草地是重要的陆地生态系统类型,草地生态系统健康评价是干旱区草地健康研究的重要组成部分。新疆位于中亚干旱区,典型的“山盆”地形结构孕育的天然草地具有鲜明的垂直地带性,又因水热组合差异形成了丰富多样的草地类型,这使得新疆草地生态系统健康评价成为一项系统的复杂工作,急需构建适用于新疆的草地生态系统健康评价体系。本研究以新疆草地生态系统为研究对象,构建新疆草地生态系统健康评价总体框架,从数据来源与评价方法阐述了新疆草地生态系统健康评价体系。基于草地样方、生物气象与多源遥感数据建立草地生态系统基础数据库,针对草地健康评价方法,明确评价目标,确定评价区域与参照系统,进而筛选评价指标,最后通过选择评价方法开展草地健康评价,采用四分法将评价结果划分为健康、亚健康、警戒与崩溃。采用该体系在新疆和田地区民丰县开展草地生态系统健康评价,结果显示围栏内的温性荒漠类草地处于健康状态,围栏外的温性荒漠类草地为亚健康状态。通过构建新疆草地生态系统健康评价体系,能够为基层草原部门开展草地生态健康评价提供参考,促进草地可持续发展。

The evaluation of the health of grasslands (an important terrestrial ecosystem) is a crucial part of grassland health research, especially in arid regions. The grasslands of Xinjiang, an arid region in Central Asia, show a distinct variation in vertical zonality because of its special geographical environment. Particularly, the differences in hydrothermal combination at each geographical location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) have resulted in a rich variety of grasslands. Therefore, assessing the health of Xinjiang grasslands is a systematic and complex task. In this study, we constructed an overall framework, including data sources and evaluation methods, for evaluating the ecosystem health of Xinjiang grasslands. An ecological geographic database of these grassland ecosystems was designed based on grassland quadrats, biometeorology, and multi-source remote sensing data that together form the data basis for grassland health evaluation. The steps in the grassland health evaluation method are as follows: Defining the evaluation objective, determining the evaluation area and reference system, filtering evaluation indicators, and finally selecting the specific method for performing grassland health evaluation. The objective of evaluation contains biological and non-biological components, as well as ecosystem services of grassland ecosystem. The evaluation area is often based on administrative divisions, grassland types, and grassland divisions. The reference system is a stable state achieved by maintaining balance with the local climate. The recommended evaluation methods include the analytic hierarchy process, vigor-organization-resilience, condition-organization-vigor-resilience, and pressure-state-response. The evaluation results were divided into health, sub-health, vigilance, and collapse based on the quarter method. This grassland health evaluation was validated in Minfeng County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang. The research area, Minfeng County, is located at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains and the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert. The temperate desert grassland of Minfeng County primarily contains Seriphidium rhodanthum, Ceratoides latens, Reaumuria soongarica, and Ephedra intermedia. The objective of evaluation was based on the biological components of grassland ecosystems. Our results showed that the temperate desert grasslands within the fenced area were in a healthy state, but those outside the exclosure were in sub-healthy state. Thus, we gave a further explanation for healthy and sub-healthy state in the verification area. By constructing this grassland ecosystem health evaluation system for Xinjiang, we hope to provide a reference for the local management of grasslands, with the goal of fostering ecological health of these systems and promoting the sustainable development of grassland areas in Xinjiang.