Ecological Risk Assessment of China's Freshwater Ecosystems Applying the Relative Risk Model: Toward an Ecosystem-Based Water Management in China

The relative risk model (RRM) was applied to evaluate the ecological risk characterization of the freshwater ecosystems in China, from both overall and region-specific levels. Ten large-scale river basins (further broken into 15 risk regions) in China were chosen as the study objects; 10 sources, two habitats, and seven endpoints were identified as risk components. The results reveal the status of ecosystem conditions, key ecological risk issues, and the spatial heterogeneity of the freshwater ecosystems in China. The policy implications for the ecosystem-based water management contained in the results are discussed. The results obtained in this article provide a deeper understanding of the ecological risk characterization of the freshwater ecosystems in China, and aid in promoting the applications of the RRM as the tool for ecosystem-based water management.