Ecological Security Evaluation for Marine Ranching Based on the PLTS/ANP Method: A Case Study of Rongcheng

Abstract

The evaluation index system of ecological security of marine ranching (MRES) is based on the assumption that there is independence among evaluation indexes in the existing studies, which ignores the complex interactive paths of marine ranching as an artificial ecosystem. In this study, the MRES evaluation network model that includes interdependent relationships is established based on the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response model and the analytic network process method. Then, the probabilistic linguistic term sets and analytic network process methods are used to calculate the weights of the evaluation indexes of MRES. The overall evaluation value and the contribution rate of clusters are consequently defined and analyzed to reflect the performance of MRES. Finally, a case study is carried out for evaluating the MRES of marine ranches in Rongcheng by means of the proposed method. The conclusions are summarized as follows: (1) The weights of clusters are ranked as Responses > Impact > Driver > State > Pressure, and “scientific management of fishery resources” is the most important index; (2) the MRES performance of marine ranches in the city of Rongcheng is at the medium security grade on the whole, and all 11 samples are driven by the response.