Construction and assessment of an indicator system of stream conditions in a typical mountain landscape in Northeast China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
; 31(5): 7889-7901, 2024 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38170351
ABSTRACT
Stream ecosystem health assessments are crucial for the effective management of aquatic ecosystem service functions and the assessment of anthropogenic and climatic impacts on aquatic ecosystems. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive assessment methods based on complete ecosystem structures. This study improved an ecological health assessment system, which consists of 13 indicators based on ecosystem structure. The assessment system was applied to 30 streams on Changbai Mountain. The results showed that the comprehensive index of stream health (ISH) in Changbai Mountain was relatively high, and the ISH increased with the elevation gradient. The dominant factors controlling the ecosystem health level were water pH, water flow, vegetation coverage, total phosphorus (TP), and vegetation diversity index. All these results indicated that the damage caused by excessive deforestation and farmland occupation in recent years has not been fully reversed and that human disturbance from tourism may be the main reason for the low stream health at lower elevations. Our results suggest that the key to future work is to increase quantitative research on disturbance sensitivity and to develop economically viable restoration measures.
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Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
/
Rios
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article