Abstract:

This paper measures the ecological footprint and deficit levels of prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2003 to 2019， and analyzes the spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics from multiple dimensions and investigating the spatial effects of the environmental Kuznets curve. The findings are as follows： （1） Generally， the ecological footprint in the Yellow River Basin exceeds the ecological carrying capacity， placing most areas in a deficit state. Fossil fuel land and cultivated land which has mainly contribute to this deficit， and forest land and building land have shifted from deficit to surplus， indicating that the basin's ecological governance has yielded initial results. （2） Regionally， two high concentrations of ecological footprint and deficit appear in the northwest and the east. The upstream ecological footprint and deficit have significantly increased at the river basin level， the middle reaches have remained stable， and the downstream shows a declining trend. Energy accounts and biological accounts drive the ecological deficits in the upstream and middle downstream， respectively. （3） Overall economic development increases the ecological footprint of the Yellow River Basin， positioning it at the left end of the environmental Kuznets curve. Concerning the watershed， the downstream area has moved past the inflection point of the environmental Kuznets curve， with no apparent spatial effect in the upstream area. In contrast， the middle and downstream areas exhibit "siphon" and "diffusion" effects， respectively.

Key words: ecological footprint, ecological deficit, ecological carrying capacity, environmental Kuznets curve, Yellow River Basin