In recent years, there appears to be a notable transition towards preserving heritage on a regional scale, aiming to promote the authenticity and integrity of traditional settlements. The complex natural topography of these settlements, along with their spread-out arrangement, poses significant challenges to their protection and preservation. With the acceleration of urbanization and the implementation of the national strategy of building a twin-city economic circle in the Chengdu–Chongqing region, economic, cultural, and ecological exchanges between the twin cities have become the key dimensions of their construction. In this context, the concept of the BaShu Cultural Tourism Corridor has emerged, and the traditional settlement sites in the study area have become an important node of urban–rural integration and the BaShu Cultural Tourism Corridor. The primary objective of this study is to establish a heritage corridor protection network for traditional settlements along the Chengdu–Chongqing Ancient Post Road within the Sichuan Basin of China as an example, using the minimum cost resistance model. This approach comprises several key steps: selecting traditional settlements, analyzing their distribution traits, calculating the resistance value for the spread of traditional settlement culture, identifying potential cultural corridors, identifying cultural spaces, and, thus, constructing a protection network. The results show that the spatial distribution of traditional settlements in the study area shows obvious clustering characteristics, the core ecological space in this study is located in the mountains in the north and the southwest, and the cultural spaces are located along the central and southwestern sections, creating a linear distribution pattern. In the ecological culture corridor network, the Premier Corridor is the most extensive of the three categories, connects important cultural area, and serves as a vital conduit for developing heritage tourism strategies. This research aims to bolster the comprehensive protection and application of the region’s traditional cultural heritage, fostering the integration of urban and rural zones and enhancing regional cultural tourism. Future research directions are to integrate the conservation of traditional settlements and the surrounding environment at different planning scales with local policies and to expand the role of digital technology in the data management and visualization of ecocultural corridors.

The littoral zone ecosystem of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has become significantly degraded by annual cycles of prolonged winter flooding and summer drought. For purposes of flood control and sediment management, the water level in the reservoir is lowered by 30 m during the summer monsoon season and raised again to 175 m above sea level each year at the end of the monsoon period. To explore an effective way to promote biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, we examined Taxodium distichum as a species for afforesting the littoral zone. Sapling growth variations were measured after two rounds of winter flooding. Dominant influence factors were determined by redundancy analysis. Herb community similarities between the experimental afforested areas and nearby control areas were assessed to detect the ecosystem influence of the experimental afforestation. 94.5% of saplings planted at elevations above 168 m survived. All measured growth indices (tree height, diameter at breast height, crown width and foliage density) decreased as the flood depth increased. Completely submerged saplings had a mean dieback height of -0.65 m. Greater initial foliage density led to increased tree height and stem diameter. Shannon-Wiener indices were not significantly different between plots in experimental and control areas, but the low similarity of herb communities between experimental and control areas (0.242 on average) suggested that afforestation would enrich plant community structure and improve littoral zone ecosystem stability. Because littoral zone afforestation provides several ecosystem services (habitat, carbon sink, water purification and landscaping), it is a promising revegetation model for the TGR.

The conservation and transmission of cultural heritage are enduring drivers of sustainable development. As a significant form of cultural heritage, temples play a vital role in maintaining urban historical continuity and embodying local culture. This study investigated the landscape roles of temples within the ancient city of Chongqing. Drawing primarily on sources such as the Chongqing Fuzhi Quantu (Complete Map of Chongqing Prefecture) from the Qing Dynasty, it identifies 79 temples in historical Chongqing. Employing Historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS), the study reveals the multi-scale distribution characteristics of these temples and their interaction mechanisms with the urban spatial structure. The findings indicate that: 1) The development of Chongqing's temples is closely linked to the stratification process of urban historical landscapes, serving as historical markers reflecting urban culture; 2) The distribution of temples in Qing-dynasty Chongqing exhibited significant correlations with the mountain-river environment and topography, forming clusters at key urban nodes while demonstrating spatial differentiation based on their attributes; 3) the landscape roles of temples in the ancient Chongqing city by guiding the urban landscape order, shaping city landmarks, and anchoring collective memories. Through the interrelated interactions across multiscalar spaces, they collectively shaped the urban imagery. In response to problems such as the fragmentation of temple conservation and cultural discontinuity, the study proposes conservation and development strategies across three dimensions: "regional-urban-architectural" to support the revitalisation and sustainable development of urban cultural heritage.