Establishment of nature reserves in administrative regions of mainland China

The development of ecological civilization in China based on the economic-social-natural complex system

China is making great efforts to build an ecological civilization. To reveal the effectiveness and spatial characteristics of the ecological civilization development in China, we constructed an Ecological Civilization Evaluation Index (ECI) based on the economic-social-natural complex system. We evaluated the development level of the ecological civilization in China from 2004 to 2020 and discussed the coupling and coordination relationship between subsystems. We found that the ecological civilization of China has achieved remarkable results. The relationship among the three subsystems has been improved to some extent, but the high-quality development of the economic system still requires effort. The development level of the ecological civilization in China presents spatial heterogeneity. From east to west, 30 provinces can be classified into four different types of development. On the whole, the development of China's ecological civilization has provided experiences for the world.

Assessment of fluctuations in wetland ecosystem areas resulting from anthropogenic activities in the Dong Rui commune, Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam

Wetlands are one of the most important ecosystems as habitats for many animal and plant species and are crucial for disaster mitigation, improving environmental quality, storing carbon, and responding to climate change. However, these sensitive ecosystems have been heavily affected by anthropogenic activities, including aquaculture. In this study, we used multitemporal satellite imagery integrated with a verified field survey method to map the coverage of the wetland ecosystem in the Dong Rui commune, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, five times for four periods from 1975 to 2022, with high accuracy (overall accuracy = 92.3%, Kappa = 0.91). The results showed that from 1975 to 2000, the area of mangrove forests declined sharply (by nearly 2,000 ha), mainly due to policies of development and conversion of land use. From 2000 to 2022, the mangrove forest area was gradually restored, while the area under aquaculture shrank. Anthropogenic impacts, especially the effects of local economic development, and conservation and developmental policies, are the main causes of continuous change in each short period. Our study demonstrates satellite imagery as an effective tool for assessing wetland ecosystem area fluctuations and assessing the extent of human impacts on this natural ecosystem. Our findings can serve as a basis for planning, conservation strategies, and sustainable development of wetland ecosystems and for improving the associated livelihoods of the communities.

Climate Change May Pose Additional Threats to the Endangered Endemic Species Encalypta buxbaumioidea in China

Rare and endangered plant species (REPs) are important in biodiversity conservation, and some REPs with narrow habitats are facing serious challenges from climate change. Encalypta buxbaumioidea T. Cao, C, Gao & X, L. Bai is an endangered bryophyte species that is endemic to China. To explore the consequences of climate change on the geographic distribution of this endangered species, we used maximum entropy to predict the potential distribution of this species in China under current and three future scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5) of two time periods (2050 and 2070) in China and assessed its conservation gaps. Twelve species occurrence sites and nine environmental variables were used in the modeling process. The results show that E. buxbaumioidea distribution is affected mainly by the annual mean temperature, isothermality, precipitation of the coldest quarter, and NDVI. According to species response curves, this species preferred habitats with annual mean temperature from −3 to 6 °C, precipitation of the coldest quarter from 14 to 77 mm, isothermality of more than 70%, and NDVI in the second quarter from 0.15 to 0.68. Currently, the most suitable habitat for this species is mainly distributed in the Qinghai–Tibet plateau, which is about 1.97 × 105 km2. The range would sharply reduce to 0.13–0.56% under future climate change. Nature reserves overlap with only 7.32% of the current distribution and would cover a much less portion of the area occupied by the species in the future scenarios, which means the current protected areas network is insufficient. Our results show that endangered bryophyte species are susceptible to environmental stress, especially climate change; therefore, the habitats of bryophytes should be taken into account when it comes to setting up protected areas.

Governance of China's Potatso National Park Influenced by Local Community Participation

Conservationists recognize that protected areas (PAs) have limited prospects without the involvement and support of local people. As a governance strategy, community participation is to implement the coordinated development of communities and PAs. However, the effects of community participation on national park governance have rarely been tested. Therefore, the present study used a mixed-method approach that is derived from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) green list of protected and conserved areas (PCA) conservation outcomes framework, calibrated to the indigenous peoples and local communities' (IPLCs) self-assessments about the outcomes of community participation on national park governance to explore the community participation effects. Our results show that management efficiency controls governance outcomes. Potatso National Park's transformation from the tourism development model to national park is still ongoing, and there exists quite a few problems. We conclude that a successful national park governance as envisaged by the "ecological civilization" paradigm requires a balance of government regulation, participation of various stakeholders in decision-making and discussion, compensation, as well as sustainable access to environmental resources by the affected populations.

Relative contributions of natural and anthropogenic factors to the distribution patterns of nature reserves in mainland China

Nature reserves (NRs) are designated as a result of the ecosystem, species, economy, population, and land use coordination. However, the extent to which these factors influence the geographical pattern of NRs is unclear. Here, 11 indices (seven natural and four anthropogenic) were examined to identify these relationships in over 2600 terrestrial NRs in mainland China at the provincial level. Correlation analysis between natural and anthropogenic factors and NRs showed that desert and grassland had a positive correlation with NR coverage and area, and a negative correlation with NR density. This result was reversed in the correlation analysis between forest wetland coverage, endangered species, wildlife and NR coverage, area, and density. Similar results were found in the correlation analysis of all anthropogenic factors (population density, agricultural land, roads, and per capita GDP) with the coverage, area, and density of NRs. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that three significant natural indicators (desert ecosystems, grasslands ecosystems, and forested and wetlands ecosystems) could explain 64.2 % of the pattern of NRs. The largest contributor was desert coverage, explaining 48.3 % (P = 0.002) of all indicators, followed by grassland coverage, explaining 8.6 % (P = 0.012), and forest and wetland coverage, explaining 7.3 % (P = 0.008). Human activities were significantly positively correlated with forest and wetland coverage, flora, and fauna, and negatively correlated with desert and grassland coverage. Compared with sand and grassland in the western region, the forest wetlands and wildlife in the eastern and central provinces were under greater pressure from anthropogenic activities. Therefore, natural factors determine the general layout of NRs, while the influence of anthropogenic activities makes the distribution of NRs patchy. When establishing national parks, governments must design strategies to coordinate areas with high biodiversity and high levels of human activity.

Grassland Conservation Effectiveness of National Nature Reserves in Northern China

Grasslands are crucial ecosystem biomes for breeding livestock and combatting climate change. By 2018, the national nature reserves (NNRs) in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) had constituted 8.55% of the land area. However, there is still a knowledge gap about their effectiveness in grasslands. Based on a multiyear time series of the growing season composite from 2000 to 2020, we proposed an effectiveness score to assess the effectiveness of the NNRs, using the 250 m MOD13Q1 NDVI data with Theil–Sen and Mann–Kendall trend analysis methods. We found the following: 22 of 30 NNRs were deemed effective in protecting the Inner Mongolian grasslands. The NNRs increased pixels with a sustainable trend 19.26% and 20.55% higher than the unprotected areas and the IMAR, respectively. The pixels with a CVNDVI < 0.1 (i.e., NDVI coefficient of variation) in the NNRs increased >35.22% more than those in the unprotected areas and the IMAR. The NDVI changes within the NNRs showed that 63.64% of NNRs had a more significant trend of greening than before the change point, which suggests a general greening in NNRs. We also found that the NNRs achieved heterogeneous effectiveness scores across protection types. Forest ecology protection and wildlife animal protection types are the most efficient, whereas wildlife vegetation protection is the least effective type. This study enriches the understanding of grassland conservation and sheds light on the future direction of the sustainable management of NNRs.

Remote Sensing Based Conservation Effectiveness Evaluation of Mangrove Reserves in China

In recent decades, the mangrove area in China has changed dramatically, and governments have established multiple mangrove protected areas at various levels. However, we know little about the effectiveness of conservation on mangroves on a national scale. In this study, we constructed an evaluation index system for landscape health and proposed a landscape health composite index (LHCI) to characterize the landscape health status of mangroves. Based on the distribution dataset of mangrove forests mangrove in the recent 40 years, we evaluated the conservation effectiveness of mangrove reserves in China from a perspective of landscape health. The dynamics of mangrove areas show that the mangrove area in 83% of the reserves increased after the establishment of reserves. Additionally, the increase in mangrove area in provincial-level, municipal-level, and county-level reserves was higher than that in national-level reserves, and the most significant increase in mangrove area was in Guangxi, followed by Fujian and Hong Kong. The evaluation results show that mangrove reserves have achieved outstanding conservation effectiveness in China, with 43% of the reserves significantly improving the landscape health status of mangroves and 35% of the reserves maintaining good condition. The reserves in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian Provinces showed more significant protective effects. Specifically, the most effective reserves protecting mangroves were the Qi’ao Island reserve, Maowei Gulf reserve, and Enping reserve. This study may provide references for formulating a rapid evaluation method of conservation effectiveness based on remote sensing and promote the scientific management of protected areas and the ecological restoration of mangroves in China.

Plant micro-reserves in Valencia (E. Spain): A model to preserve threatened flora in China?

The Valencian Community (eastern Spain) was the pioneer territory establishing plant micro-reserves (PMRs). Its model to protect small sites for endemic and endangered plants has been exported to several countries around the globe. This paper highlights 1) the role of PMRs to complement the protection provided by large protected areas, 2) how the establishment of PMRs fosters the increase of floristic knowledge, and 3) the fact that continuous monitoring of PMRs also yields new records of endangered species found within the same PMRs. The flexibility of the PMR approach -it can be adapted to other national and regional legislations- allows its transfer to other rich-biodiversity regions and countries such as China.

Using environmental DNA to assess population-wide spatiotemporal reserve use

Scientists increasingly rely on protected areas to assist in biodiversity conservation, yet the efficacy of these areas is rarely systematically assessed, often because of underfunding. Still, adaptive management strategies to maximize conservation success often rely on understanding the temporal and spatial dynamism of populations therein. Examination of environmental DNA (eDNA) is a time and cost-effective way to monitor species' distribution, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) provides information on organismal abundance. To date, however, such techniques remain underused for population assessments in protected areas. We determined eDNA concentration of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) to describe its occurrence, range, and use of the Tian e-Zhou National Nature Reserve in Hubei, China, across seasons and hydrological depths. Despite the observation that total eDNA concentrations were highest in surface waters in summer, finless porpoise eDNA concentrations were significantly higher in deeper waters than in surface waters in summer. During the breeding season (spring), eDNA signals were site specific and restricted to the core area of the reserve. However, postbreeding eDNA concentrations were widespread across the reserve, encompassing sites previously thought to be unfrequented by the species. Our results suggest spatiotemporal idiosyncrasies in site, depth, and seasonal use of the reserve and a propensity for postbreeding population dispersal. With eDNA and qPCR we were able to assess an entire population's use of a protected area. Illuminating nuances in habitat use via eDNA could be valuable to set pragmatic conservation goals for this, and other, species.