Changes in the Ecological Footprint of Rural Populations in the Taihang Mountains, China

Due to massive rural–urban migration, population size and age structure are subject to significant changes in the mountainous areas of China. This can influence the ecological pressure of the mountainous areas correspondingly. In particular, large numbers of young laborers migrate from rural areas,...

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Published inSustainability Vol. 10; no. 10; p. 3741
Main Authors Xiao, Xingyuan, Hu, Minyue, Tan, Minghong, Li, Xiubin, Li, Wei
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 17.10.2018
Subjects
Age
age structure
Agricultural production
altitude
China
ecological footprint
elderly
Emigration
Households
Land area
Migration
mountains
people
Per capita
Population
population dynamics
population size
Questionnaires
Rural areas
rural population
rural urban migration
Soil erosion
Studies
surveys
Sustainability
sustainable development
Urban areas
Water area
China
India
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Summary:Due to massive rural–urban migration, population size and age structure are subject to significant changes in the mountainous areas of China. This can influence the ecological pressure of the mountainous areas correspondingly. In particular, large numbers of young laborers migrate from rural areas, which may greatly decrease the intensity of local human activities. However, it is still unclear how population changes (size and age structure) affect environmental changes and how to measure these changes. We analyzed changes in the ecological footprint (EF) in the Taihang Mountain region in northern China using field survey data. From 2000 to 2016, the population size in the study area decreased by 9.7%, while the EF declined by 32.1%. The EF per capita (EF_per) decreased more rapidly with decreasing elevation, which indicated that at lower elevations, households were less dependent on local resources. For households with more elderly people, the EF_per was considerably lower than for other households in 2000. However, in 2016, this was not the case, and the households with a share of the working-age population between 50–75% had the lowest EF_per. Our study is of great practical significance for reasonably guiding population migration and rural sustainable development.
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ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su10103741