Ecosystem Health Assessment at County-Scale Using the Pressure-State-Response Framework on the Loess Plateau, China
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology and Case Study
2.1. Study Area
2.2. The Pressure-State-Response (PSR) Framework
2.2.1. First Step: Construction of Index System
2.2.2. Second Step: Collection and Processing of Data
2.2.3. Third Step: Determination of Index Weights
2.2.4. Fourth Step: Calculation of the Health Index
3. Assessment Results
3.1. Ecosystem Pressure Assessment
3.2. Ecosystem State Assessment
3.3. Ecosystem Response Assessment
3.4. Integrated Health Assessment of Ecosystem
4. Discussion
4.1. Assessment Model and Index System
4.2. Application of the Assessment Results
4.3. Issues for Further Research
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Leopold, A. Wilderness as a land laboratory. Living Wilderness 1941, 6, 3. [Google Scholar]
- Rapport, D.J. Ecosystem health: Exploring the territory ecosyst. Health 1995, 1, 5–13. [Google Scholar]
- Rapport, D.; Costanza, R.; McMichael, A. Assessing ecosystem health. Trends Ecol. Evol. 1998, 13, 397–402. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Costanza, R. Toward an operational definition of ecosystem health. In Ecosystem Health: New Goals for Environmental Management; Island Press: Washington, DC, USA, 1992; pp. 239–256. [Google Scholar]
- Zhao, S.A.; Chai, L.H. A new assessment approach for urban ecosystem health basing on maximum information entropy method. Stoch. Environ. Res. Risk Assess. 2015, 29, 1601–1613. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tang, D.H.; Zou, X.Q.; Liu, X.J.; Liu, P.T.; Zhamangulova, N.; Xu, X.G.; Zhao, Y.F. Integrated ecosystem health assessment based on eco-exergy theory: A case study of the Jiangsu coastal area. Ecol. Indic. 2015, 48, 107–119. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tan, X.; Ma, P.M.; Bunn, S.E.; Zhang, Q.F. Development of a benthic diatom index of biotic integrity (BD-IBI) for ecosystem health assessment of human dominant subtropical rivers, China. J. Environ. Manag. 2015, 151, 286–294. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Marigomez, I.; Garmendia, L.; Soto, M.; Orbea, A.; Izagirre, U.; Cajaraville, M.P. Marine ecosystem health status assessment through integrative biomarker indices: A comparative study after the prestige oil spill “mussel watch”. Ecotoxicology 2013, 22, 486–505. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Kim, Y.O.; Xu, F.L. Marine ecosystem health assessments in Korean coastal waters. Ocean Sci. J. 2014, 49, 249–250. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wu, W.; Xu, Z.X.; Zhan, C.S.; Yin, X.W.; Yu, S.Y. A new framework to evaluate ecosystem health: A case study in the Wei River basin, China. Environ. Monit. Assess. 2015. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Parsons, M.L.; Walsh, W.J.; Settlemier, C.J.; White, D.J.; Ballauer, J.M.; Ayotte, P.M.; Osada, K.M.; Carman, B. A multivariate assessment of the coral ecosystem health of two embayments on the lee of the island of Hawaii. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2008, 56, 1138–1149. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Wang, X.B.; Liu, W.N.; Wu, W.L. A holistic approach to the development of sustainable agriculture: Application of the ecosystem health model. Int. J. Sust. Dev. World 2009, 16, 339–345. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Boriani, E.; Benfenati, E.; Baderna, D.; Thomsen, M. Application of erica index to evaluation of soil ecosystem health according to sustainability threshold for chemical impact. Sci. Total Environ. 2013, 443, 134–142. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Styers, D.M.; Chappelka, A.H.; Marzen, L.J.; Somers, G.L. Developing a land-cover classification to select indicators of forest ecosystem health in a rapidly urbanizing landscape. Landsc. Urban Plan 2010, 94, 158–165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shi, H.; Shao, M. Soil and water loss from the Loess Plateau in China. J. Arid Environ. 2000, 45, 9–20. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hu, X.W.; Zhou, Z.Q.; Li, T.S.; Wu, Y.P.; Wang, Y.R. Environmental factors controlling seed germination and seedling recruitment of Stipa bungeana on the Loess Plateau of northwestern China. Ecol. Res. 2013, 28, 801–809. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Luo, Y.; Yang, S.T.; Zhao, C.S.; Liu, X.Y.; Liu, C.M.; Wu, L.N.; Zhao, H.G.; Zhang, Y.C. The effect of environmental factors on spatial variability in land use change in the high-sediment region of China’s Loess Plateau. J. Geogr. Sci. 2014, 24, 802–814. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wen, W.; Wang, Y.F.; Yang, L.; Liang, D.; Chen, L.D.; Liu, J.; Zhu, A.X. Mapping soil organic carbon using auxiliary environmental covariates in a typical watershed in the Loess Plateau of China: A comparative study based on three kriging methods and a soil land inference model (solim). Environ. Earth Sci. 2015, 73, 239–251. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Liu, F.G.; Mao, X.F.; Zhang, Y.L.; Chen, Q.; Liu, P.; Zhao, Z.L. Risk analysis of snow disaster in the pastoral areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. J. Geogr. Sci. 2014, 24, 411–426. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). OECD Core Set of Indicators for Environmental Performance Reviews; OECD Environment Monographs: Paris, France, 1993. [Google Scholar]
- Neri, A.C.; Dupin, P.; Sanchez, L.E. A pressure-state-response approach to cumulative impact assessment. J. Clean. Prod. 2016, 126, 288–298. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sun, T.T.; Lin, W.P.; Chen, G.S.; Guo, P.P.; Zeng, Y. Wetland ecosystem health assessment through integrating remote sensing and inventory data with an assessment model for the Hangzhou Bay, China. Sci. Total Environ. 2016, 566, 627–640. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Hughey, K.F.D.; Cullen, R.; Kerr, G.N.; Cook, A.J. Application of the pressure-state-response framework to perceptions reporting of the state of the New Zealand environment. J. Environ. Manag. 2004, 70, 85–93. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Levrel, H.; Kerbiriou, C.; Couvet, D.; Weber, J. Oecd pressure-state-response indicators for managing biodiversity: A realistic perspective for a French biosphere reserve. Biodivers. Conserv. 2009, 18, 1719–1732. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ou, C.H.; Liu, W.H. Developing a sustainable indicator system based on the pressure-state-response framework for local fisheries: A case study of Gungliau, Taiwan. Ocean Coast. Manag. 2010, 53, 289–300. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wolfslehner, B.; Vacik, H. Evaluating sustainable forest management strategies with the analytic network process in a pressure-state-response framework. J. Environ. Manag. 2008, 88, 1–10. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Yang, L.; Peterson, P.J.; Williams, W.P.; Wang, W.; Li, R.; Tan, J.A. Developing environmental health indicators as policy tools for endemic fluorosis management in the people’s republic of China. Environ. Geochem. Health 2003, 25, 281–295. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Liu, D.L.; Li, Y. Social vulnerability of rural households to flood hazards in western mountainous regions of Henan province, China. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 2016, 16, 1123–1134. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, K.; Li, S.; Peng, W.; Yu, B. Erodibility of agricultural soils on the Loess Plateau of China. Soil Till. Res. 2004, 76, 157–165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ma, P. Guyuan Yearbook; Chinese Cultural and Historical Press: Beijing, China, 2007. [Google Scholar]
- Zou, Z.H.; Yun, Y.; Sun, J.N. Entropy method for determination of weight of evaluating indicators in fuzzy synthetic evaluation for water quality assessment. J. Environ. Sci. 2006, 18, 1020–1023. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Silow, E.A.; Mokry, A.V. Exergy as a tool for ecosystem health assessment. Entropy 2010, 12, 902–925. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Liu, G.Y.; Yang, Z.F.; Chen, B.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, L.X.; Zhao, Y.W.; Jiang, M.M. Emergy-based urban ecosystem health assessment: A case study of Baotou, China. Commun. Nonlinear Sci. 2009, 14, 972–981. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Su, M.R.; Yang, Z.F.; Chen, B.; Liu, G.Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, L.X.; Xu, L.Y.; Zhao, Y.W. Urban ecosystem health assessment and its application in management: A multi-scale perspective. Entropy 2013, 15, 1–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, F.; Zhang, J.Q.; Wu, R.; Ma, Q.Y.; Yang, J. Ecosystem health assessment based on dpsirm framework and health distance model in Nansi Lake, China. Stoch. Environ. Res. Risk Assess. 2016, 30, 1235–1247. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Objective | General Criteria | Secondary Criteria | Indicators | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EHA | Index | Weight | Index | Weight | Index | Positive or Negative | No. | Weight |
Pressure | 0.3 | Resources pressure | 0.4 | Arable land area per capita | Positive | X1 | 1.0 | |
Social pressure | 0.6 | Population density index | Negative | X2 | 0.5 | |||
Human disturb index | Negative | X3 | 0.5 | |||||
State | 0.4 | Vigor | 0.3 | Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) | Positive | X4 | 1.0 | |
Organization | 0.4 | Landscape diversity index (SHDI) | Positive | X5 | 1.0 | |||
Resilience | 0.3 | Ecological resilience index (ERI) | Positive | X6 | 1.0 | |||
Response | 0.3 | Natural ecosystem | 0.4 | Landscape fragmentation index (MPS) | Negative | X7 | 1.0 | |
Human activity | 0.6 | Percentage of labor service export | Positive | X8 | 0.5 | |||
Percentage of income of labor service export | Negative | X9 | 0.5 |
Township Name | No. | Pressure Index | Organization Index | Response Index | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gancheng | 1 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 98.41 | 33.33 | 12.63 | 16.67 | 29.70 | 71.43 | 59.46 |
Guanting | 2 | 34.72 | 95.08 | 99.86 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 66.67 | 100.00 | 57.14 | 67.57 |
Hechuan | 3 | 31.94 | 75.49 | 99.42 | 53.70 | 18.95 | 50.00 | 77.23 | 100.00 | 56.76 |
Heicheng | 4 | 15.28 | 2.57 | 49.20 | 0.00 | 38.95 | 0.00 | 38.61 | 71.43 | 13.51 |
Kaicheng | 5 | 0.00 | 25.71 | 62.23 | 9.26 | 89.47 | 83.33 | 84.16 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Pengbao | 6 | 13.89 | 18.02 | 39.36 | 66.67 | 82.11 | 50.00 | 58.42 | 78.57 | 37.84 |
Qinghe | 7 | 1.39 | 4.64 | 0.00 | 59.26 | 77.89 | 33.33 | 79.21 | 42.86 | 13.51 |
Qiying | 8 | 22.22 | 44.05 | 59.33 | 37.04 | 58.95 | 16.67 | 0.00 | 71.43 | 16.22 |
Sanying | 9 | 11.11 | 17.72 | 40.23 | 40.74 | 82.11 | 33.33 | 61.39 | 64.29 | 18.92 |
Tanshan | 10 | 55.56 | 83.89 | 94.93 | 27.78 | 26.32 | 16.67 | 22.77 | 64.29 | 100.00 |
Touying | 11 | 15.28 | 39.50 | 58.90 | 35.19 | 92.63 | 83.33 | 73.27 | 71.43 | 35.14 |
Zhaike | 12 | 52.78 | 93.02 | 100.00 | 64.81 | 36.84 | 66.67 | 78.22 | 64.29 | 64.86 |
Zhangyi | 13 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 76.56 | 5.56 | 78.95 | 83.33 | 64.36 | 50.00 | 56.76 |
Zhonghe | 14 | 9.72 | 27.98 | 54.70 | 40.74 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 71.29 | 71.43 | 75.68 |
Health Conditions | No. 1 | No. 2 | No. 3 | No. 4 | No. 5 | No. 6 | No. 7 | No. 8 | No. 9 | No. 10 | No. 11 | No. 12 | No. 13 | No. 14 | MV | SD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PI | 99.60 | 66.09 | 59.70 | 20.58 | 21.99 | 21.29 | 1.85 | 36.96 | 20.04 | 72.48 | 32.24 | 74.64 | 19.14 | 25.53 | 40.87 | 28.40 |
Level | H | M | M | M | M | M | U | M | M | H | M | H | M | M | ||
SI | 20.05 | 50.00 | 38.69 | 15.58 | 63.57 | 67.84 | 58.94 | 39.69 | 55.06 | 23.86 | 72.61 | 54.18 | 58.25 | 82.22 | 50.04 | 20.08 |
Level | U | M | M | U | M | M | M | M | M | U | H | M | M | H | ||
RI | 47.57 | 81.18 | 77.80 | 40.54 | 42.08 | 58.31 | 53.70 | 21.91 | 51.49 | 52.46 | 63.27 | 71.40 | 58.87 | 72.42 | 56.64 | 16.13 |
Level | M | H | H | M | M | M | M | U | M | M | M | M | M | M | ||
HI | 52.17 | 64.18 | 56.73 | 24.57 | 44.65 | 51.02 | 40.24 | 33.54 | 43.49 | 47.03 | 57.70 | 65.48 | 46.70 | 62.27 | 49.27 | 11.76 |
Level | M | H | M | U | M | M | M | U | M | M | M | H | M | H |
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Liu, D.; Hao, S. Ecosystem Health Assessment at County-Scale Using the Pressure-State-Response Framework on the Loess Plateau, China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010002
Liu D, Hao S. Ecosystem Health Assessment at County-Scale Using the Pressure-State-Response Framework on the Loess Plateau, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017; 14(1):2. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010002
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiu, Delin, and Shilong Hao. 2017. "Ecosystem Health Assessment at County-Scale Using the Pressure-State-Response Framework on the Loess Plateau, China" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 1: 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010002