Emergy-based urban ecosystem health assessment: A case study of Baotou, China

Ecosystem health has been a hot topic of ecosystem management research for years. Considering the urban area as a complex ecosystem consisted of natural, societal and economic entities, urban ecosystem health assessment is necessary to be conducted for the scientific management and proper ecological restoration. Combining with the ecosystem service function of the urban ecosystem, theoretical framework and methodology of the urban ecosystem health assessment based on emergy are proposed and the temporal variation of the health level of the city are also outlined in this paper. Following the principle of ecosystem health assessment, four major factors, including vigor (V), organizational structure (O), resilience (R) and function maintenance (F), are integrated to construct a novel emergy-based urban ecosystem health index (EUEHI). Based on the EUEHI and comparing with those of five other typical Chinese cities, the case study of Baotou city shows that its urban ecosystem health level is steadily arising despite the year 2001 as a turning point. Due to the emphasis on the resource structure adjustment and utilization efficiency, Baotou has obtained a better organizational structure and service function for the total urban ecosystem.