Making global river ecosystem health assessments objective, quantitative and comparable

Zhao, C.1,7; Pan, T.2; Dou, T.3; Liu, J.4; Liu, C.1; Ge, Y.3; Zhang, Y.2; Yu, X.2; Mitrovic, S.5; Lim, R.6

2019-06

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.379

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT   影响因子和分区

0048-9697

1879-1026

Assessing and comparing global river ecosystem health in an objective and quantitative way remains a major challenge. In this study the widely-used semi-quantitative methods Rapid Biological assessment Protocols (RBPs) was used to determine the health of rivers. The findings were then compared to the results derived from our new UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicles) orthophotographic imagery method. This method quantitatively and objectively assesses river ecosystem health. As a comparison, our method was used to quantitatively measure distance and areas of a range of hydrological and biological attributes thus improving the accuracy of distance- and area-related indices, consequently avoiding subjective errors in these estimations that is fraught in methods like the RBPs. To strengthen the objectivity of the assessment the weights of these indices were objectively determined using the entropy weighting method. This new method was then tested using 9551 UAV orthophotographs taken over six field campaigns. It performed satisfactorily, showing that in our study area the health status of mountain rivers was the best with the highest score of 0.94 out of 1.0. Temporally, the health of the river was better in summer (0.65) compared with that in autumn (0.40). Changes in river ecosystem health were driven by variations in biology and water quality. In contrast the outputs of RBPs, especially in relation to distance and area indices, had similar to 20% uncertainty due to visual errors and subjectivity in estimations by observers. The UAV orthophotographic imaging method proposed in this study can improve the ability to compare the health of rivers across different periods and regions throughout the globe. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

River ecosystem health Habitat quality Biota Hydrology Water quality

SCI ; EI ; SSCI

英语

其他

Program for Key Science and Technology Innovation Team in Shaanxi province, China[2014KCT-27]

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Environmental Sciences

WOS:000461676600052

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

20191006588375

Antennas ; Health ; Hydrology ; Rivers ; Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) ; Water quality

Water Analysis:445.2 ; Ecology and Ecosystems:454.3 ; Medicine and Pharmacology:461.6 ; Aircraft, General:652.1

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

Web of Science

1.Beijing Normal Univ, Coll Water Sci, Beijing Key Lab Urban Hydrol Cycle & Sponge City, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China
2.Beijing Normal Univ, Sch Geog, Beijing 100875, Peoples R China
3.Jinan Survey Bur Hydrol & Water Resources, Jinan 250013, Shandong, Peoples R China
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
5.Univ Technol, Fac Sci, Sch Life Sci, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
6.Univ Technol, Fac Sci, Sch Environm, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
7.ICube, UdS, CNRS UMR 7357, 300 Bld Sebastien Brant,CS 10413, F-67412 Illkirch Graffenstaden, France

Zhao, C.,Pan, T.,Dou, T.,et al. Making global river ecosystem health assessments objective, quantitative and comparable[J]. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,2019,667:500-510.

Zhao, C..,Pan, T..,Dou, T..,Liu, J..,Liu, C..,...&Lim, R..(2019).Making global river ecosystem health assessments objective, quantitative and comparable.SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT,667,500-510.

Zhao, C.,et al."Making global river ecosystem health assessments objective, quantitative and comparable".SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 667(2019):500-510.