Abstract
There is rich biodiversity and biomass in wetlands and these areas are important in ecosystems. Assessment of the environment of wetlands is critical in the management of pivotal ecosystems. The energy ecological footprint (EEF) is an improved form of the ecological footprint method based on the theory of energy value. EEF can be a useful tool for comparing and monitoring environmental impacts. EEF was used to investigate a national coastal wetland in Taiwan; i.e., Gaomei Wetlands. We created a wetland ecosystem evaluation model to quantify the EEF, ecological safety of the GaomeiWetlands, and energy ecological carrying capacity to assess the current environmental situation of the area between 2007 and 2013. The research results provide a reference for environmental policy execution, strategy, and planning and suggestions for sustainable development of the Gaomei Wetlands. Our study showed that the per capita ecological carrying capacity of the Gaomei Wetlands experienced fluctuations during the time of the study. However, the per capita EF had substantial growth. The per capita ecological carrying capacity of the Gaomei Wetlands was influenced by the EFs of the fossil energy land, meadows, and croplands.
Highlights
From the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) of the UN of global ecosystems, wetlands are found to be the most adversely damaged ecosystem, and their biodiversity is severely threatened
The results show that the ecological footprint pressure index (EFI) of the Gaomei Wetlands increased from 1.01 in 2007 to 2.11 in 2013, indicating that the ecological environment is constantly subjected to stress to the point where ecological security (ES) is threatened
We analyzed the various components of the energy ecological footprint (EEF)
Summary
From the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) of the UN of global ecosystems, wetlands are found to be the most adversely damaged ecosystem, and their biodiversity is severely threatened. Wetlands are extremely important natural resources that provide seashore protection, flood regulation, underground water replenishment, fish and shellfish propagation, water purification, climate adjustment, and ecotourism destination development [5,6,7,8,9]. Wetland functions have garnered the attention of developed countries such as the UK, where legislation prohibits land reclamation and bans the use of industrial or agricultural districts converted from wetlands. The aim of such legislation in the UK is to recover original wetland landscapes and functions [2,11]
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