Dynamic evaluation and driving mechanism of natural capital occupation in Shanxi mining areas of the Yellow River Basin

Natural capital is a necessary guarantee for the green and sustainable development of the economy and society, and its assessment is an important part of maintaining the balance of the regional ecosystem. From the perspective of natural capital for the mining areas, a three-dimensional ecological footprint model was used to calculate the depth and breadth of the ecological footprint of Shanxi mining areas in the Yellow River Basin, its dynamic evolution characteristics were analyzed, and the mechanism of the dynamic evolution of the ecological occupation of the mining areas was further explained. The results showed that: the per capita ecological deficit of Shanxi mining areas in the Yellow River Basin increased from 4.40 hm² in 2010 to 6.31 hm² in 2016, and then decreased to 5.02 hm² in 2019. The gap between ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity tended to narrow overall. The breadth of the per capita ecological footprint generally showed a declining trend, from 0.63 hm² in 2020 to 0.47 hm² in 2019, and the depth of the per capita ecological footprint showed an inverted U-shaped change trend that first increased and then decreased. The driving mechanism of the spatiotemporal dynamic evolution process of natural capital in Shanxi mining areas in the Yellow River Basin was driven by many factors such as ecological environment supply, resource endowment, social development, economic growth, energy loss and coal pollution. The dynamic evolution of natural capital occupation was positively correlated with coal pollution, energy loss, resource endowment and the secondary industry added value of economic growth, and negatively correlated with ecological environment supply and the environmental regulations of social development. The gap between the ecological footprint and carrying capacity of Shanxi mining areas in the Yellow River Basin tended to improve, but the ecological occupation deficit still existed.