[Niche assessment of China provincial social-economic-natural complex ecosystems in 2003]

Using the approaches of evaluating sustainable development and livable cities for references, a set of indicator systems were established to assess the ecological niche of complex ecosystem. The integrated ecological niche of complex ecosystem included 4 sub-niches of natural resources, environment, economy and society, and these sub-niches comprised many single-item indicators. How to apply the polygon synthesis indicators approach to calculate the integrated ecological niche and 4 sub-niches was introduced, and a quantitative assessment on the ecological niches of complex ecosystems in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under Central Government of China in 2003 was made. The results showed that Yunnan, Hainan and Guangxi had a higher sub-niche of natural resources, Hainan, Fujian and Hubei had a higher sub-niche of environment, Shanghai, Beijing and Zhejiang had a higher sub-niche of economy, and Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin had a higher sub-niche of society. The integrated ecological niche in Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan was the highest.