Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic is interesting, and the author has done a great job in realizing the subject. However, there are few areas on the paper that is still lagging and should be addressed properly.

Abstract

1.     The authors should motivate the choice of variables  

2.     Keywords should be revised to match key element of title

3.     Introduction

1.     The objective of the paper presented need more clarifications to suit reader to understand the main idea of the paper especially for the study case is needed

2.     Literature review

 The literature is well written. However, there is need for more recent studies ranging from 2018-2022 to motivate the study properly. The entire study is too scanty and the related literature is not exhausted

Environmental consequences of economic complexities in the EU amidst a booming tourism industry: accounting for the role of brexit and other crisis events. Journal of Cleaner Production, 305, 127117.

 

Methodology

1.     This section is generally well motivated, Kindly take note of the following minor additions

2.     More benefit of the various techniques utilized should be stated

3.     The authors should avoid much mathematical expressions or take some to appendix and make the study reader friendly for other practitioner other than academic with out compromise for study intend and quality.

Discussion

1.     The discussion is well written, but the authors should like their findings to the previous studies in the literature.

Conclusion

1.     The sub-title should be conclusion and policy recommendation but not only conclusion

2.     The policy which is the engine of the study is weak and small. I therefore encourage the authors to elaborate more on the policy recommendations to policy makers for the investigated bloc

3.     The authors should add limitation of the study and future recommendation

 

Author Response

Ref: sustainability-1701395 (Manuscript ID)

Response to Reviewers’ Comments

Dear Reviewers,

We would like to thank you for your time and careful reading of the manuscript and for providing very valuable and helpful comments to improve the manuscript quality. Your comments have been addressed point-by-point in the following.

 

 

REVIEWER COMMENT

Reviewer #1:

The topic is interesting, and the author has done a great job in realizing the subject. However, there are few areas on the paper that is still lagging and should be addressed properly.

Thank you for your views on the topic addressed in the manuscript. The manuscript has been revised thoroughly to address your constructive suggestions.  

 

Comment 1:

Abstract

1. The authors should motivate the choice of variables.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We believe that regional carrying capacity consists of three components: economic-social supplying force, resource supporting force and environmental constraint force. The nature of the three forces, the comprehensiveness of the evaluation of the regional carrying capacity and the understanding of the regional system of man-land relationship determine the direction of selecting index variables. Therefore, we chose labor, capital, technology and infrastructure as economic-social subsystem factors, mineral, land, water and bioecological resources as resource subsystem factors, as well as water environment, edatope, atmosphere and ecotope as environmental subsystem factors. The motivation of the choice of variables has been added in Abstract, Page 1, as suggested by the reviewer.

 

2. Keywords should be revised to match key element of title.

The keywords have been revised to match the key elements in the title as suggested by the reviewer.

 

Comment 2:

Introduction

1. The objective of the paper presented need more clarifications to suit reader to understand the main idea of the paper especially for the study case is needed.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt is one of China's four major regional strategies, stretching from east to west, extending from north to south, and connecting rivers and seas. Its comprehensive economic strength is the strongest in China. It is the economic axis with the most intensive population, economy and industry in China, and has an essential position for joint regional development. Currently, it is the key period of green, low-carbon and sustainable development in China. However, the rapid development of its economy has caused serious resource and environmental problems, severe ecological environment situation and prominent regional development imbalance in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Thus, it is necessary to study the regional carrying capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt for promoting the green and low-carbon sustainable development.

To address the reviewer comment, we added Figure 1 in Page 2 to better display the geographical position of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China and illustrate the importance of its economic geographical position, the significance of studying Yangtze River Economic Belt has been updated in Page 2, and specific additional references have been updated in Pages 2-3.

Reference

[1] Yu, Y.; Zhang, N.; Kim, J. D., Impact of urbanization on energy demand: An empirical study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China. Energy Policy 2020, 139, 111354.

Note: [] indicates the supplemented reference and the same as follows.

 

2. Literature review

The literature is well written. However, there is need for more recent studies ranging from 2018-2022 to motivate the study properly. The entire study is too scanty and the related literature is not exhausted.

Environmental consequences of economic complexities in the EU amidst a booming tourism industry: accounting for the role of brexit and other crisis events. Journal of Cleaner Production, 305, 127117.

We have revised the literature review section of the introduction to include recent studies as suggested by the reviewer. From the starting point of carrying capacity research to the focus of current research, a comprehensive sorting. At the same time, the relevant gaps in the research are illustrated with examples. Specific modifications can be seen in the introduction section in Page 3. In addition, to verify the reliability of the manuscript theory, we have added some related literatures in the Introduction section.

Reference

[1] Wooton, E. O., Carrying capacity of grazing ranges in southern Arizona. US Department of Agriculture: 1916.

[2] Fearnside, P. M., Estimation of human carrying capacity in rainforest areas. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1990, 5, (6), 192-196.

[3] Arrow, K.; Bolin, B.; Costanza, R.; Dasgupta, P.; Folke, C.; Holling, C. S.; Jansson, B.-O.; Levin, S.; Mäler, K.-G.; Perrings, C. J. E. e., Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. 1995, 15, (2), 91-95.

[4] Zhiming, F.; Tong, S.; Yanzhao, Y.; Huimin, Y., The Progress of Resources and Environment Carrying Capacity: from Single-factor Carrying Capacity Research to Comprehensive Research. 2018, Journal of Resources and Ecology, (2), 125-134, 10.

[5] Tang, B.; Hu, Y.; Li, H.; Yang, D.; Liu, J. J. N. H., Research on comprehensive carrying capacity of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region based on state-space method. Nat Hazards 2016, 84, (1), 113-128.

[6] Fatai Adedoyin, F.; Agboola, P. O.; Ozturk, I.; Bekun, F. V.; Agboola, M. O., Environmental consequences of economic complexities in the EU amidst a booming tourism industry: Accounting for the role of brexit and other crisis events. J Clean Prod 2021, 305, 127117.

[7] Zhou, W.; Elshkaki, A.; Zhong, S.; Shen, L., Study on Relative Carrying Capacity of Land Resources and Its Zoning in 31 Provinces of China. Sustainability 2021, 13, (3), 1459.

[8] Ren, Y.; Shen, L.; Wei, X.; Wang, J.; Cheng, G., A guiding index framework for examining urban carrying capacity. Ecol. Indic. 2021, 133, 108347.

[9] Zhang, M.; Liu, Y.; Wu, J.; Wang, T., Index system of urban resource and environment carrying capacity based on ecological civilization. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 2018, 68, 90-97.

[10] Zhang, J.; Zhang, C.; Shi, W.; Fu, Y., Quantitative evaluation and optimized utilization of water resources-water environment carrying capacity based on nature-based solutions. J. Hydrol. 2019, 568, 96-107.

[11] Wang, D.; Shi, Y.; Wan, K., Integrated evaluation of the carrying capacities of mineral resource-based cities considering synergy between subsystems. Ecol. Indic. 2020, 108, 105701.

[12] Wang, J.; Wei, X.; Guo, Q., A three-dimensional evaluation model for regional carrying capacity of ecological environment to social economic development: Model development and a case study in China. Ecol. Ind. 2018, 89, 348-355.

[13] Peng, T.; Deng, H. J. E. S.; Research, P., Comprehensive evaluation for sustainable development based on relative resource carrying capacity—A case study of Guiyang, Southwest China. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2020, 27, (16), 20090-20103.

[14] Sun, M.; ang, J.; He, K. J. A. G., Analysis on the urban land resources carrying capacity during urbanization——A case study of Chinese YRD. Appl. Geogr. 2020, 116, 102170.

[15] Dan-lin, Y.; Han-ying, M., Regional carrying capacity: case studies of Bohai Rim area. Journal of Geographical Sciences 2002, 12, (2), 177-185.

[16] Bao, C.; Wang, H.; Sun, S., Comprehensive simulation of resources and environment carrying capacity for urban agglomeration: A system dynamics approach. Ecol. Indic. 2022, 138, 108874.

[17] Wang, L.; Liu, H., Comprehensive evaluation of regional resources and environmental carrying capacity using a PS-DR-DP theoretical model. Journal of Geographical Sciences 2019, 29, (3), 363-376.

[18] Lane, M., The carrying capacity imperative: Assessing regional carrying capacity methodologies for sustainable land-use planning. Land Use Policy 2010, 27, (4), 1038-1045.

 

Comment 3:

Methodology

1. This section is generally well motivated, Kindly take note of the following minor additions. More benefit of the various techniques utilized should be stated.

Thank you for your valuable suggestion.

2. More benefit of the various techniques utilized should be stated

We have further explained the technologies of weight, carrying capacity object, Criteria for judging regional carrying status and so on (please see section 3 Materials and Methods). The zoning distribution and the benefit of the weight in the Materials and Methods section have been added in Page 9. The benefit of regional carrying capacity object and the benefit of criteria for judging regional carrying status in the Materials and Methods section has been added in Pages 10 and 11.

3. The authors should avoid much mathematical expressions or take some to appendix and make the study reader friendly for other practitioner other than academic with out compromise for study intend and quality.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We have listed some necessary formulas including the calculation of weight and the composition of evaluation index, which is the core of this research. Others, including data processing and green GDP calculations, are not included. The mathematical formulas in this paper are relatively simple and can be understood by general scientific researchers.

 

Comment 4:

Discussion

1. The discussion is well written, but the authors should like their findings to the previous studies in the literature.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We have added a comparison with the previous research in the discussion of regional carrying capacity, economic-social supplying force, resource supporting force and environmental constraint force in Pages 14, 15, 16, and 17.

Reference

[1] Tian, Y.; Sun, C., Comprehensive carrying capacity, economic growth and the sustainable development of urban areas: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. J Clean Prod 2018, 195, 486-496.

[2]   Chai, N.; Zhou, W., The DPSIRM - Grey cloud clustering method for evaluating the water environment carrying capacity of Yangtze River economic Belt. Ecol. Indic. 2022, 136, 108722.

[3] Shen, L.; Cheng, G.; Du, X.; Meng, C.; Ren, Y.; Wang, J., Can urban agglomeration bring “1 + 1 > 2Effect”? A perspective of land resource carrying capacity. Land Use Policy 2022, 117, 106094.

[4] Tang, X.; Guan, X.; Lu, S.; Qin, F.; Liu, X.; Zhang, D., Examining the spatiotemporal change of forest resource carrying capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China. Environ Sci Pollut R 2020, 27, (17), 21213-21230.

[5]   Zou, H.; Ma, X., Identifying resource and environmental carrying capacity in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China: the perspectives of spatial differences and sustainable development. Environ Dev Sustain 2021, 23, (10), 14775-14798.

[6] Bao, H.; Wang, C.; Han, L.; Wu, S.; Lou, L.; Xu, B.; Liu, Y., Resources and Environmental Pressure, Carrying Capacity, And Governance: A Case Study of Yangtze River Economic Belt. 2020, 12, (4), 1576.

[7]   Liu, J.; Tian, Y.; Huang, K.; Yi, T., Spatial-temporal differentiation of the coupling coordinated development of regional energy-economy-ecology system: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Ecol. Indic. 2021, 124, 107394.

[8] Yang, Y.; Lu, H.; Liang, D.; Chen, Y.; Tian, P.; Xia, J.; Wang, H.; Lei, X., Ecological sustainability and its driving factor of urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on three-dimensional ecological footprint analysis. J Clean Prod 2022, 330, 129802.

[9]   Zhang, Y.; Sun, M.; Yang, R.; Li, X.; Zhang, L.; Li, M., Decoupling water environment pressures from economic growth in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China. Ecol. Indic. 2021, 122, 107314.

Comment 5:

Conclusion

1. The sub-title should be conclusion and policy recommendation but not only conclusion.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. We agree with the reviewer that the conclusions section covers many policy recommendations, which is also very significant part of our research. We therefore changed the sub-title to “Conclusions and Policy Recommendations”.

2. The policy which is the engine of the study is weak and small. I therefore encourage the authors to elaborate more on the policy recommendations to policy makers for the investigated bloc.

We agree with the reviewer comment. We put forward new policy suggestions from three perspectives: the central government's financial investment in ecological protection and restoration, the balanced development of regional economy in China, and the application of regional carrying capacity system, in Pages 18 and 19 of the revised manuscript

3. The authors should add limitation of the study and future recommendation.

Thank you for your suggestion. We have added the research limitations and future recommendations in the conclusion section in Page 19 of the revised manuscript.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

I think paper needs major revision as current version of paper has very narrow scope in terms of literature review and study conducted. The discussion section is even missing. There is no clear scientific input from this study in the field.  I do not understand what it is: Based on the new understanding of the regional system of man-land relationship, this paper explores the interaction mechanism between regional carrying capacity and factor flow, and innovatively forms a carrying capacity mechanism composed of economic-social supplying, resource supporting and environmental constraint forces". I do not see any posibilities to replicate this study. This paper does not provide discussion of results in the light of other studies conducted in regional  carrying capacity field.

 

Author Response

Ref: sustainability-1701395 (Manuscript ID)

Response to Reviewers’ Comments

 

Dear Reviewers,

We would like to thank you for your time and careful reading of the manuscript and for providing very valuable and helpful comments to improve the manuscript quality. Your comments have been addressed point-by-point in the following.

  

REVIEWER COMMENT

Reviewer #2:

I think paper needs major revision as current version of paper has very narrow scope in terms of literature review and study conducted. The discussion section is even missing. There is no clear scientific input from this study in the field.  I do not understand what it is: Based on the new understanding of the regional system of man-land relationship, this paper explores the interaction mechanism between regional carrying capacity and factor flow, and innovatively forms a carrying capacity mechanism composed of economic-social supplying, resource supporting and environmental constraint forces". I do not see any possibilities to replicate this study. This paper does not provide discussion of results in the light of other studies conducted in regional carrying capacity field.

Thank you for your views on the topic addressed in the manuscript. The manuscript has been revised thoroughly to address your constructive suggestions.

Comment 1:

I think paper needs major revision as current version of paper has very narrow scope in terms of literature review and study conducted. The discussion section is even missing.

We have revised the literature review significantly. From the starting point of carrying capacity research to the focus of current research, a comprehensive sorting. At the same time, the relevant gaps in the research are illustrated with examples. Before the 1950s, resource carrying capacity mainly discussed the supporting capacity of natural resources to the survival and development of population (biological population) in a country or region. In the 1960s and 1970s, while considering the resource factors, it began to discuss the restriction of environmental system on human economic and social activities, and the nature of carrying capacity changed from absolute upper limit to relative balance. Since the 1990s, research on carrying capacity has shifted from classification to synthesis and integration. On the one hand, they continue to pay attention to the restricting effect of restrictive factors on population growth and sustainable economic-social development, and on the other hand, paying attention to the influence of resource consumption, environmental discharge and ecological occupation caused by human activities on the stability of man-land relationship regional system. Current academic studies on carrying capacity include single factor evaluation of resource carrying capacity, environmental carrying capacity, ecological carrying capacity and economic and social carrying capacity, as well as comprehensive carrying capacity evaluation of resource environmental economic system. This reflects the deepening influence of resources, environment, economy, and society on regional carrying capacity. It is generally believed that the classification of carrying capacity has been systematically studied. However, many scholars believe that the comprehensive research on carrying capacity is relatively weak. For example, Ren et al. found there is no consistent perspective on evaluating urban carrying capacity. The systematisms and complexity of carrying capacity need to be strengthened, and the key technology and methods of comprehensive measurement need to be innovated.

In terms of regional carrying capacity research, it is generally considered that it is the asystematic ability of a specific society to sustain certain number of population and correspondent socioeconomic output, while at the same time maintain a eucyclic ecology and reasonable resources exploitation rate. Regional carrying capacity focuses more on the changes of economic, social, resource and environment carrying state in a specific region, which is the deepening of carrying capacity research. Chao et al. constructed a comprehensive regional carrying capacity indicator and a system dynamics model to evaluate regional and urban sustainable development of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei. Wang et al. used a PS-DR-DP theoretical model to evaluate regional resources and environmental carrying capacity. Lane applied regional carrying capacity methodologies to sustainable land-use planning.

To illustrates this and verify the reliability of the manuscript theory, we have added some related literatures in the Introduction section in Page 3 of the revised manuscript.

Reference

[1] Wooton, E. O., Carrying capacity of grazing ranges in southern Arizona. US Department of Agriculture: 1916.

[2] Fearnside, P. M., Estimation of human carrying capacity in rainforest areas. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1990, 5, (6), 192-196.

[3] Arrow, K.; Bolin, B.; Costanza, R.; Dasgupta, P.; Folke, C.; Holling, C. S.; Jansson, B.-O.; Levin, S.; Mäler, K.-G.; Perrings, C. J. E. e., Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. 1995, 15, (2), 91-95.

[4] Zhiming, F.; Tong, S.; Yanzhao, Y.; Huimin, Y., The Progress of Resources and Environment Carrying Capacity: from Single-factor Carrying Capacity Research to Comprehensive Research. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2018, (2), 125-134, 10.

[5] Tang, B.; Hu, Y.; Li, H.; Yang, D.; Liu, J. J. N. H., Research on comprehensive carrying capacity of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region based on state-space method. Nat Hazards 2016, 84, (1), 113-128.

[6] Fatai Adedoyin, F.; Agboola, P. O.; Ozturk, I.; Bekun, F. V.; Agboola, M. O., Environmental consequences of economic complexities in the EU amidst a booming tourism industry: Accounting for the role of brexit and other crisis events. J Clean Prod 2021, 305, 127117.

[7] Zhou, W.; Elshkaki, A.; Zhong, S.; Shen, L., Study on Relative Carrying Capacity of Land Resources and Its Zoning in 31 Provinces of China. Sustainability 2021, 13, (3), 1459.

[8] Ren, Y.; Shen, L.; Wei, X.; Wang, J.; Cheng, G., A guiding index framework for examining urban carrying capacity. Ecol. Indic. 2021, 133, 108347.

[9] Zhang, M.; Liu, Y.; Wu, J.; Wang, T., Index system of urban resource and environment carrying capacity based on ecological civilization. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 2018, 68, 90-97.

[10] Zhang, J.; Zhang, C.; Shi, W.; Fu, Y., Quantitative evaluation and optimized utilization of water resources-water environment carrying capacity based on nature-based solutions. J. Hydrol. 2019, 568, 96-107.

[11] Wang, D.; Shi, Y.; Wan, K., Integrated evaluation of the carrying capacities of mineral resource-based cities considering synergy between subsystems. Ecol. Indic. 2020, 108, 105701.

[12] Wang, J.; Wei, X.; Guo, Q., A three-dimensional evaluation model for regional carrying capacity of ecological environment to social economic development: Model development and a case study in China. Ecol. Ind. 2018, 89, 348-355.

[13] Peng, T.; Deng, H. J. E. S.; Research, P., Comprehensive evaluation for sustainable development based on relative resource carrying capacity—A case study of Guiyang, Southwest China. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2020, 27, (16), 20090-20103.

[14] Sun, M.; ang, J.; He, K. J. A. G., Analysis on the urban land resources carrying capacity during urbanization——A case study of Chinese YRD. Appl. Geogr. 2020, 116, 102170.

[15] Dan-lin, Y.; Han-ying, M., Regional carrying capacity: case studies of Bohai Rim area. Journal of Geographical Sciences 2002, 12, (2), 177-185.

[16] Bao, C.; Wang, H.; Sun, S., Comprehensive simulation of resources and environment carrying capacity for urban agglomeration: A system dynamics approach. Ecol. Indic. 2022, 138, 108874.

[17] Wang, L.; Liu, H., Comprehensive evaluation of regional resources and environmental carrying capacity using a PS-DR-DP theoretical model. Journal of Geographical Sciences 2019, 29, (3), 363-376.

[18] Lane, M., The carrying capacity imperative: Assessing regional carrying capacity methodologies for sustainable land-use planning. Land Use Policy 2010, 27, (4), 1038-1045.

Note: [] indicates the supplemented reference and the same as follows.

 

Comment 2:

There is no clear scientific input from this study in the field.

Regional carrying capacity is the deepening of carrying capacity research. Before the 1950s, resource carrying capacity was mainly studied. The study of population carrying capacity, resource carrying capacity, environment carrying capacity and ecological carrying capacity all illustrate the profound research on carrying capacity. Based on the theory of man-land relationship regional system, this paper reconsiders regional carrying capacity. It is found that regional carrying system is the economic social-resource-environment complex system. Therefore, we take factor flow as the breakthrough point, and believe that it is the flow and change of sub-system factors between regions that cause the change of regional carrying capacity. The evaluation theory of regional carrying capacity based on economic-social supplying force, resource supporting force and environmental constraint force is established. Then, factor concentration is taken as the evaluation weight, green GDP is taken as the evaluation object, and the Yangtze River Economic Belt is taken as a case study to compare the carrying capacity of the whole China with the carrying capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and evaluate the three states of surplus, balance and deficit. We hope this clarify the point raised by the reviewer.

 

Comment 3:

I do not understand what it is: Based on the new understanding of the regional system of man-land relationship, this paper explores the interaction mechanism between regional carrying capacity and factor flow, and innovatively forms a carrying capacity mechanism composed of economic-social supplying, resource supporting and environmental constraint forces".

We agree with the reviewer that this part requires more clarification. We believe that the current research on carrying capacity has changed from single factor evaluation to multi-factor evaluation and from static evaluation to dynamic evaluation. However, the comprehensive and dynamic treatment in current literature is not perfect. This paper tries to solve these problems. By taking the regional factors' agglomeration degree as the index of regional factor flow and then as the weight of regional carrying capacity evaluation, the evaluation of regional carrying capacity becomes dynamic. By introducing the factors of labor and capital in the economic and social system, land and mineral resources in the resource system, edatope and atmosphere in the environmental system into the evaluation index system, the regional carrying capacity evaluation can be realized comprehensively. Based on the above understanding, we revised the abstract.

 

Comment 4:

I do not see any possibilities to replicate this study.

Due to the length of the paper, we have omitted some data processing, such as data standardization and missing data processing, although how to deal with these is explained in the paper. The article explains in detail the evaluation index, the evaluation weight, the evaluation subject and object, and the evaluation state. All data in this paper are obtained from open sources, and the calculation methods of indicators and evaluation indexes are also explained in this paper. We believe that the calculation of the regional carrying capacity according to the method introduced in this paper can be replicated, and the same carrying capacity index and status of the Yangtze River Economic Belt according to the case described and the scientific research in this paper can also be obtained.

The regional carrying capacity evaluation studied in this paper is a relative carrying status, not absolute carrying capacity. The criteria of carrying capacity status is also compared with the carrying capacity of the whole country. Affected by economic development, technological progress, environmental change and resource consumption, the value and status of regional carrying capacity are changing with the intensification of factor flow. At present, there is no particular accurate measurement method to determine the regional carrying capacity, because it's so hard to incorporate all the economic, social, resource and environmental factors. Although this paper uses the relative evaluation method, the evaluation method can be applied to any region or province. The results can also be compared with any other region, just as the provinces within the Yangtze River Economic Belt are compared with each other. The next step is to do in-depth and detailed research on the evaluation framework, including more economic-social factors, resource factors and environmental factors, and further optimize the judgment criteria, in order to calculate the absolute regional carrying capacity. We hope this clarify the point raised by the reviewer.

Comment 5:

This paper does not provide discussion of results in the light of other studies conducted in regional carrying capacity field.

Thank you very much for your comment. In the discussion of regional carrying capacity, economic-social supplying force, resource supporting force and environmental constraint force, we have added the comparison with the previous research in order to increase the scientific nature of the article. The comparison with other studies have been added in Pages 14, 15, 16, and 17.

Reference

[1] Tian, Y.; Sun, C., Comprehensive carrying capacity, economic growth and the sustainable development of urban areas: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. J Clean Prod 2018, 195, 486-496.

[2]   Chai, N.; Zhou, W., The DPSIRM - Grey cloud clustering method for evaluating the water environment carrying capacity of Yangtze River economic Belt. Ecol. Indic. 2022, 136, 108722.

[3] Shen, L.; Cheng, G.; Du, X.; Meng, C.; Ren, Y.; Wang, J., Can urban agglomeration bring “1 + 1 > 2Effect”? A perspective of land resource carrying capacity. Land Use Policy 2022, 117, 106094.

[4] Tang, X.; Guan, X.; Lu, S.; Qin, F.; Liu, X.; Zhang, D., Examining the spatiotemporal change of forest resource carrying capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China. Environ Sci Pollut R 2020, 27, (17), 21213-21230.

[5]   Zou, H.; Ma, X., Identifying resource and environmental carrying capacity in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China: the perspectives of spatial differences and sustainable development. Environ Dev Sustain 2021, 23, (10), 14775-14798.

[6] Bao, H.; Wang, C.; Han, L.; Wu, S.; Lou, L.; Xu, B.; Liu, Y., Resources and Environmental Pressure, Carrying Capacity, And Governance: A Case Study of Yangtze River Economic Belt. 2020, 12, (4), 1576.

[7]   Liu, J.; Tian, Y.; Huang, K.; Yi, T., Spatial-temporal differentiation of the coupling coordinated development of regional energy-economy-ecology system: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Ecol. Indic. 2021, 124, 107394.

[8] Yang, Y.; Lu, H.; Liang, D.; Chen, Y.; Tian, P.; Xia, J.; Wang, H.; Lei, X., Ecological sustainability and its driving factor of urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on three-dimensional ecological footprint analysis. J Clean Prod 2022, 330, 129802.

[9]   Zhang, Y.; Sun, M.; Yang, R.; Li, X.; Zhang, L.; Li, M., Decoupling water environment pressures from economic growth in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China. Ecol. Indic. 2021, 122, 107314.

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors provided answers to my comments and corrected their paper as much as possible. I think that current version deserves publication though I am still sceptical about case study provided.