In this paper, through a case study conducted in cities involved in Dongjiang River Basin, we improved the ecological footprint model by adding freshwater resource account and pollution account and by adjusting the yield factors using actual average land productivity method. The ecological footprints of eight cities, i.e., Ganzhou, Meizhou, Heyuan, Shaoguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen in the Basin in 2008 were evaluated using our revised ecological footprint model. The results showed that: 1) The ecological footprint and the ecological capacity of each city were sizably different from the other seven cities within the Basin. This reflects the differences both in natural resources endowment and in socio-economic development stage among the eight cities within the basin. The summed ecological footprint per capita increased spatially from the upstream to midstream and to downstream except for Huizhou and Shenzhen cities. While the available total per capita ecological capacity of cropland, forestland, pastureland, built-up land, fishing land and fossil-energy land decreased spatially from the upstream to midstream and to downstream. 2) As the per capita GDP and/or the urbanized population ratio increased, the spatial variation of the per capita ecological footprint increased first and then turned to decrease, showing a similar trend that EKC (environmental Kuznets curve) once expressed. 3) The total ecological footprint of all eight cities within the Basin exceeded the corresponding ecological capacity except for the freshwater resource, and thus there existed a global ecological deficit within the Basin. This indicates all the eight cities within the Basin have to import, more or less, natural products, resources and energy from outside regions at present, to sustain the normal development according to their current consumption standard and production conditions.
[1] Rees W E, Wackernagel M. Urban ecological footprints: Why cities cannot be sustainable—and why they are a key to sustainability[J]. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 1996, 16:223-248.
[2] Wackernagel M, Rees W E. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth[M]. Gabriola Isoland, New Society Publishers, 1996: 3-34.
[3] Wackernagel M, Onisto L, Bello P, et al. Ecological Footprints of Nations: How Much Nature Do They Use? How Much Nature Do They Have? [M]. Commissioned by the Earth Council for the Rio +5 Forum. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. Toronto, 1997:4-12.
[4] 徐中民, 张志强, 程国栋, 等. 中国1999年生态足迹计算与发展能力分析[J].应用生态学报, 2003, 14(2): 280-285.
[5] Wackernagel M, Onisto L, Bello P, et al. National natural capital accounting with the ecological footprint concept [J]. Ecological Economics, 1999, 29(3): 375-390.
[6] 赵卫, 刘景双, 孔凡娥, 等. 城市化对区域生态足迹供需的影响[J]. 应用生态学报, 2008, 19(1): 120-126.
[7] Wackernagel M, Lewan L, Hansson C B. Evaluation the use of natural capital with the ecological footprint: Applications in Sweden and subregions [J]. AMBIO, 1999, 28(7): 604-612.
[8] van Vuuren D P, Smeets E M W. Ecological footprints of Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica and the Netherlands [J]. Ecological Economics, 2000, 34: 115-130.
[9] McDonald G W, Patterson M G. Ecological Footprints and interdependencies of New Zealand regions [J]. Ecological Economics, 2004, 50: 49-67.
[10] Warren-Rhodes K, Koenig A. Ecosystem appropriation by Hong Kong and its implications for sustainable development [J]. Ecological Economics, 2001, 39: 347-359.
[11] 徐中民, 程国栋, 张志强. 生态足迹方法: 可持续性定量研究的新方法——以张掖地区1995年的生态足迹计算为例[J].生态学报, 2001, 21(9): 1484-1493.
[12] 谢高地, 鲁春霞, 成升魁, 等. 中国的生态空间占用研究[J]. 资源科学, 2001, 23(6): 20-23.
[13] 鲁春霞, 谢高地, 成升魁, 等. 青藏高原自然资产利用的生态空间占用评价[J]. 资源科学, 2001, 23(6): 29-35.
[14] 董泽琴,孙铁珩.生态足迹研究——辽宁省生态足迹计算与分析[J].生态学报, 2004, 24(12): 2735-2739.
[15] Erb K-H. Actual land demand of Austria 1926-2000: A variation on ecological footprint assessments [J]. Land Use Policy, 2004, 21: 247-259.
[16] 刘淼,胡远满,常禹,等.生态足迹改进方法及其在区域可持续发展研究中的应用[J]. 生态学杂志, 2007, 26(8): 1285-1290.
[17] Wackernagel M, Monfreda C, Erb K-H, et al. Ecological footprint time series of Austria, the Philippines, and South Korea for 1961-1999: Comparing the conventional approach to an 'actual land area’ approach [J]. Land Use Policy, 2004, 21: 261-269.
[18] 张恒义, 刘卫东, 林育欣, 等. 基于改进生态足迹模型的浙江省域生态足迹分析[J]. 生态学报, 2009, 29(5): 2738-2748.
[19] 吴志峰, 胡永红, 李定强, 等. 城市水生态足迹变化分析与模型[J]. 资源科学, 2006, 28(5): 152-156.
[20] Jenerette G D, Larsen L. A global perspective on changing sustainable urban water supplies [J]. Global and Planetary Change, 2006, 50: 202-311.
[21] 黄林楠, 张伟新, 姜翠玲, 等. 水资源生态足迹计算方法[J].生态学报, 2008, 28(3): 1279-1286.
[22] Hoekstra A Y. Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis[J]. Ecological Economics, 2009, 68: 1963-2974.
[23] 谭秀娟, 郑钦玉. 我国水资源生态足迹分析与预测[J]. 生态学报, 2009, 29(7): 3559-3568.
[24] 白钰, 曾辉, 魏建兵, 等. 基于环境污染账户核算的生态足迹模型优化——以珠江三角洲城市群为例[J]. 应用生态学报, 2008, 19(8): 1789-1796.
[25] 闵庆文, 焦雯珺, 成升魁. 污染足迹: 一种基于生态系统服务的生态足迹[J]. 资源科学, 2011, 33(2): 195-200.
[26] 焦雯珺, 闵庆文, 成升魁, 等. 基于污染足迹模型的太湖流域水环境演变的人文驱动力评估——以江苏省常州市为例[J]. 资源科学, 2011, 33(2): 223-229.
[27] Zhao X, Chen B, Yang Z. National water footprint in an input-output framework—A case study of China 2002 [J]. Ecological Modelling, 2009, 220: 245-253.
[28] Zhao X, Yang H, Yang Z, et al. Applying the input-output method to account for water footprint and virtual water trade in the Haihe River basin in China [J]. Environmental Science and Technology, 2010, 44: 9150-9156.
[29] 张岳. 中国21世纪水危机与节水[J]. 水利水电科技进展, 1997, 17(2): 2-9. [ZHANG Yue. Water crisis and water saving in the 21st century China. Advances in Science and Technology of Water Resources, 1997, 17(2): 2-4.]
[30] 李金昌.生态价值论[M]. 重庆: 重庆大学出版社, 1999.
[31] 赵同谦, 欧阳志云, 郑华, 等. 中国森林生态系统服务功能及其价值评价[J]. 自然资源学报, 2004, 19(4): 480-491.
[32] 王建龙, 文湘华. 现代环境生物技术[M]. 北京: 清华大学出版社, 2001.
[33] 沈德中. 污染环境的生物修复[M]. 北京: 化学工业出版社, 2002.
[34] 张岳. 中国水资源与可持续发展[M]. 南宁: 广西科学技术出版社,2000.
[35] Bagliani M, Bravo G, Dalmazzone S. A consumption-based approach to environmental Kuznets curves using the ecological footprint indicator [J]. Ecological Economics, 2008, 65: 650-661.
