Using multiple-criteria decision-making techniques for eco-environmental vulnerability assessment: a case study on the Chi-Jia-Wan Stream watershed, Taiwan.
The Chi-Jia-Wan Stream watershed, located in the area of the upstream Da-Chia River in central Taiwan, is famous for slopeland agriculture and the land-locked salmon. Improper agricultural activities have caused apparent ecosystem vulnerability and sensitivity. In this study, a system that combined three watershed-based environmental indicators with multiple-criteria decision-making techniques, the Analytical Hierarchy Process, and the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations was developed to assess eco-environmental vulnerability. The composite evaluation index system was set up including sediment, runoff, and nutrient factors. Supported by geographic information system and K-means clustering and taking the subwatershed as the evaluation unit, the vulnerability is classified into four levels: potential, low, moderate, and high. The evaluated results show that 8.82% of subwatersheds (six subwatersheds) are in the moderately and highly vulnerable zones. These subwatersheds represent vertical-belt distribution, mainly concentrated in the right side of the studied area and near the riparian zone along the Chi-Jia-Wan Stream. The exploited farmland in the moderately and highly vulnerable zones is about 142.21 ha, occupying 75.38% of the total farmland in the studied watershed. These seriously vulnerable zones that have caused degradation in the quality of the eco-environment should be treated with more best management practices for eco-environmental rehabilitation. Additionally, the proposed model can effectively evaluate the eco-environmental vulnerability grade for reference in policy planning and ecological restoration in this area.
Huang
Pi-Hui
PH
Geographic Information Systems Research Center, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan. pinky@gis.tw
Tsai
Jing-Shyan
JS
Lin
Wen-Tzu
WT
D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013624:Taiwan; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D014873:Water Pollutants