Adv Search
Volume 28 Issue 1
. 
Turn off MathJax
Article Contents
Article Navigation >  Chinese Geographical Science  > 2018  >  28(1): 127-136

LIANG Jinshe, HU Ke, DAI Teqi. Ecological Network Analysis Quantifying the Sustainability of Regional Economies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China[J]. Chinese Geographical Science, 2018, 28(1): 127-136. doi: 10.1007/s11769-018-0935-9
Citation: LIANG Jinshe, HU Ke, DAI Teqi. Ecological Network Analysis Quantifying the Sustainability of Regional Economies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China[J]. Chinese Geographical Science, 2018, 28(1): 127-136. doi: 10.1007/s11769-018-0935-9
shu

Ecological Network Analysis Quantifying the Sustainability of Regional Economies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China

doi: 10.1007/s11769-018-0935-9

  • Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Funds:  Under the auspices of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (No. 2015KJJCB30)
More Information
  • Corresponding author: DAI Teqi
  • Received Date: 2017-03-17
  • Rev Recd Date: 2017-06-16
  • Publish Date: 2018-02-27
  • To meet the challenge of sustainable development, sustainability must be made. Ecological network analysis (ENA) was introduced in this paper as an approach to quantitatively measure the growth, development, and sustainability of an economic system. The Guangdong economic networks from 1987 to 2010 were analyzed by applying the ENA approach. Firstly, a currency flow network among economic sectors was constructed to represent the Guangdong economic system by adapting the input-output (I-O) table data. Then, the network indicators from the ENA framework involving the total system throughput (TST), average mutual information (AMI), ascendency (A), redundancy (R) and development capacity (C) were calculated. Lastly, the network indicators were analyzed to acquire the overall features of Guangdong's economic operations during 1987-2010. The results are as follows:the trends of the network indicators show that the size of the Guangdong economic network grows exponentially at a high rate during 1987-2010, whereas its efficiency does not present a clear trend over its whole period. The growth is the main characteristic of the Guangdong economy during 1987-2010, with no clear evidence regarding its development. The quantitative results of the network also confirmed that the growth contributed to a great majority of the Guangdong economy during1987-2010, whereas the development's contribution was tiny during the same period. The average value of the sustainability indicator (α) of the Guangdong economic network was 0.222 during 1987-2010, which is less than the theoretically optimal value of 0.37 for a sustainable human-influenced system. The results suggest that the Guangdong economic system needs a further autocatalysis to improve its efficiency to support the system maintaining a sustainable evolvement.
  • [1] Azar C, Holmberg J, Lindgren K, 1996. Socio-ecological indica-tors for sustainability. Ecological Economics, 18(2):89-112. doi: 10.1016/0921-8009(96)00028-6
    [2] Bettencourt L M A, Kaur J, 2011. Evolution and structure of sus-tainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(49):19540-19545. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1102712108
    [3] Bonacini E, Groppi M, Monaco R et al., 2017. A network land-scape model:stability analysis and numerical tests. Commu-nications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 48:569-584. doi: 10.1016/j.cnsns.2017.01.013
    [4] Borrett S R, Moody J, Edelmann A, 2014. The rise of network ecology:maps of the topic diversity and scientific collaboration. Ecological Modelling, 293:111-127. doi:10.1016/j. ecolmodel.2014.02.019
    [5] Brown M T, Herendeen R A, 1996. Embodied energy analysis and EMERGY analysis:a comparative view. Ecological Economics, 19(3):219-235. doi: 10.1016/S0921-8009(96)00046-8
    [6] Brown M T, Ulgiati S, 1997. Emergy-based indices and ratios to evaluate sustainability:monitoring economies and technology toward environmentally sound innovation. Ecological Engi-neering, 9(1-2):51-69. doi: 10.1016/S0925-8574(97)00033-5
    [7] Chen S Q, Chen B, 2015. Urban energy consumption:different insights from energy flow analysis, input-output analysis and ecological network analysis. Applied Energy, 138:99-107. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.10.055
    [8] Clark W C, Dickson N M, 2003. Sustainability science:the emerging research program. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100(14):8059-8061. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1231333100
    [9] Dai J, Fath B, Chen B, 2012. Constructing a network of the so-cial-economic consumption system of China using extended exergy analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(7):4796-4808. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2012.04.027
    [10] Daly H E, 1996. Beyond Growth:the Economics of Sustainable Development. Boston, USA:Beacon Press.
    [11] Egilmez G, Kucukvar M, Tatari O, 2013. Sustainability assessment of U.S. manufacturing sectors:an economic input output-based frontier approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 53:91-102. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.03.037
    [12] Fang D L, Chen B, 2015. Ecological network analysis for a virtual water network. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(11):6722-6730. doi: 10.1021/es505388n
    [13] Fath B D, Patten B C, 1999. Review of the foundations of network environ analysis. Ecosystems, 2(2):167-179. doi:10. 1007/s100219900067
    [14] Fath B D, Scharler U M, Ulanowicz R E et al., 2007. Ecological network analysis:network construction. Ecological Modelling, 208(1):49-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.04.029
    [15] Goerner S J, Lietaer B, Ulanowicz R E, 2009. Quantifying eco-nomic sustainability:implications for free-enterprise theory, policy and practice. Ecological Economics, 69(1):76-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.07.018
    [16] Huang J L, Ulanowicz R E, 2014. Ecological network analysis for economic systems:growth and development and implications for sustainable development. PLoS One, 9(6):e100923. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100923
    [17] Kates R W, Clark W C, 1999. Our Common Journey:A Transition Toward Sustainability. Washington, DC, USA:National Academy Press.
    [18] Kharrazi A, Rovenskaya E, Fath B D et al., 2013. Quantifying the sustainability of economic resource networks:an ecological information-based approach. Ecological Economics, 90:177-186. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.03.018
    [19] Li Y, Chen B, Yang Z F, 2009. Ecological network analysis for water use systems-a case study of the Yellow River Basin. Ecological Modelling, 220(22):3163-3173. doi:10.1016/j. ecolmodel.2009.08.007
    [20] Li Y, Yang Z F, 2011. Quantifying the sustainability of water use systems:calculating the balance between network efficiency and resilience. Ecological Modelling, 222(10):1771-1780. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.03.001
    [21] Lietaer B, Ulanowicz R E, Goerner S, 2009. Options for managing a systemic bank crisis. Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment & Society, 2(1):1-15. http://sapiens.revues.org/747
    [22] Morris J T, Christian R R, Ulanowicz R E, 2005. Analysis of size and complexity of randomly constructed food webs by infor-mation theoretic metrics. In:Belgrano A, Scharler U M, Dunne J et al. (eds). Aquatic Food Webs:An Ecosystem Approach. New York, USA:Oxford University Press, 73-85. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198564836.003.0008
    [23] Saura S, Estreguil C, Mouton C et al., 2011. Network analysis to assess landscape connectivity trends:application to European forests (1990-2000). Ecological Indicators, 11(2):407-416. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.06.011
    [24] Templet P H, 1999. Energy, diversity and development in economic systems; an empirical analysis. Ecological Economics, 30(2):223-233. doi: 10.1016/s0921-8009(98)00085-8
    [25] Ulanowicz R E, 1980. An hypothesis on the development of nat-ural communities. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 85(2):223-245. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(80)90019-3
    [26] Ulanowicz R E, 1986. Growth and Development:Ecosystems Phenomenology. New York, USA:Springer-Verlag.
    [27] Ulanowicz R E, Norden J S, 1990. Symmetrical overhead in flow networks. International Journal of Systems Science, 21(2):429-437. doi: 10.1080/00207729008910372
    [28] Ulanowicz R E, 1997. Ecology, the Ascendent Perspective. New York, USA:Columbia University Press.
    [29] Ulanowicz R E, Goerner S J, Lietaer B et al., 2009. Quantifying sustainability:resilience, efficiency and the return of information theory. Ecological Complexity, 6(1):27-36. doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2008.10.005
    [30] Wackernagel M, Onisto L, Bello P et al., 1999. National natural capital accounting with the ecological footprint concept. Eco-logical Economics, 29(3):375-390. doi:10.1016/S0921-8009 (98)90063-5
    [31] Yang Z F, Zhang Y, Li S S et al., 2014. Characterizing urban metabolic systems with an ecological hierarchy method, Beijing, China. Landscape and Urban Planning, 121:19-33. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.09.004
    [32] Zhang Y, Yang Z F, Yu X Y, 2009. Ecological network and emergy analysis of urban metabolic systems:model development, and a case study of four Chinese cities. Ecological Modelling, 220(11):1431-1442. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.02.001
    [33] Zhang Y, Liu H, Li Y T et al., 2012. Ecological network analysis of China's societal metabolism. Journal of Environmental Management, 93(1):254-263. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011. 09.013
    [34] Zhang Y, Liu H, Fath B D, 2014. Synergism analysis of an urban metabolic system:model development and a case study for Beijing, China. Ecological Modelling, 272:188-197. doi:10. 1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.10.003
  • 加载中
通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
  • 1. 

    沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

  1. 本站搜索
  2. 百度学术搜索
  3. 万方数据库搜索
  4. CNKI搜索
Get Citation
PDF
XML

Article Metrics

Article views(234) PDF downloads(381) Cited by()

Proportional views
Related

Ecological Network Analysis Quantifying the Sustainability of Regional Economies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China

doi: 10.1007/s11769-018-0935-9
  • Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Funds:  Under the auspices of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (No. 2015KJJCB30)
    Corresponding author: DAI Teqi
  • Received Date: 2017-03-17
  • Rev Recd Date: 2017-06-16
  • Publish Date: 2018-02-27

Abstract: To meet the challenge of sustainable development, sustainability must be made. Ecological network analysis (ENA) was introduced in this paper as an approach to quantitatively measure the growth, development, and sustainability of an economic system. The Guangdong economic networks from 1987 to 2010 were analyzed by applying the ENA approach. Firstly, a currency flow network among economic sectors was constructed to represent the Guangdong economic system by adapting the input-output (I-O) table data. Then, the network indicators from the ENA framework involving the total system throughput (TST), average mutual information (AMI), ascendency (A), redundancy (R) and development capacity (C) were calculated. Lastly, the network indicators were analyzed to acquire the overall features of Guangdong's economic operations during 1987-2010. The results are as follows:the trends of the network indicators show that the size of the Guangdong economic network grows exponentially at a high rate during 1987-2010, whereas its efficiency does not present a clear trend over its whole period. The growth is the main characteristic of the Guangdong economy during 1987-2010, with no clear evidence regarding its development. The quantitative results of the network also confirmed that the growth contributed to a great majority of the Guangdong economy during1987-2010, whereas the development's contribution was tiny during the same period. The average value of the sustainability indicator (α) of the Guangdong economic network was 0.222 during 1987-2010, which is less than the theoretically optimal value of 0.37 for a sustainable human-influenced system. The results suggest that the Guangdong economic system needs a further autocatalysis to improve its efficiency to support the system maintaining a sustainable evolvement.

LIANG Jinshe, HU Ke, DAI Teqi. Ecological Network Analysis Quantifying the Sustainability of Regional Economies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China[J]. Chinese Geographical Science, 2018, 28(1): 127-136. doi: 10.1007/s11769-018-0935-9
Citation: LIANG Jinshe, HU Ke, DAI Teqi. Ecological Network Analysis Quantifying the Sustainability of Regional Economies: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in China[J]. Chinese Geographical Science, 2018, 28(1): 127-136. doi: 10.1007/s11769-018-0935-9
shu

    HTML

Reference (34)

Catalog

    Copyright © Editorial office of Chinese Geographical Science

    Tel: +86-0431-85542219   Email: egeoscien@neigae.ac.cn  

    /

    DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
    Return
    Return