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Dispersal is a central process in ecology and evolution with far reaching consequences for the dynamics and genetics of spatially structured populations (SSPs). Individuals can adjust their decisions to disperse according to local fitness prospects, resulting in context-dependent dispersal. By determining dispersal rate, distance and direction, these individual-level decisions further modulate the demography, relatedness and genetic structure of SSPs. Here, we examined how context-dependent dispersal influences the dynamics and genetics of a great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) SSP. We collected capture-recapture data of 5564 individuals and genetic data of 950 individuals across an SSP in northern Germany. We added genetic data from six sites outside this SSP to assess genetic structure and gene flow at a regional level. Dispersal rates within the SSP were high but dispersal distances were short. Dispersal was context-dependent: individuals preferentially immigrated into high-quality ponds where breeding probabilities were higher. The studied SSP behaved like a patchy population, where subpopulations at each pond were demographically interdependent. High context-dependent dispersal led to weak but significant spatial genetic structure and relatedness within the SSP. At the regional level, a strong hierarchical genetic structure with very few first-generation migrants as well as low effective dispersal rates suggest the presence of independent demographic units. Overall, our study highlights the importance of habitat quality for driving context-dependent dispersal and therefore demography and genetic structure in SSPs. Limited capacity for long-distance dispersal seems to increase genetic structure within a population and leads to demographic isolation in anthropogenic landscapes., (© 2021 The Authors. Molecular Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Understanding how habitat quality in heterogeneous landscapes governs the distribution and fitness of individuals is a fundamental aspect of ecology. While mean individual fitness is generally considered a key to assessing habitat quality, a comprehensive understanding of habitat quality in heterogeneous landscapes requires estimates of dispersal rates among habitat types. The increasing accessibility of genomic approaches, combined with field-based demographic methods, provides novel opportunities for incorporating dispersal estimation into assessments of habitat quality. In this study, we integrated genomic kinship approaches with field-based estimates of fitness components and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) procedures to estimate habitat-specific dispersal rates and characterize habitat quality in two-toed sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) occurring in a Costa Rican agricultural ecosystem. Field-based observations indicated that birth and survival rates were similar in a sparsely shaded cacao farm and adjacent cattle pasture-forest mosaic. Sloth density was threefold higher in pasture compared with cacao, whereas home range size and overlap were greater in cacao compared with pasture. Dispersal rates were similar between the two habitats, as estimated using ABC procedures applied to the spatial distribution of pairs of related individuals identified using 3,431 single nucleotide polymorphism and 11 microsatellite locus genotypes. Our results indicate that crops produced under a sparse overstorey can, in some cases, constitute lower-quality habitat than pasture-forest mosaics for sloths, perhaps because of differences in food resources or predator communities. Finally, our study demonstrates that integrating field-based demographic approaches with genomic methods can provide a powerful means for characterizing habitat quality for animal populations occurring in heterogeneous landscapes., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

With the development of the social economy, ecological environment damage has become increasingly serious, and how to better protect ecological security has gradually attracted people’s attention. This paper takes Hubei Province in China as the research object, using the PLUS model version 1.4 to design four development scenarios to predict land use and land cover changes (LUCC) in 2035: the natural development scenario (S1), the cultivated land protection scenario (S2), the ecological protection area restriction scenario (S3), and the ecological security pattern (ESP) restriction scenario (S4). The study evaluates the ecological effects under these four different scenarios using Conefor Sensinode 2.6 software, Fragstats v4.2.1 software, and the InVEST model. The conclusions are as follows: (1) ESP has better ecological landscape connectivity. (2) Comparing the ecological security indices of the four scenarios, they are 0.5378, 0.5288, 0.5318, and 0.5405, respectively, with the S4 scenario showing the best protection effect. (3) Comparing the habitat quality of the four scenarios, high-grade habitats degrade under S1 and S2 scenarios; homogenization occurs under S3 and S4 scenarios, but the retention rate of high-grade habitat areas is the highest under the S4 scenario. In conclusion, compared to natural progression and prioritizing cultivated land protection, implementing ecological protection policies yields better ecological effects, and a planned ESP provides more targeted policy recommendations.

Recently, rapid economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt region in China and the growing problem of regional habitat quality have seriously threatened the process of biodiversity conservation in the Yangtze River Basin. Studying the impact of changes in landscape pattern indexes on habitat quality in the Yangtze River Economic Belt can provide policy insights for biodiversity conservation in the Yangtze River Basin. However, existing studies are still lacking in exploring the effects of changing landscape pattern indices on habitat quality under future scenarios. Based on the land use data of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2000 to 2020, this study simulates the land use situation in 2030, and analyzes the landscape pattern indexes and habitat quality during the 30 years, to investigate the impact of landscape pattern indexes on habitat quality at global and local scales through various methods. The results show that landscape patterns were significantly affected by human activities and land use types, with the Yangtze River Economic Belt experiencing increased levels of land use and structural stabilization during the three decades (Shannon Diversity Index increased from 0.90 in 2000 to 0.94 in 2030), fragmentation of the landscape (Landscape fragmentation index increase from 0.094 in 2000 to 0.102 in 2030), and weakened connectivity (contagion index decrease from 48.213 in 2000 to 45.437 in 2030). The Habitat Quality has a large variation in spatial distribution at the county scale, with an average change in habitat quality of 1.04 % from 2000 to 2030, and an overall downward trend. There is a strong localized spatial autocorrelation between landscape pattern indices and habitat quality, with significant spatial heterogeneity and some form of variability at time scales. The results of this study help to further understand the eco-environmental problems of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and provide theoretical references for the formulation of ecological environmental protection policies and ecological functional area planning.

Although the roles of tourism development and landscape value in the conservation of rice terraces have become increasingly important in recent years, rice terraces still face abandonment and desertification. Habitat quality (HQ) assessments evaluate the biodiversity conservation status of rice terraces; however, the spatial and temporal evolution of rice terrace HQ and influencing factors remains poorly understood. Here, a case study was performed of the Longji Terraces, Longsheng, Guangxi, China. Land use and land cover (LULC) remote sensing data for 1985–2020 (every 5 years) were obtained, and the InVEST-HQ model was used to evaluate and map the spatial and temporal evolution patterns and characteristics of HQ. A landscape pattern index and tourism indicators were combined and used to construct geographically weighted regression (GWR) models to explore the impact of tourism and landscape pattern on HQ. Our findings indicated that: (1) forests and terraces are the dominant landscape patches in Longji because they are better protected. Forest area and HQ changes exhibited temporal consistency, meaning that as forest area increased, HQ improved. (2) Longji Terraces exhibited optimum HQ overall, with a multi-year average of 0.977 and insignificant inter-annual variations. Spatially, the geographical HQ distribution was characterised by ‘low local levels, high global level.’ However, the percentage of HQ degraded areas in the final period reached 68 %, which is significantly greater than that of the improved areas (28 %). Moreover, improved areas had more spatial overlap with administrative villages that present superior tourism development. (3) HQ was significantly negatively correlated with night-time light (NTL), showed periodic changes (first negative, then positive) with Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI), was positively correlated with the contagion index (CONTAG), and showed periodic transitions (initially positive, then negative) with the mean of patch area (AREA_MN), population (POP), and patch density (PD). (4) Over time, the study area HQ showed weaker clustering and increased dispersion. In addition, the influence of tourism and landscape patterns increased from 2000 to 2020, with R2 increasing from 0.42 to 0.95. The results establish a scientific foundation for the conservation of rice terraces and sustainable use of landscape resources.

Global biodiversity is still being lost at an alarming rate. How to slow the destruction of habitats to protect biodiversity is an urgent issue. As one of the most rapidly developing and active economic regions in China, the habitat quality assessment and impact factor analysis in the Yangtze River Delta region are important for promoting socio-economic development and improving the local ecological environment. The InVEST mode and Geodetector method was used to explore the spatial and temporal variations of the habitat quality and its driving factors in the Yangtze River Delta region. The results show that the averaged habitat quality index showed a decreasing trend during 1980–2020, which accounted about 71.86 % of the Yangtze River Delta region. The habitat quality showed an overall spatial pattern of high in the south and low in the north, and the regional distribution of low habitat quality was dominated. The Moran's I values were larger than 0.8 during 1980–2020, showing a significant positive spatial correlation and a high degree of spatial clustering. The high-high clusters of habitat quality were mainly located in the southwest of the study area, while the low-low clusters were mainly located in the north. During 2025–2060, the habitat quality under the three scenarios exhibited SSP1-RCP19 > SSP2-RCP45 > SSP5-RCP85 and all showed a trend of decreasing in the north of the study area and increasing in the south. Under the two scenarios SSP1-RCP19 and SSP2-RCP45, the habitat quality generally showed an increasing trend, while under the SSP5-RCP85 scenario, it showed a decreasing trend. The slope, DEM, precipitation, construction land index and their interactions played a dominant role in the spatio-temporal variations of the habitat quality. Therefore, the slope, DEM, precipitation and construction land index should be considered when formulating habitat quality protection countermeasures.

Climate change is an increasing cause of biodiversity loss. The extinction of species is the most dramatic case, but also a large number of species will be forced to migrate due to the loss of habitat. We conducted a study on the current distribution of Warburgia salutaris (Canellaceae), one of the wild harvested medicinal plant species endangered through the effects of bark harvesting and land transformation, as well as the potential future distribution, extent of occurrence and habitat quality under climate change. For that, we used current occurrence data and uncorrelated environmental variables for the years 2040–2100, under four future Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585) for four general climatic models (GCMs). A mobility-oriented parity was conducted to identify extrapolation risk. Future prediction indicated a considerable increase of highly suitable areas under all SSPs scenarios in almost all the GCMs in southern Mozambique compared to the current distribution. Overall, the suitable area and its habitat quality increased steadily in 80 years compared to the current situation. Hence, climate change could not be argued as a threat to W. salutaris for the studied period. In this context, actions such as reintroduction and cultivation to provide alternative sources of bark supply, could be capitalised to alleviate pressure on natural populations while allowing their recovery and the establishment of new core populations.

Ecosystem surface plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance and supporting economic development. Accurate and effective identification of ecosystem surface with different ecological uses allows for better categorization and management and contributes to the orderly restoration of ecosystems. In this study, the Human Footprint Index (HFI) is constructed by comprehensively considering the factors of biodiversity, human activity impacts, and geometric features, and combined with the multi-factor knowledge constraints such as changes in land cover. We carry out accurate and effective identification and analysis of ecosystem surfaces, using Changzhou City’s tree cover as a test area. The results show that: (1) The degree of tree cover affected by human activities in Changzhou City varies greatly, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and elevation are the main factors affecting the level of the HFI. (2) The distribution of native ecosystem surface and artificial ecosystem surface are uneven, with more than 95% of native ecosystem surfaces distributed in the peripheral areas of the city with higher elevations and farther away from the city center. Artificial ecosystem surfaces are more likely to be found in areas with high GDP and frequent human activities, mainly in urban centers with a large proportion of buildings and along roads. (3) The overall identification accuracy of the ecosystem surface is 83.20%, which is higher in the urban center area with a large proportion of buildings and slightly lower in the area with a large proportion of agricultural production land. The results of the study provide a method for the objective, accurate and effective identification of ecosystem surface, which can improve the enthusiasm of local governments in fulfilling their ecological protection duties and contribute to the efficient achievement of the goal of ecological civilization construction.

Continued population loss in the context of urban shrinkage has led to the transformation and reconfiguration of urban land use space, which in turn has had a major impact on regional habitats and ecosystem services. To explore the status of habitat quality (HQ) in shrinking cities, based on land use data from 2010 to 2020, this study uses the InVEST model to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of HQ in shrinking cities. Then, we reveal the shrinkage effect of HQ in shrinking cities from the perspective of population change rate, and detect the dominant influencing factors of HQ in different types of shrinking cities with the help of geographical detector. The results show that:(1) From 2010 to 2020, the primary land use types in both shrinking and non-shrinking cities of the three northeastern provinces were forestland and cropland. However, there were significant differences in the area of construction land between the two categories of cities. (2) The HQ in both shrinking and non-shrinking cities showed a declining trend, yet the HQ index of shrinking cities was higher than that of non-shrinking cities. (3) The distribution of HQ in shrinking cities has a significant shrinkage effect, and HQ index gradually strengthens as urban shrinkage intensifies. Low-quality habitats have a strong distributional advantage in slightly shrinking cities, while severely shrinking cities tend to be dominated by high-quality habitats. (4) Population profile, economic development, industrial structure and built environment are important factors influencing the spatial heterogeneity of HQ in shrinking cities. However, the spatial determinants of HQ vary significantly among different types of shrinking cities in terms of dimensions and indicators, with two-factor interactions exerting a stronger influence than single-factor impacts. Based on the findings of this study, the government can formulate differentiated habitat protection measures, dynamically adjust, and optimize them according to the distribution characteristics of HQ grades in shrinking cities.

IntroductionAs a key indicator to evaluate biodiversity and eco-function, habitat quality shows the value of ecosystem services. The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau occupies the highest elevation in the global dimension, where the regional environment is greatly affected by multiple factors including the terrain comprehensively.MethodsIn the present study, the InVEST model was employed to assess the habitat quality across varying terrain gradients. The study observed the displacement of the center of gravity of habitat quality under different topographical factors over the past 20 years to learn the trend of changes. Additionally, the Geo-detector model was enhanced to explore the contribution rate of driving factors including biodiversity in different topographic positions and overall.ResultsThe results found the following: (1) The habitat quality of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau was positively correlated with the terrain gradient, and the mean values of habitat quality increased with the gradual increase in terrain gradient. In the period between 2000 and 2020, mean habitat quality values within the study area exhibited a slight fluctuating trend with the spatial distribution characterized by higher values in the southeast and lower values in the northwest. (2) Among different terrain gradients, trends in the mean center’s shift of habitat quality were diverse. The mean center of gradient I went north but gradient V went west. The mean center of the habitat quality in gradients II–IV showed an uncertain trend. (3) The NDVI exerted the most vital influence on the quality of habitats irrespective of different terrain gradients. Annual mean temperature, soil type, and slope occupied two to four places in each terrain.DiscussionThe study indicates that in the last two decades, the habitat quality on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau has gradually increased across different terrain locations. In terms of policies to protect habitats, terrain should be classified and targeted accordingly.

The quality of the habitats and ecosystem services are significantly impacted by ecological land fragmentation brought on by human activities. However, the specific driving mechanism of the ecological land comprehensive landscape fragmentation on the habitat quality is still unclear. This study took the cities of Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou along the Taihu Lake basin as its research region. The spatiotemporal variations in habitat quality and their relationship with the ecological land comprehensive landscape fragmentation were explored by the land-use dynamic rate, land-use transfer matrix, comprehensive landscape fragmentation indices, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) habitat quality model, and the Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model during the 2000–2020 period. The findings revealed that: (1) On the whole, the ecological land area rose, and the northern and eastern areas of the research region had the greatest transformations in land use/land cover (LULC). (2) Within the research region in the study period, the ecological land comprehensive landscape fragmentation index showed a fluctuating growth trend, and there were regions with large areas of high value clustered. (3) In the 2000–2020 period, the habitat quality as a whole deteriorated, with more concentrated habitat degradation seen around the woodland and construction land. (4) Numerous factors contributed to the regional and temporal changes in habitat quality and the effect of ecological land comprehensive landscape fragmentation on the quality of its habitats varied between regions. These findings could provide theoretical guidance for ecological land protection, habitat quality improvement, and ecosystem restoration in areas with similar environments.

Accurate identification of key areas for ecological restoration is an important foundation for orderly promotion of ecological restoration of territorial space. This study identified the key areas for ecological restoration in Kangbao County according to the research paradigm of “source identification – resistance surface construction – corridor extraction”. First, ecological source sites were identified and screened based on habitat quality modeling, morphological spatial pattern analysis and landscape connectivity analysis. Then, the base resistance surface was constructed using ArcGIS software and nighttime light data. Thereafter, ecological corridors were extracted and ecological pinch points and ecological barrier points identified with the Linkage Mapper plug-in. Forty ecological source sites with a total area of 68.06 km2 were identified in Kangbao County. These sites were dominated by woodland and grassland, and the integrity of these ecological source sites still needed to be improved. The 96 ecological corridors (total length of 743.81 km) were identified, which were densely distributed in the south and east parts of the study area, and there is still much room for improvement of the habitat connectivity. Additionally, 75 ecological pinch points (total area of 31.72 km2) and 69 ecological obstacles (total area of 16.42 km2) were identified. The key areas to be restored were mainly distributed in Yan Yufang, Har Chimega, Tuchengzi, Zhangji, and Danchenghe Townships. This study can lay a firm foundation for the ecological restoration in Kangbao County.

The natural habitats of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) are fragile and vulnerable to human activities. Moreover, human activities in the QTP have increased rapidly over the past few decades. Thus, it is essential to effectively evaluate the impacts of human activities on the natural habitats in the QTP. However, existing studies have not adequately quantified the comprehensive impacts of human activities. Moreover, there is a lack of analysis of the direct and indirect impacts of human activities. In this study, we used the human footprint index to reflect comprehensive human activities and quantitatively analysed both direct and indirect impacts in the QTP at multiple scales. The results indicated that the human footprint in the QTP increased rapidly by 6.08% from 2000 to 2020. The increased human footprint resulted in habitat quality losses of 0.75%, including 0.41% of direct impacts and 0.34% of indirect impacts. The high-intensity human footprint had the greatest impacts on natural habitats, resulting in a 0.43% reduction in habitat quality, which accounted for 57.40% of the total losses in the QTP. The adverse impacts of human activities on natural habitats further hampered the achievement of biodiversity conservation targets on the QTP. Therefore, we recommend that future efforts in the QTP should focus on the impacts of human activities on natural habitats, especially the impacts of high-intensity human activities.

Abstract How species interact with human‐disturbed environments is a central focus of conservation biology. Within disturbed landscapes, regenerating forests have potential to provide habitat for forest species, especially as increasing amounts of primary forest are lost. As secondary forest regenerates beside primary forest, it increases habitat heterogeneity. However, relatively little is known about the influence of habitat heterogeneity on space use. In this study, we analyzed the topography and vertical vegetation structure of regenerating forest, small forest fragments, and undisturbed rainforest in the central Amazon to determine (1) how these structural characteristics influence understory mixed‐species flock space use and (2) how the vegetative preferences of flocks varied across a disturbance gradient. We first used behavioral observations to quantify the vertical foraging niche of flocks and then associated variation in horizontal space use with the three‐dimensional features of forest structure. Surprisingly, we found that flock space use was not consistently associated with any variable, even though available habitat differed both within and across forest types. Overall, the best predictors were elevation and leaf area density within the subcanopy (16–25 m), yet most flock foraging occurred in the midstory (6–15 m). Together, these results indicate that while flocks may have certain habitat preferences, these preferences are flexible or idiosyncratic and do not correspond to a specific vertical profile. For example, flocks spent a disproportionate amount of time in low elevations when available, but not all flocks had access to low‐lying areas within their home ranges. Although other studies show flock size and diversity can be highly sensitive to habitat disturbance, mixed‐species flocks demonstrate remarkable plasticity as a unit, virtually saturating undisturbed and disturbed forest at our site, as long as regeneration has passed a certain threshold.

It is of great practical significance to regional ecological conservation and restoration to explore the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of habitat quality in the ecologically fragile Loess Plateau. This study firstly explored the habitat quality in the Loess Plateau during 2000-2020 with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs model. Then this study revealed the response characteristics of habitat quality to the fractional vegetation cover (FVC) change and human disturbance with the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. Results showed habitat quality tended to improve in 51.16% of the study area, and area of high or very high habitat quality increased by 1.78%. Besides, FVC showed dominantly significant increase (62.42%) and high stability (69.66%) in the study area, and human disturbance increased remarkably in 18.11% of the study area but maintained the same level in 91.83% of the study area. Additionally, areas with positive correlation between habitat quality change and FVC and between habitat quality change and human disturbance change accounted for 52.56% and 37.38% of the study area, respectively, indicating FVC played dominant role in affecting the regional habitat quality variation. This study can provide important decision support information for the future ecological conservation of the Loess Plateau.

As earth surface human activities become more frequent, global ecosystem service functions and especially biodiversity maintenance functions are challenged. This study aimed to analyze spatiotemporal changes in Xi‘an section of the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains from 1990 to 2020. Temporal and spatial changes in habitat quality in the study area were visualized using InVEST model and land use data, and factors affecting habitat quality were analyzed using Geodetector. The results showed that during the study period, the cultivated land, grassland, and water decreased by 16.40%, 74.37%, and 35.39%, respectively, while the area of forest land and construction land increased, among which the construction land increased by 117.70%, the largest increase, and the forest land increased by 8.47%. The main changes in land use are the conversion of cultivated land into forest land and construction land, and the conversion of grassland into forest land and cultivated land. During the period 1990–2020, the average habitat quality index in the study area changed from 0.8617 to 0.8585, showing a slow decreasing trend. The spatial distribution of habitat quality showed a trend of “high in the south, moderate in the north, and low in the northwest”. The high habitat quality was mainly concentrated in the southern forest land, the middle habitat quality was mainly distributed in the northern cultivated land, and the low habitat quality was mainly distributed in the northwest construction land. The land use type has a great influence on habitat quality, and the interaction between any two factors is stronger than that of a single factor. The temporal and spatial variation of habitat quality is influenced by both natural and human factors. This study provides a theoretical basis for ecological protection and nature reserve planning in the Qinling Mountains region.

Habitat quality is an indicator of the ecological evolution of a region, and evaluating habitat quality utilizing Machine Learning approaches can reflect the ecological status of a region more objectively. Gridded statistical ecological factors in the study region were utilized to build the Ecological Information State Layer (EISL) in the grid space. Calculate the Environmental Quality Index (EQI) of the sampled grid to evaluate the performance index of the models on the sampled grid. The model with the optimal performance index is selected for the task of habitat quality classification in the research region, and then especially decision-making advice is offered by inverting the degree of influence of ecological elements on habitat quality. The results show that: (1) The Semi-supervised Ensemble Learning model (Tri-training) Accuracy, Kappa coefficient, and F1-score are 0.93, 0.89, and 0.92, respectively, as the optimal model for the habitat quality classification task. (2) Based on the results of the ecological categories calculation, the current ecosystem quality of the southwestern section of the Daxia River Basin is maintained as a positive indicator. the ecosystem quality inside the living space centered on the cities of Linxia and Hezuo shows negative indicator changes. (3) The calculation results of the inverse importance of ecological factors show that vegetation index and human population density are the key factors impacting the habitat quality of the Daxia River Basin. In the ecological management of Daxia River Basin, the degree of spatial aggregation of people's settlements should be reduced while preserving and expanding vegetation cover. Using Tri-training's comprehensive analysis of multiple ecological factors, regional habitat quality can be accurately assessed.

The conflict between socio-economic development and ecological environmental protection presents a significant challenge to achieving regional and urban sustainable development. In Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, China, this conflict arises from the interplay between urban expansion and ecological environmental protection land, creating a fundamental tension between built-up and non-built-up ecosystems. This study focuses on investigating the spatial characteristics of expansion, constructing an ecological security pattern based on ecosystem service functions and sensitivity, and utilizing integrated models to simulate urban expansion paths and analyze their formation mechanisms. The results highlight that Zhaotong City has undergone rapid urban expansion, characterized by linear growth surrounding the central city, specifically in the east, north, and west directions. The expansion between urban areas exhibits a discontinuous dotted-star distribution, with concentrated urbanization and a distinct urban boundary observed in Zhaoyang District. In contrast, other areas experience scattered expansion, indicative of random land encroachment. Through simulation, three primary urban expansion axes are identified: the western town sprawl belt, central town development axis, and resource-rich town corridor. Ecological conflicts primarily arise in Zhaoyang District, Zhenxiong County, and Yanjin County. By combining these findings, the study analyzes the scenario pattern of urban expansion evolution in Zhaotong City, revealing a transition from the spreading spillover expansion of a single center (Zhaoyang and Ludian) during the circle expansion phase to a polycentric expansion and spreading spillover pattern centered around Zhaoyang District along three primary axial radial paths. In conclusion, this study contributes to our understanding of the challenges posed by the conflict between socio-economic development and ecological environmental protection in Zhaotong City. The findings underscore the importance of integrating ecological considerations into urban planning processes and highlight the need for sustainable development practices to achieve a harmonious coexistence between urban expansion and ecological security. The insights gained from this research offer guidance for fostering sustainable urban development in Zhaotong City and beyond.

Abstract Regional habitat quality is an important reflection of ecosystem services and ecosystem health. Exploring the characteristics of habitat quality changes and revealing the vulnerability of regional ecosystems caused could provide reference for the improvement of ecological service functions and the protection of regional ecological environment. Based on remote sensing data of Shaanxi Province from 2000 to 2015, InVEST model and grid analysis were used to analyze the evolution characteristics of habitat quality and landscape pattern, and spatial autocorrelation was also used to analyze the spatial correlation and temporal evolution characteristics. The results showed: (1) Arable land, grassland, and forest land were the main landscape types in Shaanxi province, accounting for more than 94% of the total area, and the arable land and unused land showed a decreasing trend, while the grassland and forest land showed an increasing trend, and the proportion of construction land continued to increase with the rapid economic development from 2000 to 2015; (2) The spatial distribution characteristics of habitat quality was similar to land use cover change, which was “high in the southern and central forest areas, low in the northern sandy land and central urban agglomeration”, and habitat quality value showed a steady increase, indicating that the habitat quality was getting better; (3) The landscape pattern index values of Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration changed significantly, which tended to be fragmented, and the landscape types were more diverse and uniform; (4) There were obvious spatial correlation between habitat quality and landscape pattern, and the spatial differentiation of clustering was obvious, and the clustering effect of habitat quality and landscape pattern characteristics would weaken with the increase in urbanization degree. The analysis of the spatial association between habitat quality and landscape pattern could provide scientific support for ecological protection and landscape planning.

To address crises like habitat loss and environmental pollution caused by human modifications, protected areas have been established as a fundamental strategy, providing on-site protection for species and their habitats. Systematic evaluation of PAs is crucial for guiding decision-making, planning, and public perception. Besides assessing their effectiveness in safeguarding habitats and ecosystem services, considering the impacts of human activities is essential. A comprehensive assessment, encompassing ecological and social factors, enhances our understanding of the complex interactions between conservation efforts and human needs. Using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method, we evaluated the conservation effectiveness of PAs in the Six Provinces in China’s Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, focusing on reducing human modification, sustaining ecosystem services, and improving habitat quality. The results indicated that PAs at higher elevations generally exhibit a lower degree of human modification than those at lower elevations. While the human modification score outside PAs in the SP-PPRD increased by 82.67%, the scores within PAs increased by only 64.51%. Among the 188 PAs, 32 showed a decrease in ecosystem services, with 71.87% located in Hainan Province. The average Habitat quality of PAs in the SP-PPRD declined during the study period, although the number categorized as “Very High” increased from 135 to 140. After PSM matching and relative effectiveness evaluation, 27 PAs (14.36%) were categorized as “High Effective”, 50.00% as “Medium Effective”, and 8.86% as “Ineffective”. Furthermore, the study suggests that PAs were often located in areas unlikely to face land conversion pressure even without the protection. However, many PAs in regions with high levels of human modification have seen an improvement in ecosystem services and habitat quality. Based on our research findings, we advocate the adoption of more resilient conservation strategies that carefully balance the preservation of nature with the promotion of sustainable social development.

Urban zones across the world have experienced a massive expansion in recent decades, affecting food production, carbon storage, and biodiversity, and further threatening the realization of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (zero hunger), 13 (climate action), and 15 (life on land). These enormous impacts are even more worrying in coastal areas where urbanization has been continuously accelerated. However, we have a poor understanding about the magnitude of the reduction in natural habitat and crucial ecosystem services over time caused by urban expansion in coastal areas. Here we chose the coastal zone of eastern China using a high-resolution dataset of land-use/land-cover (LULC) to investigate the influences of urban growth on natural habitat and crucial ecosystem services from 1990 to 2018. The results showed that: (1) urban growth in China's coastal region resulted in an estimated reduction of 2061.14 km2 in natural habitat, 154.13 Tg C in carbon storage, 1.67 Tg C in cropland net primary production, and 148.02 × 103 in habitat quality; (2) cropland net primary production loss resulted in a 1.34 × 106 tons loss of crop production, which is comparable to meeting the basic food demands of 3.35 million hungry people for a year; (3) the overall degradation of habitat caused by urban expansion reached 1838.28 km2, with grade 1 degradation area accounting for the largest portion (801.18 km2), representing 43.58% of the total degradation; (4) the primary contributor to carbon storage loss (63.83%) was the large-scale conversion of cropland to urban areas, while habitat quality loss and degradation were primarily due to the occupation of forests by urban expansion (42.62%). Our results suggest that effective land-use planning must be implemented to coordinate urban growth, natural habitat protection, and cropland displacement in rapidly urbanizing coastal areas.

Research on the impact of land use change on regional habitat quality, in various future scenarios, can effectively aid planning and decision-making for sustainable development at a regional level. The study conducted its research in the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River section and used ArcGIS and a land use transfer matrix to analyze the spatiotemporal pattern of land use and land cover changes. The study assessed the changes in habitat quality in the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River region between 1990 and 2020, using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model, by evaluating the gains and losses. Simultaneously, 15 elements of the natural economy were chosen and examined for their temporal and spatial impact on habitat quality using the random forest model and spatially weighted regression model. To forecast land use changes in the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River section for 2030, the Future Land Use Simulation Model (FLUS) model was utilized and a series of four scenarios (cultivated land protection scenario, ecological protection scenario, natural development scenario, and rapid development scenario) were employed. The research results indicate that over 70% of the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River is occupied by grasslands, and only a small portion of the area, about 0.22%, is developed for construction purposes. The quality of the habitat in the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River had a minor drop between 1990 and 2020, followed by an improvement. Habitat quality changes are primarily attributed to improvements, with variations across different areas, i.e., enhanced in the east and reduced in the central and western parts. The habitat quality of the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River has improved in all four scenarios compared to 2020, as evidenced by the decrease in low-value habitats and increase in high-value areas. The ecological protection scenario has the highest average habitat quality value. These research results can be used to support policy development and ecological restoration initiatives in the Gansu-Qinghai Yellow River.

IntroductionThe Yellow River Basin (YRB) is not only a vital area for maintaining ecological security but also a key area for China’s economic and social development. Understanding its land-use change trends and habitat quality change patterns is essential for regional ecological conservation and effective resource allocation.MethodsThis study used the patch-generating land-use simulation (PLUS) and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) models to analyze and predict the spatial and temporal trends of habitat quality in the YRB from 2000 to 2030 under natural development (ND) and ecological conservation and high-quality development (ECD) scenarios. The PLUS model was used to predict land-use change in 2030 under different scenarios, after which the InVEST model was used to obtain the habitat quality distribution characteristics from the 2000–2030 period.Results(1) The mean values of habitat quality in the YRB in 2000, 2010, and 2020 were 0.6849, 0.6992, and 0.7001, respectively. The mean habitat quality values were moderately high. Spatial distribution characteristics were high in the west and low in the east and along the water. In 2030, habitat quality (0.6993) started to decline under ND, whereas under ECD, there was an indication of substantial improvement in habitat quality (0.7186). (2) The mean habitat degradation values in 2000, 2010, and 2020 were 0.0223, 0.0219, and 0.0231, respectively. The level of habitat degradation showed a decreasing trend, followed by an increasing trend with a stable spatial distribution pattern. The mean level of habitat degradation in 2030 (0.0241) continued to increase under ND, while a substantial decrease in the level of habitat degradation occurred under ECD (0.0214), suggesting that the level of habitat degradation could be effectively contained under the ECD scenario. (3) During the study period, the conversion of building land—both negative and positive—had the most pronounced impact on habitat quality per unit area. Further, the conversion of grassland was shown to be a key land transformation that may either lead to the deterioration or improvement of the ecological environment. The results provide scientifific theoretical support and a decision basis for ecological conservation and the high-quality development of the YRB.

Abstract Annual insect abundances are determined by short‐term population fluctuations and long‐term trends in community composition. Any assessment of this temporal variability needs long‐term quantitative data on abundances. Here we use museum data (1940–2017) of butterflies and burnet moths from southwestern Germany and central Austria comprising 220,758 records from 155 species, and 55,641 records from 170 species, respectively. We ask whether population fluctuations and long‐term population trends are spatially synchronized across larger spatial distances (>300 km) according to the Moran effect, and whether common trends in community composition and stability exist? Population fluctuations of 85.5% of species jointly occurring in both study regions were positively correlated (mean r = 0.30 ± 0.03). Comparing different time windows, we found different sets of species being in spatial synchrony reflecting temporal changes in butterfly community composition. Mesophilic, habitat generalist, and dispersive species were significantly more synchronized than xerothermophilic, habitat specialist, and sedentary species. Long‐distance travelers were particularly synchronized. In both study regions, species rank orders became less even with time. Stability in community composition increased with time with an ongoing trend to faunal homogenization, but not to species loss. Our study points to global and not to local drivers behind trends in butterfly population fluctuations and compositional stability, in the present case to altered land use and urbanization as major drivers toward synchrony and homogenization. Finally, our data have implications for conservation strategies as they strongly indicate that natural landscape structures are associated with higher faunal compositional variability in comparison to agricultural and urban landscapes.

The conflict between the human-environment is more prominent in densely populated areas (DPA) where urban expansion is increasingly disturbing the ecological environment, resulting in significant damage to habitat quality (HQ). However, a few studies have examined the impacts of urban expansion on HQ in the DPA under different scenarios, especailly in the Yellow River Basin. Therefore, we quantitatively analyzed the impacts of urban expansion on HQ from 1990 to 2018 by coupling the FLUS-InVEST model and predicted the changes of urban expansion and HQ by 2030. The results showed that: (1) the urban expansion rate of DPA was 46.4%. Among them, Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos-Yulin (HBOY) urban agglomeration expanded at the highest rate, with an expansion intensity of 0.16%. The urban expansion pattern was mainly edge expansion. (2) The overall HQ decreased by 1.6%. The HQ patch level was affected by urban expansion, and the higher-level habitat patches were easily shifted to lower-level habitat patches. Low HQ patches increased by 38.6% while high HQ gradually decreased. (3) Under the natural development scenario, the rate of urban expansion was 28.9% and HQ decreased by 2.9%. However, HQ only descesaed by 0.8% under HQ constraint scenario, indicating that urban expansion in a constrained way is of great benefit to improve HQ. These results provide a reference for ecological conservation and sustainable development in DPA.

ABSTRACTRelating physiological stress to habitat quality could refine conservation efforts. Habitat quality, which is often inferred from patch occupancy or demographic rates, might be measured in a more timely and nuanced way using metrics of physiological stress. To understand whether stress-associated hormones vary with metrics of habitat quality, we measured fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) levels in the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a small mammal with well-defined habitat (talus), which can vary in quality depending on the presence of subsurface ice features. In spring and fall 2018, we collected feces noninvasively from pika territories in taluses “with” or “without” subsurface ice to capture seasonal variation in FGM between habitat types. We used linear mixed effects models to explore the interactions among season, habitat metrics (including subsurface ice status), and subsurface temperature as predictors of FGM. We found support for interacting effects on FGM levels, which covaried with season, elevation, putative ice presence, graminoid to forb ratio, graminoid cover, and measures of acute subsurface heat exposure. However, only one subsurface temperature metric differed according to putative presence of subsurface ice. Our results contribute to the growing evidence that FGMs might be developed as a tool to assess habitat quality.

Abstract Background Land-use change frequently affects faunistic populations and communities. To achieve successful conservation strategies, we need suitable information about species distribution and the causes of extinction risk. Many amphibian species depend on riparian vegetation to complete their life cycles. About 41% of amphibian species are globally threatened, and accurate estimations of population size, species richness and the identification of critical habitats are urgently needed worldwide. To evaluate the magnitude of changes in species richness and demography, estimations that include detection probability are necessary. In this study, we employed multi-species occupancy models to estimate detection probability and the effect of land cover type (i.e., cropland, artificial pasture, secondary and mature forest) in a 500-m radius on the occupancy probability and richness of diurnal amphibians in 60 riparian zones in the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. Furthermore, we evaluated the potential of the endemic salamander Ambystoma ordinarium as a flagship species for the conservation of other native amphibian species. Results We registered a total of 20 amphibian species in the diurnal assemblage, of which 10 species are considered at risk of extinction. We found that cropland was the most important land-use type for explaining amphibian distribution in riparian zones, with negative effects on most amphibian species. We found no differences in species richness between zones with and without A. ordinarium. In riparian zones occupied by A. ordinarium, however, we found a higher number of species at risk of extinction. Conclusions Our findings showed negative effects of croplands on the distribution of most amphibian species. The riparian zones are important for the maintenance of native diurnal amphibian communities and A. ordinarium can act as a flagship species for the conservation of threatened amphibian species.

IntroductionThe ecological conservation redline (ECR) policies conducted in China are an important innovation to protect biodiversity, safeguard ecological security, and achieve sustainable development. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) area implemented the ECR policies in 2005.MethodsThis study examines the contrast between the 15 years before and after 2005. It also reveals the ECR policies' effects by comparing land use change, landscape pattern index, and habitat quality inside (IECR) and outside (OECR) the ECR area. Results and discussionThe results suggest that: (1) The ECR area has served as an ecological barrier in maintaining the stability of natural ecosystems. Over the past 30 years, the PRD area significantly changed land use types and ecosystems, mainly concentrated in the central plains and estuaries. Specifically, in the IECR, land use change was relatively stable, with a decrease of 0.05% and 0.57% in ecological land and an increase of 0.28% and 0.68% in construction land before and after 2005. In contrast, the OECR area land use changed dramatically, with a decrease of 0.37% and 1.36% in ecological land and an increase of 7.06% and 5.02% in construction land before and after 2005. (2) A general trend of landscape fragmentation exists in the study area. The contagion (CONTAG) in the IECR area is higher than in the OECR. The Shannon's diversity index (SHDI) in the IECR is lower than in the OECR area, which indicates a high degree and rapid landscape fragmentation in the OECR area. (3) Over 85% of the IECR scale had a habitat quality of 0.8–1, while the OECR area had an almost half scale with a habitat quality of 0–0.2. On the whole, the ecological stability and landscape connectivity of in the IECR area was higher than that of the OECR area. This indicates that the prohibitions on human disturbance, industrial construction, and logging activities in the IECR area allow green vegetation to succumb under natural conditions. Habitat quality in the IECR area was also higher than that of the OECR area in the PRD area, revealing that the quality of green development in the IECR area was higher. Finally, the ECR policies’ implementation has protected the environment in the PRD area and will provide experience for ecological conservation in other areas.

Knowledge of a species’ distribution throughout a landscape is crucial for developing long-term conservation practices and effective management plans. Accurate distributional data are particularly important for threatened or rare species with a broad geographic range and low detectability in their preferred habitats, as surveying and successfully encountering this type of species is oftentimes difficult. One such species is the eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus), a small-bodied, federally threatened rattlesnake with a distribution centered around the Great Lakes region. The current status of many massasauga populations remains uncertain, hindering effective recovery efforts. We used single-season occupancy models to reassess the status of historic massasauga sites (n = 33) distributed throughout Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. We assessed site- and survey-specific covariates at both the local- and landscape-scale to inform occupancy and detection probabilities. Average canopy cover best predicted occupancy probabilities, while search effort best predicted detection probabilities. Our top model which included canopy cover (occupancy) and search effort (detection) estimated an average occupancy probability of 0.30 (CI = 0.15–0.50) and average detection probability of 0.55 (CI = 0.31–0.78). Landscape-scale covariates derived from remotely-sensed data did not improve model fit for occupancy models. Our findings suggest that persistence of eastern massasauga populations relies upon canopy cover of

IntroductionIndustrialization has ushered in massive changes in agriculture. Particularly in low mountain ranges, large-scale afforestation with Norway spruce on traditionally managed, semi-natural grasslands has caused a severe decline in biodiversity. Tree removal, hay transfer and resumption of grazing or mowing are typical measures to re-create species-rich grasslands. The aim of this study was to use vascular plants and three insect taxa (leafhoppers, true bugs, and grasshoppers) as bioindicators to evaluate the success of montane grassland restoration on former spruce forests in Central Europe. In addition, we intended to identify the drivers of species richness within the studied grasslands in order to derive suitable recommendations for habitat management.MethodsWe analyzed two different treatments: (i) grazed restoration sites where trees had been cut and species-rich green hay had been applied (N = 9) and (ii) target sites with a long continuity of low-intensity grazing (N = 9).Results and DiscussionOur study revealed that all studied taxa responded rapidly to the restoration measures. After a development period of 3 to 5 years, we found no differences in species richness and diversity of leafhoppers, true bugs and grasshoppers (all, target and threatened species). In addition, non-metric multidimensional scaling showed a large overlap in species composition between restoration and target grasslands. Among target and threatened species, vascular plants displayed the same pattern as insects and reached similar values when comparing the two treatments. However, total species richness and diversity of vascular plants were still higher on the target sites and species composition overlapped only partially. Grazing intensity was the predictor with the highest explanatory power in multivariable (Generalized) Linear Mixed-effects Models, being negatively related to species richness of leafhoppers and true bugs. We conclude that the measures implemented were effective in re-establishing target communities of different taxa. The transfer of seed-containing hay enabled or accelerated the development of the vegetation. Insects, on the other hand, were able to recolonize the restored grasslands on their own, given that these sites were embedded in a network of species-rich grasslands. With regard to insects (e.g., leafhoppers and true bugs), it should be ensured that grazing is applied at low intensity.

ObjectivePhellodendron amurense, a special species in Northeast Asia, is the source of the wild medicinal Phellodendri Amurensis Cortex, the second-level key protection in China. Because of its dual value of medicine and timber, it has been cut in large quantities, resulting in a sharp decline in wild resources. It has been listed as a national first-class rare tree species. Here, we aim to plan protection area and wild tending area for Chinese P. amurense in the context of climate change.MethodIn this study, based on the Biomod2 model, the main environmental factors affecting the distribution and the potentially suitable areas of the current and future were investigated. Furthermore, the correlation between the main environmental factors and the chemical components was determined by full subset regression. Habitat quality and landscape pattern change were determined by InVEST and Fragstats software based on the land use data in 1980, 2000, and 2020. Then, Zonation software was used to plan the priority protection and wild tending areas.ResultsThe results showed that in the future, the potential habitat of P. amurense will gradually move to the high latitude and high altitude areas in the northwest direction, and the high suitability area will decrease sharply. Since 1980, the habitat quality of P. amurense habitat has gradually deteriorated, and the fragmentation has gradually intensified. In the future, the central part of the Greater Khingan Mountains and the forest area of the Lesser Khingan Mountains will be the long-term stable sanctuary. Fengcheng City and Tonghua County are the most suitable for the wild tending areas.ConclusionThe existing nature reserve only contains 6.01% of the priority protection area, so we propose to expand the area to cover a larger proportion of the sanctuary and implement management and restoration plans to increase the suitability and connectivity. These results can support the protection action and provide a reference and scientific basis for further research, rational development, and utilization of P. amurense.

With the economic development, social progress and the increase in power demand, the number of water conservancy projects has gradually increased. However, the reservoir dams inevitably lead to changes in the river connectivity and hydraulic characteristics of rivers, causing damage to fish habitats. Regulating the operation of dams to supplement the ecological flow required by fish is usually an effective way to protect river fish habitats. Based on the graph theory algorithm, we proposed an improved three-dimensional habitat model that comprehensively considered the quantity and quality of fish habitat and used it to the effect assessment of water conservancy project construction on fish habitat. The fish habitat quality evaluation indicators in this paper mainly emphasized the pivotal role of core habitat patches and the connectivity between habitat patches, namely, habitat importance index (HII) and habitat connectivity index (HCI). Then, the model was combined with the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) and applied to the habitat assessment of Schizothorax prenanti (S. prenanti) in the Anshunchang reach of the Dadu River. The results showed that the change trend of the habitat index curves of different water depths showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, but the inflection points of the curves and the habitat indexes of different water depths were different. Taking into account the bottom living habits of target fish, the most suitable flow range for S. prenanti was from 271.7 m3/s to 489.1 m3/s. Compared with previous studies, the improved three-dimensional habitat model effectively avoids simulation errors caused by ignoring habitat quality and differences in fish habits.

Abstract Pest animal populations, such as rodents, often irrupt in response to pulsed resources. However, few studies have considered how understanding the propagation of irruptions across landscapes could lead to more efficient pest suppression. Resource pulses might create temporary source–sink dynamics in heterogeneous environments, whereby reservoirs of animals living in high‐quality habitat increase and spill over into more marginal habitat. Low‐density populations in marginal habitat could also increase through in situ breeding by residents in response to increased food availability. Understanding the relative importance of these two nonmutually exclusive processes is important as pest outbreaks could potentially be more efficiently controlled by targeting source populations early in an outbreak. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the importance of density‐dependent emigration from lower elevation habitats versus in situ breeding by resident animals to the population growth of invasive ship rats (Rattus rattus) in marginal, high elevation habitats during a pulsed resource event (beech seed mast). We found that emigration from lower elevations was important for facilitating rapid population growth at high elevations, enabling rats to reach peak densities of 10.6 rats ha−1. Without immigration, rats were predicted to reach peak densities of only 1.8 rats ha−1 at high elevation, given their densities in that habitat when we started monitoring (0.6 rats ha−1). This result suggests that rat control that targets low and mid‐elevations only may be sufficient to suppress irruptions in high‐elevation habitat if control effectively prevents immigration. Our study suggests spillover from higher quality habitats may enable outbreaks to rapidly propagate over landscapes. However, for r‐selected taxa such as rodents, even very low densities of animals living in marginal habitats can increase significantly when resource pulses occur, albeit at lower densities than for populations in higher quality habitat.

Revealing the relationship between urban spatial morphological structure (USMS) and habitat quality (HQ) is of great significance for high-quality urban development. In this study, the central urban area of a typical multi-mountainous city (Guiyang, China) was taken as research area. Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) characteristic indicators system of USMS was constructed. The InVEST model was used to evaluate the HQ in the study area, and the spatial pattern characteristics of USMS and HQ in the multi-mountainous city were analyzed. Finally, the response relationship of HQ to USMS was revealed through Pearson correlation analysis and curve fitting. The results showed that: (1) The average level of HQ in the study area is low and the spatial aggregation effect is obvious; the spatial distribution difference between the high value area and the low value area is significant; the high value area is mainly distributed in the area where the large area of urban green space (UGS) and the urban remnant mountains (URMs) are located, while the low value area is mainly distributed in the high-intensity urban construction area. (2)The URMs have a significant impact on the USMS within the city, the intelligibility(I), spatial permeability, spatial aggregation degree, and spatial traffic attraction potential were poor; the buffer zone within 4 km of the urban center is the core area of urban development, and the buffer zone within 15 km is the rapid urban development area. (3)Among the USMS indicators, Choice(C) was significantly positively correlated with the HQ, while the Connectivity(Con), I, Average height(AVH), and Otherness(O) were significantly negatively correlated with the HQ. (4)Stepwise regression results showed that USMS could explain the difference of HQ in the study area well, and the values of fitting coefficient R2 were 0.975, 0.837 and 0.945 in 2008, 2013 and 2018, respectively. (5)There was a quadratic function relationship between HQ and USMS principal component factor f, and there was a threshold effect, and the thresholds were 0.798 in 2008, 0.905 in 2013 and 0.474 in 2018, respectively. This study confirmed the response relationship of HQ to USMS and demonstrates the existence of a threshold, which has important reference significance for urban biodiversity conservation and high-quality urban development.

In karst multi-mountainous areas, there are a large number of urban remnant mountains (URMs) in urban built-up areas, which are an important part of urban green space system and have important and unique ecosystem service functions. However, the densifying development inside the city has been leading to the reduction of the number and area of the URMs and the decrease of the connectivity of the urban green space system, resulting in the fragile urban ecological environment. The construction and optimization of ecological network (EN) is an effective way to protect important urban ecological patches and improve the stability of urban green space ecosystem. Taking the central area of Anshun, a typical multi-mountainous city, as the study area, based on the land use data of 2007, 2012 and 2017, the ecological sources were identified by morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and the potential ecological corridors were extracted by the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), and the ENs of the three periods were identified. 18 ecological sources were selected for each of the three periods, with a total area of 833.67 hm2, 713.25 hm2 and 806.85 hm2, respectively and the intersection area of ecological sources reached 650.58 hm2. The ecological corridors and ecological sources dwindled with time. The Gravity model was used to extract the important EN corridor, the InVEST model was used to quantify the comprehensive habitat quality. The EN was optimized by adding extra ecological sources, mending ecological breakpoints and extracting habitat quality map patches. It is suggested to add 6 ecological sources and 34 ecological corridors, protect ecological nodes and build stepping stone patches. The results of this study could not only provide a scientific and reasonable basis for the ecological protection and the development of ecological protection strategies in the urban central area of Anshun, but also enrich the theoretical research of urban biodiversity conservation planning and ecological restoration practice in multi-mountainous cities.

The Beijing–Tianjin Sandstorm Source Control Project (BTSSCP) has been implemented for more than 20 years (2001–2022), and a scientific, accurate, and complete evaluation of its implementation effect is of great significance for the study of ecosystem evolution. In this study, we present a vegetation–water–soil–environment system comprising the net ecosystem productivity (NEP), water conservation (WC), soil erosion (SE), and habitat quality (HQ) to evaluate the spatiotemporal changes and future trends. The results showed that: (1) In areas with high vegetation coverage, only WC was significantly and negatively correlated with SE (−0.68, p less than 0.01). In areas with low vegetation coverage, NEP, WC, and HQ were all significantly negatively correlated with SE. This indicates that SE is a basic function that affects the performance of other ecological services. (2) From 2000 to 2020, the annual maximum average vegetation coverage increased by about 10 %; the annual average NEP increased by about 60 g C/km2, and the annual average SE decreased by about 500 t/km2. Compared with Phase I (2000–2010), the vegetation condition (coverage, NEP) in summer (July–August) was improved by about 10 %, and SE in winter (December–January) decreased by 3 t/km2 per month in Phase II (2010–2020). (3) In terms of future trends, NEP may continue to increase in the grassland area, especially in the Mu Us Sandland, but it may not change significantly in the forest area. Similarly, SE may continue to decrease in grassland-covered areas, but not in forest-covered areas. Most areas of WC could continue to increase, but the HQ will not change significantly. In general, the ecological restoration effects of the BTSSCP have improved significantly. This paper is intended to provide some key information for the management of ecological projects and regional ecological security.

Abstract Hedgerows provide habitat, shelter and resources for many species including functionally important taxa and threatened species. Hedgerows store carbon both above‐ and below‐ground and provide a range of other ecosystem services. Policies incentivizing increases in the extent and quality of hedgerows require evidence to determine how these increases may best support a wide range of taxa and to improve hedgerow habitat quality. Here, available evidence for increasing hedgerow extent and improving their quality is discussed in the context of current conservation policy. Moderate evidence supports a substantial increase in average hedgerow extent from 4.2 km/km2 to around 10 km/km2 in the United Kingdom, to optimize support for many wildlife taxa, habitat connectivity and carbon storage. Evidence also supports the development of wider and structurally denser hedges with more diverse structures and management approaches, and hedgerow networks that are well connected with each other and with other semi‐natural habitats. However, barriers may hinder the implementation of hedgerow policies, and there remain substantive gaps in the evidence base. Knowledge gaps include the current quality or condition of UK hedges, understanding in which landscape contexts new hedges would best be planted to support biodiversity, the role of hedgerows in connectivity as species' ranges change under a future climate, and whether an increase in hedgerow extent might increase the spread of invasive species, tree pests or diseases. These gaps must be filled if conservation policies, including future agri‐environment schemes, are to ensure that hedgerows reach their considerable potential in aiding nature's recovery and addressing climate change.

Abstract Animals are expected to select a breeding habitat using cues that should reflect, directly or not, the fitness outcome of the different habitat options. However, human‐induced environmental changes can alter the relationships between habitat characteristics and their fitness consequences, leading to maladaptive habitat choices. The most severe case of such nonideal habitat selection is the ecological trap, which occurs when individuals prefer to settle in poor‐quality habitats while better ones are available. Here, we studied the adaptiveness of nest box selection in a tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) population breeding over a 10‐year period in a network of 400 nest boxes distributed along a gradient of agricultural intensification in southern Québec, Canada. We first examined the effects of multiple environmental and social habitat characteristics on nest box preference to identify potential settlement cues. We then assessed the links between those cues and habitat quality as defined by the reproductive performance of individuals that settled early or late in nest boxes. We found that tree swallows preferred nesting in open habitats with high cover of perennial forage crops, high spring insect biomass, and high density of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), their main competitors for nest sites. They also preferred nesting where the density of breeders and their mean number of fledglings during the previous year were high. However, we detected mismatches between preference and habitat quality for several environmental variables. The density of competitors and conspecific social information showed severe mismatches, as their relationships to preference and breeding success went in opposite direction under certain circumstances. Spring food availability and agricultural landscape context, while related to preferences, were not related to breeding success. Overall, our study emphasizes the complexity of habitat selection behavior and provides evidence that multiple mechanisms may potentially lead to an ecological trap in farmlands.

The assessment of habitat quality plays an important role in the effective conservation of wetland biodiversity. The Yellow River Delta Wetland is located in the intertwining zone of sea, terrestrial, and river ecosystems, increasing human activities and climate change posed a great threat to wetland biodiversity. This study first analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of habitat quality in the Yellow River Delta Wetland under the evolution of the shoreline after runoff-sediment variability (1986–2020) using the InVEST-habitat quality model and then identified the dominant influence factors on habitat quality based on Geographical Detector. Finally, elasticity index was introduced to analyze the impacts of different reclamation activities on habitat quality. Results showed that the habitat quality decreased from 0.4798 in 1986 to 0.4078 in 2020, with high values of habitat quality concentrated in mudflat wetlands and low values of habitat quality concentrated in construction land and salt pans. The results of the Geographical Detector analysis showed that the influence of human activities, especially reclamation activities, had stronger effects on habitat quality than climatic factors. The elasticity index analysis showed that the elasticity of all three types of reclamation activities, namely, culture ponds, construction land, and salt pans, were negative from 1986 to 2005, 2005 to 2020, and 1986 to 2020. The reclamation activities had a negative impact on habitat quality. The habitat quality of the Yellow River Delta Wetland was most sensitive to the change in reclamation intensity of construction land from 1986 to 2020, and the sensitivity of the change of habitat quality to the change of reclamation intensity of culture ponds and salt pans was strengthening. This study explicitly revealed the effect of climate change and human activities on the habitat quality of the Yellow River Delta Wetland and proposed to analyze the response intensity of habitat quality to different reclamation activities by using the elasticity index, thus providing a scientific basis for mitigating the tradeoff between biodiversity conservation and rapid social development in the Yellow River Delta Wetland in the future.

Hainan Island has undergone rapid landscape transformation leading to habitat fragmentation.Thus, exploring the spatiotemporal change from its past habitat quality provides insights into its future ecological protection. This study investigated the spatiotemporal changes of the habitat quality of Hainan Island from 1980 to 2020 using the InVEST and CA-Markov models and predicted the habitat quality for the time frame of 2020–2040. We found that the habitat quality index first increased from 0.73 in 1980 to 0.74 in 1990 and then will decrease to 0.70 in 2040 with an accelerating rate. The habitat quality inside the national park was significantly better and more stable than that outside the national park. The simulation and prediction results showed that the habitat quality inside the national park would continue to improve from 2020 to 2040, while that outside the national park would decline. The spatial distribution of the changes in the habitat quality of Hainan Island was significantly autocorrelated and clustered, enhanced over time. Our results suggest that the overall decline in the habitat quality of Hainan Island mainly result from the habitat quality change outside the national park, and the habitat quality change inside the national park will play a key role in stabilizing and supporting the habitat quality of Hainan Island, which highlights the importance of national park conservation.

The improvement of habitat quality is of great significance to biodiversity conservation. Irrational development activities lead to the degradation of habitat quality and loss of biodiversity, especially in arid inland areas where the ecological environment is fragile. In this study, the InVEST model is used to evaluate the habitat quality and degradation degree of the Ebinur Lake Basin from 1990 to 2020, while the PLUS model is used to predict the land use change in the Ebinur Lake Basin under various scenarios. Combined with the results of ecological zoning planning, the spatial distribution of land use and habitat quality under the inertia development (ID) and ecological protection (EP) scenarios in 2030 were compared and analyzed, and the optimal scenario was selected. The following four conclusions are drawn: (1) From 1990 to 2020, cultivated land, grassland, and construction land significantly increased, while forest land, water bodies, and unused land significantly decreased. (2) The habitat quality of the watershed showed an increasing trend followed by a decreasing trend. The area proportion of high habitat quality has always exceeded 50 % of the total area of the watershed with a high level of habitat quality. (3) Furthermore, combined with habitat quality and the human footprint index (HFI), ecological zoning planning for the basin was conducted. The three ecological zones were divided into key protected areas, key restoration areas, and moderate development zones, with area proportions of 53.69 %, 29.37 %, and 16.93 %, respectively. (4) By comparing habitat quality under the ID scenario and the EP scenario in 2030, we found that the area of high habitat quality increased by 2730.06 km2 under the EP scenario, which improved the overall level of habitat quality, and was more conducive to the ecological security protection of the basin. The results of this study may benefit the analysis of the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of habitat quality in the Ebinur Lake Basin and provide a reference for the improvement of habitat quality in the inland arid region.

Rapid urbanization has tremendously changed the urban ecological spaces and function of regional habitats, threatening regional ecological security and landscape sustainability. Understanding the impact of urban expansion on habitat quality is significant to ecological security. However, research on habitat quality and ecological security patterns in arid desert regions is limited. Given the research gap, this study constructed and optimized the ecological security pattern of Jiziwan (which refers to areas similar to the shape of the Chinese character “几”) in the Yellow River Basin. To achieve the aim, high habitat quality areas obtained from the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model were used as “sources”, and ecological corridors were identified from the Minimal Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model. Simultaneously, this study integrated land use, natural, social, and economic factors to monitor and assess the impact of urban expansion on habitat quality in Jiziwan. The results showed that: (1) urban expansion and ecological land have become more fragmented in Jiziwan and the urban expansion has changed from the edge-expansion type to the outlying type; (2) from 2000 to 2020, the urban expansion rate increased from 25.95% to 97.58%, which was negatively correlated with the rate of change in good habitat quality; (3) we finally identified 45 important ecological corridors, 140 secondary ecological corridors, and 44 ecological nodes that form an ecological spatial pattern of “two barriers, three corridors, and seven zones”. Our analytical framework offers a valuable tool for constructing ecological security patterns in Jiziwan and selecting “sources” at the regional scale. It can be applied to other landscapes and geographical contexts for sustainable development in arid regions.

Abstract The over‐exploitation of land resources poses a serious threat to biodiversity on a global scale. Changes in land‐use and human exploitation have had a major impact on wild populations and their habitat in China. We assessed how habitat quality has changed over time (1995–2020). Specifically, we analyzed how the habitat quality of crocodile lizard has changed over time based on multi‐temporal land‐use data (1995, 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2020) using a land‐use transfer matrix and habitat quality model. The results showed that the main landscape types in the study area were arable land (21.21% of the area) and woodland (69.59% of the area) during the period. Construction land (land used for development) had decreased by 991 km2, a decrease rate of 59.84% from 1995 to 2000, and increased to 2349 km2, an increase rate of 71.69% from 2000 to 2020. The proportion of grasslands and areas with water were negligible and overall, did not vary significantly in size over the study period. The main feature of land use change in the study area was the loss of grasslands and woodlands through development. The habitat quality model indicated that habitat quality was highest and degradation was lowest in Dayao mountain, Guxiu town, Qichong village and Beituo town. Habitat quality improved in Daguishan and Luokeng areas. Habitat quality was good in Daping mountain and Linzhouding, but they were highly fragmented with patches of low‐quality habitat of varying sizes. Habitats were severely degraded in the Dateng Gorge area. The rate of habitat degradation has slowed over time in the study area, but gradually increased in degradation intensity, and low‐quality habitats were widely distributed and overlapped with the crocodile lizards distribution area. We recommend that protected areas for the crocodile lizard be more closely monitored and managed to halt further decline in habitat quality.

Landscape pattern significantly impacts habitat quality, especially in cities undergoing rapid urbanization, where landscape patterns are changing dramatically. However, the spatial and temporal driving mechanisms of landscape pattern on habitat quality are still unclear, and the proposed methods of Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) and Multiscale Geographic Weighted Regression (MGWR) provide possibilities for the exploration of these mechanisms. This study was conducted in Nanjing from 2001 to 2020. Landscape pattern indices indicating aggregation, connectivity, diversity and compactness were calculated using Fragstats from 2001 to 2020. The habitat quality was computed using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. By combining two new spatial measurement models, GTWR and MGWR, the spatial and temporal driving mechanisms of landscape patterns on habitat quality were explored. The results show that (1) as Nanjing’s land under construction has expanded, habitat quality has decreased significantly, and the overall landscape pattern has fluctuated drastically. (2) GTWR and MGWR are well-suited to such analysis and provide important insights. (3) Overall, aggregation and compactness were negatively associated with habitat quality in areas of low-quality habitat. Increased connectivity on low habitat substrates had a positive effect on habitat. The increase of diversity in proximity had a positive effect on habitat, while the opposite was true in high habitat zones. (4) As the urbanization level increases, the negative effects of aggregation expand, as do the positive effects of connectivity and diversity. (5) The extent of influence of landscape pattern effects are ranked from largest to smallest: compactness, diversity, connectivity, and aggregation, while the intensity of effects is reversed. Based on these findings, a reference point for urban planners is provided to plan urban landscape patterns in a sustainable and rational manner. It also provides a new means of integrating GTWR and MGWR into the study of landscape ecology.

The focus of research and conservation in tropical regions is mainly devoted to forest ecosystems, usually neglecting the processes underlying widespread, more open biomes, like savannas. Here we test a wide range of sampled woodland sites across the South American savanna for the direct and indirect effects of habitat loss and vegetation density on the diversity of small-mammal species. We quantify the direction and magnitude of the effects of habitat amount (habitat loss), vegetation density (tree or foliage density), and patch size (species-area effect) on species composition and richness. We also test whether the relative effect sizes of landscape and patch-related metrics predict a persistence gradient from habitat specialist to generalist species across 54 sites. We used structural equation models (SEM) to test our predictions. After 22,032 trap-nights considering all sampled sites and 20 small-mammal species identified, the structural equation model explained 23.5% of the variance in the richness of small-mammal species. Overall, we found that landscape-level metrics were more important in explaining species richness, with a secondary role of patch-level metrics such as vegetation density. The direct effect of local landscape was significant for explaining species richness variation, but a strong positive association between regional and local landscapes was also present. Furthermore, considering the direct and indirect paths, SEM explained 46.2% of the species composition gradient. In contrast to species richness, we recorded that the combined landscape-level and patch-level metrics are crucial to determining small-mammal species composition at savanna patches. The small mammals from the South American woodland savanna exhibit clear ecological gradients on their species composition and richness, driven by habitat specialist (e.g., Thrichomys fosteri, Monodelphis domestica, and Thylamys macrurus) and generalist (e.g., Didelphis albiventris, Rhipidomys macrurus, and Calomys callosus) species’ responses to habitat amount and/or vegetation density, as seen in dense-forest Neotropical biomes.

Plants form the basis of sophisticated traditional medicine systems, and information on the spatial distribution of high-quality medicinal herbs is a prerequisite and foundation for their effective utilization and conservation. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, and baicalin is the main active ingredient of S. baicalensis. This research collected 470 samples of S. baicalensis through fieldwork and extracted baicalin content by high-performance liquid chromatography. We also collected 240 distribution sites from previous studies, which did not include effective content information. Then, based on 240 distribution sites of S. baicalensis and corresponding environmental variables via the MaxEnt method, we determined the distribution region of wild S. baicalensis. Next, a fuzzy matter element model was used to build the relationship between environmental variables and baicalin content. Finally, we integrated all the results to assess the habitat quality of the baicalin content in S. baicalensis across China. The results showed that compared with the genuine producing area of S. baicalensi, the high-quality habitats for a high baicalin content are further south. And the areas of habitat with high content of wild S. baicalensis based on baicalin in China were approximately 3.1 × 105 km2. The habitat of each category covered a large area in the distribution and the baicalin content differed from category to category obviously. Climatic factors wouldn’t only be an indicator for identifying the potential distribution area, but also for forming some secondary metabolites such as baicalin. In conclusion, it is necessary to label the produce place of S. baicalensis plant when used as herbal medicine. Our results provide a reference for the establishment of S. baicalensi plantations.

Due to habitat loss and hunting, the Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), the world’s rarest primate, was reduced to only two social groups and seven known individuals in 1978. Following the establishment of Bawangling National Natural Reserve (BNNR), gibbon forest habitat increased within this landscape from 56 km2 in 1980 to 300 km2, and the species had increased to five groups and 35 individuals by 2021. It is important to assess whether the large increase in habitat area was responsible for gibbon population increase, or whether gibbon recovery was associated with other factors. Here we use a 21-year longitudinal dataset of Hainan gibbon population change and habitat change, combined with vegetation survey plot data for 2021, to establish an accurate distribution baseline for natural tropical broadleaf forest across the BNNR landscape from 400 to 1300 m (the elevational range of gibbons at BNNR) and within the home range for each of the five Hainan gibbon social groups. We then utilized Landsat time-series images and analysis to compute non-linear causal relationships between forest dynamics and gibbon population growth from 2000 to 2021, both across BNNR and within each gibbon group home range. Metrics of forest dynamics include change in total forest area and forest fragmentation, and metrics of gibbon population dynamics include variation in total number of individuals for the entire population and within each social group, and variation in total number of groups. Our results demonstrate that overall gibbon population growth shows a positive relationship with improved habitat quality, with a one-year time lag of population response. However, changes in numbers of individuals within social groups do not show a similar relationship with improving habitat quality, suggesting that increasing forest cover and connectivity within the BNNR landscape are not direct determinants of Hainan gibbon recovery and that other environmental and/or anthropogenic factors are likely to be involved.

Abstract Agriculture intensification threatens farmland bird populations because, among other reasons, it reduces the availability of food resources required to rear their offspring. In our study, we sampled and analyzed total arthropod abundance, biomass and richness, and orthopteran and coleopteran abundance and biomass in different agricultural habitats (alfalfa fields, stubble fields, grazed fields, and field margins) across 4 study localities with different levels of agriculture abandonment–intensification, comparing between areas used and not used by one of the most threatened farmland birds in Europe, the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), during the chick‐rearing season. Field margins were the taxonomically richest habitat, while alfalfa fields presented significantly higher total arthropod abundance and biomass than other habitats. All arthropod variables were the highest in the localities with clear conservation‐focused agrarian management, and the lowest in the most intensive one. Areas used by little bustards had higher orthopteran and coleopteran abundance and biomass than nonused areas, except for coleopteran biomass in grazed fields. These results highlight the relevance of these arthropods for the species, the importance of dry alfalfa fields as food reservoirs in this critical time of year, the food scarcity in sites where agrarian management disregards farmland bird conservation, and the role of stubbles as providers of food resources during the chick‐rearing season in areas used by the species. The adequate management of alfalfa fields and stubbles to provide those key resources seems crucial to improve little bustard breeding success.

Correctly identifying the environmental factors that limit population growth and recovery of imperiled species is an essential element of any targeted conservation program. Abundance index values for delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), an imperiled fish in the upper San Francisco Estuary, have exhibited substantial inter-annual variation and the population is now at historically low numbers. Drawing from conceptual ecological models, we developed and applied a new multivariate analytical technique that incorporates a fundamental characteristic of limiting environmental factors– recognition that certain factors influence abundance in certain seasons or years, but they may have no influence on the species’ performance at other times. We observe that delta smelt occasionally experience years with population size increases, despite their ongoing long-term downward trajectory in numbers. The differences in environmental conditions that occur in years that prompt different population responses can provide insight into the environmental factors that limit species recovery. Nine temporally and spatially explicit covariates emerged from analyses that explain changes in inter-annual delta smelt abundance indices. We contrast those environmental factors with the factors that influence occupancy because distinguishing and focusing conservation actions on factors affecting delta smelt performance, rather than occupancy, should lead to the implementation of management and habitat-restoration actions that are more likely to benefit the fish. We think that the approach taken in this study can be a model for other species where salient data are limited and information needs are pressing.