Since the Anthropocene, drastic changes in the relationship between humans and the earth have prompted human beings to pay more attention to the living environment. As a metaphor to reveal the state of humanity and nature, ecosystem health has gradually become an important issue closely related to global sustainable development ever since it was widely discussed in the 1990s. This study reviewed 4354 publications about ecosystem health from the Web of Science Core Collection by using CiteSpace software. In addition, 135 empirical papers were selected to further analyze the evaluation methods and characteristics of ecosystem health. This study was able to answer four questions: (1) What are the definitions, research content, and characteristics of ecosystem health? (2) Are there any features during the different periods of the development of the ecosystem health? Are there geographical differences in the research? (3) What are the methods and cases selected for studying ecosystem health, and under what kind of conditions do they apply? Are there any patterns or characteristics in the use of these methods? (4) What are the gaps and deficiencies in ecosystem health research, and where should we set our focus on in the future? In general, this study combined bibliometric analysis with a systematic review method, aiming to summarize the current status of ecosystem health research, make up for the deficiencies in the current review, and put forward new insights regarding the concept cognition, evaluation, and future outlook of ecosystem health research.

The capacity of carbon sinks varies among the different types of ecosystems, and whether national parks, as an important type of nature reserve, have a high carbon sink capacity (CSC) and whether eco-tourism in national parks affects their CSC are the main scientific issues discussed. Using MODIS Net Primary Production (NPP) product data, this study analysed the spatiotemporal variation in carbon sources and sinks (CSSs) in the ecosystem of Huangshan National Park from 2000 to 2020, as well as the impact of tourism on these carbon sources and sinks. The findings indicate that, while the ecosystems of national parks generally have a strong CSC, they may not always function as carbon sinks, and during the study period, Huangshan National Park served as a carbon source for four years. Temporally, the CSSs in the ecosystem of the national park exhibit a cyclical pattern of change with a four-year cycle and strong seasonality, with spring and autumn functioning as carbon sinks, and summer and winter as carbon sources. Spatially, the CSSs of the national park ecosystem exhibited a vertical band spectrum of spatial distribution, and the CSC showed a trend of gradual enhancement from low altitude to high altitude. Tourism is a major factor that has an impact on the CSC of national park ecosystems.