Korean tidal flat evaluation system

초록

Tidal flats in Korea are experiencing rapid habitat loss. Therefore, the more objective and effective methodologies are needed for wise and sustainable use of our coastal wetlands. Then we tried to develop a new system to evaluate them based on the biological conditions of Korean the tidal flats. A total of 8 indicators are developed; 4 of them are related to biodiversity, fuction, ecological importance and quality/health of macrobenthic community. Two of them were related to halophytes and shorebird community reflecting whether the natural habitats are occupied/utilized, and two were environmental indictors of eutrophication and trace metal pollution of the sediment. We finally suggested a weighted average method to produce a single score of ecological status/quality.