Ecological footprint meaning – UGC NET Question

The ecological footprint combines the area needed to provide the resources a population consumes and to absorb its wastes and emissions, and then compares this demand with available biocapacity.

Option A:
Incorrect, because territorial size alone says nothing about how intensively resources are used or wastes are generated.

Option B:
Correct, as this definition captures both resource use and waste absorption in terms of biologically productive area.

Option C:
Incorrect, since population size without information on consumption patterns cannot indicate environmental pressure.

Option D:
Incorrect, because species richness is a biodiversity metric, not a direct measure of human demand on ecosystems.