Regional differences and the driving mechanism of relationships between rural household livelihood and ecosystem services:A case study in upstream watershed of Miyun Reservoir, China.

Abstract

It is of great significance to link ecosystem and rural household welfare, with the aim to develop different strategies of rural household livelihood management and regional sustainable deve-lopment. Based on 1754 questionnaires of rural households in Beijing and Hebei within the upstream watershed of Miyun Reservoir, we analyzed the relationships between rural household welfare (defined by total income per rural household) and ecosystem reliance (expressed by an index of dependence on ecosystem services) by statistical and econometric methods. The relationships between rural household welfare and ecosystem reliance could be classified into four types, but with significant differences between Beijing and Hebei within the watershed. The rural household type of high welfare and low dependence had the highest proportion (33.9%) in Beijing. The average annual income and livelihood capitals of rural households in Beijing was significantly higher than that of Hebei Province. In Hebei Province, the dominant type was low welfare and high dependency (39.1%) that was the least popular one. The quality of human capital quality, social capital, and financial capital, which were crucial to human well-being, were significantly lower than that of Beijing households. The income of rural households in Hebei mainly depended on agricultural production (41.2%), which led to higher land utilization intensity. The natural resource and human capital quality significantly influenced rural household livelihood in Hebei. Maintaining suitable family size and age structure, improving education and skill levels, and strengthening payment for ecosystem services within low welfare households would be the key to form a good relationship between ecosystems and household welfare (the type of high welfare and low dependency).