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

作     者：HAO Haiguang ZHANG Jiping LI Xiubin ZHANG Huiyuan ZHANG Qiang 

作者机构：Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research Chinese Academy of Sciences 

出 版 物：《Journal of Arid Land》 (干旱区科学（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2015年第7卷第5期

页      面：653-664页

核心收录：

学科分类：02[经济学] 0202[经济学-应用经济学] 083001[工学-环境科学] 0830[工学-环境科学与工程（可授工学、理学、农学学位）] 08[工学] 020202[经济学-区域经济学] 

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41161140352  41471092) 

主　　题：ecological footprint livelihood diversification livestock rearing non-farming employment rural households agro-pastoral area 

摘      要：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 participati