A Study on Coastal Ecosystem Health Assessment in Qingdao Based on Press-State-Response Model

Abstract

In order to get a scientific assessment of the coastal ecosystem health in Qingdao, a study on ecosystem health assessment of Qingdao coastal zone during 1998-2009 based on press-state-response (PSR) model contained a series of indicators was conducted. In this paper, the integrated ecosystem health index was calculated through weight values multiplied the standardization values of the indicators. The results indicated that the IEHI in the coastal zone of Qingdao fluctuated by a large margin during 1998-2009, when the IEHI range from 0.35 to 0.84, and the ecosystem was in the states of unhealthy and subhealthy in most of the time interval. The urban expansion and the three wastes were the dominating pressure factors which effected the coastal ecosystem health. The atmosphere and inshore environment took a turn for the worse, while the cultivated land resource exhausted almost. In order to improve the coastal ecosystem health, it was quite necessary to increase the forest coverage rate, tertiary industry proportion and investment in environmental protection.