Quantitative Evaluation of the Integrity of Natural Ecosystems and Anthropogenic Impacts in Shennongjia National Park, China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript entitled ‘Quantitative Evaluation of the Integrity of Natural Ecosystems and Anthropogenic Impacts in Shennongjia National Park, China’ by Huang et al. is a well written research article.

Abstract is well written.

Introduction needs modification as it lacks symmetry between the statements. Justification of the study is not clear and hypothesis is missing. Most of the references cited in this section are very old. Try to add some latest literature. Further, the formatting of references is not according to the journal guidelines.

Map of the study area should be added.

There are many tables and no figures. Some information can be depicted in figures too.

Implications and recommendations of the study should be discussed in a separate sub-heading.

Line 123: direction to coordinates is not given.

 Line 191: which version of ArcGIS

Author Response

Distinguished reviewer:
Thank you very much for your constructive comments and valuable suggestions on my manuscript. According to your suggestion, we revised the manuscript seriously.
Our reply to your suggestion is in the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Shennongjia National Park has the only well-preserved subtropical forest ecosystem in the global mid-latitudes and the richest biodiversity in the world. It is of great significance to carry out quantitative evaluation of ecological integrity and human impact in Shennongjia National Park for the construction and management of protected areas.

1. In the introduction, the connotation and quantitative evaluation status of the ecological integrity of protected areas or national parks in the world should be supplemented. The Canadian case alone is not enough to support the international research status.

2. This paper selects population density, traditional utilization activities, industrial and mining activities, ecotourism activities and traffic accessibility activities to calculate the impact degree and range on the integrity of natural ecosystem. Data sources are mainly obtained from remote sensing image interpretation, and the impacts of human activities on ecosystem integrity are only analyzed through model calculation. This research method lacks empirical data, so it is suggested to carry out field research in Shennongjia National Park in combination with statistical yearbook data, so as to obtain whether different human activities have an impact on the integrity of the ecosystem, as well as the extent and degree of impact. What are the main reasons for these effects?

3. The natural break point method was used to classify the Ecosystem Integrity Index values into five levels, however, what are the criteria or basis for classifying the different grades is not clear.

Author Response

Distinguished reviewer:
Thank you very much for your constructive comments and valuable suggestions on my manuscript. According to your suggestion, we revised the manuscript seriously.
Our reply to your suggestion is in the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I endorse the manuscript for publication.