How irrigation regulation shapes farmland ecological resilience: Evidence from Dongying City, China

Freshwater scarcity and soil salinization increasingly constrain the sustainability of irrigated agriculture, yet the role of irrigation regulation as a governance mechanism shaping farmland ecological resilience remains insufficiently understood. To address this gap, this study constructed a multi-dimensional Farmland Ecological Resilience Index(FERI) based on ecological foundation, microbial functional regulation, production stability, and resource-use adaptation, and evaluated its spatial patterns and driving mechanisms across distinct irrigation regulation regimes in Dongying City within the Yellow River Delta of China. The results demonstrate pronounced spatial heterogeneity in ecological resilience, with flexible scheduling regimes outperforming stable supply and intermittent regulation. Management variables, particularly irrigation regulation intensity and water productivity, act as the dominant positive drivers, whereas soil salinity and heavy metal stress impose major constraints. Furthermore, microbial functional groups associated with environmental response and defence mechanisms respond positively to enhanced regulation, displaying a clear threshold effect. Resource-use adaptation and ecological foundation emerge as the most sensitive components, while microbial functional regulation mediates the connection between hydrological management and overall system resilience. These findings demonstrate that irrigation regulation operates as a systemic governance mechanism that governs agroecosystem resilience through coupled environmental and microbial processes, providing practical insights for adaptive water management in salt-affected agricultural regions.