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Ginkgo biloba L. was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1771; a "living fossil" with immense medicinal and conservation value, it is a nationally first-class protected wild plant. However, many Ginkgo populations are under threat from habitat destruction, human exploitation, and over-harvesting, which have limited their numbers and range. Using an optimized MaxEnt model in R, this study analyzed Ginkgo distribution points and 22 ecological factors in China to explore the key environmental factors affecting its geographical distribution. The study also predicted the spatial distribution patterns and centroid changes of potential suitable areas under three different carbon emission pathways: current conditions, 2021–2040 (2030s), 2041–2060 (2050s), and 2061–2080 (2070s). The findings are as follows: (1) The optimal combination of model parameters (RM = 3.2, FC = LPH) reduced model complexity and overfitting and achieved very high prediction accuracy with an optimized AUC value of 0.928. (2) The key environmental factors influencing Ginkgo growth include precipitation in the driest month (20–175 mm), minimum temperature in the coldest month (−4 to 3 °C), precipitation in the hottest quarter (450–2500 mm), and a temperature seasonal variation deviation greater than 580. (3) Under the three future climate scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, and SSP585), the potential suitable habitat area for Ginkgo in China was increased, with the distribution range migrating to higher latitudes, Under the three different development models, the total suitable area followed this order: SSP126 > SSP245 > SSP585. Highly and moderately suitable areas are concentrated in the Yangtze River Basin. This study is highly significant for the ecological protection of Ginkgo, aiding in the rational planning of potential suitable areas, enhancing the monitoring of key conservation areas, and developing effective protection strategies in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing an ecological security pattern in ecologically fragile areas is crucial for maintaining regional ecological stability. This study focuses on the Kunlun Mountain region, identifying ecological sources based on habitat suitability assessments and ecosystem services. An ecological resistance evaluation index system is constructed, considering topography, land use, and habitat quality. The minimum cumulative resistance model is then applied to identify ecological corridors, with areas exhibiting higher ecological currents designated as ecological nodes. By integrating the spatial characteristics of ecosystem services, an ecological security pattern is established. The results are as follows: (1) The ecological source area covers approximately 11.30% of the study area. (2) The cumulative length of ecological corridors is 21,111 km, mainly distributed along valleys, gentle slopes, and oasis areas. (3) The areas of ecological nodes and ecological barriers are 126.75 km2 and 46.75 km2, respectively. Ecological nodes are mainly distributed on both sides of the Kunlun Mountains, while ecological barriers are primarily located in the central mountainous area of the Kunlun Mountains. (4) The findings recommend establishing an ecological security pattern consisting of "2 horizontal and 4 vertical corridors and 5 zones" to ensure the ecological security of the Kunlun Mountains. The integration of ecological corridors and ecosystem services in constructing a regional ecological security pattern provides valuable decision-making tools for protecting ecosystems and species in fragile areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several epidemiological studies have investigated the association between sugar intake, the levels of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and the risk of hypertension, but findings have been inconsistent. We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies to examine the associations between sugar intake, hypertension risk, and BP levels. Articles published up to February 2, 2021 were sourced through PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science. Pooled relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using a fixed- or random-effects model. Restricted cubic splines were used to evaluate dose-response associations. Overall, 35 studies were included in the present meta-analysis (23 for hypertension and 12 for BP). Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) were positively associated with hypertension risk: 1.26 (95% CI, 1.15–1.37) and 1.10 (1.07–1.13) per 250-g/day increment, respectively. For SBP, only SSBs were significant with a pooled β value of 0.24 mmHg (95% CI, 0.12–0.36) per 250 g increase. Fructose, sucrose, and added sugar, however, were shown to be associated with elevated DBP with 0.83 mmHg (0.07–1.59), 1.10 mmHg (0.12–2.08), and 5.15 mmHg (0.09–10.21), respectively. Current evidence supports the harmful effects of sugar intake for hypertension and BP level, especially SSBs, ASBs, and total sugar intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ephedra sinica (E. sinica) holds significant economic and medicinal importance and is predominantly found in arid areas. Due to the limitations of environmental variables, growth habits, and human activities, the production and suitability areas of E. sinica have significantly decreased, especially in the five northwestern provinces of China. In this study, 212 distribution points of E. sinica and 40 environmental variables were obtained to project the habitat suitability of E. sinica under different emission scenarios in the future. It identified precipitation in the wettest month, monthly mean of the diurnal temperature difference, and solar radiation intensity in April and July as the primary environmental factors affecting the suitability of E. sinica in the region. The areas of high, medium, and low suitability in the region cover 103,000 km2, 376,500 km2, and 486,800 km2. Under future scenarios, the suitability areas from 2021 to 2100 will decrease by 20%, with high suitability areas decreasing by 65% to 85% particularly. With comprehensive environmental variables, the suitability areas of E. sinica from 2021 to 2100 are projected, filling the gap in the projection of E. sinica suitability areas in the five northwestern provinces of China over long time period. The suitability areas show a significant decreasing trend. This research provides valuable insights into the suitability areas and crucial environmental factors, offering theoretical support for future protection and management efforts for E. sinica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in atmospheric CO2 leads to global warming and ecological environment deterioration. Carbon storage modeling and assessment can promote the sustainable development of the ecological environment. This paper took Xinjiang as the study area, analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution of land use in four periods from 1990 to 2020, explored the spatial relationship of carbon stocks using the InVEST model, and coupled the GMOP model with the PLUS model to carry out multiple scenarios for the future simulation of land use in the study area. We found (1) Over time, the types with an increasing area were mainly impervious and cropland, and the types with a decreasing area were grassland, snow/ice, and barren; spatially, the types were predominantly barren and grassland, with the conversion of grassland to cropland being more evident in the south of Northern Xinjiang and north of Southern Xinjiang. (2) The evolutionary pattern of terrestrial carbon stocks is increasing and then decreasing in time, and the carbon sink areas are concentrated in the Tarim River Basin and the vicinity of the Ili River; spatially, there are differences in the aggregation between the northern, southern, and eastern borders. By analyzing the transfer in and out of various categories in Xinjiang over the past 30 years, it was obtained that the transfer out of grassland reduced the carbon stock by 5757.84 × 104 t, and the transfer out of Barren increased the carbon stock by 8586.12 × 104 t. (3) The land use layout of the sustainable development scenario is optimal under the conditions of satisfying economic and ecological development. The reduction in terrestrial carbon stocks under the 2020–2030 sustainable development scenario is 209.79 × 104 t, which is smaller than the reduction of 830.79 × 104 t in 2010–2020. Land optimization resulted in a lower loss of carbon stocks and a more rational land-use layout. Future planning in Xinjiang should be based on sustainable development scenarios, integrating land resources, and achieving sustainable economic and ecological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of soil erosion in a region can provide an effective reference for local ecological environment management. The Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau54 is an important ecological security barrier in southwest China, owing to its unique climatic and environmental characteristics and superior natural resource endowment. The current research focus is the spatial analysis of a certain area. In this study, soil erosion in the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau during 2000–2030 was analyzed and predicted from two aspects of structure and spatial layout by coupling several models. The report also analyzes the shift in the center of gravity of land use and analyzes the drivers of soil erosion, analyzing soil erosion by land use type. The study shows a decreasing trend in the soil erosion modulus from 2000 to 2020 from 1183.69 to 704.58 t·hm−2·a−1, but it is expected to have an increasing trend in the future and will increase to 877.72 t·hm−2·a−1. Analyzing the drivers of soil erosion allows for testing whether the factor affects the spatial distribution of the independent variable and to what extent it explains that dependent variable. This study showed that elevation had the highest explanatory power for soil erosion. Relatively high mountainous areas are often subject to greater soil erosion due to their steep topography, resulting in poorer vegetation cover. The north–south offset distance is greater than the east–west offset distance for forested land, water and unutilized land, and the east–west offset distance is greater than the north–south offset distance for cropland, grassland and built-up land in the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The purpose of this study is to identify areas of serious soil erosion vulnerability in the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and to analyze the driving factors affecting soil erosion vulnerability, so as to provide a basis for regional soil erosion management, and, at the same time, to provide a reference for the government to formulate soil and water conservation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of forest-dominant tree species is crucial for ecosystem assessment. Remote sensing monitoring requires annual ground sample data, but consistent field surveys are challenging. This study addresses this by combining sample migration learning and machine learning for multi-year tree species classification in the Three Gorges Reservoir area in China. Using the continuous change detection and classification (CCDC) algorithm, sample data from 2023 were successfully migrated to 2018–2022, achieving high migration accuracy ( R 2 = 0.8303, RMSE = 4.64). Based on migrated samples, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and extreme gradient boosting (XGB) algorithms classified forest tree species with overall accuracies above 70% and Kappa coefficients above 0.6. XGB. They outperformed other algorithms, with classification accuracy of over 80% and Kappa above 0.75 in almost all years. The final map indicates stable distribution from 2018 to 2023, with eucalyptus covering over 40% of the forest area, followed by horsetail pine, fir, cypress, and wetland pine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]