Assessing mismatches between ecosystem structure and function in Jiaozhou Bay by coordination degree algorithm

A healthy ecosystem depends on the coordination of ecosystem structure and function.The coordination among ecosystem components,however,is seldom taken into account in current ecosystem health assessments(EHA).Neglect of such coordination may lead to large degrees of uncertainty in EHA and fail to support ecosystem management.We propose an approach to quantify the level of dynamic mismatching between ecosystem structure and function and the impact on ecosystem health by incorporating the ecosystem coordination index into EHA.The coordination degree is calculated using variation coefficient of six proxies for ecosystem structure and functions.The ecosystem at Jiaozhou Bay,as a microcosm of China's coast,has been documented to fluctuate from healthy to unhealthy status over the past three decades.The results indicate that there is a 3%-17% lower health level than that calculated by common methods used in the literature,indicating that the health of Jiaozhou Bay has become worse than expected.Habitat change contributes 20%-52% to ecosystem mismatches and is the most uncoordinated factor.Mismatch-related declines account for approximately one-fourth of the total ecological declines.Restoration scenarios that aim to resolve ecosystem mismatches could increase efficiency by about 50% compared to restoration scenarios that do not consider mismatches.This study investigates ecological declines in a coastal bay due to 30 years of rapid economic development.In doing so,this study provides novel insights and enhances our understanding of the reasons for failure in ecological restoration.