Assessment of ecosystem health of a micro-level Ramsar coastal zone in the Vembanad Lake, Kerala, India

Health of an ecosystem is very much important as we depend on its goods and services for our existence. Because of this, we need to continuously monitor its health for human benefit and for identifying areas for improvement of our natural systems. The present study tries to assess the condition of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2023-01, Vol.195 (1), p.95, Article 95
Main Authors: Padua, Shelton, Kripa, V., Prema, D., Mohamed, K. S., Jeyabaskaran, R., Kaladharan, P., Ratheesh, Lavanya, Jenny, B., Shylaja, G., Joseph, Reena V., Shyamala, M. P., Vysakhan, P., John, Seban, Babu, Akhil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additives
Aquatic ecosystems
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Coastal ecosystems
Coastal management
Coastal zone
Conservation of Natural Resources
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystem assessment
Ecosystems
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental science
Humans
India
Interpolation
Lakes
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Parameter identification
Principal components analysis
Strategic management
Water Quality
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Summary:Health of an ecosystem is very much important as we depend on its goods and services for our existence. Because of this, we need to continuously monitor its health for human benefit and for identifying areas for improvement of our natural systems. The present study tries to assess the condition of a coastal ecosystem within the Vembanad Lake, Kerala, India, using key water quality parameters at micro-level. Principal component analysis identified the minimum required water quality dataset for further analysis and was scored using linear scoring functions. The weighted additive method was used to integrate the individual scores to arrive at a final score representing the ecosystem health. Spline interpolation was applied to develop the ecosystem health map of the study area. Using this method, 35.8% area of the aquatic ecosystem studied was characterized as good, 32.2% as moderate, 26.2% as fair and 5.8% as poor. The assessment results can help the policymakers/managers to make appropriate decisions for the better management of the coastal ecosystems studied. Moreover, this methodology can be replicated for the assessment of coastal regions with similar ecosystem characteristics.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-022-10692-7