Abstract

The functions of wetlands are of significant value to social economy and ecology. However, in the past 50 years, wetlands in China have suffered severely from development pressure and are confronted with the threats of area loss. In recent years, assessment of wetland resources has aroused enormous attention, since it can further protect wetland resources and provide scientific basis for decision-makers. In this paper, wetland ecosystems are studied in terms of its ecological, social, and economic benefits, and integrated assessment system of the sustainability of the wetland resources of East Dongting Lake Nature Reserve has been built, adopting DELPHI method, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and PSR model. First, an index system of integrated assessment of wetland resources was constructed, and the indexes involve the following five aspects, ecological environment, safeguard system, reasonable utilization of wetlands, social culture and economic system. An index system of integrated assessment for wetland resources established was composed of 5 subsystems, with 34 indicators involved. By conducting field investigation in East Dongting Lake and by performing remote sensing data processing, an integrated assessment score of 1.035 was given to East Dongting Lake. Finally, a general analysis of the study area was given and a few countermeasures were suggested.

Key words: Sustainability assessment, analytic hierarchy process model, Delphi method.