Evaluation of Ecological Sustainable Development in the Yangtze River Delta Region Based on Ecological Footprint Theory

The ecological footprint was employed as a quantitative indicator of resource inputs,enabling a detailed account of the structure of biological resources and energy occupancy,as well as the variation of resource productivity in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD)Region.From 2004 to 2018,there were notable variations in the ecological productivity of different types of land on basis of China’s equilibrium factor across the three provinces and one city in the YRD region.Jiangsu Province exhibited the highest ecological productivity of arable land,while Anhui Province exhibited the highest ecological productivity of forest land.Shanghai City exhibited the highest ecological productivity of pasture land,while Zhejiang Province exhibited the highest ecological productivity of water area.In 2018,the proportion of arable land within the total ecological carrying capacity of the YRD region reached 74.35%.Furthermore,the contribution of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces to the YRD’s total ecological carrying capacity was 41.36%and 41.26%,respectively.In the construction of a new development pattern in the YRD region,which is dominated by the domestic cycle as the main body and mutually reinforced by domestic and international double-cycle,the YRD region should combine the utilization of natural forces with innovation in science,technology and cooperation mechanisms.Furthermore,the government should guide the concentration of social capital towards green industries.It is also recommended that the moderate reduction of ecological footprints should be encouraged,and that the security of biological resources and energy,the leadership in the field of cutting-edge science and technology should be ensured in YRD region.This will facilitate the formation of a new development pattern of higher-quality integration at the national level firstly.

Consumptive ecological footprint and productive ecological footprint: a modification on ecological footprint theory to evaluate regional sustainable development

Ecological footprint theory and its application achievements in global and regional sustainable development systems are studied by consulting the published literature, which finds that the application of ecological footprint theory to regional sustainability evaluation has leaded to a perplexity that the indicated result was inconsistent with the philosophy of sustainable development theory. Illuminated by the mechanical system of the movement of matters, it comes up that ecological footprint based on consumption of biologic production could not tell whether the ecological pressure acts on the specified region, and the original ecological footprint theory also undervalued the development impartiality of a region. A modification on this theory is made by introducing consumptive ecological footprint and productive ecological footprint, in which the latter is taken as the indicator of regional sustainability. The development impartiality can be demonstrated by comparison between the global ecological deficit per capita and regional consumptive ecological deficit per capita.

Forestry ecological footprint in China during 1973–2003

The ecological footprint （EF） model has received much attention as an assessment indicator for sustainable development in recent years. Firstly, the temporal changes of domestic timber production, imports and exports in China were analyzed from 1973 to 2003, the analysis results showed an apparent fluctuation in timber production during 1973-1995 but a decreasing trend during 1995-2002, an increasing trend in timber imports since 1995 especially after the implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project （NFPP）, an decreasing trend year by year in timber exports since 1995. Secondly, this paper presented a time series analysis of actual forest area demand in the sustainable yield and production approach in China from 1973 to 2003, which includes both import and export forest area demand. The results showed the actual forest area demand simulated from the sustainable yield approach was slightly higher than that from the production approach during 1978-1988 and a little lower during 1989-2003; however, the actual forest area demands simulated by these two model approaches were larger than calculations that expressed in conventional forest EF. Meanwhile, the results indicated the forestry development in China during 1978-1988 was unsustainable due to overexploitation of forest stocking volumes, and China＇s forestry moved toward sustainable development since 1989 because forest resources are exploited at lower rates than they are regenerated. However, compared to forestry developed countries, the forestry development capacity in China is still lower. Finally, based on the model results we analyzed the relationships between forestry EF and the key policies, including trade policy, economic policy and forest conservation programs. In addition, several suggestions about reducing forestry EF and enhancing sustainable forestry development in China are given.

Quantitative Research on Ecological Compensation among Every City of Guangdong Province Based on Ecological Footprint and Ecological Carrying Capacity

Based on the relative theories and methods of ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity,and according to practical conditions of Guangdong Province,this paper tried to put forward the determinant standard for ecological compensation through calculating the ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity of every city in Guangdong Province. The results indicated that the ecological footprint of each city was in the status of deficit and the deficit level decreased gradually from developed regions of Pearl River Delta to the outlying regions. The cities which belonged to development areas of Pearl River Delta needed to pay ecological compensation,such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen and so on. In contrast,the cities which accepted compensation were underdeveloped areas,such as Heyuan and Jieyuan and so on.

Dynamic Changes of Land Ecological Carrying Capacity Based on the Ecological Footprint——By the Case Study of Chengdu City

Chengdu City is in the period of rapid urbanization and industrialization, and the disturbance derived from human activities on environment is increasing remarkablely in recent 20 years. The pressure on environment, economy and population is also increasing and land use in Chengdu has changed enormously. As struc- ture and function of land ecological system change obviously, sustainable development of land productivity has been an important goal and strategic task from now on, and it is necessary to systematically research land ecological carrying capacity based on ecological footprint. The ecological footprint of Chengdu City in the past ten years was calculated and analyzed from the spatial and temporal aspects according to statistical data from 1998 to 2008, as per ecological footprint method, ecological carrying capacity and the GIS spatial analysis method, and regression analysis method. The ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity values from 2009 to 2019 in Chengdu City were predicted through calculation results in the past ten years. The results show that the ecological footprint and ecological deficit of land use from 1998 to 2008 increased in Chengdu City. The ecological deficit of land use within the city center was in high levels in the past ten years, and the ecological footprint kept raising, especially in areas, such as Shuangliu, Chongzhou, Qingyang among 9 city areas, 4 counties and 6 districts in Chengdu City. There is fanlike distribution of ecological deficit of land use. Analysis shows that the social and natural ecological system is uneven distribution, which is not in sustainable de- velopment situation. The results of the study show that the economic, social and natural ecological system in Chengdu City is not sustainable, and the ecological foot- print is uneven distribution. The analysis of the dynamic change of land ecological carrying capacity in Chengdu City is very important for city government in the pro- cess of the vigorous development in new Tianfu Xinqu, and redevelopment in the northern part of this city.

Energy-based marine ecological footprint in Shandong province, China

An energy-based ecological footprint model was set up to monitor the sustainable development status of a specific marine system. This model used unit energy value and energy density to convert the consumption into ecological productive areas. It can reflect the utilization degree of resources in the regional development. Then, the quantitative analysis of sustainable development was done by comparing the size of the areas. We defined the concept of energy-based ecological footprint of marine and built energy-based ecological footprint model of marine. Then we applied this model to marine ecological system of Shandong province to evaluate its sustainable development statue. The results showed that the energy-based marine ecological footprint of the marine ecological system in Shandong province was 1.74 × 106 hm^2 in 2010, and the energy-based ecological carrying capacity of this area was 1.60×107 hm^2 per capita. Thus, the marine ecological system of Shandong province has strong sustainability.

Evaluation of Ecological Sustainability Based on Ecological Footprint in Hunan Province

To make clear ecological sustainable development in Hunan Province, biomass resources and the energy consumption indexes of Hunan Province in 2013 were selected, and quantity analysis of the regional ecological consumption and the ecological carrying capacity was carried out using the ecological footprint method. The results showed that the net ecological deficit per capita was 1.718 hm2 in 2013 in Hunan Province, which indicated the regional development was beyond the scope of ecological carrying capacity. So, according to the present unsustainable situation, the corresponding development suggestions were put forward.

Sustainable Development of Wuhan City Based on Methods of Conventional Ecological Footprint and Emergy Ecological Footprint

This article uses the conventional ecological footprint method and its improved model of ecological footprint to analyze the state of the sustainable development of Wuhan City in 2009, the results show that the per capita ecological deficit calculated by the method of emergy ecological footprint is 3.8629 hm2, and the per capita ecological deficit calculated by the method of conventional ecological footprint is 2.0169 hm2. The results obtained by the two methods respectively show that current development of Wuhan is unsustainable. The emergy ecological footprint method introduces the energy flow to reflect the relationship between human resource demand and supply of nature to human and adopts parameters—emergy conversion rate and energy density to calculate the ecological carrying capacity data which is more accurate.

Impact of livelihood diversification of rural households on their ecological footprint in agro-pastoral areas of northern China

Human-environment relationship is a focus of academic researches and an understanding of the rela- tionship is important for making effective policies and decisions. In this study, based on rural household survey data of Taibus Banner, Duolun county and Zhengxiangbai Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China, we identified the impact of livelihood diversification on ecosystems in these agro-pastoral areas by using the ecological footprint theory and methodology together with the one-way analysis of variance （ANOVA） and correlation analysis methods. In 2011, the total ecological footprint of consumption （EFC） was 0.665 g hm2, and the total ecological footprint of production （EFP） was 2.045 g hm2, which was more than three times the EFC. The ecological footprint of arable land consumption （EFAC） accounted for a large proportion of the EFC, and the ecological footprint of grassland production （EFGP） occupied a large proportion of the EFP. Both the ecological footprint of grassland consumption （EFGC） and EFGP had a significant positive correlation with the income, indicating that income was mainly depended on livestock production and the households with higher incomes consumed more livestock prod- ucts. The full-time farming households （FTFHs） had the highest EFP, ecological footprint of arable land production （EFAP）, EFGP and EFGC, followed by the part-time farming households （PTFHs） and non-farming households （NFHs）, which indicated that part-time farming and non-farming employment reduced the occupancy and con- sumption of rural households on local ecosystems and natural resources to some extent. When farming households engaged in livestock rearing, both the EFAP and EFAC became smaller, while the EFP, EFC, EFGC and EFGP increased significantly. The differences in ecological footprints among different household groups should be taken into account when making ecosystem conservation policies. Encouraging the laborers who have the advantages of participating in non-farming employment to move out of the rural areas and increasing the diversification of liveli- hoods of rural households are important in reducing the environmental pressures and improving the welfare of households in the study area. Moreover, grassland should be utilized more effectively in the future.

A Modified Model of Ecological Footprint Accounting and Its Application to Cropland in Jiangsu,China

Based on the theory of emergy analysis,a modified model of ecological footprint accounting,termed emergetic ecological footprint(EMEF)in contrast to the conventional ecological footprint(EF)model,is formulated and applied to a case study of Jiangsu cropland,China.Comparisons between the EF and the EMEF with respect to grain,cotton,and food oil were outlined.Per capita EF and EMEF of cropland were also presented to depict the resources consumption level by comparing the biocapacity(BC)or emergetic biocapacity(EMBC,a new BC calculation by emergy analysis) of the same area.In the meanwhile,the ecological sustainability index(ESI),a new concept initiated by the authors, was established in the modified model to indicate and compare the sustainability of cropland use at different levels and between different regions.The results from conventional EF showed that per capita EF of the cropland has exceeded its per capita BC in Jiangsu since 1986.In contrast,based on the EMBC,the per capita EMEF exceeded the per capita EMBC 5 years earlier.The ESIs of Jiangsu cropland use were between 0.7 and 0.4 by the conventional method,while the numbers were between 0.7 and 0.3 by the modified one.The fact that the results of the two methods were similar showed that the modified model was reasonable and feasible,although some principles of the EF and EMEF were quite different. Also,according to the realities of Jiangsu cropland use,the results from the modified model were more acceptable.

Ecological Footprint and Major Driving Forces in West Jilin Province, Northeast China

The environmental impact caused by local people （ecological footprint of consumption, EFc） and the actual environmental impact that the ecosystem burdens （ecological footprint of production, EFp） in West Jilin Province, Northeast China from 1986 to 2006 were evaluated by using ecological footprint （EF） method. And the major driving forces of EFc and EFp were analyzed by STIRPAT model. Both EFc and EFp showed increasing trends in 1986-2006, accompanied by decreasing ecological deficits but expanding ecological overshoots. Population （P）, GDP per capita （A1）, quadratic term of GDP per capita （A2）, urbanization （Tα1）, and quadratic term of urbanization （Ta2） were important influencing factors of EFc, among which Tα2 and Tα1 were the most dominate driving forces of EFc. A1, A2 and Tα2 were important influencing factors of EFp, among which A2 and A1 were the most dominate driving forces of EFp. In 1986-2006, the classical Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis did not exist between A2 and EF （both EFc and EFp）, but did between Tα2 and EF. The results indicate that enhancing the urbanization process and diversifying economic sources is one of the most effective ways to reduce the environmental impact of West Jilin Province. Moreover, importance should be attached to improve the eco-efficiency of resource exploitation and consumption.

Ecological footprint analysis based on RS and GIS in arid land

Sustainable development has become a primary objective for many countries and regions throughout the world now. The ecological footprint (EF) is a kind of concise method of quantifiably measuring the natural capital consumption and it can reflect the goal of sustainability. In this paper, the concept, the theory and method of ecological footprint are introduced. On this basis, the study brings forward the method of ecological footprint and capacity prediction. The method is employed for the ecological footprint prediction combining consumption model with population model and the technique is adopted for the ecological capacity (EC) prediction uniting the Geographical Cellular Automata (Geo CA) and Geographic Information System (GIS). The above models and methods are employed to calculate EF and EC in 1995 and 2000 and predict them in 2005 in Hexi Corridor. The result shows that EF is continually increasing, and EC ascended in the anterior 5 years and will descend in the posterior 5 years. This suit of method is of the character of accuracy and speediness.

The calculation and analysis of ecological footprints,diversity and developm ent capacity of China

T he ecological footprint of China's provinces is calculated in this pap er. In general, China's development is not sustainable because its ecological footprint is beyond its bio-capacity. The sustainability status of each pr ovince in China is presented. Ulanowicz's development capacity formula w as introduced to discuss the relationship of development and ecological footprin t's diversity. The diversity of ecological impacts is related to the e fficiency with which an economy uses the source and sink services of the environment and, in this view, should be a factor in economic output. Developme nt capacity, calculated from the ecological footprint and its diversity , is used to examine the relationship of economic output with the st ructure of the ecological footprint. China and its provinces are prese nted as a case study to investigate this relationship. The analysis s hows that footprint capacity is significant in predicting economic outp ut. Increasing the ecological footprint's diversity is presented as another way to increase development capacity.

Coupling analysis of social-economic water consumption and its effects on the arid environments in Xinjiang of China based on the water and ecological footprints

In arid areas,ecological degradation aroused by over-exploitation of fresh water,expansion of artificial oasis and shrinkage of natural oasis,has drawn attention of many scholars and officials.The water and ecological footprints can be used to quantitatively evaluate the water consumption of social-economic activities and their influence on the eco-environments.In addition,increase of the water footprint indicates the expansion of artificial oasis,and the influence on the natural oasis could be reflected by the variation of the ecological footprint.This study was conducted to answer a scientific question that what is the quantitative relationship between the expansion of the artificial oasis and the degradation of the natural oasis in the arid environments of Xinjiang,China.Thus,based on the social-economic data,water consumption data and meteorological data during 2001–2015,we calculated the water and ecological footprints to express the human-related pressure exerted on the water resources and arid environments in Xinjiang(including 14 prefectures and cities),and explore the relationship between the water and ecological footprints and its mechanism by using the coupling analysis and Granger causality test.The results show that both the water and ecological footprints of Xinjiang increased significantly during 2001–2015,and the increasing rate of the ecological footprint was much faster than that of the water footprint.The coupling degree between the water and ecological footprints was relatively high at the temporal scale and varied at the spatial scale.Among the 14 prefectures and cities examined in Xinjiang,the greater social-economic development(such as in Karamay and Urumqi)was associated with the lower coupling degree between the two footprints.Increases in the water footprint will cause the ecological footprint to increase,such that a 1-unit increase in the consumption of water resources would lead to 2–3 units of ecological degradation.The quantitative relationship between the increases of the water and ecological footprints,together with the intensities of water consumption both in the natural and artificial oases of Tarim River Basin,have approved the fact that the formation and expansion of 1 unit of the artificial oasis would bring about the degradation of 2 units of the natural oasis.These conclusions not only provide a technical basis for sustainable development in Xinjiang,but also offer a theoretical guide and scientific information that could be used in similar arid areas around the world.

Geographical distribution of ecological footprint and sustainability analysis for Liaoning Province

This paper presents the detailed results and analyses on the ecological footprints and bio-capacities of the individual cities and the province as a whole for the year 2001, providing a clear picture of sustainability for the province. Results show that the ecological footprints of most cities in Liaoning exceeded their respective bio-capacities, incurring high ecological deficits. The ecological deficit of the province as a whole was 1.31 ha/cap. Those cities with resources extraction and/or primary material-making as their major industries constitute the "ecologically black band", whose ecological deficits ranged from 2.45 to 5.23 ha/cap, the highest of all cities in the province. Fossil energy consumption was the major source of footprint amounting to 1.63 ha/cap at the provincial level, taking up 67.3% of the total. For cropland, modest ecological surpluses occurred in Jinzhou, Tieling, Huludao, and Panjin while modest ecological deficits in Dalian, Benxi, Fushun, and Dandong, resulting in an overall surplus for the province. Liaoning had a certain level of surplus in fishing ground (water area), mainly distributed in the coastal cities of Dalian, Panjin, Huludao, Yingkou, Jinzhou, and Dandong. Most cities had a small ecological deficit in pasture and all had a small ecological surplus in forest. The eco-efficiency, expressed as GDP value per hectare of footprint, exhibits high variations among the cities, with the highest (Shenyang) more than 10 times the lowest (Fuxin). Cities with manufacture, high-tech, and better developed service industries had high eco-efficiency, while those with resources extraction, primary material-making, and less developed service industries had low eco-efficiency. Based on the components and geographical distribution of ecological footprint, strategic policy implications are outlined for Liaoning’s development toward a sustainable future.

Assessment of the Ecological Security in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area by Using the Ecological Footprint Method

The ecological footprint concept and its calculation models are useful for the measurement of the sustainable level of social and economic development.The ecological security situation of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area(TGRA) was evaluated using this concept in this study.The construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir has led to the change in the ecology and immigration status of TGRA.The ecological footprint method is an important means to study the regional ecological security.Our results suggested that,by excluding the areas for biodiversity conservation(12% of the total land),the ecological footprint per capita was 0.57895 ha,which exceeded the ecological carrying capacity in TGRA.The total ecological deficit was found to be 11,522,193.34 ha,accounting for 95.02% of the ecological carrying capacity.These findings suggested that the ecological security of TGRA was not good.In order to compensate for the ecological deficit,it was essential to introduce natural resources from other regions.

Analysis of Major Driving Forces of Ecological Footprint Based on the STRIPAT Model and RR Method:A Case of Sichuan Province,Southwest China

The Ecological Footprint(EF) equation provides useful accounting to analyze the relationship between human activities and the environment.Knowledge of the specific forces driving EF is not fully understood but the STIRPAT model provides a simple framework for decomposing the impact of human activities on environment.We applied the EF model in Sichuan Province,China to assess the impact of human activities.The per capita EF increased by 2 fold in the 14 years between 1995 and 2008,but ecological capacity decreased in the same period,suggesting that the biologically productive area of Sichuan Province is inadequate to sustain human activities.According to the refined STIRPAT model,the hypothesized driving forces of EF include population size(P),GDP per capita(A1),quadratic term of GDP per capita(A2),percentage of GDP from industry(T1) and urbanization rate(T2).However,the multi-collinearity among these drivers could be a substantial problem which may reveal negative effect in the final results.Application of the Ridge Regression(RR) method to fit the STIRPAT model had the advantage of being able to avoid the collinearity among independent variables.The results showed that population is the principal driving force of EF variation in Sichuan Province and that urbanization and industrialization also have a positive association with the EF.Analysis of affluence elasticity(EEA) showed that the relationship betweenEF and economic growth was not curvilinear,suggesting that variation of EF does not follow an Environmental Kuznets Curve relative to economic growth in Sichuan Province.

Comparative Analysis on Eco-Efficiency of Arable Land Ecological Footprint in Hubei

This paper uses the ecological footprint model to make comparison of the eco-efficiency of arable land ecological footprint in different years in Hubei Province, and makes comparison of that in Hubei and some countries. The results indicate that, since 1965, the eco-efficiency of arable land ecological footprint in Hubei has been improved year by year. However, the efficiency of arable land ecological footprint, compared with some other areas in the world, is much lower. In 1965, average eco-efficiency of world arable land ecological footprint is 3 421 US dollar/hm^2 while that of Hubei Province is 134 US dollar/hm^2, about 1/26 of the world＇s average level. The eco-efficiency of arable land ecological footprint for 2003 in Hubei Province, however, has become about 1/9 of the world＇s average level for the same year. Finally the author puts forward the ways to raise the eco-efficiency of arable land ecological footprint.

Calculation of Ecological Footprint Based on Modified Method and Quantitative Analysis of Its Impact Factors——A Case Study of Shanghai

Ecological footprint （EF） has attracted much attention internationally as a potential indicator for sustainable development. In China, EF has also gained recognition in related fields and disciplines. Moreover, some scholars in these fields have proposed alternative methods to calculate EF and have made some progress. This paper, therefore, begins with the introduction and development of EF in China. However, the established methods of EF calculation hold some limitations, such as indicator variance and result abnormality. In order to resolve those problems, the authors make a further modification considering the demand of EF as a comprehensive indicator： 1） More accurate analysis has been done to divide EF into several parts： imported EF, exported EF, and producible EF, which is the solution to the problem of abnormality in original EF results and can explain abnormal phenomena reasonably. 2） Considering the actual situa- tion of Shanghai, emended equivalence factor is brought forward and a matrix is formed with equivalence factors. The measure can reduce the deviation between the fact and the results. 3） The calculation compares local yield with global average yield to analyze the effects of yields. And based on local yields in different years, the results are more accurate. Finally, the calculation method is applied to calculating EF of Shanghai from 1980 to 2003, and the subsequent detailed analysis is presented. Available data and results suggest a statistically significant correlation coefficient between EF and GDP, population density and urbaniTation level. Through analyzing the process of calculating EF and its results, it can be seen that EF, as a macro-indicator, can not exactly indicate whether development within a region can meet the re- quests of sustainable development, which can be explained by the fact that the result of EF is impacted greatly by sub- jective factors including national policy,available technology, population, etc. Nevertheless, EF can demonstrate, at least to some degree, the regional status in terms of resources and energy consumption, as well as developmental potential. The calculation of EF, therefore, deserves further research to achieve more far-reaching significance in application.

Ecological Footprint Dynamics of Yunnan, China

A fundamental element of sustainable development is that humans live within nature's biological capacity. Quantifying this, however, remains a significant challenge for which there are many emerging tools. The concept of the Ecological Footprint is one such accounting tool for comprehensive assessment of the status of sustainable development, based on integration of resource consumption and land capacity, reflecting the human impact on the environment. A region's development is defined as unsustainable when the Ecological Footprint surpasses the biological capacity. In this paper, the Ecological Footprint concept was applied in assessing the development of Yunnan Province, China in a period between 1988 and 2006. The results showed that the Ecological Footprint per capita in Yunnan rose from 0.854 gha in 1988 to 2.11 gha in 2006. Ecological deficit, defined as when the human demand on the land surpasses the regions biological productive capacity, emerged in 1991 and quickly increased from 0.02 gha in 1991 to 1.05 gha in 2006. The increase in the ecological deficit is primarily a result of the rapid increase in population and consumption level. To achieve sustainable development in Yunnan, production and consumption rates need to be modified.