Abstract
Human use and management have a marked effect on wetland from different scales; it is necessary to develop a multi-scale integrated method to assess wetland conditions. So, this research aids the development of the wetland condition index (WCI) for humid regions of China by combining two main sub-indices: (i) the landscape development intensity index (LDI), which assesses human-dominated impacts; and (ii) the water environment index (WEI), which assesses changes in water quality and phytoplankton. We measured terrain and land use in the watersheds of wetlands using remote imaging data with geographic information systems (GIS) software. Also, we monitored the physical and chemical variables of the water bodies of 27 wetlands in urbanized and moderately urbanized areas in Nanjing City of China for this study. There were significant inconsistencies between the city’s level of development and the values of the WCI and its sub-indices. The WCI of urbanized areas was better than that for moderately urbanized areas, and the sub-indices LDI and WEI were only slightly correlated. In other words, wetlands with a low LDI value did not necessarily have a low water environment index value. Due to wetland restoration and human management activities, integrating the LDI and WEI is increasingly necessary for wetlands in urbanized areas than for moderately urbanized areas. This method could guide the design of wetlands to optimize their qualities and benefits to residents and reinforce wetland conservation.
Highlights
Wetlands are known to be essential providers of valuable ecosystem services and functions, including the provision of habitat and biodiversity, water quality improvement, flood abatement, carbon sequestration, the source of food, and support of recreational activities [1,2,3,4]
Current wetland condition assessment methods can be classified into two main types according to different scales: the landscape scale (Scale-1) and the field scale (Scale-2) [13,14]
The landscape development intensity index (LDI) [15,16,17] and watershed sustainability index [18] are commonly used for Scale-1 assessments
Summary
Wetlands are known to be essential providers of valuable ecosystem services and functions, including the provision of habitat and biodiversity, water quality improvement, flood abatement, carbon sequestration, the source of food, and support of recreational activities [1,2,3,4]. The landscape development intensity index (LDI) [15,16,17] and watershed sustainability index [18] are commonly used for Scale-1 assessments. Such assessments are based on characterizing human disturbance gradients to predict wetland conditions. The Scale-1 method presupposes that land surface in wetland watersheds can predict water quality or diatoms in wetlands [19,20,21]. In artificial wetlands or urban wetlands, which are greatly affected by human interaction, use of the Scale-1 method has difficulty predicting wetland condition. The Scale-1 method has difficulty predicting wetland conditions for specific cases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
