The health evaluation and research on obstacle factors of water ecosystems in Dongying City based on the DPSIR model

The escalating impacts of global climate change and anthropogenic activities have exerted mounting pressures on urban aquatic ecosystems. This study employs Dongying City as a representative case study, where a comprehensive evaluation index system was constructed based on the Driving forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses framework. The system incorporates 27 critical indicators, including population growth rate, gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, and agricultural fertilizer application intensity, to assess aquatic ecosystem health status. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution model was implemented to evaluate the ecological health status of Dongying City and its adjacent marine areas. Through obstacle factor analysis, key constraints impeding the sustainable development of regional aquatic ecosystems were identified, thereby establishing a theoretical foundation for ecological conservation and restoration initiatives. The findings demonstrate that the aquatic ecosystem's health status in Dongying City consistently attained intermediate or superior levels during the study period, exhibiting a progressive year-on-year improvement trend. Notably, the 'Impacts' subsystem has emerged as the predominant limiting factor for ecosystem health, superseding the previously dominant 'Pressures' subsystem. Multivariate analysis revealed six primary constraining factors: population growth rate, agricultural fertilizer application intensity, pesticide application intensity, macro- and mesozooplankton biomass, GDP growth rate, and phytoplankton density.