Abstract
Environmental impact assessment before and after the establishment of a Water Conservancy Project (WCP) is of great theoretical and practical importance for assessing the effectiveness of ecological restoration efforts. WCPs rehabilitate flood-damaged areas or other regions hit by disasters by controlling and redistributing surface water and groundwater. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Composite Evaluation Index (CEI) in predictive modeling, we studied the degree to which a WCP could change land use, plant communities, and species diversity in Yunnan, China. Via modeling, we quantified likely landscape pattern changes and linked them to naturality (i.e., the percentage of secondary vegetation types), diversity, and stability together with the human interferences (e.g., conservation or restoration project) of an ecosystem. The value of each index was determined by the evaluation system, and the weight percentage was decided through Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). We found that minor land-use changes would occur after the Chaishitan WCP was theoretically established. The greatest decline was farmland (0.079 %), followed by forest (0.066 %), with the least decline in water bodies (0.020 %). We found 1076 vascular plant species (including subspecies, varieties and form) belonging to 165 families and 647 genera in Chaishitan irrigation area before the water conservancy establishment. The naturality and diversity decreased 11.18 % and 10.16 % respectively. The Composite Evaluation Index was 0.92, which indicated that Chaishitan WCP will enhance local landscape heterogeneity, and it will not deteriorate local ecological quality. Our study proposes a comprehensive ecological evaluation system for this WCP and further suggests the importance of including the ecological and environmental consequences of the WCP, along with the well-established socioeconomic evaluation systems for non-natural reserve areas. We conclude that the Chaishitan WCP will have minor environmental impacts on the local landscape and plant diversity. Furthermore, the irrigation project will provide sufficient water once established, which will enrich local plant diversity; therefore, we support its construction.
Highlights
Paradigm shifts in water conservation projects toward harmonizing the needs for humans and nature are essential (Liu et al, 2013)
By comparing the landscape pattern index and plant species composition and relative abundance in the regions, we aimed to address the following questions: (1) How could land-use and plant diversity change immediately after the putative completion of the water conservancy projects (WCPs)? (2) Whether or not the Chaishitan WCP should be established in Yunnan as evaluated by our “before-and-after” systematic environment impact assessment; i.e., assessing the plant diversity and land use twice before and after the project established
In the index layer, we found that Percentage of Vegetation type (PV), Shannon Diversity Index (SHDI), Perimeter-Area Fractal Dimension (PAFRAC) and Landscape dominance Index (LDI) decreased by 11.18, 10.16, 11.70, and 5.69%, respectively; we found that Patch density (PD), Contagion Index (CONTAG) and Landscape splitting Index (SPLIT) increased by 2.37, 0.75, and 8.66%, respectively (Tables 4A,B)
Summary
Paradigm shifts in water conservation projects toward harmonizing the needs for humans and nature are essential (Liu et al, 2013). Researchers have been paying increasing attention to the socioeconomic impacts of water conservancy projects (WCPs), but their ecological and environmental consequences have received considerably less attention from the scientific community. Quantitative assessments, whereby weights are given to the EIA quality indices according to their properties and importance, are lacking (Wang et al, 2003; Sun and Dong, 2004). Neglecting these ecological and environmental impacts may sometimes lead to unintended consequences (e.g., increasing the incidence of chronic diseases worldwide) for ecosystems as well as to declines in the critical ecosystem services provided to our society (Chen et al, 2013). Such research is of practical significance for EIAs of ecological restoration projects and of similar projects in future
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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.
