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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Efficacy of Wetlands on Urban River
Water Quality: A Case Study of
Pudong New Area, Shanghai
1
School of Energy and Environment Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
2
Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education,
Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
3
Key Laboratory of Green Biomass Energy and Platform Compounds, Yunnan Provincial Department of Education,
Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
4
Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China
Submission date: 2025-07-06
Final revision date: 2025-12-03
Acceptance date: 2026-01-27
Online publication date: 2026-03-23
Jingxin Huang
School of Energy and Environment Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
School of Energy and Environment Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
Chen Yubao
School of Energy and Environment Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
School of Energy and Environment Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, PR China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Urban wetlands provide essential ecological services but are highly threatened by rapid
urbanization. Urban river water quality is markedly influenced by seasonal dynamics and extensive
anthropogenic activities. This study evaluates the role of wetlands in improving urban river water quality
in the Pudong New Area by considering key water quality parameters (pH, DO, NH3-N, BOD5,
COD, TP, and TN) across multiple river and adjacent wetland sites from June 2023 to May 2024.
The Water Quality Index (WQI) classified urban river water as “Unsafe” (WQI: 119-123) during
summer, mainly due to elevated nutrient inputs from domestic and industrial discharges. In contrast,
wetland sites demonstrated “Excellent” water quality (WQI: 8.47-57.9) across all seasons. Compared
with river sites, wetlands exhibited substantial reductions in NH3-N by 47.9-54.8%, BOD5 by
48.0-61.1%, TP by 72.3-77.3%, and TN by 77.0-80.1%, indicating their strong pollutant mitigation and
nutrient removal capacity. The seasonal rise in nutrient concentrations during summer was attributed
to hydrological fluctuations and intensified anthropogenic inputs. Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
exhibited widespread seasonal associations among selected water quality parameters, showing that
nutrients and organic pollutants determined by anthropogenic activities contributed significantly to
water quality variability. Overall, the results show that rapid urbanization markedly degrades river water
quality, while wetlands represent effective nutrient reducers, which stabilize ecosystem conditions.
The current study emphasizes the importance of wetlands in mitigating eutrophication risks and improving urban water quality, proposing valuable insights for policymakers aiming to implement
nature-based reforms in rapidly developing regions like Pudong New Area.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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