Processed data and analysis scripts for“Hydrological regulation disrupts estuarine spawning grounds via salinity front displacement but preserves nursery habitats: Evidence from the Yellow River”

This dataset is the associated data for the paper "Hydrological regulation disrupts estuarine spawning grounds via salinity front displacement but preserves nursery habitats: Evidence from the Yellow River." It contains fish egg and nekton abundance data from the Yellow River Estuary and adjacent waters (2011–2021), as well as MATLAB analysis scripts for statistical tests and figure generation.Files included:egg.csv: Fish egg abundance data, including station ID, year, period (1 = pre-WSRS, 2 = mid-WSRS, 3 = post-WSRS), region (1 = R1 to 5 = R5), and egg abundance.fish.csv: Nekton abundance data, with the same column structure as egg.csv.statistical_tests_and_figures.m: MATLAB script for performing Mann-Whitney U tests (comparing R4 with R1, R2, R3, and R5) and generating Fig. 9 (line charts of interannual variation and bar charts of significance test results).The raw field observation data are subject to confidentiality agreements with the Shandong Marine Resource and Environment Research Institute and cannot be publicly shared.

This dataset provides the processed data and analysis code used to support the conclusions of the paper.