Biocapacity

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Biocapacity, also known as biological capacity, is the capacity of an ecosystem to produce useful biological materials and to absorb waste materials generated by humans . The term is related to the concept of ecological footprint in the context of sustainable development theory and is only used in connection with these concepts. According to the theory, biocapacity is, in a sense, the counterpart of the ecological footprint on the supply side of the equations. Accordingly, it is measured in the same unit of measurement global hectares (abbreviated as gha). A global hectare is a biologically productive hectare with world average productivity.

description

The biocapacity of a region or a country is defined as the total of the “bioproductive areas” of this region. This is the area in hectares, multiplied by an equivalence factor and a yield factor. The equivalence factor results from the production of usable biomass (or the other ecological service of the area just considered ) in relation to the use. The yield factor measures the same in relation to the global average (e.g. hectare yield of food with the same type and intensity of use depending on the country or region). Since this approach is about the limits of the usability of the biosphere , the most important usage function that excludes other usage functions is included as a so-called primary function (e.g. the same area cannot be used for timber production and food production). The area can also provide other ecological services (e.g. groundwater recharge, sink for carbon dioxide ). However, only one function has a limiting effect, the one with the tightest offer. The biocapacity is therefore also influenced by the current level of technological development, i.e. H. through the state of processing, extraction and cultivation techniques. The equivalence factor and thus the biocapacity depends on the land use and can therefore be changed by changing the land use. In this way, the biocapacity, unlike the base area itself, can also be increased.

“Useful biological materials” are understood to mean all materials that are currently required for the production of finished products . This in turn means that the biocapacity of materials can also change over time. For example, if corn stalks were used to produce bioethanol , corn stalks would become a useful biological material and thereby increase the biocapacity of corn cultivation areas.

If a region or country imports raw materials or finished goods, it saves regionally the associated biocapacity in its own territory, which it can then use for other purposes. However, the service must be provided elsewhere. Due to different equivalence and yield factors, it can tie up both more and less biocapacity there. Biocapacity is a kind of capital and can also be increased or decreased globally depending on the type and extent of land use. A region that uses more biocapacity than it has available does so either by importing it from other regions or by consuming the capital of its own region. This mismatch is measured by the ecological footprint.

facts and figures

Biocapacity
(in global hectares / person or gha / cap. Data from 2007, published on October 13, 2010)
  •  5.5-29.2
  •  4.7-5.5
  •  3.9-4.7
    		•
  •  3.0-3.9
  •  2.2-3.0
  •  1.4-2.2
    		•
  •  0.6 - 1.4
  •  0-0.6
  •  no data
    		•
    Biocapacity of world regions (2007)
    region Biocapacity *
    Acreage Pastureland Forest Fishing grounds Building land total
    world 0.59 0.23 0.74 0.16 0.06 1.8
    Africa 0.44 0.41 0.45 0.11 0.06 1.5
    Asia 0.43 0.07 0.15 0.09 0.07 0.8
    Europe 0.87 0.18 1.46 0.25 0.12 2.5
    Latin America
    and the Caribbean    		 0.82 0.82 3.45 0.30 0.08 5.5
    USA and Canada 1.68 0.25 2.21 0.72 0.07 4.9
    Oceania 1.22 4.32 2.81 2.72 0.06 11.1

    * measured in global hectares / person or gha / cap. The latest data is available on the Global Footprint Network data platform .

    See also

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Monfreda, C., Wackernagel, M., Deumling, D. (2004): Establishing national natural capital accounts based on detailed ecological footprint and biological capacity accounts. Land Use Policy 21: 231-246.
    2. ^ Daniel D. Moran, Mathis Wackernagel, Justin A. Kitzes, Steven H. Goldfinger, Aurélien Boutaud (2008): Measuring sustainable development - Nation by nation. Ecological Economics 64: 470-474. doi : 10.1016 / j.ecolecon.2007.08.017
    3. ↑ Mathis Wackernagel, Chad Monfreda, Dan Moran, Paul Wermer, Steve Goldfinger, Diana Deumling, Michael Murray (2005): National Footprint and biocapacity accounts 2005: The underlying calculation method. Paper, published by Global Fottprints Network PDF
    4. ↑ Glossary - biological capacity or biocapacity. Global Footprint Network, July 5, 2009, accessed February 17, 2011 .
    5. ↑ a b Footprint Network [1] ( MS Excel ; 593 kB)
    6. ↑ Global Footprint Network Open Data Platform