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National parks are critical components of protected areas and are drawing increased global attention. Clear and rational boundaries may provide a scientific foundation for the sustainable protection and management of these areas. However, criteria for feasible national park delimitation and techniques for resolving conflicts between socioeconomic development and environmental protection are still poorly defined, particularly regarding integrity during park establishment. Consequently, a systematic analytical framework is essential for advancing research and practice. This study developed a systematic framework to determine the spatial boundaries, using the Kunlun Mountain region in China as a case for empirical analysis. Key issues in national park development—ecology and management—were systematically integrated into this framework. Most importantly, spatial connectivity, a critical concern in national park planning, was thoroughly considered for improving integrity optimization, an aspect often overlooked in previous delimitation studies. The results demonstrated that our framework effectively identified potential national park boundaries, achieving a balance between development and conservation. Furthermore, core protected and general control areas were delineated to support differentiated management approaches. This framework offers a scientific foundation for policymakers and managers to pursue sustainable protection and management of national parks.

While achieving ecological protection, the construction of national park inevitably has an impact on livelihood capital of original residents. Determining livelihood impact of national parks is essential for harmonizing ecological protection and livelihood development. In this study, we have conducted a field survey of 247 households in bordering villages of Qilian Mountain National Park (QMNP). We used difference-in-difference model (with fixed effect and with score propensity matching) to evaluate the net impact of the pilot construction of QMNP on livelihood capital of original residents. The results showed that the pilot construction of QMNP has no significant impact on the total livelihood capital of original residents. Specifically, the impact of the pilot construction of QMNP on natural capital and physical capital was negative. Households inside the pilot area experienced more significant reductions in grassland area, arable area and the scale of large livestock production. At the same time, we also observed a significant increase in social capital. This should be the result of increasing the diversity of livelihoods or changing livelihood strategies. The ecological compensation system close to the needs of residents and the rational development of economic activities in the general control area will help to achieve the balance between ecological protection and livelihood development in QMNP. Our study results can provide a reference for evaluating the effects of national park construction and improving policy design.

In the context of improving living standards, the management of people’s mental health is gaining increasing attention. Despite the proven significance of urban green space in stress alleviation and mental well-being, research on the link among perception-based landscape elements, perception-based ecosystem services and users’ happiness in national parks remains further studied. This study focused on Beijing, one of the world’s most densely populated cities, to study factors influencing happiness among park users for management. Based on cognitive appraisal theory, this study proposed the indicator framework for park management and used the structural equation model to explore how perception-based landscape elements and perception-based ecosystem services directly or indirectly affect the well-being of national park users. The results showed that the happiness of park users was relatively high (4.3 out of 5). Landscape elements such as surfacing (0.632), resting seats (0.567), water bodies (0.555), and vegetation (0.549), as well as ecosystem services such as inspiration (0.691), rest (0.649), and cool climate (0.649), had a stronger association with happiness. The study reveals that landscape elements in the national parks directly and indirectly affect users’ happiness, including directly affecting their happiness and indirectly affecting their happiness through ecosystem services. There are three types of user groups, including solo park wanderers (38.5%), social frequent users (29.7%), and independent casual users (31.8%), with consistent impact pathways of landscape elements and ecosystem services on happiness. However, there are variations in the magnitude of impact and the pathways influenced by socio-economic factors. Based on these findings, this study provided targeted suggestions for national park planning and design, and served as a reference for the study of users’ happiness in other urban spaces. Furthermore, this study consolidates the cognitive evaluation theory, and sheds light on the role of perception-based appraisal landscape elements and ecosystem services in user happiness.

This study examined the determinants of sustainable development within national parks and ecotourism settlements across both Tajik National Park and Fann Mountains areas in the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as Zaamin National Park and Hisar State Reserve in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Primary data were gathered from surveys conducted in four distinct settlements across these nations, and subsequent analyses employed descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The levels of sustainable development varied among the four settlements. The following factors were the most important for sustainable development: active engagement from local authorities and the population, high levels of tourist satisfaction, and attractive sights. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers and stakeholders involved in the development of national parks and ecotourism settlements in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The findings suggest that the following strategies are most effective in promoting sustainable development: encouraging active engagement from local authorities and the population, providing high-quality services to tourists, and protecting the environment.

Carbon stock and diversity of species together address the two most pressing concerns for successful ecosystem functioning and management, namely climate change and biodiversity loss. Understory vegetation is a significant indicator of plant biodiversity, contributing to forest carbon storage, sustaining species, and providing many ecological services. However, little research has been done about the contribution of the understory carbon stock in the forests, most likely because these understory components only make up a small portion of the total carbon stock of the forest ecosystem. To fill this knowledge gap, the current study sought to study the baseline understory (shrub and herb) diversity and carbon stock from the Zabarwan Mountain Range. Data on the characteristics of the understory vegetation in five different forest types were gathered using a random sample method. Using the Pearson method, we calculated the correlation coefficient between the diversity parameters and the carbon stock. The calculated average total carbon stock in the understory was determined to be 3.93 Mg C/ha (1.55–9.2 Mg C/ha). The shrub layer contributed a maximum value of 82 % of carbon stock. The increasing trends in total understory carbon were Parrotiopsis forest Broad-leaved forest > Acacia forest > Pinus forest > Parrotiopsis forest. Overall, the data show that coniferous-dominated woodlands had higher understory carbon stocks than other kinds of woodlands. The data acquired highlights the importance of shrub carbon stock storage in the understory layer in this Himalayan region. The current research on understory vegetation provides strong evidence for maintaining forest management practices that enable and encourage the planting of multiple layers of vegetation in landscape restoration as approaches to improve biodiversity while increasing resistance to climate change.

National parks in China play a vital role in preserving biodiversity, protecting endangered species, maintaining ecological balance, and promoting sustainable development amid global biodiversity decline. Boundary delimitation and functional zoning within these parks are crucial for preserving ecosystem integrity and species diversity. In the case study of Kunlun Mountains National Park (KMNP, Qinghai section), an extensive wildlife background survey yielded 4,523 occurrence records (3,921 after optimization) for 16 nationally protected wildlife species. Using the ecological niche model, this study aimed to explore the boundary range, functional zoning, and protection gap areas within KMNP by simulating the suitable spatial distribution of wildlife species, taking into account their protection and endangered statuses. The findings indicated that the primary habitat for key protected species in KMNP mainly occupied meadow and steppe in terms of vegetation types, along with grassland and unused land in terms of land use types, with average annual precipitation from 200 mm to 400 mm, elevations ranging from 4,100 m to 4,700 m, and average annual temperatures from −4.5℃ to −2℃. The suitable distribution of different wildlife species in the Kunlun Mountains area showed variations, mainly concentrated in the southwestern, central, and southeastern regions. The optimized KMNP covered around 49,800 km2, a 16.3 % reduction from the selected area, with the core protection zone at 16,300 km2 and the general control zone at 33,200 km2. The suitability of 93.75 % (15/16) species within the core protection area of KMNP was higher comparing to the optimized area, selected area, and Mangya-Golmud-Dulan area, indicating that the boundary delimitation and functional zoning of KMNP were highly rational. The boundary range and functional zoning method developed in this study provide a crucial scientific foundation for KMNP's conservation and management, and valuable guidance for national park construction, ecosystem preservation, biodiversity conservation, and the promotion of key species' reproduction and survival on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with promising future applications.

The Northeast Tiger-Leopard National Park (NTLNP) in China is an area of great ecological significance, known for its abundant wilderness resources and biodiversity. However, the habitats in NTLNP have been threatened by historical land use and land cover (LULC) changes caused by urban expansion and economic development. In response to this challenge, this study based on remote sensing-derived LULC products from 2005 to 2020, utilized the equivalent factors refined ecosystem service values (ESV) assessment model, and in conjunction with Moran’s I and Getis-Ord Gi* spatial analysis methods to evaluate the macro-scale and pixel-scale spatio-temporal dynamics of ESV in the NTLNP. We also employed the cold and hot spot analysis (CHSA) method to identify zones of ESV improvement and degradation within the NTLNP. Our findings indicate that over the past 15 years: (1) Forestland in the NTLNP possesses the most substantial ESV proportion (97.48%), and the regulating service value is the major contributor among the four types of services (71.31%). (2) Despite a fluctuating trend of increasing, decreasing, and then growing overall ESV growth within the NTLNP, the ecological benefits have been difficult to return to their peak values of 42.184 billion CNY in 2015. (3) The waters of NTLNP exhibit a high LULC dynamic of 27.91%, with an ESV underestimation of 28.4 million CNY. (4) The pixel-scale analysis unveils a dispersed distribution of ESV degradation pixels, with their cumulative area significantly larger than the share of ESV improvement pixels. (5) The CHSA results showed that areas with intensive human activity, such as towns and their surrounding areas, tend to experience ESV degradation, while regions with effective river management, such as the river basin of Hunchun county-level city, experience ESV improvement. Therefore, this study delineates the regulatory zones of the NTLNP by the result of the CHSA-based decision tree, pinpoints ecologically threatened core areas and further categorizes these based on risk levels and types, helping maintain a dynamic balance between the allocation of human and physical resources for park management and the primary conservation needs within the national park. Moreover, the study recommends that policymakers take measures to strengthen risk mitigation, enhance their focus on areas where ESV is fragile, and optimize the allocation of internal resources in national parks.

This study proposes an approach using the Kuhn–Tucker model to determine the extent to which the number of visitors to a recreational site would decrease if a user fee were introduced. This approach is promising in terms of consistency with economic theory and computational feasibility, assuming alternative recreational sites exist. An empirical analysis of national parks in Japan shows that a 1000 JPY fee would hardly decrease the number of visitors to a national park, whereas it would decrease the number of visitors to another national park over 45%. The results show that recreational sites with relatively high price elasticities experience a significant decrease in the number of visitors even with low user fees.

Social needs arising from the occurrence of global threats prompt researchers from various fields to look for innovative solutions that are friendly to society. The COVID-19 pandemic was a global experience so strong that it influenced many social processes, enabling natural experiments to be conducted that provided new knowledge about human behavior. One of the greatest impacts of lockdowns was observed in the case of tourist activity. National parks are highly desirable destinations for tourists and are able to attract large numbers of visitors. Tourism inside national parks has shown systematic growth, driven not only by the desire to be close to nature and to seek aesthetically pleasing experiences, but also by the need for relaxation and for participation in outdoor sports. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, visitor numbers to national parks did not decline, despite their temporary closure in 2020. The article presents the result of empirical research conducted in 2021 on tourists to selected national mountain parks. The research aimed to explore visitors’ motives for visiting the parks, as well as types of behaviour and the opinions of tourists regarding the restrictions placed on tourism in certain national parks. Analysis was also conducted of tourists’ attitudes towards restrictions on access to parks due to formal legal regulations, limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the potential to recompense for these needs by replacing them with alternatives behaviors in tourists’ place of residence in the form of open social innovations. It was found, based on the opinions of tourists, that they visited national parks during the pandemic mainly for recreational and health purposes. Motivation to explore and admire nature or local culture was ranked third. On the other hand, the most frequently mentioned substitute of limited access to the national park was visiting nearby forests, meadows and city parks. The research allowed to notice the need to develop innovative solutions conducive to the psychological comfort of a community deprived of the possibility of mutual contact.

National parks promote the protection of the ecological environment and global biodiversity conservation. However, the changes in land use obviously damages the natural habitat, leading to habitat fragmentation and degradation. Land use changes affect ecosystem service value (ESV) and its spatial distribution. In this study, a framework for the assessment of regional spatial patterns in land use/cover changes (LUCC) and ESV was established; the framework relies on the application of a classical spatial autocorrelation model. Remote sensing data for Hainan Tropical Rain Forest National Park (HNTRFNP) were used as a test case for the autocorrelation model approach to analyzing spatial patterns in ESV. Across HNTRFNP, ESV averaged 6201.44 million USD, with high ESV seen in aquatic and forested areas. Furthermore, land use types in HNTRFNP showed spatial autocorrelation (P

ABSTRACT: National parks as protected areas have been on the spotlight because they are essential in achieving ecological civilization in China. Despite the profound achievements of national parks to conserve nature, the benefits of national parks for local residents remain lacking. Under the theory of harmonious coexistence between human and nature, this study focused on the development of local people's livelihood in Qinghai's national parks. We systematically explored the establishment of the national parks in Qinghai Province, analyzed the current problems, and provided the main measures for developing people's livelihood in protected areas in Qinghai. This study put forward the viewpoint that national parks should set a long-term goal, and gradually advance based on the environmental conditions and appropriately prioritize the improvement of local people's wellbeing in the future.

This study was conducted to examine the impact of anthropic activities carried out by migrants population on six corridors (Buffalo, Giraffe, forest Gallery, Cobe défassa, Derby Eland and Hippotrague) crossing two hunting areas if interest (HAI 1 and 4) made of five riverside villages (Banda-Wani, Sakdjé, Dogba, Djaba and Guidjiba) in the Benoue National Park (BNP) of Cameroon. The main objectives were to (i) determine the various threats to the established corridors, (ii) assess the influence of anthropogenic activities on flora and the fauna passing through the corridors, and (iii) estimate the carbon stocks in the investigated corridors. Floristic surveys were conducted in the selected six sites of 50 m x 20 m, divided each in 10 subplots. In the investigated corridors, nine types of anthropogenic activities were identified in total. However the main anthropogenic activities were: logging (53.56%), agriculture (20.23%) and overgrazing (6.21%). The main users of the corridor's natural resources are farmers (100%), gold miners (51.38%) and charcoal producers (32.78%). Plants species such as Piliostigma thonningii (82.674%), Combretum spp. (78.18%) and Tamarindus indica (75.06%) are the most endangered species. The Shannon diversity index is high in all corridors (between 4.30 and 5.07) and the equitability index is regular everywhere (between 0.50 and 0.59). This study showed that, conservation and recovery efforts in the BNP need to be increased. There is an urgent need for the Cameroonian government to set up a protection and participatory management system to safeguard the wildlife biodiversity in the National park of Benoue (BNP).

National parks shoulder two essential responsibilities: environmental protection and community development, so the development of national parks has attracted much attention. To explore the effectiveness of China's national park system in promoting community economic development, we investigated Nanshan National Park (NNP). Based on the micro income data of 341 households in the NNP in 2018 and 2019, this paper studied the impact of the concession policy and the forest land transfer policy of NNP on family income. The results show that implementing both policies together can increase the total income of farmers. Implementing the concession policy alone will increase the operating income of the residents; implementing the forest land transfer policy will increase their property income. For the former group of farmers, the source of their family income is the operating income; for the latter group, the wage is their most basic and most important source of income, which is true to most farmers in the national park. Although the national park system does increase farmers' income, it will widen the income gap among farmers in the park. The regression results show that whether they have served as village leaders or not and whether they have received vocational training and other factors will affect farmers' policy participation. Therefore, the construction of the national park system needs to enhance the implementing awareness of non-participating residents and pay attention to their needs.

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.

An assessment of the dynamics of land cover and use in and around a Protected Area (PA) located in the Área de Preservação Ambiental da Serra da Mantiqueira (APASM; Mantiqueira Mountain Range Environmental Protection Area) and Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (PNI; Itatiaia National Park) has been developed. This PA is part of the Brazilian Mata Atlântica (MA; Atlantic Forest) biome, which is of great importance in providing water resources and in biodiversity maintenance since it is one of the largest and most populated urban centers in Brazil. In two contiguous drainage basins, with an area of 24,757.65 hectares (ha), proposals have been sought that lead to monitoring of forests pressured by anthropic actions that have as an inductor vehicle the roads built around the PA. Results obtained by Remote Sensing (RS) data show that pasture areas have grown 43% between 1985 and 2005 and forest areas have declined 20% in the same period. However, between 2005 and 2017, there was a 22% decline in pasture area and rehabilitation in forest areas by 26%. Urban spots have steadily grown by nearly 120% between 1985 and 2017. In a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment and using multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) with a weighted sum to environmental attributes of roads and urban spots, it has also been verified that 85% of the study area is under high or very high pressure, which can jeopardize the maintenance of biodiversity and water resources in the region due to population increase induced by secondary roads and their paving, which moves towards the PNI limits.

Management zone designations are important to improving the core function of biodiversity conservation in any protected area. However, land managers of most protected areas can barely identify whether the zones they manage are ideally designated due to lack of clear information related to the protected objects as well as other related in-situ conservation information on a regional scale. Here we focused on 26 protected areas at national and local levels that have mainly been designated to protect the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in Sichuan Province, China. The management zones of these protected areas included core, buffer, and experiment zones. We used five indicators to test the spatial differentiation among management zones, including the area of each management zone (Area), the proportion of a zone that overlapped with other protected areas (Overlap proportion), the number of giant pandas present (Panda number), the density of giant pandas (Panda density), and the proportion of the concentrated distribution areas for giant panda (CDA proportion). The results showed that Area and Panda number of the core zone were significantly higher than the buffer zone (P = 0.000) and the experiment zone (0.000 ≤ P ≤ 0.001); Panda density in the core zone (P = 0.006) and buffer zone (P = 0.009) were significantly higher than in the experiment zone. Meanwhile, the buffer zone had the highest Panda density (7.71 individuals/100 km2) and the experiment zone had the highest CDA proportion (42.19%). Nevertheless, no significant differences were observed in the five indicators between the national and local protected areas (0.058 ≤ P ≤ 1). The concentrated distribution area for giant panda accounted for 36.66% of these 26 protected areas, covering nearly 80% of the population of wild giant pandas, while the previous core zones (accounting for 62.84% of the 26 protected areas) only covered 66.12% of the population of wild giant pandas. Thus, we suggested that the concentrated distribution area of giant panda should be designated as the main area of the functional zone and be designated mainly for conserving biodiversity that is represented by giant panda in the Sichuan area of Giant Panda National Park; in addition, the local protected areas should be given more attention during the reform of China's protected area system.

Examining the rationality of zoning designations and management measures in the initial establishment of national parks in China is of great significance for supporting decision-making regarding habitat conservation. There exists a research gap in exploring the threshold effects of both environmental and human-related factors on habitat distribution in the context of national parks. However, it may be a challenge because of the limited species distribution data. Our study aims to put forward an analytical framework that integrates species distribution models (SDMs) with interpretable machine learning methods. A case study was performed in the Sichuan region of the Giant Panda National Park (GPNP). We constructed a SDM based on the Random Forest algorithm and made use of accessible remote sensing and big data to predict the distribution of giant panda habitat (GPH) in 2020. Interpretable machine learning methods, namely Partial dependence plots (PDPs) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), were utilized to uncover the underlying mechanisms of environmental and anthropogenic variables influencing the GPH distribution. Through GIS overlay analysis, areas where conflicts between human settlements, transportation infrastructure, and GPH exist were identified. Our findings indicated a potential 28.44 % decrease in GPH from 2014 to 2020. Environmental factors such as temperature, topography, and vegetation type, as well as anthropogenic factors including distance to built-up areas and transportation infrastructure, notably distance to national roads, provincial roads and city arterial roads, influenced the GPH distribution with threshold effects significantly. The overlay analysis revealed escalated conflicts between human settlements, transportation infrastructure, and GPH in 2020 compared to 2014. Currently, the Sichuan region of the GPNP implements two zones: a core protection zone and a general control zone, covering 63.71 % of the GPH, while 36.29 % remains outside the management scope. Drawing from the analysis above, this study provided suggestions for the adjustment of zoning designations and management measures in the GPNP., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The emerging economy of Indonesia has triggered rapid infrastructure development that threatens ecological communities, including within protected areas. The national parks of Indonesia are renowned for their high levels of biodiversity and endemism, yet the impacts of road development within these parks remains understudied. We conducted road mortality surveys along a 21.8-km section of paved highway that bisects Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia from January to April 2018. We documented wildlife carcasses during morning and afternoon surveys and identified hotspots of road mortality for amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. A total of 790 carcasses were observed during 16 surveys, amounting to 2.3 carcasses km−1, one of the highest levels reported for Asia. Wildlife recorded during our surveys represented 40 taxa, of which 15% are endemic to the Wallacea region. We documented two hotspots of road mortality for each major taxonomic group. We propose that mitigation measures be implemented at the largest hotspot for amphibians, one overlapping hotspot for amphibians and reptiles, and one overlapping hotspot for birds and mammals, for a total of three areas targeted for mitigation along this 21.8-km section of highway. We recommend the implementation of mitigation measures including highway undercrossings with fencing, reduced speeds with associated signage, and highway lighting at these three hotspot locations to protect the diverse and unique fauna in this national park.

At present, the establishment of a natural protected area system with national parks as the main subject has attracted widespread attention from all corners of Chinese society. Eco-compensation mechanism is an important institutional guarantee for the construction of China’s system for natural protected areas. However, the current research over eco-compensation policies for China’s national parks and relevant practices are far from systematic and lacking of top-level design. Based on the current research and practices of eco-compensation to national parks (NPEC) at home and abroad, this paper has considered China’s requirements for the pilot areas in the national park system, proposed a theoretical framework on the basis of clarifying the connotation of eco-compensation, and thus formulated four key techniques. The techniques include identifying compensation subjects, formulating compensation methods, determining compensation standards, and expanding financing channels, with a view to providing a top-level design for the establishment of an NPEC mechanism in China.

Managing climate impacts to natural resources in protected areas can be hampered by lack of monitoring data, poor understanding of natural resource responses to climate, or lack of timely condition assessments that can inform management actions. Here we demonstrate the utility of water balance as a tool for understanding natural resource responses to climate by developing case studies focused on stream flow, vegetation production, and wildfire ignition at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (GSDNP), U.S.A. The efficacy of water balance to predict these responses stems from the explicit integration of climate with site conditions that modify the effects of climate. This in turn results in estimates of water availability, water use, and water need that are proximal drivers of aquatic and terrestrial natural resource conditions. The water balance model successfully forecasted stream flow (r2 = 0.69, P

The dataset in this article consists of the general physicochemical parameters (temperature, pH, specific electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, redox potential, alkalinity) and concentrations of major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-) of water samples collected at 19 springs and the surface stream in the water catchment area of the upper Schönmünz river in the Black Forest National Park, Germany. Data on concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total organic carbon (TOC), spectral absorbance at different wavelengths and fluorescence as well as microbiological indicators (E. coli, total coliforms, enterococci) are also reported. Sampling was conducted during five field campaigns between spring 2016 and spring 2017.Knowledge of the current physicochemical parameters and concentrations of dissolved organic and inorganic constituents provides a baseline to assess future changes and serves as a supplement to ongoing studies of the spring ecosystems. Understanding the specific processes influencing the water chemistry will aid in their effective protection.For more details and further discussion on this dataset, the reader is referred to the associated research article “Processes controlling spatial and temporal dynamics of spring water chemistry in the Black Forest National Park” [1]

The contamination by macrolitter (>25 mm), mesolitter (5-25 mm), large microlitter (2-5 mm), large and small microplastics (L-MPs (2-5 mm) and S-MPs (0.5-2 mm), accordingly) in the surface beach sand at 6 locations along the 100-km-long marine coast of the Curonian Spit UNESCO National Park and the neighboring city beaches is quantified. In total, 55 samples obtained during 1-2 May 2018 are analyzed. Primary data is provided, along with exhaustive information on sampling dates and coordinates, sampling methods, extracting procedures, control measures, detection techniques, and μ-Raman spectroscopy verification. The number of items per m2 and items per kg dry weight (for MPs) is determined separately for fibres, films, and fragments. Distributions by size and plastic type are presented. Standard protocols, a modified NOAA method, and μ-Raman spectroscopy were applied to obtain the data, thus they can be used for comparative analyses.

After centuries of massive decline, the recovery of the wolf (Canis lupus italicus) in Italy is a typical conservation success story. To learn more about the possible role of parasites in the wolves' individual and population health and conservation we used non-invasive molecular approaches on fecal samples to identify individual wolves, pack membership, and the taeniids present, some of which are zoonotic. A total of 130 specimens belonging to 54 wolves from eight packs were collected and examined. Taeniid eggs were isolated using a sieving/flotation technique, and the species level was identified by PCR (gene target: 12S rRNA and nad1). Taeniid prevalence was 40.7% for Taenia hydatigena, 22.2% for T. krabbei, 1.8% for T. polyachanta and 5.5% for Echinococcus granulosus. The prevalence of E. granulosus is discussed. Our results show that the taeniid fauna found in wolves from the Foreste Casentinesi National Park is comparable to that described for other domestic and wild Italian canids and provides insights into the wolves’ diet and their relationship with the environment.