scholarly journals Impacts of Urbanization of Mountainous Areas on Resources and Environment: Based on Ecological Footprint Model

Author(s):  
Yu Ding ◽  
Jian Peng

The rapid urbanization has exerted tremendous pressure on natural systems in mountains. As a measure of sustainable use of natural resources, ecological footprint is an important basis for judging whether the development of a country or region is within the biocapacity. Taking Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture as an example, this study comprehensively analyzes the impact of human activities on mountain resources and environment from the three aspects of urbanization, land use and ecological carrying capacity. The results show that Dali Prefecture with the urbanization rate of 33% is still in the accelerated stage of urbanization. The urban space presents the core-periphery feature, and the central city is the focus of human existence and living activities. The per capita ecological footprint is 1.14 hm2/person higher than the ecological carrying capacity, meaning Dali Prefecture is in an ecological deficit state. This indicates that there is an uncoordinated state between urbanization and environment. Arable land is the main source of per capita ecological footprint in the prefecture. However, the urban expansion overly occupies the arable land in the plain sub-region, leading the arable land to an ecological deficit state. In the future, the development of the mountainous area should focus on the protection of arable land and choose a new sustainable path.

Author(s):  
Benhong Peng ◽  
Yuanyuan Wang ◽  
Ehsan Elahi ◽  
Guo Wei

The conflict between economic development and environmental protection has become increasingly prominent in the urbanization process of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration, the most economically developed region in Jiangsu Province in China. In order to investigate the sustainable development status, and thus provide decision support for the sustainable development of this region, the ecological footprint model was utilized to evaluate and analyze the ecological footprint per capita, the ecological carrying capacity per capita, and the ecological deficit per capita for the period from 2013 to 2017. Furthermore, the Grey model is employed to predict the development trend of the ecological footprint for 2018 to 2022. The evaluation results show that the ecological footprint per capita has been increasing year by year since 2013, reaching a peak of 2.3897 hm2 in 2015 before declining again. In the same period, the available ecological carrying capacity per capita and the ecological footprint per capita basically developed in the same direction, resulting in an ecological deficit per capita and gradually increasing from 2013 to a peak of 2.0303 hm2 in 2015 before declining. It is also found that the change of ecological carrying capacity is not substantial, and the change of the ecological deficit is mainly caused by a huge change of the ecological footprint. The forecast results show that the ecological deficit per capita will reach 1.1713 hm2 in 2018, which will be another deficit peak after 2015. However, in the later period until 2022, the ecological deficit per capita will begin to decline year by year. These results can provide effective inspirations for reducing the ecological deficit of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration, thus promoting the coordinated development of the economy and environment in this area.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1010-1012 ◽  
pp. 722-725
Author(s):  
Hong Yu Jia ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Gao Sheng Zhang

Based on the data of Shandong’ statistical yearbook-2013, Shandong’s ecological footprint (EF) and bio-capacity (BC) are calculated and analyzed. The ecological footprint is 4.594781 hm2per capita, the ecological carrying capacity is 0.995870 hm2per capita. Results show that Shandong is a region with a severe ecological deficit which comes up to 2.096052 hm2per capita .That means the development of Shandong is not sustainable.


2015 ◽  
Vol 744-746 ◽  
pp. 2236-2240
Author(s):  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Zhao Hua Lu ◽  
Jin Fang Zhu ◽  
Fei Fei Tan

Most of resource-based cities (RBC) are the result of resource-based industrialization processes and were built on mining areas, leading to heterogeneous composition and distribution of urban areas which were lacking of proper urban planning guidance. The unique urbanization processes in RBC resulted in severe fragmentation of habitats and environmental exacerbation and generated negative impacts to human well-being. In this research, an assessment model based on ecological footprint (EF) and ecological carrying capacity (EC) was used to detect the trend of urbanization in Tangshan city. In this model, we created four new indicators which could enrich EF and EC with economic and social dimensions, and categorized six types of ecological footprints into three main kinds of ecological footprints. The results indicated that (a) the EF per capita and the EC per capita have had enormous increment and decrement respectively; (b) ecological tension and ecological occupancy presented a constant increasing trend while the ecological sustainability was continuously decreasing in this period; and (c) almost all of the six indicators were in an unbalanced status in the comprehensive grading system worldwide. We suggest that (a) a diversified energy consumption structure and an energy-saving urban system should be accomplished in the future urban regulation; (b) any shrinkage of fisheries should be avoided in the future urban regulation, and coastal protection and offshore fishing should be prioritized.


2014 ◽  
Vol 641-642 ◽  
pp. 1062-1065
Author(s):  
Lin Wu

Ecological footprint method was used to estimate the resident’s per capita resource consumption ecological footprint and per capita ecological carrying capacity of Changsha based the statistical data from 1996 to 2009. And the Changsha sustainable development issue was discussed. The results shown that during 1996 to 2009, Changsha per capita ecological footprint of biological resources consumption has a fluctuated upward trend. Ecological footprint per capita consumption of biological resources was dominated. There is a deficit of per capita ecological carrying capacity in Changsha; People activities impact on the regional ecosystem has exceeded the ecological carrying capacity, and it resulting in a greater pressure on the ecosystem. From the perspective of resources ecological carrying capacity, Changsha’s development model is not sustainable in 1996 to 2009. It should be transfer the mode of economic development, improve resource utilization efficiency, and promote the sustainable development of regional resources.


2014 ◽  
Vol 955-959 ◽  
pp. 1755-1759
Author(s):  
Cheng Ying Li ◽  
Zhi Qi Gong ◽  
Rui Ding ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Bo Kun Chen

Based on ecological footprint model, this paper calculated the ecological footprint and the ecological carrying capacity and ecological surplus of 2000 ~ 2012 years in Xining,the results showed that the current land use in Xining City is the absolute ecological deficit,which indicate that the land development in Xining is being away from the sustainability .


2012 ◽  
Vol 573-574 ◽  
pp. 456-460
Author(s):  
Miao Tian ◽  
Min Zhou

The ecological footprint is a quantitative method which can measure the sustainable development of ecological. In this way, we can conclude the impact degree of human activities on the environment. In this paper, the study region is Huanggang which is in Hubei province. Based on the introduction of ecological footprint, we calculate and analyze the agro-ecological footprint of Huanggang.The results show that the agro-ecological footprint of Huanggang is: 1.728252hm2/person.The available ecological capacity is 0.314946hm2/person; Per capita ecological deficit is up to1.413306hm2/person.This result shows that the agriculture development of Huanggang is in the state of unsustainable, meanwhile, we proposed some countermeasures to improve the agriculture sustainable capability of Huanggang.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoman Liu ◽  
Jingying Fu ◽  
Dong Jiang ◽  
Jianwu Luo ◽  
Chenxi Sun ◽  
...  

An increasing number of nature reserves are being invaded by various development and construction activities, such as energy, resources, and transportation facilities. The ecological footprint model, which enables a quantitative assessment of ecological sustainability, can assess whether human consumption at various spatial scales falls within the regenerative capacity of the biosphere. Based on the traditional ecological footprint evaluation model: the Global Agro-Ecological Zone (EF-GAEZ model), this study proposes an improved ecological footprint model based on net primary productivity (EF-NPP model) and its validations. In this study, the status of ecological footprints and the ecological carrying capacities of 319 national nature reserves in 2010 is explored, and the changes in ecological surpluses and ecological deficits from 2000 to 2010 are analyzed. The ecological footprint per capita and the ecological carrying capacity per capita calculated by the two models were mostly consistently at the same level (more than 68%), which indicated that the ecological footprint per capita and the ecological carrying capacity per capita of the two models followed the same rule. The EF-NPP model can reflect the change in the global climate, the degradation of the soil, and the progress of the technology.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
潘洪义 PAN Hongyi ◽  
朱晚秋 ZHU Wanqiu ◽  
崔绿叶 CUI Lvye ◽  
冯茂秋 FENG Maoqiu ◽  
朱芳 ZHU Fang

2014 ◽  
Vol 1073-1076 ◽  
pp. 2578-2582
Author(s):  
Chun Yang ◽  
Guo Gang Wang ◽  
Ming Li Wang

China is a prairie giant, where available grassland area of pasturing and semi-pasturing areas account for 61.5% of national total grassland area. As China is paying more and more attention to ecological environment construction, pasturing and semi-pasturing areas become the key areas of grassland ecological protection, and the grassland sustainability status is attracting more and more attention. Based on ecological footprint model in this study, the relevant data from 2006 to 2013 are used for empirical analysis on per capita ecological footprint and per capita ecological carrying capacity of Chinese pasturing and semi-pasturing grassland. Results show that since 2006, per capita ecological footprint demand of Chinese pasturing and semi-pasturing grassland shows a small growth, while per capita ecological carrying capacity falls slightly. The pasturing and semi-pasturing areas generally present a sustainable development situation, and the per capita ecological surplus of grassland shows an overall growth, but falls slightly over the last two years. Therefore, it is still required to further strengthen the ecological protection of Chinese pasturing and semi-pasturing grassland.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9705
Author(s):  
Ye-Ning Wang ◽  
Qiang Zhou ◽  
Hao-Wei Wang

As one of the most developed and competitive metropolitan areas in the world, the contradiction between resource depletion and sustainable development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GHMGBA) has become a crucial issue nowadays. This paper analyzed the natural capital utilization patterns in GHMGBA during 2009–2016 based on a three-dimensional ecological footprint model. Ecological carrying capacity intensity (ECintensity) was calculated to optimize the accounting of ecological carrying capacity (EC). Ecological footprint depth (EFdepth) and ECintensity were quantitatively investigated and influencing factors were further explored based on a partial least squares (PLS) model. Results showed that GHMGBA had been operating in a deficit state due to the shortage of natural capital flow and accumulated stock depletion. The highest EFdepth occurred in Macao (17.11~26.21) and Zhongshan registering the lowest (2.42~3.58). Cropland, fossil energy and construction land constituted the most to total ecological deficit, while woodland was continuously in a slight surplus. Natural capital utilization patterns of 11 cities were divided into four categories through hierarchical clustering analysis. Driving factors of EFdepth, ECintensity and three-dimensional ecological deficit (ED3D) were mainly students in primary and secondary education, disposable income, consumption expenditure, R&D personnel and freight volume. Our findings could provide guidance for decision-makers to develop resource utilization portfolios in GHMGBA.


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