Comprehensive assessment of urban lake wetlands in the Jiangnan water network: Implementation of ecosystem health models

Abstract

The Jiangnan Water Network region has poor health and biodiversity disturbances in urban lake wetlands. This study introduces an assessment framework using the Pres-sure-State-Response (PSR) model combined with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) methods to evaluate the Sanbai Pool wetland health in Hangzhou. Twenty-one indicators across five dimensions (including biology, water quality, sediment, land use, and socio-economic) were identified to construct a comprehensive health assessment system. The findings revealed that the overall health index of the Sanbai Pool was 0.536 (sub-healthy). Specifically, the pressure, state, and response layers’ scores were 0.497, 0.526, and 0.693, respectively, highlighting critical areas needing intervention. Key threats to the ecosystem included high nitrogen and phosphorus levels, invasive species, and declining biodiversity. Reducing external nutrient loading, controlling invasive species, promoting ecological restoration practices, using fish manipulation measures, and developing eco-friendly industries were the main measures to improve the Sanbai Pool wetland ecosystem’s health. The research results provided techniques supporting the protection and restoration of urban lake wetlands.