Traditional agricultural systems are under severe threat from modernization, technological and economic changes, while substitution of traditional agriculture with so-called modern agriculture has caused serious non-p...Traditional agricultural systems are under severe threat from modernization, technological and economic changes, while substitution of traditional agriculture with so-called modern agriculture has caused serious non-point source pollution. Ecological footprint, though an approach to measure ecological sustainability, fails to reveal the true environmental condition of the traditional agricultural areas. This paper attempted to establish an enhanced emergy-based ecological footprint （EEF） which could include all the flows of ecosystem services that the local inhabitants had consumed, thus making EEF a better indicator of the regional sustainability. This new approach was then applied to evaluate the sustainability of Congjiang County in Guizhou Province, a typically traditional agricultural area in China. Results showed that the local biocapacity could only meet 64% of the total consumption needed by the local inhabitants, leaving an ecological deficit of 5.2327 gha per capita. This analysis was contrary to earlier findings obtained through the conventional method that Congjiang County was characterized by a small ecological reserve. Disaggregated analysis revealed that the consumption of waste treatment and erosion control services occupied a considerable proportion of the local ecological footprint, indicating that regional sustainability was under serious threat from waste discharge and soil erosion.展开更多
Since the 1970s,resource crisis,environmental pollution and ecological degradation have become prominent globally,and the limits to growth have always been an important theoretical and policy issue.The technological s...Since the 1970s,resource crisis,environmental pollution and ecological degradation have become prominent globally,and the limits to growth have always been an important theoretical and policy issue.The technological system of early warning and regulation based on carrying capacity evaluation has great potential in natural resource utilization,environmental management and ecosystem conservation.In this paper,the evolution of carrying capacity research and the concept of ecological carrying capacity are summarized,and the existing evaluation methods of ecological carrying capacity are classified into ecological footprint method,comprehensive index system method,ecosystem service analysis method and human appropriation of net primary productivity method.The current problems in ecological carrying capacity study were analyzed and the trend was outlooked.Combined with the special issue,the recent proceeding of ecological carrying capacity study in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)region was narrated,from the aspects of ecological carrying capacity evaluation method and application,the supply and consumption of ecosystem services,and the resources use and environment change.Some suggestions have been proposed to improve the accuracy and reliability of ecological carrying capacity evaluation:1)the spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamic change of ecological carrying capacity should be explored furtherly;2)the interaction between ecological process and human activities should be simulated;3)factors such as climate change,human activities and ecological products and ecological service flows should be integrated into the evaluation system of ecological carrying capacity.展开更多
基金National Public Benefit (Environmental) Research Foundation of China (201009020) and FAO/GEF project (GCP/GLO/212/GEF)
文摘Traditional agricultural systems are under severe threat from modernization, technological and economic changes, while substitution of traditional agriculture with so-called modern agriculture has caused serious non-point source pollution. Ecological footprint, though an approach to measure ecological sustainability, fails to reveal the true environmental condition of the traditional agricultural areas. This paper attempted to establish an enhanced emergy-based ecological footprint （EEF） which could include all the flows of ecosystem services that the local inhabitants had consumed, thus making EEF a better indicator of the regional sustainability. This new approach was then applied to evaluate the sustainability of Congjiang County in Guizhou Province, a typically traditional agricultural area in China. Results showed that the local biocapacity could only meet 64% of the total consumption needed by the local inhabitants, leaving an ecological deficit of 5.2327 gha per capita. This analysis was contrary to earlier findings obtained through the conventional method that Congjiang County was characterized by a small ecological reserve. Disaggregated analysis revealed that the consumption of waste treatment and erosion control services occupied a considerable proportion of the local ecological footprint, indicating that regional sustainability was under serious threat from waste discharge and soil erosion.
基金The Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA20010202)The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research(2019QZKK0600)+1 种基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China(41571496,41971263)The National Key Research and Development Programme(2016YFC0503403)
文摘Since the 1970s,resource crisis,environmental pollution and ecological degradation have become prominent globally,and the limits to growth have always been an important theoretical and policy issue.The technological system of early warning and regulation based on carrying capacity evaluation has great potential in natural resource utilization,environmental management and ecosystem conservation.In this paper,the evolution of carrying capacity research and the concept of ecological carrying capacity are summarized,and the existing evaluation methods of ecological carrying capacity are classified into ecological footprint method,comprehensive index system method,ecosystem service analysis method and human appropriation of net primary productivity method.The current problems in ecological carrying capacity study were analyzed and the trend was outlooked.Combined with the special issue,the recent proceeding of ecological carrying capacity study in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)region was narrated,from the aspects of ecological carrying capacity evaluation method and application,the supply and consumption of ecosystem services,and the resources use and environment change.Some suggestions have been proposed to improve the accuracy and reliability of ecological carrying capacity evaluation:1)the spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamic change of ecological carrying capacity should be explored furtherly;2)the interaction between ecological process and human activities should be simulated;3)factors such as climate change,human activities and ecological products and ecological service flows should be integrated into the evaluation system of ecological carrying capacity.
