Abstract:

In order to explore and master the relationship between the population growth in the arid pastoral areas and changes in land resources, and determine the structure of optimal allocation of land, and to provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development and ecological balance in arid areas, the author made use of ecological footprint model, basing on the statistics of Dengkou and Bayannur, and calculated and analyzed the ecological conditions of Dengkou County in 1986 and 2007. The results showed that the ecological deficit of Dengkou County was 1.3607×104 and 30.3876×104 hm2 in 1986 and 2007. Ecological deficit of the Dengkou County in 2007 was 21.33 times to that in 1986. During 1986 to 2007, the average ecological carrying capacity increased by 0.5966 hm2/cap, the average ecological footprint increased by 2.8828 hm2/cap, which meant that the growth rate of the average ecological capacity was significantly lower than the average ecological footprint, the ecosystem development was unsustainable. The main reasons for the ecological deficit were: (1) grassland overloaded seriously; (2) people blindly reclaimed agricultural land resources; (3) the population was increasing fast; (4) the improvement of the quality of life and increasing demand for biological resources and energy consumption.