Spatiotemporal Evolution of Ecological Quality in Alpine Freshwater Lake Nature Reserves in the Past 20 Years

The Caohai Nature Reserve is one of the three major plateau freshwater lakes in China.Since the 1950s,human activities such as land reclamation and population relocation have greatly damaged Caohai.A rapid evaluation of the spatiotemporal evolution trend of the ecological quality of the Caohai Nature Reserve is significant for the maintenance and construction of the ecosystem in this area.The research is based on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)remote sensing cloud computing platform.Landsat TM/OLI images from May to October in five time periods:2000-2002,2004-2006,2009-2011,2014-2016,and 2019-2021 were obtained to reconstruct the optimal cloud image set by averaging the images in each time period.By constructing four ecological indicators:Greenness(NDVI),Wetness(Wet),Hotness(LST),and Dryness(NDBSI),and using Principal Component Analysis(PCA)method to obtain the Remote Sensing Ecological Index(RSEI)for the corresponding years,the spatiotemporal variation of ecological quality in the Caohai Nature Reserve over 20 years was analyzed.The results indicate:①the mean value of RSEI increased from 0.460 in 2000-2002 to 0.772 in 2019-2021,a 67.83%increase,indicating a significant improvement in the ecological quality of the reserve over the 20 years;②from the perspective of functional zoning of the Caohai Nature Reserve,the ecological quality of the core area showed a degrading trend,while the ecological quality of the buffer zone and experimental zone significantly improved;③with the implementation of ecological restoration projects,the ecological quality of the reserve gradually recovered and improved from 2014 to 2021.The trend of RSEI value changes is well correlated with human interventions,indicating that the PCA-based RSEI model can be effectively used for ecological quality assessment in lake areas.

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Ecological Quality in Typical Karst Ecologically Fragile Areas Based on Remote Sensing Ecological Indexes

Fast and effective remote sensing monitoring is an important means for analyzing the spatio-temporal changes in ecological quality in fragile karst regions.This study focuses on Guanling Autonomous County,a national-level demonstration county for comprehensive desertification control.Based on Landsat TM/OLI remote sensing image data from 2005,2010,2015,and 2020,remote sensing ecological indices were used to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in ecological quality in Guanling Autonomous County from 2005 to 2020.The results show that:①the variance contribution rates of the first principal component for the four periods were 66.31%,71.59%,63.18%,and 75.24%,indicating that PC1 integrated most of the characteristics of the four indices,making the RSEI suitable for evaluating ecological quality in karst mountain areas;②the remote sensing ecological index grades have been increasing year by year,with an overall trend of improving ecological quality.The area of higher-grade ecological quality has increased spatially,while fragmented patches have gradually decreased,becoming more concentrated in the low-altitude areas in the northwest and east,and there is a trend of expansion towards higher-altitude areas;③the ecological environment quality in most areas has improved,with the improvement in RSEI spatio-temporal variation becoming more noticeable with increasing slope.Areas of higher-grade quality appeared in 2010,and the range of higher-grade quality expanded with increasing slope.

Assessment of ecological quality in Northwest China(2000-2020)using the Google Earth Engine platform:Climate factors and land use/land cover contribute to ecological quality

The ecological quality of inland areas is an important aspect of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(UN SDGs).The ecological environment of Northwest China is vulnerable to changes in climate and land use/land cover,and the changes in ecological quality in this arid region over the last two decades are not well understood.This makes it more difficult to advance the UN SDGs and develop appropriate measures at the regional level.In this study,we used the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)products to generate remote sensing ecological index(RSEI)on the Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform to examine the relationship between ecological quality and environment in Xinjiang during the last two decades(from 2000 to 2020).We analyzed a 21-year time series of the trends and spatial characteristics of ecological quality.We further assessed the importance of different environmental factors affecting ecological quality through the random forest algorithm using data from statistical yearbooks and land use products.Our results show that the RSEI constructed using the GEE platform can accurately reflect the ecological quality information in Xinjiang because the contribution of the first principal component was higher than 90.00%.The ecological quality in Xinjiang has increased significantly over the last two decades,with the northern part of this region having a better ecological quality than the southern part.The areas with slightly improved ecological quality accounted for 31.26%of the total land area of Xinjiang,whereas only 3.55%of the land area was classified as having a slightly worsen(3.16%)or worsen(0.39%)ecological quality.The vast majority of the deterioration in ecological quality mainly occurred in the barren areas Temperature,precipitation,closed shrublands,grasslands and savannas were the top five environmental factors affecting the changes in RSEI.Environmental factors were allocated different weights for different RSEI categories.In general,the recovery of ecological quality in Xinjiang has been controlled by climate and land use/land cover during the last two decades and policy-driven ecological restoration is therefore crucial.Rapid monitoring of inland ecological quality using the GEE platform is projected to aid in the advancement of the comprehensive assessment of the UN SDGs.

Meiofaunal Community Spatial Distribution and Diversity as Indicators of Ecological Quality in the Bohai Sea, China

The Bohai Sea is a semi-enclosed marginal sea in the North West Pacific. Meiofauna samples were collected from 22 stations in the Bohai Sea to document the spatial distribution, structure, and diversity of the meiofaunal community and investigate the major factors influencing the community features. A total of 20 higher taxa of meiofauna were identified. The dominant group was Nematoda, accounting for 90.8% of the total meiofaunal abundance on average, followed by Copepoda, Bivalvia, Polychaeta, Kinorhyncha, and Ostracoda. Meiofaunal abundance ranged from 121 ± 89 ind(10 cm2)-1 to 3042 ± 1054 ind(10 cm2)-1. Diversity indices also varied among different stations, with a Margalef's richness index(d) of 1.1–3.1, Shannon-Wiener diversity index(H′) of 0.7–1.8, and Pielou's evenness index(J′) of 0.4– 0.8. Meiofaunal abundance and diversity indices were significantly lower in the areas of Bohai Bay and adjacent to Laizhou Bay. The correlation analysis showed that meiofaunal abundance and diversity indices are closely linked to variations in sediment silt-clay content, medium grain size(MDΦ), and chlorophyll-a concentrations. The ecological quality status of most stations can be ranked from poor to moderate based on meiofaunal richness. According to the value of nematode to copepod ratio(Ne:Co ratio), most stations are uncontaminated, except seven stations are slightly or moderately contaminated. Both meiofaunal richness and Ne:Co ratio indicate the poor ecological quality of three stations adjacent to Laizhou Bay. The efficiency of the meiofauna communities as environmental indicators will be tested in a greater area in the future studies.

Spatiotemporal variations in ecological quality of Otindag Sandy Land based on a new modified remote sensing ecological index

Otindag Sandy Land in China is an important ecological barrier to Beijing;the changes in its ecological quality are major concerns for sustainable development and planning of this area.Based on principal component analysis and path analysis,we first generated a modified remote sensing ecological index(MRSEI)coupled with satellite and ground observational data during 2001–2020 that integrated four local indicators(greenness,wetness,and heatness that reflect vegetation status,water,and heat conditions,respectively,as well as soil erosion).Then,we assessed the ecological quality in Otindag Sandy Land during 2001–2020 based on the MRSEI at different time scales(i.e.,the whole year,growing season,and non-growing season).MRSEI generally increased with an upward rate of 0.006/a during 2001–2020,with clear seasonal and spatial variations.Ecological quality was significantly improved in most regions of Otindag Sandy Land but degraded in the southern part.Regions with ecological degradation expanded to 18.64%of the total area in the non-growing season.The area with the worst grade of MRSEI shrunk by 15.83%of the total area from 2001 to 2020,while the area with the best grade of MRSEI increased by 9.77%of the total area.The temporal heterogeneity of ecological conditions indicated that the improvement process of ecological quality in the growing season may be interrupted or deteriorated in the following non-growing season.The implementation of ecological restoration measures in Otindag Sandy Land should not ignore the seasonal characteristics and spatial heterogeneity of local ecological quality.The results can explore the effectiveness of ecological restoration and provide scientific guides on sustainable development measures for drylands.

The Theory and Methods Research on Ecological Quality Control of Enterprises

So far, most theories of economics and management are under the same premisethat the natural resources are never exhausted and regenerated repeatedly. The magic of technologybrought by industrial revolution endowed human with power that they can do anything they want. Italso turns natural resources into industrial energy and enhances the development of human societyand civilization. Human uses direct comparison of input and output and the satisfaction degree ofdemands to measure the production activities, the economic benefit and management performance,regardless of the change of ecology that serves as the natural resources. However, since theecological environment has been changing worse recently and natural disaster happened frequentlyhuman's dream of conquering the nature has been broken. The nature implements reprisal against humanagain and again, and human is faced with the development limit because of the environmentalrestriction.

Ecological environmental quality evaluation and driving factor analysis of the Lijiang River Basin,based on Google Earth Engine

For regional ecological management,it is important to evaluate the quality of ecosystems and analyze the underlying causes of ecological changes.Using the Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform,the remote sensing ecological index(RSEI)was calculated for the Lijiang River Basin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for 1991,2001,2011,and 2021.Spatial autocorrelation analysis was employed to investigate spatiotemporal variations in the ecological environmental quality of the Lijiang River Basin.Furthermore,geographic detectors were used to quantitatively analyze influencing factors and their interaction effects on ecological environmental quality.The results verified that:1)From 1991 to 2021,the ecological environmental quality of the Lijiang River Basin demonstrated significant improvement.The area with good and excellent ecological environmental quality in proportion increased by 19.69%(3406.57 km^(2)),while the area with fair and poor ecological environmental quality in proportion decreased by 10.76%(1860.36 km^(2)).2)Spatially,the ecological environmental quality of the Lijiang River Basin exhibited a pattern of low quality in the central region and high quality in the periphery.Specifically,poor ecological environmental quality characterized the Guilin urban area,Pingle County,and Lingchuan County.3)From 1991 to 2021,a significant positive spatial correlation was observed in ecological environmental quality of the Lijiang River Basin.Areas with high-high agglomeration were predominantly forests and grasslands,indicating good ecological environmental quality,whereas areas with low-low agglomeration were dominated by cultivated land and construction land,indicating poor ecological environmental quality.4)Annual average precipitation and temperature exerted the most significant influence on the ecological environmental quality of the basin,and their interactions with other factors had the great influence.This study aimed to enhance understanding of the evolution of the ecological environment in the Lijiang River Basin of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and provide scientific guidance for decision-making and management related to ecology in the region.

Analysis of ecological quality in Lhasa Metropolitan Area during 1990-2017 based on remote sensing and Google Earth Engine platform

Based on a total of 519 images,the composite images with the lowest possible cloud cover were generated at pixel level with image synthesis method on Google Earth Engine(GEE)platform.The Remote Sensing Ecological Index(RSEI)was adopted,and calculated in an efficient way with the assistance of parallel cloud computing of the GEE platform.The RSEI was used in this paper to evaluate and monitor the eco-environmental quality of the Lhasa Metropolitan Area.Results show that:(1)The ecological quality is better in the west than in the east of Lhasa Metropolitan Area,with Lhasa as an approximate dividing point.The ecological quality improved and then deteriorated dramatically before 2000,with the mean RSEI value dropping from 0.51 to 0.46;the trend was followed by a gradual increase up until 2017,with the mean RSEI value increased from 0.46 to 0.55.(2)The RSEI is weakly and positively correlated with socioeconomic indicators.This indicates that the population growth and economic development did not negatively influence the ecological quality,but actually boosted it.(3)The GEE can serve as an efficient computing platform for the assessment and monitoring of eco-environmental quality in vast regions.

A National Key R&D Program: Technologies and Guidelines for Monitoring Ecological Quality of Terrestrial Ecosystems in China

Ecological quality is defined as the stability, adaptability and resilience of an ecosystem. Monitoring and assessing ecological quality are important bases for China’s ecological civilization construction. The national key research and development program "Technologies and guidelines for monitoring ecological quality of terrestrial ecosystems in China", launched in July 2017, includes plans to study the observation technologies and provide guidelines on the ecological in-situ observation, the regional biodiversity and ecosystem function monitoring and its applications, all of which contribute to national ecological quality assessment. A year after its implementation,some important progress has been achieved, such as building the indicator system for comprehensive monitoring of ecological quality and improvement of the methods, mass data transmission, infrared camera-based monitoring of biodiversity, multi-angle automatic spectral observation systems, and unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) based desert monitoring. We have organized this special issue and attempted to introduce the monitoring techniques and assessment methods on ecological quality from different perspectives in order to further promote the development of ecology and its observation methods.

The Scientific Conceptual Framework for Ecological Quality of the Dryland Ecosystem: Concepts, Indicators, Monitoring and Assessment

The dryland ecosystem is the dominant component of the global terrestrial ecosystem since arid regions occupy 45% of the earth’s land area and feed 38% of the world’s population. The stability and sustainable development of the dryland ecosystem are critical for achieving the millennium development goal(MDG) in the arid and semiarid areas. However, there is still no scientific guideline for measuring and conserving the health and productivity of dryland ecosystems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop the scientific conceptual framework of defining, monitoring and evaluating the ecological quality of dryland ecosystems. The ecological quality of dryland ecosystems is represented by a system of comprehensive indicators that are each extracted from the ecological elements, and structural and functional indices of the ecosystem. These indicators can be monitored by integrating satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles with ground-based sensor networks at the scale of either observational sites or regional scales. Finally, the ecological quality can be evaluated by evaluation models based on the normalized index values and their thresholds. This paper presents a conceptual framework for monitoring and evaluating the ecological quality of drylands, which provides a way of advancing the monitoring, diagnosis, and evaluation of the ecological quality of the dryland ecosystems.

Spatio-temporal Variation of Vegetation Ecological Quality and Its Response to Climate Change in Rocky Desertification Areas in Southwest China during 2000–2020

Vegetation restoration is the primary task of ecological reconstruction and rocky desertification control in Karst areas. With vegetation net primary productivity and coverage as two key indicators, a vegetation ecological quality evaluation model was built based on meteorological and remote sensing data. Spatiotemporal variation of vegetation ecological quality index and its response to climate change in rocky desertification areas in Southwest China during 2000-2020 were also analyzed by using the difference method and linear trend method. The results showed that:(1) Vegetation ecological quality in rocky desertification areas in Southwest China showed a fluctuating upward trend during 2000-2020. In 2020, the vegetation ecological quality index reached 69.7, which was 19.9% and 9.3% higher than the averaged values for 2000 and 2000-2019, respectively, ranking the fourth highest since 2000.(2) Vegetation ecological quality of the rocky desertification areas in Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces have been improved by 89.2%, 99.2% and 98.5%, respectively, from 2000 to 2020, with their vegetation ecological quality index values increasing by 0.5-0.75 per year in southeast Yunnan, most areas in Guizhou and northwest Guangxi.(3) Precipitation was an important meteorological factor affecting the vegetation ecological quality in rocky desertification areas. The vegetation ecological quality index in the northwest and central Yunnan rocky desertification areas has been rising slowly, but with localized declines at a yearly rate of nearly 0.25 caused by climatic warming and drying.

Spatiotemporal variation of ecological environment quality and extreme climate drivers on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Protecting the ecological security of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP)is of great importance for global ecology and climate.Over the past few decades,climate extremes have posed a significant challenge to the ecological environment of the QTP.However,there are few studies that explored the effects of climate extremes on ecological environment quality of the QTP,and few researchers have made quantitative analysis.Hereby,this paper proposed the Ecological Environmental Quality Index(EEQI)for analyzing the spatial and temporal variation of ecological environment quality on the QTP from 2000 to 2020,and explored the effects of climate extremes on EEQI based on Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression(GTWR)model.The results showed that the ecological environment quality in QTP was poor in the west,but good in the east.Between 2000 and 2020,the area of EEQI variation was large(34.61%of the total area),but the intensity of EEQI variation was relatively low and occurred mainly by a slightly increasing level(EEQI change range of 0.05-0.1).The overall ecological environment quality of the QTP exhibited spatial and temporal fluctuations,which may be attributed to climate extremes.Significant spatial heterogeneity was observed in the effects of the climate extremes on ecological environment quality.Specifically,the effects of daily temperature range(DTR),number of frost days(FD0),maximum 5-day precipitation(RX5day),and moderate precipitation days(R10)on ecological environment quality were positive in most regions.Furthermore,there were significant temporal differences in the effects of consecutive dry days(CDD),consecutive wet days(CWD),R10,and FD0 on ecological environment quality.These differences may be attributed to variances in ecological environment quality,climate extremes,and vegetation types across different regions.In conclusion,the impact of climate extremes on ecological environment quality exhibits complex patterns.These findings will assist managers in identifying changes in the ecological environment quality of the QTP and addressing the effects of climate extremes.

Evolution and Simulation of Spatial-temporal Heterogeneities in Ecological Background Quality of Changsha City

By GIS and ENVI,TM/ETM remote sensing images of five districts(Yuelu District,Furong District,Yuhua District,Tianxin District and Kaifu District) in Changsha City center in 2005,2010 and 2015 were interpreted.Moreover,distribution chart for ecological background factors in 2020 was simulated by using CA-Markov module in IDRISI.Using principal component analysis,evaluation model for ecological background quality of the city was established.Via circle analysi s,GS+semi variance function analysis,hot spot area analysis and grey correlation analysis,integrated analysis and evaluation on spatial heterogeneity evolution of ecological background quality in research region were conducted.Results showed that firstly Changsha overall has formed ecological pattern of landscape island city,but ecological background started to show the evolution trend of high heterogeneity and fragmentation under the construction land expansion,and ecological background quality of the city declined from 0.300,6 to 0.257,1 during 2005-2020.Secondly,ecological background quality of Changsha City had typical circle and axial gradient structure,and "eco tone" had the most violent evolution.Thirdly,spatial structure of ecological background quality had region,time and direction heterogeneities,and spatial heterogeneity of region was the most important.Fourthly,hot spot area distribution of ecological background quality evolution showed the "frog jump" trend of gathering in marginal zone and diffusing to peripheral zone.Fifthly,in driving factors of ecological background quality,industrialization rate had the highest grey correlation degree(0.842,1),and grey absolute correlation degree between ecological background quality in Yuelu District and industrialization rate was the highest(0.603,1).

Assessment on eco-environmental quality of the Yellow River Basin by considering desertification index

Desertification has had a significant impact on the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin(YRB)in China.However,previous studies on the evaluation of the ecological environment quality(EEQ)in the YRB have paid limited attention to the indicator of desertification.It is of great significance to incorporate the desertification index into the spatiotemporal assessment of the EEQ in the YRB in order to protect the ecological environment in the region.In this study,based on multi-source remote sensing data from 91 cities in the YRB,this article proposes a desertification remote sensing ecological index(DRSEI)model,which builds upon the traditional Remote Sensing Ecological Index(RSEI)model,to analyze the spatiotemporal changes in the EEQ in the YRB from 2001 to 2021.Furthermore,using the geographic detector(GD),and geographically and temporally weighted regression(GTWR)model,the study assesses the impact of human and natural factors on the EEQ in the YRB.The research findings indicate that:(1)Compared to the traditional RSEI,the improved DRSEI shows a decreasing trend in the evaluation results of the EEQ.Among the 24 cities,the change in DRSEI exceeds 0.05 compared to RSEI,accounting for 26.37%of the YRB.The remaining 67 cities have changes within a range of less than 0.05,accounting for 73.63%of the YRB.(2)The results of the GD for individual and interactive effects reveal that rainfall and elevation have significant individual and interactive effects on the EEQ.Furthermore,after the interaction with natural factors,the explanatory power of human factors gradually increases over time.The spatial heterogeneity results of GTWR demonstrate that rainfall has a strong direct positive impact on the EEQ,accounting for 98.90%of the influence,while temperature exhibits a more pronounced direct inhibitory effect,accounting for 76.92%of the influence.Human activities have a strong negative impact on the EEQ and a weak positive impact.

Assessing benthic habitat quality using biotic indices in the Laizhou Bay, China

As an important part of the Bohai economic rim,the Laizhou Bay has been stressed by serious eco-environmental problems in recent years.In this study,the Shannon-Wiener index(H′),AZTI’s marine biotic index(AMBI)and the multivariate AMBI(M-AMBI)were used to assess the ecological quality status(EQS)of the Laizhou Bay according to macrobenthos data collected annually in August 2011–2014.The results showed that the overall benthic habitat quality in the Laizhou Bay was assessed as“Good”.However,25%of the samples were classified as“Moderate”,“Bad”or“Poor”status under degraded conditions.Ecological group III(EGIII)species which had a certain tolerance to environmental disturbances had a higher proportion in each station,and most of them had appeared the pollution indicator species Capitella capitata.This indicated that the benthic habitat in the Laizhou Bay had been disturbed and polluted to some extent.The comparison of the three indices evaluation result and the RDA analysis showed that the H′and M-AMBI were more suitable when the relative abundance of the single species was high and the macrobenthic community was significantly imbalanced;when the relative abundance of opportunistic species(EGIV and EGV)was high,the AMBI and M-AMBI could reflected the EQS objectively;in an undisturbed and polluted environment,all the three indices could indicate the benthic habitats quality.In summary,the better correlation between the three indices and environmental factors showed that they were well responsive to the tendency of the benthic habitats quality in the Laizhou Bay.

A Study on the"Quality"and"Quantity"of Financial Ecology in Henan Province

In order to promote the economic and financial development of Henan Province,this paper constructs the financial ecological system of Henan Province,evaluates the"quantity"of Henan financial ecology by entropy method-TOPSIS method,and evaluates the"quality"of Henan financial ecology by DEA-Malmquist method.It is found that the"quantity"of financial ecology in Henan Province shows the early advantage,but the power of late advantage is insufficient,and the"quality"of financial ecology in Henan Province is improved obviously,but it only depends on the technological progress,showing a lack of sustained momentum.Based on this,this paper puts forward some suggestions on promoting the development of digital finance,creating a good credit environment and actively preparing for the establishment of a diversified financial system,so as to improve the quality of financial ecology in Henan Province.

Environmental Monitoring in Northern Aksu, China Based on Remote Sensing Ecological Index Model

In order to understand the development status of ecological environment quality in the Aksu region of China, to effectively adjust the ecological environment quality, so as to promote the sustainable development of its social economy and ecological environment protection. This paper selects the Landsat series remote sensing images of the northern Aksu region in 2013, 2016, and 2019, and uses the tools such as ENVI5.3 and ArcGIS 10.8.1 to process the image data accordingly. The principal component analysis method is used to calculate the Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) of the northern Aksu region. The data show that: 1) The ecological environment quality index in the northern Aksu region in 2013, 2016, and 2019 was 0.706087, 0.25243 and 0.362991 respectively;2) The areas where the ecological environment quality declined significantly in the northern Aksu region were the human settlements and the Gobi, fan-shaped land and other special terrain areas;3) The humidity index and the heat index are the two factors that have the greatest impact on the ecological environment quality in the northern Aksu area. The data as a whole show that the ecological environment in the northern part of the Aksu region has deteriorated seriously, and the severely deteriorated area is close to the human living area.

A comparison of the applicability of the Shannon-Wiener index,AMBI and M-AMBI indices for assessing benthic habitat health in the Huanghe(Yellow River) Estuary and adjacent areas

From a dataset of macrobenthos obtained from 18 cruises from 2004 to 2013 in the Huanghe（Yellow River）Estuary and its adjacent areas,the composition and characteristics of macrobenthos were analyzed,and the applicability of the Shannon-Wiener Index（H′）,AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index（AMBI） and multivariate AMBI（MAMBI） for assessing benthic habitat quality was compared.The results showed a total of 203 macrobenthos in the study area.The macrobenthos were dominated by polychaetes,followed by mollusks and crustaceans.The macrobenthic ecological groups were dominated by EGI,EGII and EGIII,which respectively accounted for 31.5%,36.0% and 21.2% of the total.There were significant differences between the evaluation results of the three indices.The ecological quality status（EQS） levels given by the AMBI were greater than those given by the H′ and M-AMBI.The AMBI could not reflect the differences between 11 sites but the H′ and M-AMBI could do.Moreover,the three indices responded well to the variations in salinity（S） and dissolved oxygen（DO） in the waters.The H′ and MAMBI also responded sensitively to the differences in physical parameters,such as water depth and sediment texture.The correlation between M-AMBI and environmental pressure gradient data was the strongest.The MAMBI could effectively distinguish degraded conditions from undegraded but the H′ and AMBI could not.Therefore,the M-AMBI reflected benthic habitat health well in the study areas.However,the objectivity of evaluation results of M-AMBI needs further verification by physical,chemical and biological methods.The thresholds also need further discussion.

Seasonal implications for taxonomic sufficiency to simplify M-AMBI methodology in the coastal area adjacent to a eutrophic estuary

Taxonomic sufficiency(TS)refers to identifying taxa to a taxonomic level sufficient to detect community changes in stressed environments and may provide a cost-effective approach in routine monitoring programs.However,there is still limited information regarding the seasonal impact of applying TS and its implications for the ecological quality evaluation in the estuarine ecosystem.This study investigated the relationship between the multivariate-AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index(M-AMBI)and environmental variables in three seasons(i.e.,spring,summer,and autumn)in the Liaohe River Estuary.We tested the reliability of TS for simplifying the M-AMBI methodology.The results showed that family and genus level data could reproduce the spatial-temporal patterns of community structure at the species level.The M-AMBI values showed a consistent spatial distribution pattern in all sampling seasons,with a decreasing trend with the increasing distance from the estuary mouth.Both genus and family level data performed nearly as well as species level in detecting the seasonal variations of pollutants(i.e.,nutrients and total organic content).The family level M-AMBI was feasible to discern stress in the Liaohe River Estuary because of the high aggregation ratios at different taxonomic levels in all sampling seasons.These findings suggest that applying taxonomic sufficiency based on the M-AMBI provides an efficient approach for evaluating ecological quality in the Liaohe River Estuary.

Nematode community structure in relation to metals in the southern of Caspian Sea

Spatial distribution and structure of nematode assemblages in coastal sediments of the southern part of the Caspian Sea were studied in relation to environmental factors. By considering metals, organic matter, Shannon diversity index（H）, maturity index（MI） and trophic diversity（ITD）, ecological quality status of sediment was also determined. Fifteen nematode species belonging to eleven genera were identified at the sampling sites. Average density of nematode inhabiting in sediment of the studied area was 139.78±98.91（ind. per 15.20 cm^2）. According to redundancy analysis（RDA）, there was high correlation between metals and some species. Based on biological indicators, the studied area had different environmental quality. Generally, chemical and biological indices showed different results while biological indices displayed similar results in more sites.