Assessment Bio Capacity and Ecological Footprint of Urban Ecosystems (Case study: Hamedan)

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Knowledge of the ecological conditions prevailing in the region is essential to achieve sustainable development and reduce the increasing degradation of natural resources and the environment. The ecological footprint index is of great interest as a way to measure levels of sustainability. In this study, using the ecological footprint index of Hamedan urban ecosystem in 2014, it was studied. Material and Methods: In this study, ecological traces of consumption in two parts of consumption and production of the city were evaluated. The ecological footprint of the consumption sector was estimated in each of the four urban areas and using SPSS software, a significant difference between the areas, was determined. Results: The results showed that per capita ecological footprints in the consumption sector, including housing, transportation services, goods and food, were 0.13 globalhectares. The most significant ecological footprints in this section was of transportation with 3980.499 (gh) and the least important Foot print in this regard was food with 3864.6 global hectare; therefore, the urban living capacity was determined 0.59 globl hectare. Conclusion: The results indicate that the ecological footprint of the consumption sector does not create the unsustainability of the urban ecosystem and, by creating an ecological surplus in this part, the city of Hamedan is introduced as a creditor of ecology. Which indicates in this sector that the demand is lower than the supply. Besides, there is no significant difference between the ecological effects of consumption in four urban areas. It was also concluded that there was an ecological deficiency in production sector which indicates of ecosystem bioaccumulation consumption and it could disturb the ecological stability of the ecosystem.