Development of ecohydrological health index and its application in Lower Songkhram Wetland | |
| Author | Somphinith Muangthong |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.WM-12-03 |
| Subject(s) | Wetland ecology--Thailand--Songkhram Wetland--Evaluation Ecosystem health--Thailand--Songkhram--Wetland Evaluation |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Engineering in Wa ter Engineering and Management, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. WM-12-03 |
| Abstract | Wetland degradation is caused by the interacting effects of numerous biophysical and environmental factors within a particular watershed. Previous wetland degradation studies focused on the wetland assessment te chniques such as expert opinion, wetland evaluation technique, rapid assessment of wetlands, hydrogeomorphic assessment, virtual reference wetlands, habitat evaluation procedures, and wetlands integrated monitoring condition index, which have been develope d under local conditions and mostly used only environmental factors as inputs to the models. In this study a methodology for ecohydrological health assessment of natural , floodplain grassland wetland is developed where physical, biochemical and socio - econo mic factors are considered in formulating an index which describes the health of a wetland ecosystem. Specifically, t he formulation of a n Eco hydrological Health Index (EHI) for wetlands is developed using primary and secondary data which are analyzed using Principal Component Analysis ( PCA ), w eighting factor s and statistical criteria to check sampling adequacy and correlation among variables. The variables with highest sum of correlation coefficients are chosen as principal components (PCs) and the variable s with high factor loadings (absolute values) are identified as dominant factors that influence the ecohydrological health of the wetland. Then EHI is developed which is used to evaluate the health of a particular wetland in Thailand. In this study the met hodology was applied to determine the health of Lower Songkhram Wetland (LSW) of Thailand. This particular wetland wa s selected as a case study because of its continuous degradation during the last decades. Both primary and secondary data were collected fr om the LSW and used in the analysis of the dominant factors affecting the ecohydrological health of the wetland. Rainfall, awareness and participation of local community were identified as the positive factors whereas soil cation , biochemical oxygen demand and urban development as the negative factors influencing the ecohydrological health of LSW. R esults show that out of the 40 land units , the ecohydrological health condition of nine units w as good to v ery good , 11 units was fair while the remaining 20 uni ts were in poor or even very poor condition. Thus, the development and application of EHI provides a significant basis for wetland management and for developing effective and holistic strategies to control or minimize wetland degradation in LSW. In fact an environmental management framework called DPSIR was ad o pted to relate the factors in the EHI with management measures to improve some land unit s in the LSW which are showing very poor health of wetland. Moreover, this analytical approach will also be a us eful and reliable tool for the assessment and management of ecohydrological health of other wetlands in Thailand. |
| Year | 2011 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. WM-12-03 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology |
| Department | Department of Civil and Infrastucture Engineering (DCIE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Water Engineering and Management (WM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Clemente, Roberto S.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Babel, Mukand Singh ;Sutat Weesakul ;Gallardo, Wenresti; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Rajamangala University of Technology Isan; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2012 |