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Avian influenza is a global zoonotic disease influencing bird conservation and public health. Climate and land-cover changes can significantly impact influenza-susceptible species' distribution, thereby influencing avian influenza outbreaks. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) plays a crucial role in avian influenza virus transmission and is susceptible to environmental changes. Here, we focused on two influenza-susceptible birds, the bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) and brown-headed gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus), to predict their distribution on the QTP under climate and land-cover change scenarios. We integrated satellite tracking, field surveys, and publicly available datasets to collect species occurrence. Then, we utilized Biomod models to predict bird distribution under current and future scenarios. Our results indicated that the distance to water bodies (DW) and the mean temperature of the wettest quarter (BIO 8) significantly influenced the distribution of bar-headed geese and brown-headed gulls. The highly suitable distributions of both species are concentrated in the northeastern QTP and the Changtang Plateau, with only the Qaidam Basin showing a decrease in the future. Their future distribution has roughly doubled, with expansions toward western and higher elevations. We highlighted the influence of climate and land cover changes on bird distribution, and identified key areas of bird distribution, which are also critical areas for future avian influenza monitoring and prevention.

Extrinsic and endocrine factors are important mechanisms influencing the timing of spring bird migration. Whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus), including 122 adults and subadults over one year old and 98 juveniles under one year old, were satellite tracked to obtain detailed locational data at a wintering ground from 2015 to 2020. We assessed the effects of temperature, wind, photoperiod, available food resources, and sex hormones on age-related timing of spring migration. Our results suggested that both photoperiod and temperature had the greatest impacts on the timing of spring migration of adults, subadults and juveniles when food resources and wind conditions were favourable. With increasing photoperiod and temperature, the peak sex hormone concentrations of adults and subadults occurred one month earlier than that of juveniles, which corresponded to the peak of their departure time. Our study showed the synergistic impact of photoperiod and temperature and their variation among adults, subadults and juveniles on the initiation of spring migration. Compared with juveniles, adults and subadults with spring migration experience and reproductive needs could adjust their behaviours more quickly before departure based on changes in environmental conditions.

The distribution and migration routes of the most studied swan species, mute swans (Cygnus olor), in East Asia are largely unknown because most of those studies were conducted in Europe and North America. In 2016 and from 2021 to 2022, we deployed satellite tracking devices on 22 and 10 mute swans wintering at the Ili River, Xinjiang of Western China, and summering at Ulansuhai Lake, Inner Mongolia of Eastern China, to determine their migration routes. Eight environmental factors, namely, human population density, the shortest distance to the nearest transportation route, elevation, aspect, slope, air temperature, wind speed and gross primary productivity (GPP), were used to analyse the environmental differences at the stopover sites of swan populations between Eastern and Western China. Ebinur and Ulungur Lakes in Xinjiang of Western China and Kapchagay Reservoir and Sasykkol and Alakol Lakes in Eastern Kazakhstan were the summering sites for the Western Chinese swan population; for the Eastern Chinese swan population, in addition to the Yellow River Delta being identified as a wintering site, the Hongze Lake Region of Jiangsu and Danaoban Lake of Inner Mongolia in China were also identified for the first time as wintering and summering sites, respectively. We also found that human population density and GPP were crucial determinants of stopover duration in the Eastern and Western Chinese swan populations both in spring and in autumn. Our findings provide basic data for future research on mute swans in East Asia and will contribute to conservation action plan development through current conservation status evaluations of important summering, wintering and stopover sites along the migration routes of mute swans.

Habitat fragmentation poses a considerable threat to global biodiversity loss, making the study of landscape connectivity and ecological networks essential in an ever-changing environment. Of particular importance is the assessment of network dynamics, as it can provide invaluable specific insights for conservation and management strategies. This research proposes a framework to assess variations in ecological networks and identify conservation priorities. In this framework, we applied multi-methods to collect species occurrence and create resistance surfaces based on habitat suitability from the MaxEnt model. By using diverse approaches such as the least-cost model, circuit model, and centrality mapper, we identified ecological corridors between core areas and determined their centrality. Furthermore, we employed multi-level metrics to measure changes within ecological networks. Additionally, we introduced two indices to evaluate human disturbance faced by core habitats. We proposed a novel method that considers core habitats’ centrality and human disturbance to identify conservation priorities. Specifically, using the Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) as a case species, we examined the variations in ecological network and human disturbance across 2000–2020 in Western Yunnan, China. Our study revealed overall improvement with local losses in the availability and connectivity of black bear habitats in Western Yunnan from 2000 to 2020. However, the core habitats have been facing an escalating human disturbance. Our approach provides a framework for assessing dynamic ecological networks that can be applied to diverse species, landscapes, and scenarios. Furthermore, this approach helps guide conservation and management to promote human-wildlife coexistence in a changing environment.

Human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) are major conservation concerns that threaten both wildlife and rural livelihoods, and can vary spatially and temporally in diverse environments. A better understanding of HWC enhances mitigation strategies and promotes human-wildlife coexistence. We gathered HWC incidents from 2012 to 2021 in Longyang District, Yunnan Province, China, to assess their spatial-temporal patterns and determinants. We found that HWC were distributed unevenly, with more occurring near the protected area and away from densely populated areas. Poisson regression indicated that forests and croplands were the key factors influencing the spatial patterns of HWC for Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), but shrubs for rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Furthermore, the HWC occurrences fluctuated across time, peaking in August-October. These conflicts intensified between 2012 and 2021, mainly involving wild boars (Sus scrofa) and rhesus monkeys, while HWC involving Asiatic black bears declined slightly. We suggest a multi-faceted strategy with compensation, prevention, and conservation awareness to mitigate HWC in this region.

Mesocarnivores play important roles in shaping the ecosystems they inhabit, but are often overlooked in comparison to larger-bodied apex predators. Sympatric mesocarnivore species can minimise interspecific competition by spatial avoidance or by altering temporal activity to reduce encounter rates. Here, we used camera traps to investigate the spatial and temporal co-occurrence of mesocarnivores in the Qinling Mountains of China. We obtained 1312 independent detections of target mesocarnivore species with an effort of 93,606 camera-trap days from April 2014 to October 2017. Our results showed that: (1) the relative activity indices (RAI) differed among mesocarnivores species, with the RAI of hog badger being significantly higher than that of other species; (2) the probability of occupancy varied among species, with yellow-throated marten (ᴪ = 0.338) having the highest occupancy estimates; overall, occupancy by yellow-throated marten correlated positively with vegetation type (β = 0.31 ± 0.13); (3) Asiatic golden cat, Siberian weasel and ferret badger tended to segregate themselves spatially, while spatial overlap indices of any two given pairs of leopard cat, masked palm civet, hog badger and yellow-throated marten were relatively high; (4) leopard cat was nocturnal and crepuscular, while masked palm civet and ferret badger were primarily nocturnal, and yellow-throated marten was diurnal and crepuscular. Hog badger had no clear daily pattern; (5) all species except the yellow-throated marten showed moderate to high temporal overlap. Our results show that spatial and temporal segregation of mesocarnivores may serve as the mechanism to reduce competition and facilitate coexistence.

Nature reserves in China are undergoing adjustments in functional zoning. Currently, one urgent problem is determining how to delineate core conservation zones more scientifically and rationally. This case study focused on the Houhe National Nature Reserve, Wufeng County, Hubei Province, China, and was based on the distribution data of seven species (Moschus berezovskii, Elaphodus cephalophus, Muntiacus reevesi, Naemorhedus griseus, Capricornis sumatraensis, Prionailurus bengalensis, and Ursus thibetanus), vegetation types, meteorological factors, human disturbance, terrain, and hydrological variables. Species distributions were predicted through MaxEnt modeling, and MARXAN software was used for systematic conservation planning. The results showed that (1) for the MaxEnt model simulations of one critically endangered (CR) species and six vulnerable (VU) species in Houhe National Nature Reserve, the area under curve (AUC) values of seven species were all greater than 0.8, of which the AUC of M. berezovskii was 0.961, indicating a high modeling accuracy; (2) based on the analysis of the MaxEnt model, MARXAN was used to delineate the core conservation zone of Houhe National Nature Reserve. When the boundary length modifier was set as 100 and planning units as hexagons with a boundary length of 200 m, the priority conservation areas had the fewest fragments. Thus, using these parameters for conservation planning is more reasonable; and (3) among the four proposals obtained from the MARXAN analysis that were based on different conservation targets, those with a conservation target of 80% for CR species and 60% for VU species had the largest priority conservation areas. According to the principles of maintaining ecosystem integrity and habitat connectivity of species and ensuring consistent conservation management, we propose a new functional zoning plan for Houhe National Nature Reserve. In this plan, the core conservation zone will have an area of 5947.76 ha, which will be greater than the sum of the areas of the current buffer and core zones, whereas the area of the general control zone will be 4395.64 ha.

Climate change has been regarded as one of the major threats to endangered species, and offers a wide variety of challenges to current conservation strategies. Assessing species’ vulnerability to climate change is a critical initial step for improving in-situ conservation planning. In this study, we used MaxEnt to predict the impacts of climate change on habitat suitability for wild camel (Camelus ferus) in the Kumtag Desert both during the current period and projected into the 2050 s. Our results showed that (i) suitable habitat for wild camel was predicted to decrease by 43.81% by the 2050 s; (ii) currently established nature reserves protected 57.86% of currently suitable habitat; (iii) 44.15% of currently suitable habitat was predicted to be vulnerable to future climate change, with a minor increase in newly suitable habitat by the 2050 s; (iv) climate refuge areas amounted to 21,601 km2 and were mainly located in the core area of the desert. Given these results, we propose conservation implications to mitigate the impacts of climate change on wild camel, including intergrating the suitable habitat into the planning of a proposed national park, constructing habitat corridors, restoring water sources, and implementing long-term monitoring.

Human-carnivore conflict (HCC) has become a major concern for both the management of protected areas and local community development worldwide. The occurrence and intervention of HCCs has been originated in duel context of the environment and social economy. In the Sanjiangyuan region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, human-bear conflict (HBC) has emerged as a severe problem. Damages caused by Tibetan brown bears (Ursus arctos pruinosus) seriously threaten the livelihood and safety of local herders, decreasing community tolerance for brown bear conservation. A systematic field survey of HBC occurrences was undertaken in Zhiduo county of the Sanjiangyuan region in summer 2019. We surveyed 312 families via semi-structured interviews to understand the factors that contributed towards the likelihood of bear damage, representative conflict types, seasonal variation in damage occurrence, and mitigation measures deployed. The results showed that incidents of bear damage in the Sanjiangyuan region have elevated as a consequence of changes in the nomadic lifestyle of local herders. It is in part connected with simultaneous recovery of bear numbers following the conservation measures applied. Despite the widespread incidence of HBCs, with almost all respondents (n = 288, 92.31%) reporting occurrences of bear damage, most home damages were not compensated, and programs for such were lacking. Through the survey of the expected compensation types of local respondents, it was concluded that HBCs need to be mediated and resolved by integrated compensation schemes, physical and chemical prevention measures, and community development plans. Particularly, the local government should pay more attention to reducing family dependence on animal husbandry and transforming livelihood strategies into replaceable economic practices unrelated to grazing. These include things like ecological public welfare jobs and brown bear viewing ecotourism.

To examine soil microbial functional gene diversity and causative factors in tropical rainforests, we used a microarray-based metagenomic tool named GeoChip 5.0 to profile it. We found that high microbial functional gene diversity and different soil microbial metabolic potential for biogeochemical processes were considered to exist in tropical rainforest. Soil available nitrogen was the most associated with soil microbial functional gene structure. Here, we mainly describe the experiment design, the data processing, and soil biogeochemical analyses attached to the study in details, which could be published on BMC microbiology Journal in 2015, whose raw data have been deposited in NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (accession number GSE69171).