Enhancing river water quality in different seasons through management of landscape patterns at various spatial scales

Landscape patterns have a great effect on river water quality. However, the strategies for enhancing water quality through landscape pattern management remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to provide effective guidance for water quality management by quantifying the key spatial scales and landscape metrics that influence the seasonal variations in water quality and establishing threshold relationships between these metrics and abrupt variations in water quality in the Chaohu Lake basin, China. Results discovered that water quality was poorer in summer and better in spring, with degraded water conditions primarily concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the watershed. The 100 m riparian zone buffer scale landscape pattern was identified as the key scale affecting water quality in the summer, which accounted for 51.3% of the overall water quality variation. Furthermore, abrupt threshold analysis indicated that summer water quality could be effectively improved by maintaining the proportion and largest patch index of construction land within the 100 m riparian buffer below 22.0%. At the sub-basin scale, landscape pattern-based water quality management was most effective in spring, explaining 43.6% of the variation in water quality. Setting the largest patch index of construction land at the subbasin scale below 43.0% and increasing the proportion of forest cover above 36.0% can also alleviate water pollution issues. These findings emphasize the importance of incorporating landscape patterns across scales into environment management decisions, providing a scientific basis for effective watershed water quality management.