Quantitative evaluation of plants on top surface of the Great Wall in Dazhuangke using the analytical hierarchy process

Pan, Jianbin; Xu, Nuo; Tang, Yuyang; Cheng, Meijing; Zhang, Lin; Wang, Bing; Lan, Jingwen

doi:10.1186/s40494-023-01025-z

Heritage Science

Table 1 Comprehensive evaluation index system and scoring criteria for Wall-Top Plants

From: Quantitative evaluation of plants on top surface of the Great Wall in Dazhuangke using the analytical hierarchy process

The Target Layer (A)	The Constraint Layer (C)	The Standard Layer (P)	Index scoring					Definition of indicators
The Target Layer (A)	The Constraint Layer (C)	The Standard Layer (P)	Evaluation grading	5	3	1	0	Definition of indicators
Comprehensive evaluation of plants on top surface of the Great Wall	C₁ Biological characteristics	P₁ Plant type	Annual and Biennial Herbs	✓				Plant Life Type (Under habitat conditions on top surface of the Great Wall)
			Perennial Herbs	✓
			Shrubs	✓
			Arbor	✓
		P₂ Plant diameter /cm	Less than 1				✓	Diameter of the main stem of arbour and shrubby trees near top surface of the Great Wall
			1–2.9			✓
			3–6.9		✓
			Greater than 7	✓
		P₃ Plant height /cm	Less than 9				✓	Height of Arbour/Shrubs
			10–99			✓
			100–299		✓
			Greater than 300	✓
		P₄ Growing condition	Poor				✓	Plant growth potential level
			General			✓
			Better		✓
			Excellent	✓
		P₅ Intrusiveness	Pole-strength				✓	The depth and horizontal amplitude of the distribution of plant root types, from which the intensity of the attack that plants may produce can be determined
			Stronger			✓
			General		✓
			Poor	✓
		P₆ Regenerative capacity	Pole-strength				✓	Plant regeneration, adaptation to the environment (survival in adversity) and ability to spread seeds
			Stronger			✓
			General		✓
			Poor	✓
	C₂ Disruptive effects	P₇ Impact on the near side wall	Within range (Arbor and Shrubs)				✓	The size of the plants which inside and outside the nearside wall area^a may cause dropsy, collapse, cracks, and deformation of the side wall
			Within range (Herbs)		✓
			Out of range (Arbour and Shrubs)	✓
			Out of range (Herbs)	✓
		P₈ Impact on the top surface of the walls	Serious				✓	Dislodged, displaced and broken brickwork on top of walls caused by plants
			More Serious			✓
			Lighter		✓
			No Impact	✓
		P₉ Influence of encroachment and decay	Serious				✓	Exposure and coiling of plant roots (To determine the encroachment and decay strength of the wall)
			More Serious			✓
			Lighter		✓
			No Impact	✓
		P₁₀ Biological nests	Large quantity				✓	Distribution of small mammals, birds, reptiles and insect nests around plants
			More			✓
			A Little		✓
			None	✓
	C₃ Application value	P₁₁ Historical and cultural value	No value				✓	The recorded situation of plants in historical documents and plant archaeology
			General Value			✓
			A More Important Value		✓
			Important Value	✓
		P₁₂ Ecological value	No value				✓	Plant ecological benefits (reduced rainfall rates, flow velocity, etc.)
			General Value			✓
			A More Important Value		✓
			Important Value	✓
		P₁₃ Landscape value	No value				✓	Plant landscape features (flowers, fruits, leaves, branches and trunks, etc.)
			General Value			✓
			A More Important Value		✓
			Important Value	✓

^a1 “Near Side Wall area” refers to the range of 50 cm from inside the side wall of the Great Wall to the midline of top surface of the Great Wall

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