College of Geology and Environment, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, 54 Yanta Road, Xi'an 710054, Shaanxi, PR China.
J Environ Manage. 2012 Jul 15;102:55-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.02.023. Epub 2012 Mar 22.
Evaluating the sustainability of a target region for an ecological restoration programme is challenging because it involves different aspects of human society and environment as well as multiple disciplines. Carrying capacity provides a useful measure of the sustainability of a given region where an ecological restoration programme is implemented. In this article, the Yangou catchment, a geomorphic unit, was used as a case study in the Loess Hilly Region of China, where emergy synthesis was used to measure the environmental resources base. The specific standard of living in terms of emergy was employed to calculate carrying capacity over the period 1998-2005 and to assess the sustainability of the Yangou catchment where an ecological restoration programme was carried out. The results of the evaluation indicated that after implementing the ecological restoration programme, there was some improvement in the environmental aspects of the Yangou catchment during the study period, suggesting that the ecological restoration programme alleviated ecological degradation. However, several emergy-based indices and the support areas also illustrated that the ecological restoration programme was not successful enough in terms of preservation and utilisation of environmental resources to enhance sustainability. This indicates that further actions are necessary on conserving environmental resources, improving the emergy input structure for agricultural production and in lifestyle changes for the local people in living in the Yangou catchment.
评估生态恢复计划目标区域的可持续性具有挑战性，因为它涉及人类社会和环境的不同方面以及多个学科。承载能力为实施生态恢复计划的特定区域的可持续性提供了有用的衡量标准。在本文中，以黄土丘陵区的洋河集水区为例，运用能值综合方法来衡量环境资源基础。采用具体的生活标准来计算 1998-2005 年的承载能力，并评估洋河集水区生态恢复计划的可持续性。评估结果表明，实施生态恢复计划后，洋河集水区在研究期间的环境方面有所改善，表明生态恢复计划缓解了生态退化。然而，基于能值的几个指标和支持区域也表明，生态恢复计划在保护和利用环境资源方面还不够成功，不足以提高可持续性。这表明需要采取进一步的行动来保护环境资源，改善农业生产的能值投入结构，并改变当地居民的生活方式。
