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.     

Change of Ecological Footprint and Analysis of Ecological Sustainability —— Taking Zhangjiakou City as an Example

This paper researches the ecological sustainability of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China, using the ecological footprint model. According to the study we find that Zhangjiakou City was in the situation of ecological deficit from 1990 to 2000 and the deficit had the enlarging tendency. In 1990 the per capita ecological footprint was 0.964 and the per capita ecological capacity was 0.518, thus it can be calculated that the per capita ecological deficit was –0.446. However in 2000, the per capita ecological footprint increased to 1.068, at the same time the per capita eco- logical capacity decreased to 0.471, then the per capita ecological deficit in 2000 was –0.597. Furthermore, this paper studies the ecological sustainability of the city from the changes of the ecological footprint of per 10,000 yuan GDP and the productivity of ecological system. Finally the authors point out the shortage of the model and the way to improve it.     

黄河三角洲高效生态经济区生态环境承载力分析

以黄河三角洲19个地区2010年统计年鉴的数据为依据,应用生态足迹法,对该区2010年的生态足迹进行计算与分析。结果表明,黄河三角洲地区的生态足迹均为赤字,人均生态足迹为68．396 hm2,人均实际可利用生态承载力为14．057 hm2,人均生态赤字为54．339 hm2。反映出评价区人类的生产、生活强度超过了生态系统的承载能力,区域生态系统处于被人类过度开发利用状态。     

EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL SERVICES OF JILIN PROVINCE, NORTHEAST CHINA

1INTRODUCTIONEcosystem services can be divided into two major cat-egories, one is system function, and the other is sys-tem services and goods provision, which provide not only materials such as food and medicine, but also support and maintenance of whole system. Ecological services contribute to the whole economic system, both directly and indirectly, and consequently repre-sent parts of the total value of our economy system (COSTANZA etal., 1997; GUO etal., 2001). Sustainable d…     

Effects of Climatic Change on Evapotranspiration in Zhalong Wetland, Northeast China

1 Introduction As a result of persistent increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the 1950s, global and regional climate features, such as temperature and precipitation, have ob- viously changed (Yu et al., 2002). The General Circulation Models (GCMs) provide potential climate scenarios by studying the effects of carbon dioxide on the temperature. Tickell (1993) predicted that the mean temperature will increase by 1℃ till the year 2050 and by 3℃ at the end of the 22th century. S…     

Effects of forest gaps on some microclimate variables in Castanopsis kawakamii natural forest

The objective of this study was to understand the effects of forest gap and variations in different seasons, gap size, locations and diurnal variations on forest microclimate and soil water content. Spatial and temporal distribution features of air temperature (TA ), soil temperature (TS ), relative humidity (h) and soil water content (Ψ) were measured in Castanopsis kawakamii natural forest gaps created by a severe typhoon or fallen dead trees. The results showed that: (1) the variations of TA , h, and TS in four seasons were extremely significant. The variations of Ψ in four seasons were extremely significant except for those between spring and summer. (2) The diurnal variations of TA and T S were expressed with a single peak curve. The diurnal variations of h and Ψ presented a high-low-high trend. (3) The variations of TA , h, and TS were extremely significant among the large, medium and small gaps in C. kawakamii natural forest. Medium gaps had the highest TA and the lowest h while small gaps were just contrary to medium gaps. The variations of Ψ were extremely significant for large, medium and small gaps except those between the medium and large gaps. (4) The TA , h, TS and Ψ were decreased from the gap center, canopy gap, expanded gap to understory. These results will help further our understanding of the abiotic and consequent biotic responses to gaps in the mid-subtropical broadleaved forests, which also provide a theoretical basis for the scientific management and population restoration of C. kawakamii natural forest.     

DYNAMICS OF SANDY DESERTIFICATION AND ITS DRIVING FORCES IN WESTERN JILIN PROVINCE

By establishing the interpreting elements, and applying supervised classification, the sandy desertification was interpreted and the desertified land areas of the counties in the western Jilin Province in 1986 and in 2000 were obtained. Taking Tongyu and Qian‘an as examples, the natural driving forces and man-made driving forces were analyzed. The paper comes the conclusions that the material sources and the warming and dry climate are the internal causes of potential land descrtification: the irrational human activities, such as destroying forest and reclaiming the grassland, are the external causes of potential land desertification; while more rational human activities, such as planting trees and restoring grassland can reverse the land desertification. Furthermore, the countermeasures and suggestions for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry in the western Jilin Province are put forward.     

ECOLOGICAL SERIES OF SOIL ANIMALS IN DARLIDAI MOUNTAIN

The ecological series of soil animals under the broad-leaved and pine mixed forest in Darlidai Mountainwas studied. Seven sample plots were selected according to different altitude gradients, which belong to different vegeta-tion types. By investigating and analyzing soil animals in every sample plot it is found that there are 45 groups and 1956individuals, which axe involved in 3 phylums, 7 classes, 16 orders, respectively. The altitude is a key factor which af-fects ecological series of soil animals. Both the groups and individuals of soil animals increase with altitude increasingunder certain conditions, which contrastes with ordinary cases, resulting from special micro-climate in studied area. Thegroups and individuls of soil animals are the most under the broad-leaved and pine forest on the top of the mountain, andthe least under Picea-Abies forest in the foot of the mountain.     

The absorption of water color components and spectral modes in the Pearl River estuary

In-situ data from cruises in the Pearl River estuary and adjacent marine areas were collected during March to May 2001. The absorption coefficients of the water color components were studied in detail containing total suspended matter (TSM), chlorophyll-a (chl-a), colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and de-pigment particles. For absorption coefficient of TSM, ap, and that of de-pigment particles, ad, correlations of ap(440)-TSM, ad(440)-TSM, ap(440)-chl-a and ad-chl-a were done (the italicized term means the concentration). There was a good correlation between ap(440) and chl-a concentration. An empirical relationship model between aph(675) and chl-a was developed showing a strong correlation of 0.93. Based on the two models the chl-a and aph(λ) were correlated. The values of calculated empirical spectral slope for CDOM absorption coefficients and that of de-pigment particles, 0.017 0 and 0.011 6 respectively, both are within a relative standard error of 10.0%.     

Urban expansion and its influencing factors in Natural Wetland Distribution Area in Fuzhou City, China

This paper principally focuses on land use dynamics,urban expansion and underlying driving forces in the Natural Wetland Distribution Area(NWDA)of Fuzhou City in the southeastern China.Based on time series Landsat TM/ETM+imageries and historical data,relationships between urban land expansion and its influencing factors from 1989 to 2009 were analyzed by using an integrated approach of remote sensing(RS)and geographic information system(GIS)techniques.The results showed that built-up land increased from 151.16 km2in 1989 to 383.76 km 2in 2009. Approximately 64.25%of the newly emerging built-up land was converted from cropland(29.47%),forest and shrub (25.78%),water(3.73%),wetland(4.61%),and bare land(0.66%)during 1989 and 2009.With a remarkable decrease in cropland,the proportion of non-agricultural population increased by 23.6%.Moreover,rapid development of infrastructures,facilities,industrial parks,and urban and rural settlements along the Minjiang River resulted in the eastward and southward expansion of built-up land.Additionally,the growth pattern of built-up land in the NWDA is highly correlated with socio-economic factors,including the gross domestic product(GDP),GDP per capita,and structure of industry.As a result,the observed environmental degradation such as loss of cropland and wetland due to heavy pressure of rapid urbanization have greatly impaired the carrying capacity of city.Thus,in addition to scientific and rational policies towards minimizing the adverse effects of urbanization,coordination between the administrative agencies should be urgently strengthened to balance the conflicts between urban development and ecological conservation to make sure the sustainable land use.     

Driving forces and their effects on water conservation services in forest ecosystems in China

Identifying the driving forces that cause changes in forest ecosystem services related to water conservation is essential for the design of interventions that could enhance positive impacts as well as minimizing negative impacts. In this study, we propose an assessment concept framework model for indirect-direct-ecosystem service (IN-DI-ESS) driving forces within this context and method for index construction that considers the selection of a robust and parsimonious variable set. Factor analysis was integrated into two-stage data envelopment analysis (TS-DEA) to determine the driving forces and their effects on water conservation services in forest ecosystems at the provincial scale in China. The results showed the following. 1) Ten indicators with factor scores more than 0.8 were selected as the minimum data set. Four indicators comprising population density, per capita gross domestic product, irrigation efficiency, and per capita food consumption were the indirect driving factors, and six indicators comprising precipitation, farmland into forestry or pasture, forest cover, habitat area, water footprint, and wood extraction were the direct driving forces. 2) Spearman’s rank correlation test was performed to compare the overall effectiveness in two periods: stage 1 and stage 2. The calculated coefficients were 0.245, 0.136, and 0.579, respectively, whereas the tabulated value was 0.562. This indicates that the driving forces obviously differed in terms of their contribution to the overall effectiveness and they caused changes in water conservation services in different stages. In terms of the variations in different driving force effects in the years 2000 and 2010, the overall, stage 1, and stage 2 variances were 0.020, 0.065, and 0.079 in 2000, respectively, and 0.018, 0.063, and 0.071 in 2010. This also indicates that heterogeneous driving force effects were obvious in the process during the same period. Identifying the driving forces that affect service changes and evaluating their efficiency have significant policy implications for the management of forest ecosystem services. Advanced effectiveness measures for weak regions could be improved in an appropriate manner. In this study, we showed that factor analysis coupled with TS-DEA based on the IN-DI-ESS framework can increase the parsimony of driving force indicators, as well as interpreting the interactions among indirect and direct driving forces with forest ecosystem water conservation services, and reducing the uncertainty related to the internal consistency during data selection.     

China's Urbanization in 1949–2015: Processes and Driving Forces

The pace and scale of China's contemporary urbanization are stunning. This paper reviews process and the underlying driving forces of China's urbanization between 1949–2015. Contemporary China's urbanization has experienced four stages, and each has had different driving forces: 1) economic re-construction and industrialization-led urbanization(1949–1977); 2) economic reform and market-led urbanization(1978–1995); 3) economic globalization and the global-local urbanization(1996–2010); and 4) the land-economyled urbanization(2010–). These urbanization processes and driving forces will undoubtedly provide scientific reference and have significant implications for developing countries, especially African countries, to formulate their urbanization public policies.     

Urban three-dimensional expansion and its driving forces —A case study of Shanghai, China

Urban expansion is a phenomenon of urban space increase, and an important measuring index of the process of urbanization. Taking Shanghai as an example, the changes of urban average height and built-up area were studied to represent city’s vertical and horizontal increases respectively, and statistical methods were used to analyze the driving forces of urban expansion. The research drew following conclusions: 1) The urban expansion process of Shanghai from 1985 to 2006 had a clear periodic feature, and could be divided into three stages: vertical expansion in dominance, coordinated vertical and horizontal expansion, and horizontal expansion in dominance. 2) The average height and quantity of buildings in core city were significantly bigger than those in suburbs, but the changing speed of the latter was faster. And 3) urbanization process was the major driving force for the city’s horizontal expansion, while industrial structure improvement was the key driving factor for the vertical expansion. Those two driving forces were simultaneously affected by city’s political factors.     

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

1 Introduction The publication of UNDPI (The United Nation Devel- opment and Planning Indices) in May 1990 has brought about an on-going search for the system of “sustainable development”, which is also one of hot topics in China (Wackernagel et al., 1999; Vuuren and Smeets, 2000). Regretfully, the difficulty in quantifying sustainable de- velopment resulted in a slow progress in those researches. In the past a few years, however, ecological footprint (EF) analysis (Rees, 1992; Wackn…     

LAND RECLAMATION PROCESS IN NORTHEAST CHINA SINCE 1900

Landuse/coverchange(LUCC)isafocalthemeandemergingissueinthestudyofglobalenvironmentalchange.Humanmodificationsandalterationstotheenvironmentcauseimpactsonthesurfaceoftheearth,threatenglobalsustainabilityandlivelihoodsystems,andcontributetochangeinthebiogeochemicalcyclesoftheearth,whichinturnaffectatmosphericlevelsofgreenhouseandothertracegases.ConsequentlytheInternationalGeosphere-BiosphereProgram(IGBP)andtheInternationalHumanDimensionsProgram(IHDP)initiatedLUCCProgramtodevelopabette…     

基于LUCC的张家界市生态补偿研究

本文基于张家界市土地利用/土地覆盖变化,通过改进的生态系统服务价值与生态足迹的方法,测算了研究区域的生态补偿额度。研究表明:(1)从2001~2013年张家界市各县(区)生态系统服务价值变化率来看,永定区呈下降态势;增幅最大的是武陵源区,其次是桑植县,慈利县增幅最小。(2)2013年张家界市的人均生态足迹为1.3625 hm~2,而实际生态承载力为0.9556 hm~2,人均可利用生态承载力为0.8409 hm~2,则人均生态赤字为-0.5215 hm~2。(3)计算出了张家界市各县(区)的生态补偿标准,其中慈利县需要支付的生态补偿量最高,为18.61亿元;其次是永定区,为10.49亿元;再次是武陵源区,为582.12万元;最小的是桑植县,为359.70万元。评价结果将促进张家界市生态环境保护和经济社会的可持续发展。     

Experimental study of dissolved oxygen transport by regular waves through a perforated breakwater

The perforated breakwater is an environmentally friendly coastal structure,and dissolved oxygen concentration levels are an important index to denote water quality.In this paper,oxygen transport experiments with regular waves through a vertical perforated breakwater were conducted.The oxygen scavenger method was used to reduce the dissolved oxygen concentration of inner water body with the chemicals Na_2SO_3 and Co Cl_2.The dissolved oxygen concentration and wave parameters of 36 experimental scenarios were measured with different perforated arrangements and wave conditions.It was found that the oxygen transfer coefficient through wave surface,K_1a_1,is much lower than the oxygen transport coefficient through the perforated breakwater,K_2a_2.If the effect of K_1a_1 is not considered,the dissolved oxygen concentration computation for inner water body will not be greatly affected.Considering the effect of a permeable area ratio α,relative location parameter of perforations δ and wave period T,the aforementioned data of 30 experimental scenarios,the dimensional analysis and the least squares method were used to derive an equation of K_2a_2(K_2a_2=0.0042α~(0.5)δ~(0.2)T~(-1)).It was validated with 6 other experimental scenarios data,which indicates an approximate agreement.Therefore,this equation can be used to compute the DO concentration caused by the water transport through perforated breakwater.     

ASSESSMENT OF INDIRECT USE VALUES OF FOREST BIODIVERSITY IN YAOLUOPING NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE, ANHUI PROVINCE

1INTRODUCTIONForestbiodiversityprovidesawiderangeofindirectbenefitstohumanbeing.Whiletheremaybelittlecon-sensusonwhetherthevariouselementsofforestbiodi-versitycanbevaluedineconomicterms, itisincreas-inglyrecognizedthatthesevaluesandtheroleofbio-diversityinmaintainingecologicalservicesareessen-tialtothehumankind.Thenotionofindirectusevalueofbiodiversityhasbeenassociatedwithaminimumlevelofecosysteminfrastructure, withoutwhichtherewouldnotbethegoodsandservicesprovidedbyit(FARNWORTHetal.,1…     

Rotifer community structure and assessment of water quality in Yangcheng Lake

Rotifer community structure was investigated in Yangcheng Lake in 2008. Dominant species and species diversity indices were determined and QB/T was used to assess water quality. The annual average density and biomass of the rotifers in Yangcheng Lake was 2 894 ± 1 006 ind./L and 12.47 ± 10.28 mg/L, respectively. The highest densities were observed in the western portion of the lake in March, but the highest biomass occurred in inflowing creeks in September. Within a year of monitoring in Yangcheng Lake, 93 species were identified and the dominant species were found to be Polyarthra trigla, Brachionus angularis, Keratella cochlearis, Keratella valga, Brachionus calyciflorus, and Filinia major. Of the species recorded, 75 were pollution indicator species. Density and biomass exhibited significant positive correlations with water temperature (R = 0.209, P = 0.003; R = 0.446, P = 0.000), but the peak density showed two lags in response to chl a. According to the Jaccard similarity index (SJ), the greatest similarity among dominant species occurred between creeks and the eastern part of the lake. The annual average Shannon-Wiener diversity index H’, Margalef richness index D and Pielou evenness index J were 1.96 ± 0.34, 1.61 ± 0.50 and 0.77 ± 0.10, respectively. In all four areas of Yangcheng Lake, β- mesosaprobic species comprised the largest share of pollution indicator species. These data suggest that Yangcheng Lake is mesosaprobic.     

Effects of Body Weight and Water Temperature on Maximum Food Consumption of Juvenile Sebastodes fuscescens （Houttuyn）

Maximum rate of food consumption ( Cmax ) was determined for juvenile Sebastodes fuscescens (Houttuyn) at water temperature of 10, 15, 20 and 25℃. The relationships of Cmax to the body weight (W) at each temperature were described by a power equation: lnCmax = a b lnW. Covariance analysis revealed significant interaction of the temperature and body weight. The relationship of adjusted Cmax to water temperature (T) was described by a quadratic equation: Cmax = -0.369 0.456T - 0.0117T^2. The optimal feeding temperature calculated from this equation was 19.5 ℃. The coefficients of the multiple regression estimation relating Cmax to body weight (W) and water temperature (T) were given in the Table 2.