Environmental literacy scenarios lead to land degradation and changes in riparian zones: Implications for policy in China

Abstract Environmental illiteracy threatens ecosystem functions globally, however, many continue to deny its existence. Knowledge deficit theory suggests that suspicions will decrease once officials and the public are presented with new facts. Despite extensive worldwide initiatives to improve riparian buffer zones, there is minimal evidence about the impact of environmental literacy metrics (ELMs) on riparian zone components (RZCs) across different land‐use types (i.e., rural, rural–urban transitional, and urban regions) within the riparian zones of dams and reservoirs. In this study, multiple statistical techniques were used to explore the extent of impacts on a 58,000 km 2 area within China's Three Gorges Dam Reservoir (TGDR) area/region in 2019. Network visualization investigated RZC themes, such as plant cover, regeneration, exotics, erosion, habitat, and stresses, based on 5326 articles published over the past 121 years. Our analysis revealed the greatest lack of information regarding ELM (e.g., knowledge, attitude, and behaviour) among the general public, which, in turn, had the greatest impact on the components of plant cover in transitional regions and the least impact on regeneration in rural areas. Furthermore, the ELMs of local people had the most significant effect on RZCs, with Pearson correlation values ranging from −0.79 < r < 0.98 throughout the TGDR. In contrast, the ELM of government employees correlated more strongly with RZCs (−0.70 < r < 0.92) in transitional and rural areas. Comparatively, exposed soil, understory cover, and environmentally unfriendly activities, including pollution, were the most significant RZCs within the TGDR. Based on hierarchical methods, RZCs and ELMs differed significantly between land‐use categories. RZCs near dams and reservoirs exhibit many differences; thus, land‐use initiatives are required to raise awareness of their global impacts.