Studies on the Quantitative Relation between Economic Development and Ecological Environment of Minqin County

Abstract

On the basis of the ecological footprint, ecological carrying capacity and ecological deficit of Minqin County from 1978 to 2012, the paper has established the fitting relationships between ecological footprint per capita and economic development by applying STIRPAT model. The following results have been concluded, including: ① The ecological footprint and the ecological footprint per capita of Minqin County from 1978 to 2012 are on the rise while the ecological deficit is increasingly severe with an increase of 719.62% for 35 years. ② Among the factors which affect the changes of ecological environment, the change of GDP per capita has the greatest influence followed by the urbanization rate while the influences of population and the increase of grazing are relatively less. The rising proportion of primary industry output has the effect to slow down the deterioration of ecological environment.