The relationship between population and the environment holds an important role in
research on the linkages between human society and ecological systems. Recent studies
on population and the environment have turned research focus toward the more dynamic
factor of population processes - migration. The increasing rural-to-urban labor
migration in China since the early 1980's has formed the largest population flow in
world history. The primary objective of this doctoral dissertation research project is to
obtain a better understanding of how this large-scale circular labor migration movement
impacts the rural environment. A comprehensive conceptual framework was
developed in this study that incorporated the rural livelihoods approach and the interactional
theory of community into analyzing environmental consequences of rural migration.
The analysis drew on empirical data collected from four rural villages in
Chongqing Municipality, where the rural-to-urban labor migration rate is currently the
highest in China. The mixed methodological design of this research combined three different
methods of data collection and analysis: secondary data, household surveys, and
key informant interviews. Results confirm the research hypothesis that labor-migrant
and non-labor-migrant households are significantly different in livelihood activities
including agricultural practices, income and consumption, and resource use and management.
In addition, this research found that the effects of rural labor out-migration
on community interaction varied across study communities. Rural migration presents
both detrimental and beneficial potentialities for community development in rural origin
areas. Altogether, these findings have direct implications for the subsequent environmental
outcomes of rural labor out-migration and corresponding natural resource
management and policy in rural origin areas.