Water ecological health is a cornerstone for sustainable ecosystems and human well-being, yet China's diverse and complex water environments have long posed significant challenges for accurate health assessments. A recent study led by Wenqing Liu's team proposes a novel assessment framework that merges water quality and ecological indicators, aiming to revolutionize the clinical diagnosis of water health. Published in Water & Ecology, the research highlights the integration of trophic status, water clarity, and ecosystem resilience assessments to improve the evaluation of water ecological health.
The framework introduces a self-adaptive capacity feature, enabling the rapid detection of water quality deterioration or emerging health threats. According to senior author Wenqing Liu, this innovation allows for swift and precise diagnosis of anomalies, including their type, severity, and key driving factors. The study also advocates for the enhancement of stereoscopic monitoring networks through environmental optics to boost monitoring effectiveness.
Funded by several national and provincial programs in China, this research marks a significant step forward in the systematization and objectivity of water health assessments. The authors emphasize the importance of further exploring methods to combine and integrate technologies, as well as establishing optimal operational modes tailored to different water bodies and research objectives. For more details, the study is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wateco.2025.100014.
