Ecological Indicator System Research Articles

Pitfalls in global grassland restoration challenge restoration programs and the science-policy dialogue

Restoring degraded ecosystems is crucial for human wellbeing and biodiversity conservation. Nowadays, ecological restoration goes far beyond recovering a degraded ecosystem according to a historic reference. Instead, more specific restoration goals are set, following global environmental strategies that are individually highly important, but often conflicting. Furthermore, various pitfalls exist regarding the evaluation of ecosystem degradation and, directly related to this, the question what is the most desirable ecological state of an ecosystem. Ignoring such issues can lead to a failure of restoration projects and do more ecological (and social) harm than good. A crucial aspect in tackling conflicting goals and circumnavigating restoration pitfalls is the considerate choice of the indicators to assess ecosystem degradation and restoration capacity.In this Perspective, grasslands and rangelands are used exemplarily for ecosystems with globally high restoration demand. I discuss potential restoration pitfalls related to enhancing carbon sequestration, soil fertility, and ecosystem service multifunctionality. For all three goals, strong trade-offs and unwanted side effects exist. For example, while increasing carbon storage and restoring soil fertility are widely acknowledged environmental goals, both can compromise other restoration targets such as grassland biodiversity and further ecosystem services, depending on the specific context. Thus, there are no universally applicable indicators for ecosystem degradation and restoration. Instead, indicator systems have to account not only for strong trade-offs among restoration goals but also for a number of environmental and socio-ecological misconceptions, such as presented for the case of grassland ecosystems.I argue that one-sided goal setting and an imprudent choice of indicators can misguide the science-policy dialogue and related restoration efforts. To avoid this, restoration programs must integrate holistic assessments of their objectives across spatial scales and with all stakeholders concerned. The associated ecological indicator system for restoration success and program performance must therefore also be based on multidisciplinary and participatory approaches. Restoration and degradation indicators have to further ensure the target ecosystem is correctly and comprehensively identified, and the manifold conflicting land management objectives associated with heterogeneous human societies are taken into account. Researchers can assist this process by by-default considering the socio-ecological context of a restoration target and by identifying trade-offs arising from potential solutions, before these are suggested to the public. Only when all these aspects are considered, restoration projects at the local to global scale will result in long-term sustainable outcomes.

An ecological indicator system for shallow landslide analysis

Ecological factors are important for shallow landslide risk assessment. Various ecological indicators have been previously proposed and studied. However, because the functional mechanisms of plants on shallow slope stability are very complex, a well-organized ecological indicator system that can reflect the effects of ecology on shallow slope stability is still absent, which in turn restrains the consideration of ecological factors in shallow landslide analysis. This paper proposes a new ecological indicator system for shallow landslide analysis based on a comprehensive survey of existing ecological indicators. Firstly, existing ecological indicators are summarized with regarded to the three major types of effects of vegetation on shallow slope stability (i.e., geotechnical mechanics effect, soil-hydrological effect, and interception and stemflow effect), so that the functional mechanisms of plants on slope stability are reflected. Then, all ecological indicators are grouped into the three fundamental ecological element categories (i.e., ecological attribute, ecological structure and ecological function) to constitute the new ecological indicator system. This re-organization, by eliminating redundancy, makes the new ecological indicator system more well-structured and more applicatory in practice. Finally, some issues regarding the application of the new indicator system are discussed. It is particularly recommended to consider the possible negative effects, the applicable spatial scale of specific ecological indicators, and the preferred application of ecological structure indicators. The new ecological indicator system is expected to facilitate the consideration of ecological factors in landslide risk assessment.

A systematic study of zooplankton-based indices of marine ecological change and water quality: Application to the European marine strategy framework Directive (MSFD)

• An indicator-metrics-index framework was used to minimize ambiguity. • Additional frameworks were developed to synthesize existing zooplankton indices. • Several biodiversity and pressure indices were identified and critically appraised. • Application of zooplankton indices to the EU-MSFD was elucidated. • Challenges of zooplankton indices development and use were highlighted. Marine zooplankton are central components of holistic ecosystem assessments due to their intermediary role in the food chain, linking the base of the food chain with higher trophic levels. As a result, these organisms incorporate the inherent properties and changes occurring atall levels of the marine ecosystem, temporally integrating signatures of physical and chemical conditions. For this reason, zooplankton-based biometrics are widely accepted as useful tools for assessing and monitoring the ecological health and integrity of aquatic systems. The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (EU-MSFD) requires the use of different types of bio-monitors, including zooplankton, to monitor progress towards achieving specific environmental and water quality targets in EU. However, there is currently no comprehensive synthesis of zooplankton indices development, use, and associated challenges. We addressed this issue with a two-step approach. First, we formulated the indicator-metrics-indices cycle (IMIC) to redefine the closely related but often ambiguously utilized terms - indicator, metric and index, highlighting the convergence between them and the iterative nature of their interaction. Secondly, we formulated frameworks for synthesizing, presenting and systematically applying zooplankton indices based on the IMIC framework. The main benefits of the IMIC are twofold: 1). to disambiguate the key elements: indicators, metrics, and indices, revealing their links to an operational ecological indicator system, and 2) to serve as an organizing tool for the coherent classification of indices according to the MSFD descriptors. Using the IMIC framework, we identified and described two broad categories of indices namely the core biodiversity indices already in use in the Baltic Sea and North Atlantic regions, including the ‘Zooplankton Mean Size and Total Stock (zooplankton MSTS)’ and 'Plankton Lifeforms index (PLI)', and stressor-response indices retrieved from the existing literature, elucidating their applicability to different MSFD descriptors. Finally, major challenges of developing new indices and applying existing ones in the context of the MSFD were critically addressed and some solutions were proposed.

Design and implementation of an index calculation system for forestry ecological assessment in China

In recent years, ecological issues have become increasingly serious with the development of modern society. An effective assessment for the ecological environment status is of great significance for the protection and construction of the ecological environment. We present the China Forestry Ecological Index Calculation System (CFEICS), which provides the quantitative measurement and qualitative evaluation for the forestry ecosystem status. However, a series of problems arises in the process of system design and implementation, including frequent changing of the ecological indicator system, low reporting rate but high error rate of ecological basic data, and long period and low efficiency of system development. To address the abovementioned problems, we first designed a database model by using a table-driven approach (TDA). Second, we implemented a reusable software system—the dynamic ecological data management system (DEDMS)—based on the TDA. The DEDMS contains data access, data verification, data statistics, index calculation, and index expression components. Third, we applied the DEDMS to the CFEICS and completed the final CFEICS. After practical test and application, the system was used as the official ecological index calculation system in Chinese forestry.

The Exploration and Practice of the Development of Green Eco-Urban Areas in Guangzhou International Financial City

Active exploration has been carried out to determine a pattern for developing green eco-urban areas in the Starting Area of Guangzhou International Financial City with an emphasis on the core role of comprehensive green arrangement. By comparing and analyzing existing research, development of green technologies at home and abroad, and indicator systems of green urban areas of similar sizes, the builders developed a green ecological indicator system. They proposed a new concept called “district-level indicator” in order to emphasize the importance of classifying indicators according to different project situations. By verifying the indicators for all land parcels and assessing future costs and efficiency, experience accumulated in this project can be beneficial for future green eco-urban area development projects.

A quantitative method to assess the ecological indicator system's effectiveness: a case study of the Ecological Province Construction Indicators of China

The ecological indicator system (EIS) is widely used. It is vital to develop a scientific and rational EIS for practical application. Assessment of an EIS's effectiveness is important to understand the gaps between practical indicators and indicators that are considered theoretically ideal. In this paper we develop a conceptual method to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of a practical EIS by comparing it with the ideal EIS that is considered perfect by using three assessment indices: linkage, coverage and representation degrees. Linkage degree reveals the relevance of individual indicators to the ideal system. Coverage degree shows the integrity of the practical indicator system compared with the ideal system. Representation degree is the ultimate goal of the quantitative assessment and can detect the gap and overlap between the practical indicator system and the ideal one. Case study on the Ecological Province Construction Indicators (EPCI) proved that our conceptual method is useful to assess the effectiveness of a practical EIS. Compared with an ideal EIS, the EPCI has a high linkage and coverage degree but biased representation. Although the practical EIS covers most of the objectives detailed in the Fujian eco-province construction documents, many social development indicators are overlooked, including ecological culture and green consumption. Using the quantitative method will improve the practical application of an EIS by detecting its redundancy and weakness.

基于网络分析的生态建设评估指标体系定量选取研究——以福建省为例

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 基于网络分析的生态建设评估指标体系定量选取——以福建省为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201304070621 作者: 作者单位: 中国科学院城市环境研究所,中国科学院城市环境研究所,福建省海洋研究所 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目(41201598); 国家科技支撑计划课题(2012BAC21B03); 福建省软科学项目(2011R0093) Quantitative selection research on the evaluation indicators system for the ecological construction based on network analysis:a case study of Fujian Author: Affiliation: Institute of Urban Environment， Chinese Academy of Sciences,Institute of Urban Environment， Chinese Academy of Sciences,Institute of Urban Environment， Chinese Academy of Sciences Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:科学有效的指标体系是开展区域生态建设评估以及规划、管理的重要技术手段。然而目前在生态指标体系构建中仍缺乏对指标内涵的系统研究,同时指标的选取过程不够透明,掺杂诸多主观臆断,损害了生态指标体系构建的科学性和有效性。针对福建省生态建设实践,将网络分析与量化指标选择过程相结合,(1)根据福建省生态建设规划和目标,建立主题导向的生态省建设评估网状指标体系;(2)从因果联系、生态过程和管理需求三方面分析各个备选指标之间的相互联系,形成基于主题导向的生态指标网络;(3)根据生态指标应用的科学性和实用性标准,基于网络分析原理,建立生态建设评估指标选择标准矩阵和备选指标矩阵;(4)构建面向经济社会成本和生态完整性的指标选取模型,定量化选取符合福建省实际发展特征的生态建设评估操作指标体系。将有助于深入理解生态建设评估指标体系的内涵,提高指标体系构建的科学性和系统性,提升生态指标体系在实际生态建设评估、规划和管理应用中的效用。 Abstract:Eco-province, eco-city and eco-county construction programs started in China in 2000, and since then, there have been more than 15 provinces including Fujian, Hainan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu etc. completed eco-province construction planning. Scientific and effective indicator system is an important tool to carry out the assessment, planning and management of regional ecological construction. However, some problems still exist in the construction of ecological indicator system, such as lack of systematic study on the essence of the indicator and subjective process of indicator selection, which severely impair the science and validity of the ecological indicator system. An objective and scientific process of selection supplies the way for fast ecological construction planning and its adjustment in the future. This paper combines the network analysis and quantitative selection of indicators to build an ecological indicator system based on the previous practice in Fujian Province. We (1)analyzed the main problems existed in the ecological construction, implementation and development process, summarized the previous assessment indicators in the current ecological construction, studied the targets of Fujian eco-province construction practice, and established theme-oriented eco-province construction assessment network indicator system which contained 4 hierarchies and 55 concrete indicators representing experts and stakeholders' opinions; (2)identified the relationships among the indicators at the same or different hierarchies through the analysis of the cause-effect relationship, ecological processes and management requirements, and transformed them into an ecological hierarchy network (EHN) framework and assigned the weights of all the indicators based on the hierarchical structure and complex linkages of the EHN framework; (3)established indicator selection standard matrix which included measurable, vulnerable, predictable, typical, controllable, integrative, responsive, and stable criteria and built alternative indicator matrix of assessment system for ecological construction according to the scientific and efficient application standards of ecological indicator; (4)built a multi-objective selection model concerning socio-economic costs and ecological integrity and quantitatively select the ecological indicators system that is suitable for Fujian eco-province construction practice by genetic algorithm method. According to the selection results, at least 44 concrete indicators should be selected in the ecological construction assessment system of Fujian Province, 11 indicators were dropped out from the 55 alternative concrete indicators. The results showed that our research would be helpful for understanding the essence of the assessment indicator system of ecological province construction, improving the scientific and systematic level of indicator system construction, and enhancing the practicability of ecological indicator system for ecological construction assessment, planning and management. For the reason that it is hard to simulate the whole system by a purely mathematical model due to the limited understanding of complex ecosystem and social ecological system, it is suggested that the theme-oriented framework and network framework should be coupled with subjective and quantitative indicator selections for ecological construction practices of other provinces in China. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Quantitative selection model of ecological indicators and its solving method

Ecological indicator system (EIS) is widely used in ecosystem monitoring, assessment and management, building a bridge between scientists, environmental managers, and the general public. This paper explores a conceptual model for ecological indicator selection, and a quantitative selection model is formulated based on the conceptual model. The quantitative selection model is a typical zero-one type integer programming problem, and a binary-code genetic algorithm is proposed for solving it. Then the quantitative selection model and its solving method are applied to the Xiamen's coastal ecosystem health framework which comprises 4 levels of ecosystem structure. In this case, the purpose is to reduce the indicator set to minimize overall management costs, and 19 indicators are discarded from the 54 candidate concrete indicators by our method. The selection modeling and its solving method are demonstrated to be a scientific and effective way for ecological indicator application.

Assessing egret ecological safety in the urban environment: A case study in Xiamen, China

In general, wildlife is facing increasing threats from rapid urbanisation in China. Ecological safety for wildlife requires an ecosystem that provides the conditions necessary for sustaining life. In this paper, two major breeding habitats and ten typical foraging habitats of egrets living in the urban environment were selected to assess the extent to which the needs of egrets can be satisfied and maintained. Ecological suitability and impacts from humans are the two major factors affecting egret ecological safety. An ecological indicator system was adopted to assess the ecological suitability of areas. Different land-use types were used to represent different degrees of human impact on the egret habitats, by employing a geographic information system. The results show that the two breeding habitats are at a safe level, while the ten foraging habitats are on the whole marginally safe. Full attention should be given to the conservation of wildlife foraging habitats in Xiamen Island.

A recursive ecological indicator system for the supply chain of a company

This paper proposes the concept of cumulative eco-intensity with which environmental or sustainability indicators are related to the added value of economic activities. The intensities are passed on recursively from supplier to supplier and thus make it possible to include upstream and downstream effects along the supply and waste disposal chain. The process is applied to whole companies and (by contrast with LCA) not to individual products. At comparatively low expenditure for the individual companies, it allows vertical comparisons along the value-adding chain and horizontal comparisons among companies or production locations. This provides a decision-making aid for a company seeking to fulfil its ecological or sustainability responsibility in the entire production and supply chains.