2016, 14(1):1-9.
Abstract:
An index of land use, w ater and habitat qua lity ( ILWH Q) w as pro po sed and applied to evaluat e the env iro nmental
qualit y in the st udy area. The least deteriorat ed sites ( ILWH Q [ 2; T 13, T15, T16, T17 and T 18) wer e selected as the reference
sites. Five of t he initia l 35 candidate metr ics w ere select ed using a stepw ise pro cedure ( principal component analysis, the analy sis
of the range o f index v alue distributio n, stepwise reg ression analysis, Pearso n co rr elation) to evaluate metric stabilit y, r espon2
siv eness to environmental va riables and r edundancy. The selected metrics included the number of Cy pr inidae species ( F5) , the
pr opor tion of indiv iduals as bent hic species ( F12) , the pro po rtio n of omniv or e species ( F14) , the pro po rtio n of individuals as
tolerant species ( F22) , and the pr opor tion o f demersal egg s species ( F23) . Ratio n scor ing met ho d was employ ed to sco re the
five metr ics, and the eco sy stem health of the Huntai Riv er basin defined into fiv e classes. The r esults show ed that fiv e sites wer e in ex cellent co ndition, elev en wer e in go od conditio n, eight in normal condit ion, nine in poor co ndition, and eight in ver y po or
co ndition in the T aizi River basin. Ther e w as no site in ex cellent condition, five in go od co ndition, six in no rmal conditio n, six in
po or co ndition, and six in ver y poo r conditio n in the H un River basin. T he sites in poo r and v er y poo r co nditions acco unted for
52. 2% o f the total sites in the H un River basin, and 41. 5% o f t he to tal sites in the T aizi Riv er basin. These f inding s indicated
that eco sy stem health was w orse in the Hun Riv er than that in the T aizi Riv er.