Some problems on ecological indicator research

With the increasing global environmental issues,the global government and public care deeply about what is happening to their surrounds.How to measure the ecosystem changing is becoming the priority of the ecologists and policy makers.Ecological indicator is a kind of measurable characteristics related to the structure,composition,or function of ecosystem.Ecological indicator can monitor the changes of ecosystem and assess the effectivity of ecological and environmental policy.The concept,application and progress of ecological indicator were reviewed in this paper.And some important problems about ecological indicator were discussed,such as the monitoring goal and selecting criteria,the applicable temporal-spatial scale,the sensitivity and steadiness,the combining with the social and economic indicators.In order to use the ecological indicators effectively,some rules should be followed: the monitoring target of ecological indicators should be clear and definite;the reference status of ecological indicators should be identified;the accuracy of quantification should be under control;the reason which cause the change of the ecological indicators should be identified;and the ecological indicators should be linked to the social and economic indicators.In fact,the ecological indicator that developed by ecologists together with policy makers can translate the complicated ecological knowledge to the public and policy makers in an easy understanding way,which make the informed decisions with ecological knowledge more effectively.In a word,the ecological indicators can play an important role in both ecological sciences and policy-making.