Impact of livelihood diversification of rural households on their ecological footprint in agro-pastoral areas of northern China

Human-environment relationship is a focus of academic researches and an understanding of the relationship is important for making effective policies and decisions. In this study, based on rural household survey data of Taibus Banner, Duolun county and Zhengxiangbai Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China, we identified the impact of livelihood diversification on ecosystems in these agro-pastoral areas by using the ecological footprint theory and methodology together with the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis methods. In 2011, the total ecological footprint of consumption (EFC) was 0.665 g hm(2), and the total ecological footprint of production (EFP) was 2.045 g hm(2), which was more than three times the EFC. The ecological footprint of arable land consumption (EFAC) accounted for a large proportion of the EFC, and the ecological footprint of grassland production (EFGP) occupied a large proportion of the EFP. Both the ecological footprint of grassland consumption (EFGC) and EFGP had a significant positive correlation with the income, indicating that income was mainly depended on livestock production and the households with higher incomes consumed more livestock products. The full-time farming households (FTFHs) had the highest EFP, ecological footprint of arable land production (EFAP), EFGP and EFGC, followed by the part-time farming households (PTFHs) and non-farming households (NFHs), which indicated that part-time farming and non-farming employment reduced the occupancy and consumption of rural households on local ecosystems and natural resources to some extent. When farming households engaged in livestock rearing, both the EFAP and EFAC became smaller, while the EFP, EFC, EFGC and EFGP increased significantly. The differences in ecological footprints among different household groups should be taken into account when making ecosystem conservation policies. Encouraging the laborers who have the advantages of participating in non-farming employment to move out of the rural areas and increasing the diversification of livelihoods of rural households are important in reducing the environmental pressures and improving the welfare of households in the study area. Moreover, grassland should be utilized more effectively in the future.