Modeling the scenarios of restoring the wetland in Hengshui Lake National Nature Reserve and assessing their ecological ris
衡水湖湿地恢复预案空间模拟及生态风险评价

Hengshui Lake National Nature Reserve is one of most ecologically valuable freshwater wetlands in the northern plain of China, providing crucial staging and wintering habitats for a large variety of endangered waterbirds. However, this unique wetland has suffered from serious habitat fragmentation and ecological function degradation due to increased socioeconomic activities within and surrounding the nature reserve. Aiming at enhancing its ecological function while balancing the needs between the conservation priorities and indispensable socioeconomic activities, three land use scenarios of wetland restoration were developed based on different magnitudes of wetland restoration, then we spatially modeled the scenarios of wetland restoration and evaluated their ecological risk. In this study, firstly, an ecotope was used as the planning unit, defined as a combination of landuse/landcover types and topographic factors (i.e., water level, slope) with RS & GIS techniques. Secondly, a systematic framework for ecological risk assessment was developed, in which Biodiversity Index, Ecological Vulnerability Index and Ecological Risk Index were introduced and employed. Finally, the pros and cons of the scenarios were evaluated based on its applicability. The results of modeling and assessments provide a basis for adopting measures of wetland restoration and consequent land use adjustment, and quantifying the regional ecological risk distribution for each scenario with spatial detail. Practical suggestions for the wetland restoration and habitat modification are thus forwarded. The results indicate paying equal attention to the site measures of wetland restoration and habitat alteration is best.