Qinghai Key Laboratory of Cold Region Restoration Ecology uses a three-dimensional ecological footprint model to reveal the dynamic changes of natural capital and its driving factors in Qinghai Province

Natural capital is the basic condition for human survival, and the evaluation of the utilization of natural capital is the core issue
of regional sustainable development.
Therefore, the team of Qinghai Key Laboratory of Cold Region Restoration Ecology of Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, took Qinghai Province as the research object, based on the improved three-dimensional ecological footprint model, discussed the characteristics of the temporal dynamic changes and spatial pattern changes of natural capital in Qinghai Province from 2011 to 2020, and used partial least squares (PLS) to reveal the driving factors
affecting the change of ecological footprint.

The results showed that the per capita ecological footprint of Qinghai Province increased from 2.
505^hm2/person to 3.
125^hm2/person from 2011 to 2020.
The per capita ecological carrying capacity was affected by resource endowment, and remained at 3.
982-4.
160hm²/person, showing a slight downward trend
year by year.
The per capita footprint depth in Qinghai Province showed an overall growth trend, from 1.
299^hm 2/person to 1.
419 hm²/person.
The breadth of per capita ecological footprint is mainly affected by ecological carrying capacity, reaching a maximum value of 1.
352hm²/person
in 2019.
The 3D model showed that the change in per capita ecological footprint breadth was weaker
over the four periods.
The occupancy rate of capital flow in Qinghai Province increased from 26.
23% to 30.
90%, with an average annual growth rate of 1.
65%, indicating that the potential of natural capital utilization is greater
.
The PLS model shows that energy consumption, ecological construction, social consumption, population and economic development are the main factors
affecting the growth of natural capital utilization in Qinghai Province.

The results were published in Ecological Indicators
as Dynamic change and driving force of Natural Capital in Qinghai Province Based on the Three-dimensional Ecological Footprint 。 The study was jointly funded by the Qinghai Innovation Platform Construction Project (2022-ZJ-Y02), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20186) and other projects, with doctoral student Guo Jing as the first author and researcher Zhou Huakun as the corresponding author
.

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