Research progress on evaluation frameworks of regional ecological sustainability

As natural ecosystems provide the material basis and fundamental support for regional sustainable development, the sustainability of natural ecosystems is an important prerequisite and a viable approach for the achievement of regional sustainable development. It is also the final criteria to assess whether sustainable development paradigm is successful. Along with the increasing impacts of human activities on natural ecosystems, the evaluation of regional ecological sustainability has become one of the key issues for research on macro ecology and sustainable development. Based on different unit of indicators, this study firstly groups the evaluation frameworks of regional ecological sustainability into three major types: comprehensive index evaluation with dimensionless unit, monetary valuation, and biophysical quantity measurement. We then discuss and compare these types in terms of basic principles, scope of applications, advantages and shortcomings. Finally, drawn on the discussion about characteristics of ecological sustainability, we outline the current trend and future directions of regional ecological sustainability evaluation, for instance, transition from sustainable development evaluation to sustainability science, integration of goal-oriented and problem-solving approaches, combination of spatial pattern analysis and ecological sustainability evaluation, and enhancement of ecological sustainability evaluation at landscape scale.