title: Study on the cumulative impact of reclamation activities on ecosystem health in coastal waters.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to develop feasible tools to investigate the cumulative impact of reclamations on coastal ecosystem health, so that the strategies of ecosystem-based management can be applied in the coastal zone. An indicator system and model were proposed to assess the cumulative impact synthetically. Two coastal water bodies, namely Laizhou Bay (LZB) and Tianjin coastal waters (TCW), in the Bohai Sea of China were studied and compared, each in a different phase of reclamations. Case studies showed that the indicator scores of coastal ecosystem health in LZB and TCW were 0.75 and 0.68 out of 1.0, respectively. It can be concluded that coastal reclamations have a historically cumulative effect on benthic environment, whose degree is larger than that on aquatic environment. The ecosystem-based management of coastal reclamations should emphasize the spatially and industrially intensive layout.
authors.affiliation: The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 6 Xianxialing Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chengcheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 6 Xianxialing Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: shihonghua@fio.org.cn.
authors.forename: Honghua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 6 Xianxialing Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical Sciences, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 6 Xianxialing Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shitao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 6 Xianxialing Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dewen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D061006:Bays; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D060753:Water Quality
keywords: Assessment model; Bohai Sea; Coastal ecosystem; Ecosystem health; Marine management; Reclamation