Discussion on mountain area resource and environment carrying capacity
山区资源环境承载力研究现状与关键问题

Carrying capacity is an important parameter to measure region sustainable development. This article briefly discriminated the relevant concepts of resource and environment carrying capacity, region carrying capacity and ecological carrying capacity, and also reviewed the process of carrying capacity research development at home and abroad. Moreover, the paper discussed the shortcomings and problems and finally suggested several key issues of the research in future. It found that the studies of mountain area resource and environment carrying capacity were very insufficient, and the shortages in the correlative studies mainly displayed as: the theoretical system of carrying capacity had not been constructed completely; the lack of effective methods impeded the development of theory; most of researches focused on the static analysis but rarely engaged in dynamic forecast; the studies on mountain area resource and environment carrying capacity applied mechanically the research pattern of the plain area, which did not correspond to the mountain area's reality. Aiming at the above disadvantages, the author pointed out that perfecting the theory system frame of resource and environment carrying capacity, exploring the quantitative research methods of resource and environment carrying capacity in depth, and paying great attention to the mountain area resource and environment carrying capacity's characteristic of a nation, the influence of minority nationalities culture on resource and environment carrying capacity and the mountain area resource and environment carrying capacity's characteristic of spatial differentiation were five important issues for further study.