title: A method of identifying priority spatial patterns for the management of potential ecological risks posed by heavy metals.
abstract: An approach of identifying priority spatial patterns in response to different ecological risk levels associated with heavy metals (HM) is proposed. First, ecological hotspots (EH) are delineated by integrating NDVI-based assessment with the impact assessment of anthropogenic impact sources. Second, the HM potential ecological risks index (PERI) is calculated and spatially interpolated. Finally, the EH with different PERI values are identified through logic calculation. Study results show that 45.2% of the study region has low HM risks, 53.2% with moderate HM risks, and only 1.6% with high HM risks. In addition, the percentage of EH with low HM risks is 6.5%; the percentage with moderate HM risks is 5.4%; and the percentage with high HM risks is 0.4%. The EH with low and moderate HM ecological risks are proposed to be the regions in priority for management. This approach is potentially useful to HM ecological risk assessment and HM contamination management around the world.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Handan Road 220, Shanghai 200433, China. bsfang@fudan.edu.cn
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: X B
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: S Q
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: An
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012989:Soil Pollutants