PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 115: Grasslands: Nutrient Cycling; Management
Thursday, August 11, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 518 A, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Ecosystem Health Assessment of Hilly and Gully Area of Loess Plateau in Inner Mongolia.
Huang, Heping1, Yang, Jie*,2, 1 Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. china2 Inner Mongolia university, Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, P. R. China
ABSTRACT- Ecosystem health (HI) is one of the objectives of ecosystem construction and environmental management. It is also critical in researching ecology, environmental science, resource science, and sustainable development. Currently, how to quantifiably assess or evaluate ecosystem health is a difficult problem. The method of assessing ecosystem health is rarely reported in the literature. The assessment method of natural index system (AMNIS) was used in this study. The theories of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy mathematics were applied, and combined with the theory of net-hierarchy. In the scale of ecosystem or catchment, three sample areas of original vegetation, reconstructed vegetation and degenerated vegetation of the hill and gully area of the Loess Plateau in Inner Mongolia of China were chosen from the aspects of ecosystem vigor, organizational structure, service function, and soil health. Compared to the original vegetation, the assessing standard of ecosystem health was divided into I, II,III, IV and V which represented excellent health, health, middle health, morbidity and illness, respectively. Through the analysis and assessment on their health situation of natural ecosystem, the ecosystem health assessing indicator system and the weight system adapted to this region were applied, and the ecosystem health index assessing model and the indicator level standards were established. The results showed that: (1) The health index of reconstructed vegetation in relation to vigor, organizational structure, service function and soil health was at levels IV, II, IV and III respectively, while that of degenerated vegetation was at V, IV, V and IV levels; (2) As a whole, the comprehensive ecosystem health index of reconstructed vegetation was still lower than that of original vegetation and higher than that of degenerated vegetation. It was at III level; and the health index of degenerated vegetation was still at IV level. The contributing values order was: organization structure > soil health > vigor > service function. From the role of natural ecology, combining with the facts of the study region, this paper put forward several useful suggestions and methods about the ecosystem health restoration, eco-environmental management, and sustainable development steps in this region.
Key words: hilly and gully area of Loess Plateau in Inner Mongolia, Ecosystem health assessment, Assessment method of natural indicator system, sustainable development