Effectiveness of functional zones in National Nature Reserves for the protection of forest ecosystems in China.

Protected areas (PAs) have been established worldwide to conserve biodiversity. However, the conservation effectiveness of different PA functional zones remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated National Nature Reserves (NNRs) in China to explore and quantify the conservation in their core, buffer, and experimental zones. We compared the area and proportion of forest loss for these functional zones during the period from 2001 to 2018. The results showed that the forest loss in NNRs showed a decreasing trend since 2011, indicating that NNRs reduced the forest loss. There was no significant difference of forest loss proportion (p = 0.42) between the core zones (0.60 ± 1.32%) and buffer zones (0.55 ± 0.88%), implying that their performance in forest conservation was similar. There was a significant difference between experimental and core zones as well as between experimental and buffer zones both in forest loss area and proportion (p ˂ 0.05). We confirmed that the proportion of functional zones significantly affects the conservation effectiveness, i.e., an improper proportion of core zones or buffer zones may lead to forest loss. Therefore, we suggest an optimal proportion of core and buffer zones at 30%-50% and 10%-40%, respectively. Overall, the effectiveness of functional zones in forest nature reserves was assessed on a national scale. The results of this study support the recent adjustment in the PA functional zoning system in China.

Improving protected area effectiveness through consideration of different human-pressure baselines.

Previous assessments of the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs) focused primarily on changes in human pressure over time and did not consider the different human-pressure baselines of PAs, thereby potentially over- or underestimating PA effectiveness. We developed a framework that considers both human-pressure baseline and change in human pressure over time and assessed the effectiveness of 338 PAs in China from 2010 to 2020. The initial state of human pressure on PAs was taken as the baseline, and changes in human pressure index (HPI) were further analyzed under different baselines. We used the random forest models to identify the management measures that most improved effectiveness in resisting human pressure for the PAs with different baselines. Finally, the relationships between the changes in the HPI and the changes in natural ecosystems in PAs were analyzed with different baselines. Of PAs with low HPI baselines, medium HPI baselines, and high HPI baselines, 76.92% (n=150), 11.11% (n=12), and 22.86% (n=8) , respectively, showed positive effects in resisting human pressure. Overall, ignoring human-pressure baselines somewhat underestimated the positive effects of PAs, especially for those with low initial human pressure. For PAs with different initial human pressures, different management measures should be taken to improve effectiveness and reduce threats to natural ecosystems. We believe our framework is useful for assessing the effectiveness of PAs globally, and we recommend it be included in the Convention on Biological Diversity Post-2020 Strategy.

Las evaluaciones previas de la efectividad de las áreas protegidas (AP) se han enfocado principalmente en los cambios de las presiones humanas con el tiempo y no han considerado las diferentes líneas base de las presiones humanas en las AP, por lo que potencialmente han sobrestimado o subestimado su efectividad. Desarrollamos un marco de trabajo que considera las líneas base de presión humana y los cambios de las presiones humanas con el tiempo y evaluamos a la efectividad de 338 AP en China entre 2010 y 2020. Consideramos el estado inicial de la presión humana en las AP como la línea base y analizamos los cambios en el índice de presión humana (IPH) bajo diferentes líneas base. Utilizamos modelos de bosque aleatorio para identificar las medidas de gestión que más aumentaron la efectividad de la resistencia a las presiones humanas en las AP con líneas base diferentes. Finalmente, analizamos con diferentes líneas base las relaciones entre los cambios en el IPH y los cambios en los ecosistemas naturales de las AP. De las AP con líneas base de IPH bajas, medianas y altas, 76.92% (n=150), 11.11% (n=12) y 22.86% (n=8), respectivamente, mostraron efectos positivos de resistencia a las presiones humanas. En general, si ignoramos las líneas base de las presiones humanas, se subestiman los efectos positivos de las AP de una u otra manera, especialmente aquellas con poca presión humana al inicio. En el caso de las AP que al inicio tienen diferentes presiones humanas, se deben tomar diferentes medidas de gestión para mejorar la efectividad y reducir las amenazas a los ecosistemas naturales. Creemos que nuestro marco de trabajo sirve para evaluar la efectividad mundial de las AP y recomendamos que se incluya en la Estrategia Post-2020 de la Convención sobre la Diversidad Biológica. Mejoría de la Efectividad de un Área Protegida al Considerar Diferentes Líneas Base de Presión Humana.

Which management measures lead to better performance of China's protected areas in reducing forest loss?

Protected areas (PAs) are considered essential for biodiversity conservation, and concerns about the effectiveness of PAs in terms of reducing deforestation are growing. However, few studies have identified the management measures that best reduce deforestation within existing PAs. Here, we carried out 10-year (from 2007 to 2016) field surveys and obtained a database of 10 management measures of 227 PAs mainly protecting forest ecosystems in China. We examined the contributions of the above 10 management measures in relation to the effectiveness of 227 PAs in reducing deforestation. Our results indicated that 52.68% of PAs had positive effects related to reducing deforestation (E > 0, P < 0.05), while 16.52% of PAs had negative effects (E < 0, P < 0.05). The most important management measures affecting the effectiveness of PAs in reducing deforestation were funding, infrastructure, and scientific research and monitoring. Thus, our study provides evidence indicating that improved funding and scientific research benefit the effectiveness of PAs. The findings have global implications for guiding PAs to take explicit measures to improve the outcomes of biodiversity conservation.

Phenological changes in herbaceous plants in China's grasslands and their responses to climate change: a meta-analysis.

Plant phenological events are sensitive indicators of climate change, and their change could markedly affect the structure and function of ecosystems. Previous studies have revealed the spatiotemporal variations in the phenological events of woody plants. However, limited studies have focused on the phenophases of herbaceous plants. In this study, by using a meta-analysis method, we extracted information about the phenological changes in herbaceous plants in China's grasslands from existing studies (including the period, station, species, phenophases, phenological trends, and climatic determinants) and analyzed the patterns manifested in the dataset. The results showed that the spring phenophases (e.g., first leaf date and first flowering date) of the herbaceous plants mainly advanced over the past 30 years, but a large difference existed across grassland types. The spring phenophases of forages (species from the Cyperaceae, Gramineae, and Leguminosae families) became earlier in the desert steppe and alpine steppe but showed no apparent trends in the alpine meadow and even became later in the meadow steppe and typical steppe. In most cases, the increase in spring temperatures and precipitation promoted the greening up of herbaceous plants, while sunshine duration was positively correlated with the green-up date of herbaceous plants. For the autumn phenophases, the proportions of the earlier and later trends were very close, but the trends varied among the grassland types. The leaf coloring dates of the forages were delayed in the meadow steppe and alpine steppe but showed no distinct pattern in the typical steppe or alpine meadow and even became earlier in the desert steppe. In most cases, the increase in growing season temperature led to an earlier leaf coloring date of the herbaceous plants, but the increase in the preseason precipitation delayed the leaf coloring date. Our results suggested that the phenophases of herbaceous plants have complicated responses to multiple environmental factors, which makes predicting future phenological changes difficult.

Biodiversity conservation in China: A review of recent studies and practices.

Biodiversity conservation plays an important role in the sustainable development of human society. China had made significant progress in biodiversity conservation studies and practices. This paper reviews major achievements in China in the past decades, especially those since 2010. In terms of the science behind biodiversity conservation, Chinese scholars have made significant contributions to priority research subjects, including mechanisms for maintaining biological communities and the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Simultaneously, biodiversity conservation and management systems specific to China have been basically established. The Chinese Government and researchers have undertaken a number of investigations, scientific studies, and monitoring, and have established relevant databases. With efforts taken to protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystems, the concept of biodiversity has gradually become popular in China. This review is an attempt to share with the world the learning from China's progress towards becoming an ecological civilization and highlights that the efforts towards biodiversity conservation need to be organically integrated with sustainable development goals.

Magnetic nanoferromanganese oxides modified biochar derived from pine sawdust for adsorption of tetracycline hydrochloride.

In this study, a new type of composite material, namely modified biochar (MBC), was synthesized by loading the magnetic ferromanganese oxide nanoparticles on pine biochar. BET, SEM, and FTIR were employed to analyze the surface properties and pore structures of MBC. In addition, XRD was adopted to examine the crystal structure of MBC. Characterization results showed that the surface area and porosity of MBC have been greatly improved, and the functional groups have been introduced by ferromanganese oxides. Adsorption experiments of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) including kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics as well as the influence of pH, salt ion strength, and the environmental risk of MBC, were evaluated. The results revealed that the experimental data conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich isotherm model. In the adsorption process, MBC showed excellent adsorption ability (maximum capacity for TC 100.74 mg g-1) to BC (33.76 mg g-1). In isotherm experiments, the maximum adsorption capacity of TC by MBC reached 177.71 mg g-1. Toxicity studies showed that the MBC had no harm to the environment. To conclude, MBC has great potential for applications in removing TC from water.

Integrating priority areas and ecological corridors into national network for conservation planning in China.

Considering that urban expansion and increase of human activities represent important threats to biodiversity and ecological processes in short and long term, developing protected area (PA) network with high connectivity is considered as a valuable conservation strategy. However, conservation planning associated with the large-scale network in China involves important information loopholes about the land cover and landscape connectivity. In this paper, we made an integrative analysis for the identification of conservation priority areas and least-cost ecological corridors (ECs) in order to promote a more representative, connected and efficient ecological PA network for this country. First, we used Zonation, a spatial prioritization software, to achieve a hierarchical mask and selected the top priority conservation areas. Second, we identified optimal linkages between two patches as corridors based on least-cost path algorithm. Finally, we proposed a new framework of China's PA network composed of conservation priority and ECs in consideration of high connectivity between areas. We observed that priority areas identified here cover 12.9% of the region, distributed mainly in mountainous and plateau areas, and only reflect a spatial mismatch of 19% with the current China's nature reserves locations. From the perspective of conservation, our result provide the need to consider new PA categories, specially located in the south (e.g., the middle-lower Yangtze River area, Nanling and Min-Zhe-Gan Mountains) and north regions (e.g., Changbai Mountains), in order to construct an optimal and connected national network in China. This information allows us better opportunities to identify the relative high-quality patches and draft the best conservation plan for the China's biodiversity in the long-term run.

Atmospheric deposition of mercury and cadmium impacts on topsoil in a typical coal mine city, Lianyuan, China.

Mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) in the atmosphere from coal combustion emissions play an important role in soil pollution. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to quantitatively evaluate the atmospheric Hg and Cd deposition and to determine the influence of atmospheric deposition on Hg and Cd contents in surface soil in a typical coal mine city. Atmospheric deposition samples were collected from May 2015 to May 2016 at 17 sites located in industrial, agricultural and forest areas in the Lianyuan city. Atmospheric Hg and Cd deposition fluxes in the different land use types showed high variability. Curvilinear regression analysis suggested that the atmospheric Hg deposition fluxes were positively related with Hg contents in soils (R2 = 0.86359, P < 0.001). In addition, atmospheric Cd deposition fluxes were also positively correlated with Cd contents in soils when the site LY02, LY04 and LY05 (all belong to agricultural land) were not included in the fitting (R2 = 0.82458, P < 0.001). When they were included, there was no significant relationship between them (R2 = 0.2039, P = 0.05). The accumulation of Hg and Cd concentration in topsoil due to the influence of atmospheric deposition will increase rapidly in the next 30 years, and the mean value of the increment will reach 2.6007 and 33.344 mg kg-1. After 30 years, the Hg and Cd concentration will increase slowly. The present study advocates that much attention should be paid to the potential ecological hazards in soil resulting from the atmospheric Hg and Cd deposition.

Spatial distribution and source identification of heavy metals in surface soils in a typical coal mine city, Lianyuan, China.

In this study, we investigated the pollution degree and spatial distribution of heavy metals and determined their sources in topsoil in a typical coal mine city, Lianyuan, Hunan Province, China. We collected 6078 soil surface samples in different land use types. And the concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sb, As, Mo, V, Mn, Fe and Cr were measured. The average contents of all heavy metals were lower than their corresponding Grade II values of Chinese Soil Quality Standard with the exception of Hg. However, average contents of twelve heavy metals, except for Mn, exceeded their background level in soils in Hunan Province. Based on one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the contents of Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Hg, Mo and V were related to the anthropogenic source and there were statistically significant differences in their concentrations among different land use patterns. The spatial variation of heavy metal was visualized by GIS. The PMF model was used to ascertain contamination sources of twelve heavy metals and apportion their source contributions in Lianyuan soils. The results showed that the source contributions of the natural source, atmospheric deposition, industrial activities and agricultural activities accounted for 33.6%, 26.05%, 23.44% and 16.91%, respectively.