Abstract: Ecological integrity and ecosystem health are important goals of ecosystem management. The two concepts are frequently confused and misapplied in assessment work. As a result of the comparative analysis, both concepts differ in five aspects: concept connotation, management objectives, value orientation, reference benchmarks, and assessment methods. (1) Ecological integrity emphasizes naturalness, while ecosystem health emphasizes sustainability and social values. (2) The goal of ecological integrity is to maintain a natural state without human disturbance, while ecosystem health aims for an ideal state based on social needs. (3) Ecological integrity is based on nature conservation values, while ecosystem health is based on utilitarian conservation values. (4) The reference benchmark for assessing ecological integrity is the natural or historical state undisturbed by human beings, while for ecosystem health, it is the optimal attainable state or the recognized state. (5) The assessment indices for ecological integrity include physical, chemical, and biological indicators, while the assessment of ecosystem health incorporates additional indicators, such as management and economic factors. Ecological integrity and ecosystem health share similar conceptual contexts and assessment logic, with overlaps between them. The former is applicable to natural ecosystems, while the latter is applicable to disturbed or restored ecosystems. The choice between them should be based on the differences in concept connotation, the ecoregions, the intensity of human interference, and the management objectives.

Key words: ecological integrity, ecosystem health, assessment method