[Ecological function evaluation and related management strategies of river ecosystem in Taizi River basin, North...

By the method of index evaluation at reach scale, this paper evaluated the ecological functions of aquatic biodiversity maintenance, habitat maintenance, water quality sustainment, and hydrological support of the river system in Taizi River basin of North China. The dominant ecological functions and the total ecological function were determined after sorting and summing. All the reaches in the basin were divided into four hierarchies of ecological functions. Overall, the total ecological function showed a spatially degrading trend from the mountainous region to the plain. Based on the evaluation results of the total function and dominant functions, six ecosystem management strategies were proposed. For the reaches with the functions of aquatic biodiversity- and habitat maintenance, the primary ecological management strategies included ecological conservation, ecological maintenance, and ecological restoration; for the reaches with the functions of water quality sustainment and hydrological support, the primary strategies of ecological management included limited development, development optimization, and exploitation.