[A river stretch scale assessment of urban river habitat in the Taihu Lake Basin].

Under the background of rapid urbanization, the degradation of urban river water environment and ecological function in the Taihu Lake Basin has become increasingly prominent. Consequently, it is particularly important to systematically assess urban river habitat. This study referred to and corrected the British Urban River Survey evaluation system. Based on the characte-ristics of urban rivers in the Taihu Lake Basin, we established the evaluation system of stretch habitat quality index (SHQI) of urban river stretches and analyzed the urban river habitat status and spatial variation in the Taihu Lake Basin. The results showed that the SHQI values of the 50 river stretches ranged between 8 and 21, with 3 river stretches classified as "excellent" habitat level, 6 as "good", 27 as "moderate", 9 as "poor", and 5 as "very poor". The vegetation index in urban river habitats in the Taihu Lake Basin was good, whereas that of the physical habitat and material index were bad. The overall ranking of habitats was Zhenjiang: Huzhou: Hangzhou: Jiaxing: Suzhou: Wuxi: Changzhou. There were significant differences in physical habitats, material indices and pollution indices among different cities. The main stream and the tributary section significantly differed in the material index and pollution index, but not significant for SHQI. The evaluation system constructed in this study reflected the current situation of urban river habitats in the Taihu Lake Basin, and could provide guidance for ecological restoration of urban rivers.