A Set Pair Analysis Model for Urban Ecosystem Health Assessment

Abstract

Ecosystem health is the prerequisite for ecosystem service function. Assessment reflecting the trends of urban ecosystem health can improve 'information for decision making' on sustainability. Because urban areas are an advanced man-made complex ecosystem consisted of nature, society and economy, the key of urban ecosystem health assessment is to set suitable model for resolving the uncertainty of urban ecosystem. The paper establishes an assessment model of urban ecosystem health based set pair analysis (SPA) theory. The model can quantitatively calculate the health level of urban ecosystem through n-member connection number, so it can effectively deal with uncertain problems in urban ecosystem assessment. As an example, the urban ecosystem health states of Wuhan are thereafter evaluated using the model. The results show that: (1) the urban ecosystem health states of Wuhan are improving slowly; (2) among five assessing criteria, structure of Wuhan ecosystem is relatively reasonable, vigor and resilience can be regarded as the major disadvantages of the ecosystem; and (3) the model is suitable for urban ecosystem health assessment.