Marine Coastal Ecosystem Health Assessment: A Case Study in Jiaozhou Bay, China

In this paper, a marine coastal ecosystem health assessment indicators system is established, and it covers hydrographic, geographical, physical, chemical, biological, system-level and ecosystem-severe-functional aspects of coastal ecosystem health. The indicators system was used in a case study in Jiaozhou Bay. The assessment results showed that Jiaozhou bay was healthy in the time series from 1980s to 2000s, but the health evaluation index showed a decline trend. The main influencing factors of Jiaozhou Bay´s health are macrobenthic community, phytoplankton community, coastal land indicators , water quality, and main human activities that have threatened the bay´s health are land reclamation and sewage discharge.