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Arid Land Geography ›› 2020, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 1486-1495.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2020.06.09

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Spatio-temporal characteristics of ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity of water resources in Gansu Province

LI Fei, ZHANG Xiao-ping   

  1. College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
  • Received:2019-11-17 Revised:2020-01-01 Online:2020-11-25 Published:2020-11-25

Abstract: Based on the ecological footprint model of water resources, the ecological footprint and carrying capacity of water resources from 2003 to 2017 in Gansu Province and that of 14 cities (prefectures) in 2003, 2010, and 2017 were calculated. The deficit and intensity of ecological footprint were determined and the characteristics of spatial- temporal evolution were analyzed. The results show as follows: (1) From 2003 to 2017, the ecological footprint of water resources in Gansu Province was much larger than the ecological carrying capacity, which led to the ecological deficit of water resources. However, the ecological footprint of water resources generally showed a slow downward trend, and the ecological carrying capacity of water resources fluctuated and rose. The changing trend of ecological deficit was basically consistent with the ecological carrying capacity. However, the intensity of ecological footprint of water resources showed a downward trend yearly, which indicated that the efficiency of water resources utilization in Gansu Province was constantly improving and that the contradiction between supply and demand was alleviated. (2) Production water, especially agricultural water was the largest footprint account, but it showed a downward trend. Although the proportion of ecological water footprint was very low, it showed a rapid growth trend and the water utilization structure tended to be reasonable. (3) The regional difference of ecological footprint of water resources was obvious, and the distribution trend decreased from northwest to southeast as a whole. The regional difference of ecological footprint intensity of water resources was also large, but it showed a decreasing trend with the change of time. (4) The regional difference of ecological carrying capacity of water resources was also very significant. The spatial distribution of the highest- level area and the higher- level area was stable, and the overall development trend to the low value area was shown. (5) Soil and water resources were not matched reasonably, the economy was relatively backward, and the ecological surplus of water resources in Gannan Plateau and Longnan Mountain with few and scattered land resources was large. However, the ecological deficit of water resources in Hexi area, which was rich in land resources, was serious.

Key words: water resource, ecological footprint, ecosystem carrying capacity, spatial-temporal characteristics, Gan? su Province