Evaluation of the Ecological Status of Wetlands of International Importance in China

Abstract

An international assessment of wetlands is important for quantifying the current state of development of international wetland structure and function. At present, the management department and public lack a comprehensive understanding of the ecological status of internationally important wetlands in China. Here, using annual ecological monitoring data and hierarchical analysis, an evaluation index system was constructed with water environment, biological environment, biodiversity, and disturbance pressure as influencing factors, and an evaluation of the ecological status of 63 wetlands of international importance (WOII) in China was carried out, it is helpful to formulate technical plans for the ecological management of wetlands of international importance (WOII). The results showed that the average ecological status score of these wetlands was 0.714 ± 0.075, and there were differences in this score between different regions. The ecological status of wetlands in northeastern and northern coastal areas were mostly evaluated as ‘excellent’ and ‘good’, while some wetlands in other areas of China were evaluated as ‘poor’. The type and protection level of wetlands have an important impact on their ecological status. The ecological status of wetlands according to type were ranked swamp wetlands > coastal wetlands > river wetlands > lake wetlands, while those with national level protection were ranked higher than those with provincial level protection. The ecological status of WOII in China is generally good, but is adversely affected by human activities, alien species invasion, and other factors. Hence, there needs to be a focus on improving the protection and management mechanisms for WOII, promoting improvements in the ecological status of these wetlands, and transforming ecological product value.