A geographic identification of sustainable development obstacles and countermeasures in drylands: A case study in Inner Mongolia, China

Drylands cover about 41% of the Earth's land surface and are inhabited by more than two billion people, who rely on the diversified ecosystem services provided by drylands for their livelihoods. Achieving sustainable livelihoods (SLs) is a key component of achieving the sustainable development...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cui, X. (Author), Fava, F. (Author), Hao, Y. (Author), Jia, Y. (Author), Li, T. (Author), Tang, L. (Author), Wang, Y. (Author), Xu, Z. (Author), Yang, Y. (Author), Zhu, J. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V. 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 03789nam a2200649Ia 4500
001 10.1016-j.ecolind.2021.108257
008 220427s2021 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 1470160X (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a A geographic identification of sustainable development obstacles and countermeasures in drylands: A case study in Inner Mongolia, China 
260 0 |b Elsevier B.V.  |c 2021 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108257 
520 3 |a Drylands cover about 41% of the Earth's land surface and are inhabited by more than two billion people, who rely on the diversified ecosystem services provided by drylands for their livelihoods. Achieving sustainable livelihoods (SLs) is a key component of achieving the sustainable development goals set by the agenda in 2030. Although it has aroused extensive interest, research on SLs in drylands at a regional scale is still limited. This paper aims to address this research gap by evaluating SLs through a geographic gradient of aridity in Inner Mongolia. A sustainable livelihood index (SLI) was developed using a wide range of indicators in a sustainable livelihood framework (SLF). The weight of the indicators was determined by the entropy weight method, and the characteristics of the spatial distribution of the SLI were analyzed. The results showed that the SLI varies greatly across aridity zones. In terms of livelihood assets, the SLI in the dry sub-humid zone was 15% higher than in the arid zones, while, surprisingly, semi-arid zones were found to have the most vulnerable livelihoods (rather than the arid zones). The reason for this is that land management and planning approaches are necessary in drylands. In further detail, Moran's I index illustrated that the overall performance of the SLI of each league or city has a positive spatial correlation, while through local spatial correlation it was found that Hinggan and Chifeng are hot spot areas and Hohhot is a cold spot area. The lack of physical and social capital is an important obstacle for SLs. Based on the analysis of SLs in Inner Mongolia, the characteristics of the sustainable development of local residents were revealed. In this paper, we call for an integrated (i.e., focusing on natural and human capital) land management and planning approach for drylands to reflect the nature of the tightly coupled socio-ecological systems. © 2021 
650 0 4 |a Arid regions 
650 0 4 |a Aridity gradient 
650 0 4 |a Aridity gradient 
650 0 4 |a Chifeng 
650 0 4 |a China 
650 0 4 |a China 
650 0 4 |a correlation 
650 0 4 |a Dry land 
650 0 4 |a Ecosystem management 
650 0 4 |a Ecosystem management 
650 0 4 |a Ecosystems 
650 0 4 |a Hohhot 
650 0 4 |a Inner Mongolia 
650 0 4 |a land management 
650 0 4 |a Land managements 
650 0 4 |a Land planning 
650 0 4 |a land surface 
650 0 4 |a Land use 
650 0 4 |a livelihood 
650 0 4 |a Mongolia 
650 0 4 |a Nei Monggol 
650 0 4 |a Nei Monggol 
650 0 4 |a Planning 
650 0 4 |a social capital 
650 0 4 |a Social–ecological 
650 0 4 |a Social–ecological 
650 0 4 |a Spatial correlations 
650 0 4 |a spatial distribution 
650 0 4 |a Spatial patterns 
650 0 4 |a Spatial patterns 
650 0 4 |a sustainable development 
650 0 4 |a Sustainable development 
650 0 4 |a Sustainable livelihood 
650 0 4 |a Sustainable livelihoods 
700 1 |a Cui, X.  |e author 
700 1 |a Fava, F.  |e author 
700 1 |a Hao, Y.  |e author 
700 1 |a Jia, Y.  |e author 
700 1 |a Li, T.  |e author 
700 1 |a Tang, L.  |e author 
700 1 |a Wang, Y.  |e author 
700 1 |a Xu, Z.  |e author 
700 1 |a Yang, Y.  |e author 
700 1 |a Zhu, J.  |e author 
773 |t Ecological Indicators