Remote sensing and environmental assessment of wetland ecological degradation in the Small Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

Introduction: The plain marsh wetland ecosystems are sensitive to changes in the natural environment and the intensity of human activities. The Sanjiang Plain is China’s largest area of concentrated marsh wetland, the Small Sanjiang Plain is the most important component of the Sanjiang Plain. However, with the acceleration of the urbanization and development of large-scale agricultural reclamation activities in the Small Sanjiang Plain in Northeast China, the wetland has been seriously damaged. In light of this degradation this study examines the Small Sanjiang Plain.

Methods: From the four aspects of area, structure, function, and human activities, we try to construct a wetland degradation comprehensive index (WDCI) in cold region with expert scoring methods and analytic hierarchy process (AHP), coupled with network and administrative unit. The objective was to reveal the degradation of wetlands in Northeast China over three decades at a regional scale.

Results: The results showed that (1) the overall wetland area decreased between 1990 and 2020 by 39.26×103 hm2. Within this period a significant decrease of 336.56×103 hm2 occurred between 1990 and 200 and a significant increase of 214.62×103 hm2 occurred between 2010 and 2020. (2) In terms of structural changes, the fractal dimension (FRAC) has the same trend as the Landscape Fragmentation Index (LFI) with little change. (3) In terms of functional changes, the average above-ground biomass (AGB) increased from 1029.73 kg/hm2 to 1405.38 kg/hm2 between 1990 and 2020 in the study area. (4) In terms of human activities, the average human disturbance was 0.52, 0.46, 0.57 and 0.53 in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, with the highest in 2010. (5) The composite wetland degradation index shows that the most severe wetland degradation was 49.61% in 2010 occurred between 1990 and 2020. (6) Among the severely deteriorated trajectory types in 2010–2020, mild degradation → serious degradation accounted for the largest area of 240.23×103 hm2, and the significant improvement trajectory type in 1990–2000 accounted for the largest area of 238.50×103 hm2.

Discussion: In brief, we conclude that the degradation of the Small Sanjiang Plain wetland was caused mainly by construction, overgrazing, deforestation, and farmland reclamation. This study can also provide new views for monitoring and managing wetland degradation by remote sensing in cold regions.