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Han J, Han F, He B, Ma X, Wang T. Spatiotemporal changes and driving factors of alpine land cover in Tianshan world natural heritage sites. Sci Rep 2024; 14:20895. [PMID: 39245664 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-71788-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 08/30/2024] [Indexed: 09/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Alpine natural heritage sites hold significant value due to their unique global resources. Studying land cover changes in these areas is crucial for maintaining and preserving multiple their values. This study takes Kalajun-Kuerdening, one of the components of Xinjiang Tianshan World Natural Heritage Site, as an example to analyze land cover changes and their driving factors in alpine heritage sites. Highlights include: (1) Between 1994 and 2023, Forest and Grassland increased by 55.96 km2 and 18.16 km2, with notable forest growth from 2007 to 2017. Trends in Forest changes align with forest protection policies, and a substantial amount of Bareland converted to Grassland indicates an increase in vegetation cover. (2) Elevation, precipitation, temperature, and evapotranspiration are key drivers of land cover changes, as validated by Random Forest algorithm and Geodetector model. (3) Favorable conditions for Grassland to Forest transition include annual precipitation between 275 and 375 mm, annual temperature between -2 and 3 °C, annual evapotranspiration between 580 and 750 mm, elevation between 1800 and 2600 m, and aspect between 0 to 110° and 220 to 259.9°. Continuous monitoring of land cover changes and their driving factors in mountain heritage sites contributes to the protection of the ecological environment and provides data and information support for addressing climate change, resource management, and policy making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiali Han
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Fang Han
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
| | - Baoshi He
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xuankai Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Tian Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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Simkins AT, Donald PF, Beresford AE, Butchart SHM, Fa JE, Fernández-Llamazares AO, Garnett ST, Buchanan GM. Rates of tree cover loss in key biodiversity areas on Indigenous Peoples' lands. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2024; 38:e14195. [PMID: 37811727 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Indigenous Peoples' lands (IPL) cover at least 38 million km2 (28.1%) of Earth's terrestrial surface. These lands can be important for biodiversity conservation. Around 20.7% of IPL intersect areas protected by government (PAs). Many sites of importance for biodiversity within IPL could make a substantial but hitherto unquantified contribution to global site-based conservation targets. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) represent the largest global network of systematically identified sites of high importance for biodiversity. We assessed the effectiveness of IPL in slowing biodiversity loss inside and outside PAs by quantifying tree cover loss from 2000 to 2019 in KBAs at international and national levels and comparing it with losses at equivalent sites outside mapped IPL. Based on a matched sample of 1-km2 cells in KBAs inside and outside mapped IPL, tree cover loss in KBAs outside PAs was lower inside IPL than outside IPL. By contrast, tree cover loss in KBAs inside PAs was lower outside IPL than inside IPL (although the difference was far smaller). National rates of tree cover loss in KBAs varied greatly in relation to their IPL and PA status. In one half of the 44 countries we examined individually, there was no significant difference in the rate of tree cover loss in KBAs inside and outside mapped IPL. The reasons for this intercountry variation could illuminate the importance of IPL in meeting the Convention on Biological Diversity's ambition of conserving 30% of land by 2030. Critical to this will be coordinated action by governments to strengthen and enforce Indigenous Peoples' rights, secure their collective systems of tenure and governance, and recognize their aspirations for their lands and futures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley Thomas Simkins
- BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Paul F Donald
- BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Stuart H M Butchart
- BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Julia E Fa
- Department of Natural Sciences, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), CIFOR Headquarters, Bogor, Indonesia
| | | | - Stephen T Garnett
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, Northern Territory, Australia
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Jung M, Boucher TM, Wood SA, Folberth C, Wironen M, Thornton P, Bossio D, Obersteiner M. A global clustering of terrestrial food production systems. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0296846. [PMID: 38354163 PMCID: PMC10866528 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Food production is at the heart of global sustainability challenges, with unsustainable practices being a major driver of biodiversity loss, emissions and land degradation. The concept of foodscapes, defined as the characteristics of food production along biophysical and socio-economic gradients, could be a way addressing those challenges. By identifying homologues foodscapes classes possible interventions and leverage points for more sustainable agriculture could be identified. Here we provide a globally consistent approximation of the world's foodscape classes. We integrate global data on biophysical and socio-economic factors to identify a minimum set of emergent clusters and evaluate their characteristics, vulnerabilities and risks with regards to global change factors. Overall, we find food production globally to be highly concentrated in a few areas. Worryingly, we find particularly intensively cultivated or irrigated foodscape classes to be under considerable climatic and degradation risks. Our work can serve as baseline for global-scale zoning and gap analyses, while also revealing homologous areas for possible agricultural interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Jung
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
| | | | - Stephen A. Wood
- The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America
- Yale School of the Environment, New Haven, United States of America
| | - Christian Folberth
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Michael Wironen
- The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Philip Thornton
- Clim-Eat, c/o Netherlands Food Partnership, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Deborah Bossio
- The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Michael Obersteiner
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
- Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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