Ecological Indicators 41 (2014) 133–144 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecological Indicators journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolind Ecological risk assessment of wetland ecosystems using Multi Criteria Decision Making and Geographic Information System B. Malekmohammadi ∗ , L. Rahimi Blouchi Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 14155-6135, Tehran, Iran article info Article history: Received 18 October 2013 Received in revised form 25 January 2014 Accepted 29 January 2014 Keywords: Ecological risk assessment (ERA) Risk factor Risk zoning Risk management Iran – Shadegan Wetland abstract Nowadays, wetlands are at risk from a wide range of stress factors. Practical application of wetland ecological risk assessment will result in a better understanding of how physical, chemical, and biologi- cal stressors impinge on wetlands and will provide a framework for prudent wetland management. An important aspect of wetland management is to identify ecological risks affecting the area and to develop a wetland-zoning map based on those risks. This study uses a process of ecological risk assessment (ERA) to identify stress factors and responses within the framework of an ecosystem-based approach. All potential environmental factors, physical, chemical and biological need to be examined in context. This study aims to present a systematic methodology for risk assessment and zoning of wetland ecosystems. Initially, the most important risks threatening wetlands are identified in an ecosystem-based approach. Endpoint assessments are defined according to values and functions of the wetland and the ecological risks asso- ciated with these endpoints are identified. In the characteristics step, risks are analyzed according to severity, probability and a range of consequences. A Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method is used to prioritize these risks on the basis of experts’ opinions. Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to develop a zoning map with a combination of risk layers according to importance. Finally, manage- ment strategies are proposed to deal with the risks. The proposed methodology was applied to Shadegan International Wetland, located in southwestern Iran. This wetland is in the Montero list and is currently threatened by various risks. According to the results, high-ranking potential risks and areas with different levels of risk and management strategies were proposed for this wetland. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Wetlands are one of the three major types of ecosystem on the Earth; they are formed through the interaction of land and water systems and provide an irreplaceable ecological service as an ecosystem for human society (Zedler and Kercher, 2005; Kim et al., 2011). Wetland ecosystems have an important role in maintaining biological diversity, they are also important for biochemical transformation, storage, production of living plants and animals and for decomposition of organic materials (USEPA, 2002; Clarkson et al., 2003). Wetlands have been exposed to a range of stress-causing alterations from activities such as dredging and filling operations, hydrologic modifications, pollutant runoff, eutrophication, impoundment, and fragmentation by roads and ditches (Klemas, 2011). These activities cause disruption to the ecological balance of animal and biotic reservoirs in wetlands (Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2004). ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 61113185; fax: +98 2166407719. E-mail address: malekb@ut.ac.ir (B. Malekmohammadi). The spread of urbanization and industrialization has escalated wetland degradation in many parts of the world, in both devel- oping and developed countries (Tiner, 1984; Holland et al., 1995; Dahl, 2000; Ralph, 2003; Zedler and Kercher, 2005). Previous stud- ies of wetland protection focused mainly on the functioning of constructed wetlands, ecological water demands and vegetation development (Spieles, 2005; Chen et al., 2009; Cui et al., 2009). For different kinds of wetlands, changing environmental flow is an important risk factor that needs to be considered when under- taking ecological restoration and management of water resources of basins (Yang and Mao, 2011). Agricultural use and industrial production, pesticide residues, contamination of wetlands from chemicals outlets, change in natural habitats, over exploitation of natural resources, have caused potential risks to the wetland ecosystems. There is a need for tools to assess the ecological condi- tion of wetlands for a range of purposes, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), ecological reserve determinations and the planning and monitoring of wetland management and rehabil- itation outcomes (Kotze et al., 2012). Recently, ecological risk assessment (ERA) has applied sev- eral tools for modeling. Ecological modeling has been used in other fields such as water quality modeling (Chau, 2007; Wu 1470-160X/$ – see front matter © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.01.038