基于网络分析的生态建设评估指标体系定量选取——以福建省为例

科学有效的指标体系是开展区域生态建设评估以及规划、管理的重要技术手段。然而目前在生态指标体系构建中仍缺乏对指标内涵的系统研究,同时指标的选取过程不够透明,掺杂诸多主观臆断,损害了生态指标体系构建的科学性和有效性。针对福建省生态建设实践,将网络分析与量化指标选择过程相结合,(1)根据福建省生态建设规划和目标,建立主题导向的生态省建设评估网状指标体系;(2)从因果联系、生态过程和管理需求三方面分析各个备选指标之间的相互联系,形成基于主题导向的生态指标网络;(3)根据生态指标应用的科学性和实用性标准,基于网络分析原理,建立生态建设评估指标选择标准矩阵和备选指标矩阵;(4)构建面向经济社会成本和生态完整性的指标选取模型,定量化选取符合福建省实际发展特征的生态建设评估操作指标体系。将有助于深入理解生态建设评估指标体系的内涵,提高指标体系构建的科学性和系统性,提升生态指标体系在实际生态建设评估、规划和管理应用中的效用。     

南京市城市生态系统可持续发展评价研究

采用一种完全递阶的层次结构,建立了城市生态系统评价的指标体系,指标体系分为3个层次,第一层次是目标层,以城市综合发展能力为目标,第二层次是准则层,即发展水平、发展力度和发展协调度3个准则,第三层次是指标层,选择了30项具体指标。运用层次分析、模糊综合评价以及线性隶属方法对南京市城市生态系统进行了评价。评价结果表明,南京市城市生态系统总体上向着高效、和谐的方向发展,但发展过程中存在的问题是发展水平较低,发展的协调度年际变化较大,且子系统及其组成要素存在着发展的非均衡性,因而,必须进一步调整南京市城市生态系统的结构与功能。     

县级公立医院综合改革成效评估指标体系构建研究

在文献回顾确定评估维度的基础上,结合相关政策,确定原始指标体系,利用两轮专题小组讨论和两轮专家咨询法对指标进行筛选,最终确定一套由3个一级指标、14个二级指标组成的县级公立医院综合改革成效评估指标体系,在利用层次分析法确定指标权重。同时,对指标体系信度效度进行检验,证明所构建的指标体系能对县级公立医院综合改革成效作出合理的评估。     

城市生态品质的内涵及其核心指标体系构建

城市生态品质是健康城市生态状态所需要具有的属性，在城市发展由大规模增量建设转为存量提质改造和增量结构调整并重的时期，城市生态品质建设与新时代新阶段的要求仍有不少差距。目前，亟需了解与整合多方需求，构建促使生态资源供需平衡、高效利用的指标体系，以加快提升城市生态品质的整体水平。本研究采用CiteSpace文献分析、相关政策整理和问卷调查等分析方法，系统梳理了科学、政府和公众3个视角的关注要点和理解差异。结果表明：科学、政府和公众3个视角均更为关注城市绿地、灰色基础设施和政策管控等相关指标，科学和公众最关注城市绿地相关指标，而政府最关注灰色基础设施相关指标。基于差异分析结果，构建了涵盖城市绿地、环境质量、灰色基础设施等10大要素类型、共计25项指标的城市生态品质核心指标体系。     

基于熵权灰色关联分析的城市生态安全评价

基于压力-状态-响应概念模型,构建区域生态安全评价指标体系.采用熵权法对各评价指标赋权,熵权赋权克服了多指标评价中主观确定权重的不确定性.建立安全评价指标标准,利用灰色关联方法计算重庆市的生态安全的关联度,以此对重庆市的生态安全做出评估.结果表明:该方法对城市生态安全进行熵权灰色关联评价的结果与实际相吻合,为区域生态安全定量化评价提供了新的手段,具有一定的实用价值和推广意义.     

生态市评价指标体系与方法——以江苏大丰市为例

城市是一类社会-经济-自然复合生态系统,如何实现城市的可持续发展,是当今世界研究的重要课题之一.生态市是城市实现可持续发展的理想模式,生态市的评价指标和方法是衡量城市生态规划、建设、管理成效的主要依据.本文以江苏大丰市为例,建立了生态市建设的指标体系,包括经济发展、生态建设、环境保护和社会进步4类58项指标.采用全排列多边形综合图示法评价生态市在各个不同时段的建设成效.研究结果表明,2004年大丰市可持续发展综合指数为0.24,处于Ⅳ级水平,可持续发展能力较差;2010年可达到0.45,处于Ⅲ级水平,可持续发展能力一般;2015年可达到0.66,进入Ⅱ级水平,可持续发展能力较好;2020年可达到0.85,进入Ⅰ级水平,可持续发展能力优良.     

1996—2005年北京城市生态质量动态

从生态要素、生态过程、生态功能和生态问题4个主题出发,构建了包含16个指标的北京城市生态质量评价指标体系,并分别采用熵权法、最差状态法和最佳状态法对指标进行赋权,通过加权平均法构建了北京城市生态要素指数（EEI）、生态过程指数（EPI）、生态功能指数（EFI）、生态问题指数（EDI）和综合生态质量指数（CEI）,用以评价1996—2005年北京城市生态质量动态变化.结果表明：研究期间,北京城市EEI无明显改善,持续维持在远离理想点的水平;EPI和EFI改善显著,由1996年的远离理想点到2005年接近于理想点的水平;EDI的年度波动较大,普遍远离理想点;CEI得到持续改善,但离理想点依然有一定距离.当人均国内生产总值（GDP）小于3 000美元时,EPI、EFI和CEI随GDP的增长而快速增大,改善显著,当人均GDP超过3 000美元后,EPI、EFI和CEI随GDP增长而增大的速度减慢;EEI和EDI受人均GDP的影响较小,主要受限于自然条件及全球和区域环境的变化.     

烟台生态城市建设指标体系构建与评价

城市化进程导致的生态环境问题严重制约了城市的发展.建设生态城市是实现可持续发展的重要举措.该研究运用PSR模型建立烟台生态市建设的指标体系框架,在国家生态市建设指标的基础上针对沿海城市生态建设的特征构建了烟台生态市建设的指标体系,并运用全排列多边形图示指标法对烟台市进行了生态城市综合发展能力的趋势分析.结果表明,从2005年到2010年综合发展能力从一般到较好;根据《烟台生态市建设规划》的方案,预测到2020年综合发展能力将从2010年的较好发展到良好.此研究提出了具有针对性的管理措施.研究为烟台生态市建设提供了科学依据,对沿海生态城市评价指标体系的完善作了有益补充.     

生态效率方法研究进展与应用

生态效率同时考虑经济效益和环境效益,是将可持续发展的宏观目标融入中观（区域）和微观（企业）的发展规划与管理中的有效工具。回顾了生态效率的概念和发展过程,分析了其内涵和指标体系,探讨了几种典型计算方法与模型,并介绍了国内外在企业、行业和区域3个层次上的应用实践,讨论和提出了进一步开展生态效率研究的焦点问题和未来方向。     

城市蓝绿基础设施降温效应研究综述

蓝绿基础设施对于调节城市气候、应对未来气候变化和增强城市韧性极为重要。采用文献分析法系统梳理城市蓝绿基础设施降温效应研究特点，结合气候区特征从景观、类型和群落斑块尺度上分析蓝绿基础设施降温效应及其关键影响因素，并尝试运用Meta分析统计城市蓝绿基础设施降温效应的定量指标，最终面向规划设计实践需求提出未来城市蓝绿基础设施降温效应研究的三大挑战：（1）衔接城市和街区尺度上蓝绿基础设施降温效应研究，筛选关键的蓝绿基础设施热缓解参数，指导城市绿地系统规划定量指标的设定；（2）整合水平与垂直的多维度蓝绿基础设施降温效应研究，结合街区特征确定降温阈值，以指导控制性详细规划中的蓝绿基础设施布局；（3）探究影响不同单体植物降温效率的核心要素，筛选最优降温植物群落配置，指导场地尺度上植物降温的种植设计。     

Development of agri-environmental indicators to assess dairy farm sustainability in Quebec,Eastern Canada

Agri-environmental indicators are commonly used to assess agricultural sustainability. In North America, few are designed to be easily used by dairy farmers. As farmers assume more responsibility for managing natural resources, they play an increasingly important role in assessing sustainable agriculture. This paper describes the development of an indicator-based self-assessment tool for use at the farm level to evaluate dairy farm sustainability from an environmental standpoint. The agri-environmental indicator set was selected by using two participatory processes: the Delphi method and a focus group. The framework for developing the assessment tool consisted of six steps: (1) Defining the concept of environmental sustainability at the farm level; (2) setting up goals and principles for the assessment; (3) identifying potential indicators and selecting candidate indicators; (4) defining reference values, aggregating indicators into components, and establishing relative weights for indicators; (5) testing the candidate indicators on dairy farms, and (6) selecting the final indicator set. Six criteria were used to evaluate either the practicality or usefulness of indicators. Thirteen indicators were chosen, one of which was divided into four sub-indicators. These indicators were aggregated into four components: soil quality, cropping practices, fertilization management, and farmland management. Expert participation was the first validation of the indicator set. A compromise between feasibility, practicality, and relevance of measurement was found among indicators. When applied to 40 farms over two contrasting regions, the indicator set identified scores that differed according to production context. The tool is user-friendly and well-adapted to dairy farming systems.     

A quantitative indicator framework for stand level evaluation and monitoring of environmentally sustainable forest management

An indicator framework was designed as an operational science-based tool for the evaluation of the environmental aspects of sustainable forest management at stand level in Flanders (Belgium). The framework aims to assess the effects of forest management on forest composition, structure and functioning. It consists of seven principles and 19 criteria, to which 157 potential indicators, selected from literature, were assigned; 40 of these were considered as suitable by an expert panel, based on 10 operational selection criteria. All indicators were quantitative variables measurable in the field.After elaboration of a measurement protocol, the indicator framework was validated in 115 forest stands, distributed over the three main forest types of Flanders. The new indicator framework exhibited greater sensitivity to forest management practices and demonstrated better discriminating power than the method that is currently used by the Flemish forest administration to estimate the naturalness and environmental quality of a forest stand. Following a detailed cost calculation of each indicator and based on the sensitivity of each indicator to forest management practices, the indicator framework was further reduced to a final set of 29 indicators. This framework can also be applied in other regions, provided that local threshold values are defined to convert indicator values to indicator scores.The selection procedure and the possible contribution of this set to the forest management in Flanders are discussed.     

Integrated municipal waste management systems: An indicator to assess their environmental and economic sustainability

Tools based on Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) are routinely used to assess the environmental and economic performance of integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to quantify the environmental impacts, whereas Life Cycle Costing (LCC) allows financial and economic assessments. These tools require specific experience and knowledge, and a large amount of data.The aim of this project is the definition of an indicator for the assessment of the environmental and economic sustainability of integrated MSW management systems. The challenge is to define a simple but comprehensive indicator that may be calculated also by local administrators and managers of the waste system and not only by scientists or LCT experts.The proposed indicator is a composite one, constituted by three individual indicators: two of them assess the environmental sustainability of the system by quantifying the achieved material and energy recovery levels, while the third one quantifies the costs. The composite indicator allows to compare different integrated MSW management systems in an objective way, and to monitor the performance of a system over time.The calculation of the three individual indicators has been tested on the integrated MSW management systems of the Lombardia Region (Italy) as well as on four of its provinces (Milano, Bergamo, Pavia, and Mantova).     

A conceptual framework for selecting environmental indicator sets

In recent years, environmental indicators have become a vital component of environmental impact assessments and “state of the environment” reporting. This has increased the influence of environmental indicators on environmental management and policy making at all scales of decision making. However, the scientific basis of the selection process of the indicators used in environmental reporting can be significantly improved. In many studies no formal selection criteria are mentioned and when selection criteria are used they are typically applied to indicators individually. Often, no formal criteria are applied regarding an indicator's analytical utility within the total constellation of a selected set of indicators. As a result, the indicator selection process is subject to more or less arbitrary decisions, and reports dealing with a similar subject matter or similar geographical entities may use widely different indicators and consequently paint different pictures of the environment. In this paper, a conceptual framework for environmental indicator selection is proposed that puts the indicator set at the heart of the selection process and not the individual indicators. To achieve this objective, the framework applies the concept of the causal network that focuses on the inter-relation of indicators. The concept of causal networks can facilitate the identification of the most relevant indicators for a specific domain, problem and location, leading to an indicator set that is at once transparent, efficient and powerful in its ability to assess the state of the environment.     

Development of environmental performance indicators supported by an environmental information system: Application to the Norwegian defence sector

Environmental performance indicators (EPIs) can be an important tool for evaluating and reporting the integration of environmental practices and tools in the defence sector, ensuring that environmental issues are being consistently and clearly followed into sector activities on a local and national scale. However, proper use of indicators is dependent on a suitable conceptual framework to manage and assess the environmental performance. Furthermore, monitoring is fundamental to environmental efficiency evaluations both to assess adherence to standards and to support management options. The use of EPI assures that a monitoring system for a public sector addresses only the key variables associated with significant environmental impacts and also improves communication with stakeholders. The main objective of this paper is to develop EPIs supported by an environmental information system (EIS), as a tool for environmental efficiency evaluations in the defence sector. To put the proposed approach into practice, the Norwegian defence EIS is used as a data source – a system developed to increase environmental awareness and to promote environmental efficiency, in the reporting of environmental aspects like use of ammunition, generation of waste, energy consumption, fuel consumption, use of chemicals, and water consumption. Use of real data acquired from the EIS is used to test and evaluate the robustness of the public sector's environmental performance indicator conceptual framework (SEPIIS), used to support the developed indicators. The main findings show how an indicator framework can be effectively combined with the use of an EIS designed to process data from a sector's activities, stressing how environmental issues could be integrated into overall public services performance management. The EPI developed for the Norwegian defence allowed to trace the sector's environmental performance, by comparisons with commissions from the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and national goals for GHG emissions, identifying areas for priority response measures. This joined approach of indicators and information systems could be useful to increase and improve environmental ex post and ex ante assessments, reporting and communication of defence activities.     

Mapping indicator models: From intuitive problem structuring to quantified decision-making in sustainable forest management

Most commonly, sustainability indicator sets presented as lists do not take into account interactions among indicators in a systematic manner. Vice versa, existing environmental indicator systems do not provide a formalized approach for problem structuring and quantitative decision support. In this paper, techniques for considering indicator relationships are highlighted and a coupled approach between a qualitative and a quantitative method is analysed. Cognitive mapping (CM) is used for structuring indicators and three different causal maps are derived based on established sustainability concepts: (a) criteria and indicators (C&I hierarchy), (b) indicator network, and (c) Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) system. These maps are transferred to the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to allow their application in multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).In an application example, Pan-European indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM) are utilized in an ANP-based assessment. The effects of the model structure on the overall evaluation result are demonstrated by means of three reporting periods on Austrian forestry.In a comparative analysis of CM and ANP it is tested whether their measures of indicator significance do correspond. Both centrality in CM and single limited priorities in ANP have been reported to identify key indicators that play an important role in networks. We found out that the correspondence between CM and ANP is the stronger the more rigidly cause-effect relationships are interpreted, which is the case for the DPSIR system of SFM indicators.It is demonstrated that using indicator sets without consideration of the indicator interactions will cause shortcomings for evaluation and assessment procedures in SFM. Given strict and consistent definition of causal indicator relationships, a coupled use of CM and ANP is recommendable for both enhancing the process of problem structuring as well as supporting preference-based evaluation of decision alternatives.     

Response of seagrass indicators to shifts in environmental stressors: A global review and management synthesis

Although seagrass-based indicators are widely used to assess coastal ecosystem status, there is little universality in their application. Matching the plethora of available indicators to specific management objectives requires a detailed knowledge of their species-specific sensitivities and their response time to environmental stressors. We conducted an extensive survey of experimental studies to determine the sensitivity and response time of seagrass indicators to ecosystem degradation and recovery. We identified seagrass size and indicator type (i.e. level of biological organization of the measure) as the main factors affecting indicator sensitivity and response time to degradation and recovery. While structural and demographic parameters (e.g. shoot density, biomass) show a high and unspecific sensitivity, biochemical/physiological indicators present more stressor-specific responses and are the most sensitive detecting early phases of environmental improvement. Based on these results we present a simple decision tree to assist ecosystem managers to match adequate and reliable indicators to specific management goals.     

Quantifying Patterns of Change in Marine Ecosystem Response to Multiple Pressures

The ability to understand and ultimately predict ecosystem response to multiple pressures is paramount to successfully implement ecosystem-based management. Thresholds shifts and nonlinear patterns in ecosystem responses can be used to determine reference points that identify levels of a pressure that may drastically alter ecosystem status, which can inform management action. However, quantifying ecosystem reference points has proven elusive due in large part to the multi-dimensional nature of both ecosystem pressures and ecosystem responses. We used ecological indicators, synthetic measures of ecosystem status and functioning, to enumerate important ecosystem attributes and to reduce the complexity of the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES LME). Random forests were used to quantify the importance of four environmental and four anthropogenic pressure variables to the value of ecological indicators, and to quantify shifts in aggregate ecological indicator response along pressure gradients. Anthropogenic pressure variables were critical defining features and were able to predict an average of 8-13% (up to 25-66% for individual ecological indicators) of the variation in ecological indicator values, whereas environmental pressures were able to predict an average of 1-5 % (up to 9-26% for individual ecological indicators) of ecological indicator variation. Each pressure variable predicted a different suite of ecological indicator’s variation and the shapes of ecological indicator responses along pressure gradients were generally nonlinear. Threshold shifts in ecosystem response to exploitation, the most important pressure variable, occurred when commercial landings were 20 and 60% of total surveyed biomass. Although present, threshold shifts in ecosystem response to environmental pressures were much less important, which suggests that anthropogenic pressures have significantly altered the ecosystem structure and functioning of the NES LME. Gradient response curves provide ecologically informed transformations of pressure variables to explain patterns of ecosystem structure and functioning. By concurrently identifying thresholds for a suite of ecological indicator responses to multiple pressures, we demonstrate that ecosystem reference points can be evaluated and used to support ecosystem-based management.     

How do ecologists select and use indicator species to monitor ecological change? Insights from 14 years of publication in Ecological Indicators

Indicator species (IS) are used to monitor environmental changes, assess the efficacy of management, and provide warning signals for impending ecological shifts. Though widely adopted in recent years by ecologists, conservation biologists, and environmental practitioners, the use of IS has been criticized for several reasons, notably the lack of justification behind the choice of any given indicator. In this review, we assess how ecologists have selected, used, and evaluated the performance of the indicator species. We reviewed all articles published in Ecological Indicators (EI) between January 2001 and December 2014, focusing on the number of indicators used (one or more); common taxa employed; terminology, application, and rationale behind selection criteria; and performance assessment methods. Over the last 14 years, 1914 scientific papers were published in EI, describing studies conducted in 53 countries on six continents; of these, 817 (43%) used biological organisms as indicators. Terms used to describe organisms in IS research included “ecological index”, “environmental index”, “indicator species”, “bioindicator”, and “biomonitor,” but these and other terms often were not clearly defined. Twenty percent of IS publications used only a single species as an indicator; the remainder used groups of species as indicators. Nearly 50% of the taxa used as indicators were animals, 70% of which were invertebrates. The most common applications behind the use of IS were to: monitor ecosystem or environmental health and integrity (42%); assess habitat restoration (18%); and assess effects of pollution and contamination (18%). Indicators were chosen most frequently based on previously cited research (40%), local abundance (5%), ecological significance and/or conservation status (13%), or a combination of two or more of these reasons (25%). Surprisingly, 17% of the reviewed papers cited no clear justification for their choice of indicator. The vast majority (99%) of publications used statistical methods to assess the performance of the selected indicators. This review not only improves our understanding of the current uses and applications of IS, but will also inform practitioners about how to better select and evaluate ecological indicators when conducting future IS research.     

Quantitative criteria for choosing targets and indicators for sustainable use of ecosystems

Wide-ranging, indicator-based assessments of large, complex ecosystems are playing an increasing role in guiding environmental policy and management. An example is the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which requires Member States to take measures to reach “good environmental status” (GES) in European marine waters. However, formulation of indicator targets consistent with the Directive’s high-level policy goal of sustainable use has proven challenging. We develop a specific, quantitative interpretation of the concepts of GES and sustainable use in terms of indicators and associated targets, by sharply distinguishing between current uses to satisfy current societal needs and preferences, and unknown future uses. We argue that consistent targets to safeguard future uses derive from a requirement that any environmental state indicator should recover within a defined time (e.g. 30 years) to its pressure-free range of variation when all pressures are hypothetically removed. Within these constraints, specific targets for current uses should be set. Routes to implementation of this proposal for indicators of fish-community size structure, population size of selected species, eutrophication, impacts of non-indigenous species, and genetic diversity are discussed. Important policy implications are that (a) indicator target ranges, which may be wider than natural ranges, systematically and rationally derive from our proposal; (b) because relevant state indicators tend to respond slowly, corresponding pressures should also be monitored and assessed; (c) support of current uses and safeguarding of future uses are distinct management goals, they require different types of targets, decision processes, and management philosophies.