Research on Restoration Design of Riparian Landscape in Mountainous Cities in Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River: A Case Study of Chongqing Downtown

Among the mountainous cities along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, complex environmental challenges including complicated terrains and hydrological processes, material and structural instability, and habitat degradation have led to a serious decline in major functions of the riparian landscape in terms of ecological buffering, biodiversity conservation, and amenities for recreation. This research chooses the riparian landscape of the Yangtze River in downtown Chongqing as the subject. In view of its ecological characteristics and environmental challenges, it proposes three restoration strategies: 1) Selection of resilient plant species for circling-layer structure adapting to complex water level changes; 2) Multi-layered ecological planting for the slope revetment; 3) “Vegetation-sediment-microtopography” integrated design for floodplain ecosystem. It carries out practical restoration of Jiulongwaitan riparian landscape in Chongqing downtown, while conducting quantitative investigations on the structure and diversity changes of the riparian vegetation. The results reveal that the restored riparian landscape presents a visually attractive ecological appearance, the plant community diversity is gradually increased, and the landscape resilience and its ecosystem services are continuously optimized over time. This research can provide a scientific guidance and application paradigm for ecological restoration in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and resilient riparian landscape construction in mountainous cities.