JOURNAL OF NATURAL RESOURCES ›› 2018, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (7): 1204-1217.

• Resource Ecology •

Dynamic Changes and Driving Factors of Three Dimensional Ecological Footprint in Yulin

YANG Yi, HU Die

1. School of Economics and Management, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710054,China
• Received:2017-07-03 Revised:2017-10-16 Online:2018-07-20 Published:2018-07-20
• Supported by:
National Social Science Foundation of China Western Project, No. 15XJL009

Abstract: Yulin is rich in energy but fragile in ecology. It is an important area for ecological engineering. It is necessary to analyze the status of natural capital stock and flow in Yulin and reveal the causes of natural capital occupation for the study of environment protection and sustainable development in ecological fragile areas. Basing on the calculation of ecological footprint per capita, ecological carrying capacity per capita, ecological deficit per capita and ecological pressure index in Yulin during 2005-2014, the paper describes the relationship between natural stock capital occupation and natural flow capital consumption through the depth and size of ecological footprint and studies the factors driving the ecological footprint changes with Partial Least Square (PLS) model. The results showed that the per capita ecological footprint in Yulin increased from 2.684 hm2/cap to 5.932 hm2/cap during 2005-2014, where the energy consumption accounted for the highest contribution. The ecological pressure index showed an overall increase from 1.387 to 1.894, except in 2013. The ecological footprint depth was 1.889 in 2005 and reached 2.380 by 2014, which means that a region as 2.380 times large as Yulin is needed to support the resource depletion in Yulin. The ecological footprint size increased from 1.421 hm2/cap in 2005 to 2.492 hm2/cap in 2014, where the ecological footprint size in 2013 increased significantly. In 2014, the consumption of capital stock in Yulin was 1.380 times of the amount of capital flow. The results of PLS model show that the factors affecting ecological footprint are mainly economic growth and social consumption. Yulin is facing severe ecological pressure, and energy consumption is the main reason for the rise of ecological pressure. The per capita ecological carrying capacity increased by 61.81% over the past 10 years, indicating that the implementation of ecological construction project plays an effective and positive role in improving the ecological carrying capacity. The consumption rate of capital stock in Yulin is faster than the rate of capital flow, and the substantial reduction of natural capital stock has seriously hindered the renewal of capital flow. These conclusions are of practical significance for the coordinated natural capital utilization and economic development in Yulin as well as provide a reference for natural capital utilization accounting in ecologically fragile areas.

CLC Number:

• F062.2