Abstract: The concept of urban ecological infrastructure (EI) is highly comprehensive and integrative, incorporating not only vegetations and river networks but also large-scale landforms pattern, such as mountains and coastlines. Furthermore, this concept underlines a systematic construction in the context of ecological lands, and the role and significance of urban ecological construction as well. Therefore, urban EI is essential for sustaining biodiversity in urban areas through maintaining the stability of natural ecological processes, such as soil erosion and hydrological cycle. The EI in urban systems also provides valuable eco-services via alleviating pollutions, regulating air quality, and enhancing recreational culture and ecological education. It can also be used to guild urban planning and development by constraining and directing urban land use for human habitat improvement. The guiding principles of urban EI conservation and construction, the paper argues, are integrity and systematization. More specifically, (1) ecological planning should proceed urban planning, and thus, primary ecological lands could be preserved as the priority, and the ecological network composed by them should be permanently maintained without being adversely impacted from urban expansion and development, (2) public participation should be encouraged particularly at community level for both design and local construction of EI.

Key words: Three Gorges Area, Ground cover, Moss, Litter, Water storage characteristics