LONG-TERM ECOSYSTEM CHANGE IN JIAOZHOU BAY AND ITS CATCHMENT: THE DPSIR APPROACH

Jiaozhou Bay is a semi-closed embayment, affected by anthropogenic factors around Qingdao, China. This article illustrates the long-term change in the Bay and its catchment using the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) approach. Under the Chinese national macro-socioeconomic policy, rapid development and massive urbanization occurred in Qingdao that has resulted in the serious reduction and quality deterioration of its arable land and the variation in water resources. The production and consumption pattern changed with population growth and an increasing demand for water and food as well as pollutants emissions. The pressure alteration in the Bay and its catchment has created far-reaching impacts on the ecosystem. These changes include: significant deterioration in water quality of the catchment; decreased river runoff into the bay; shift in the nutrient regime of the Bay; decreased tidal prism in the Bay; increased eutrophication in the Bay; fragmentation of natural habitats and loss of biodiversity. Relevant policies aimed to formulate the promotion of the water quality have been done in the system. However, the deterioration trend has not yet been halted or reversed. Hence new management mechanisms are under discussion to improve the ecosystem in this area.