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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Assessing Near-Naturalness of Plant
Communities in Urban Green Spaces Using
Comprehensive Index and Random Forest
Methods: A Case Study in Hefei, China
1
School of Architecture and Planning, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230022, China
2
Anhui Institute of Territory Spatial Planning and Ecology, Hefei 230022, China
Submission date: 2024-01-01
Final revision date: 2024-04-24
Acceptance date: 2024-05-27
Online publication date: 2024-09-06
Publication date: 2025-04-04
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(4):3607-3624
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
As urbanization rapidly progresses, the ecological resilience and health of urban parks
and green spaces face significant threats, underscoring the crucial need for effective ecological quality
assessments. This study developed a comprehensive evaluation system, uniquely designed with sixteen
indicators across four dimensions – community composition, structure, succession, and disturbance – to
systematically assess the near-naturalness of 87 urban park plant communities in central Hefei and to
explore the influencing factors. Employing comprehensive index and random forest algorithms, we find
the near-naturalness index ranging from 0.135 to 0.752, categorizing only 18.39% of samples as ‘nearnatural’
or ‘semi-natural,’ while a majority, 81.61%, fell into ‘far-natural’ or ‘artificial’ categories. Ideal
near-natural conditions emerged in settings with 5 to 10 dead plants, litter cover of 10 to 30%, 10 to 15
species, and mild natural disturbances. Our findings indicate that the overall near-naturalness in Hefei’s
urban green spaces is moderate to low, suggesting a need for focused enhancements in community
succession and structural adjustments. This research establishes a novel framework for advancing urban
green space ecological planning and sustainable development, providing fresh insights and a robust
scientific basis for enhancing the ecological quality of urban parks and green spaces.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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