生态足迹是定量评价人类对生态系统利用状况的指标，是可持续定量评价的一个热点指标，随着人口数量和消费的持续增长，人类的生态足迹正日益增大。地球究竟承载着多大的人类压力，如何保障地球生态系统的可持续维持和人类的可持续发展，这都是生态足迹所研究的范畴。从文献计量学的角度，对生态足迹的国内外研究状况和态势进行定量解析。在美国科技信息研究所网络数据库（ISI Web of Knowledge）上检索关于生态足迹（ecological footprint）的文献，进行文献计量分析发表文章数量多的国家和机构，以及生态足迹相关文章的主要内容、研究方法等。结果表明，美国发表的文章最多，中国发表的论文较集中在2004年和2006年。生态足迹研究的文章涉及案例分析、理论和方法研究，进行生态足迹的时间动态测度和国别比较的文章较多，生态足迹研究的方法有投入产出法、综合法、成分法，以投入产出法为主。

Ecological footprint is quantificational evaluation index of the status of ecological system appropriation by human beings. It is a hotspot index for quantificational estimation of sustainable development. Nowadays, the ecological footprint is increasing with the increase of population and it's consumption. The research categories of ecological footprint include the carrying capacity of the Earth, the sustainable maintenance of Earth's ecosystem and the sustainable development of human beings, and so on. The research status and trends of the ecological footprint was quantificationally analyzed based on bibliometrical methods. The references about ecological footprint were indexed in the ISI Web of Knowledge. The analysis indicates that the United States has the maximum papers. China papers mainly published during 2004 to 2006 and the important author organizations are Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hongkong University and Lanzhou University. The references of ecological footprint relate to case analysis, theory and methodologies. Most references focus on the temporal dynamic measurements and international comparison. The methodologies mainly include input-output method, compound method, component method. The input-output method is the most important method.