently only a common descriptive definition of wild and scenic rivers internationally,and more in-depth research is needed on which rivers in China can be recognised as wild and scenic rivers and what characteristics they have.There are no conservation initiatives for wild and scenic rivers in China,but rather a large number of protected areas containing rivers that actually perform the function of protecting wild and scenic rivers.In this study,504 national protected areas,which are dominated by wild and scenic rivers,were selected as an entry point.The river segments within these protected areas are largely representative of the protected wild and scenic rivers at the national level,compared to the conservation practices of the United States and other countries.After obtaining the location data of the abstract point units of these protected wild and scenic river segments,this research quantifies the value characteristics and spatial distribution characteristics of protected wild and scenic river segments under the existing protected areas system,based on the physical geographic representations of ecological zoning,river basins and vegetation cover,the socioeconomic representations of provincial administrative units,population density and major urban areas,and the results of others’ research on the distribution of river disturbance at the national scale.The study identifies conservation voids in the values and spatial characteristics of 504 protected wild and scenic rivers,and proposes general conservation measures and recommendations based on these voids and the conservation experiences of other countries.The study also extracts the representational factors of wild and scenic rivers from the spatial distribution patterns of protected wild and scenic rivers.These representational factors can help refine the understanding of the characteristics of wild and scenic rivers in China.They can also be used to roughly identify priority areas and potential river sections for wild and scenic rivers conservation.The study concludes with the selection of the Daqing River Basin as an empirical case study,where the representational factors are used to analyse the Daqing River Basin.The study identifies the priority areas for the protection of wild and scenic rivers in the Daqing River Basin,examines the effectiveness of the application of the representational factors through field research,and proposes specific measures for the conservation of wild and scenic rivers in the Daqing River Basin.This study explores the current conservation status,distribution patterns and representational factors of wild and scenic rivers in China from the perspective of the existing natural protected areas system.It may provide a useful addition to existing research on the conservation of wild and scenic rivers in China.