Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ziqi Meng, Jinwei Dong, Erle C. Ellis, Graciela Metternicht, Yuanwei Qin, Xiao-Peng Song, Sara Lofqvist, Rachael D. Garrett, Xiaopeng Jia, Xiangming Xiao
Summary: This study uses 30-m cropland maps to show that cropland expansion in protected areas accelerated dramatically from 2000 to 2019, compared with the expansion of global croplands, threatening the aspirations of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Rachel Palfrey, Johan A. Oldekop, George Holmes
Summary: Private protected areas make significant contributions to biodiversity conservation and connectivity of protected area networks, but they are currently underrecognized and lack sufficient resources.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Yusi Xin, Zhixu Yang, Yuanbao Du, Ruina Cui, Yonghong Xi, Xuan Liu
Summary: Anthropogenic climate change, land use modifications, and alien species invasions are identified as major threats to global biodiversity. This study quantified the vulnerabilities of 1020 protected areas (PAs) in China to these three global change factors. The results showed that over half of the PAs will face at least one stress factor, with 21 PAs facing the highest risk of simultaneous exposure to all three stressors. Forest conservation PAs in Southwest and South China were found to be most sensitive to these global change factors. Wildlife and wetland PAs were predicted to mainly experience climate change and high land use anthropogenetic modifications, with the potential for providing suitable habitats for alien vertebrate establishment.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Almut Arneth, Paul Leadley, Joachim Claudet, Marta Coll, Carlo Rondinini, Mark D. A. Rounsevell, Yunne-Jai Shin, Peter Alexander, Richard Fuchs
Summary: The spatial extent of protected areas (PAs) is a highly debated issue in the decision-making process of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Despite efforts to protect land and oceans, biodiversity loss remains a challenge. While expanding PAs to 30% may have benefits for biodiversity and climate, it is crucial to consider the effectiveness of PAs and potential trade-offs with food production.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniel Goncalves-Souza, Bruno Vilela, Ben Phalan, Ricardo Dobrovolski
Summary: Research shows that protected areas and indigenous lands in Brazil have had a positive impact in avoiding ecosystem destruction, with this effect extending to buffer zones around protected areas. The most effective protected areas are older, larger, located in the Amazon region, and indigenous lands. Despite recent setbacks, the benefits of strengthened protected areas for biodiversity and climate are highlighted.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chunrong Mi, Liang Ma, Mengyuan Yang, Xinhai Li, Shai Meiri, Uri Roll, Oleksandra Oskyrko, Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, Lilly P. Harvey, Daniel Jablonski, Barbod Safaei-Mahroo, Hanyeh Ghaffari, Jiri Smid, Scott Jarvie, Ronnie Mwangi Kimani, Rafaqat Masroor, Seyed Mahdi Kazemi, Lotanna Micah Nneji, Arnaud Marius Tchassem Fokoua, Geraud C. Tasse Taboue, Aaron Bauer, Cristiano Nogueira, Danny Meirte, David G. Chapple, Indraneil Das, Lee Grismer, Luciano Javier Avila, Marco Antonio Ribeiro Junior, Oliver J. S. Tallowin, Omar Torres-Carvajal, Philipp Wagner, Santiago R. Ron, Yuezhao Wang, Yuval Itescu, Zoltan Tamas Nagy, David S. Wilcove, Xuan Liu, Weiguo Du
Summary: Protected Areas (PAs) play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation. Our global assessment using species distribution models reveals that more than 91% of herpetofauna species are currently found in PAs and this proportion will not change significantly under future climate change. The study highlights the importance of PAs in providing refuge for herpetofauna and suggests the optimization of PAs to better protect biodiversity worldwide.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chunrong Mi, Liang Ma, Mengyuan Yang, Xinhai Li, Shai Meiri, Uri Roll, Oleksandra Oskyrko, Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, Lilly P. Harvey, Daniel Jablonski, Barbod Safaei-Mahroo, Hanyeh Ghaffari, Jiri Smid, Scott Jarvie, Ronnie Mwangi Kimani, Rafaqat Masroor, Seyed Mahdi Kazemi, Lotanna Micah Nneji, Arnaud Marius Tchassem Fokoua, Geraud C. Tasse Taboue, Aaron Bauer, Cristiano Nogueira, Danny Meirte, David G. Chapple, Indraneil Das, Lee Grismer, Luciano Javier Avila, Marco Antonio Ribeiro Junior, Oliver J. S. Tallowin, Omar Torres-Carvajal, Philipp Wagner, Santiago R. Ron, Yuezhao Wang, Yuval Itescu, Zoltan Tamas Nagy, David S. Wilcove, Xuan Liu, Weiguo Du
Summary: Protected areas (PAs) are vital for biodiversity conservation, with over 91% of amphibians and reptiles currently distributed in PAs. This proportion will remain unchanged under future climate change, with lower loss of species' ranges inside PAs compared to outside. However, there are still significant conservation gaps, especially in tropical and subtropical forests and non-high-income countries. The study also predicts a high risk of extinction for hundreds of amphibian and reptile species due to climate change.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiyan Xu, Anqi Huang, Elise Belle, Pieter De Frenne, Gensuo Jia
Summary: This study finds that protected areas effectively lower land surface temperature and reduce temperature ranges in different regions. Protected forests also slow down the rate of warming, particularly in boreal forests, which is crucial for species in these areas. The importance of conservation in stabilizing local climate and safeguarding biodiversity is highlighted.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mohamed I. Bakarr
Summary: In order to protect nature, African parks need to contribute to human well-being, overcome threats, and secure reliable funding sources. The first Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) held in Rwanda reaffirmed the importance of protected and conserved areas (PCAs) in safeguarding wildlife and biodiversity on the continent. This paper discusses how African countries can address the needs of making PCAs people centered, advancing integrated approaches to tackle biodiversity loss, and promoting sustainable and innovative financing for PCAs.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Varsha Vijay, Paul R. Armsworth
Summary: The global expansion of cropland over the past century has led to widespread habitat loss and degradation. Protected areas, established to counteract habitat loss and species extinctions, also face issues of habitat disturbance and conversion for uses such as cropland. Understanding the presence of cropland in protected areas and its relationship to conservation goals and socio-environmental factors is crucial for informing conservation priorities and policies. The study found that cropland occupies 6% of global protected areas, with higher prevalence in countries with higher population density, lower income inequality, and higher agricultural suitability of protected lands. Balancing biodiversity conservation and food security in protected areas, especially in regions with high biodiversity and food insecurity, is essential for effective conservation planning.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Juliana Siqueira-Gay, Jean Paul Metzger, Luis E. Sanchez, Laura J. Sonter
Summary: This study examines the impacts of five policy scenarios under which combinations of protected areas (PAs) allow mining in the Brazilian Amazon, and emphasizes the importance of long-term planning to safeguard biodiversity. The study finds that opening the entire network of PAs for mining would result in extensive deforestation and road construction. Reducing the number of protected areas can mitigate the impacts of mining expansion but would require longer access roads.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Alison C. Smith, Paula A. Harrison, Nicholas J. Leach, H. Charles J. Godfray, Jim W. Hall, Sarah M. Jones, Sarah S. Gall, Michael Obersteiner
Summary: Agricultural and environmental policies are being reviewed and redesigned in the UK after Brexit to address the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development. The study shows that dietary changes, improvements in agricultural productivity, and waste reduction can lead to synergistic effects in achieving multiple sustainability targets under limited land availability.
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Jose Maria Cardoso da Silva, Teresa Cristina Albuquerque de Castro Dias, Alan Cavalcanti da Cunha, Helenilza Ferreira Albuquerque Cunha
Summary: The study describes the variation in funding deficits across Brazilian federal PAs and proposes a model to explain this variation. It was found that there is a high proportion of funding deficits in Brazilian PAs, similar to those found in sub-Saharan Africa. New policies and innovative funding mechanisms are needed to bridge the large funding gap in the Brazilian federal PA system.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shawan Chowdhury, Shofiul Alam, Mahzabin Muzahid Labi, Nahla Khan, Md Rokonuzzaman, Dipto Biswas, Tasmia Tahea, Sharif A. Mukul, Richard A. Fuller
Summary: The biodiversity in South Asian Protected Areas (PAs) is facing a wide range of anthropogenic threats, with research biased towards India and focusing mainly on species distribution. Most PAs are very small and have not yet reached international biodiversity targets.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Philip Erm, Andrew Balmford, Matthew H. Holden
Summary: There is ongoing discussion about the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) in well-regulated seascapes with other forms of fisheries management. This study adapts a model from agriculture to determine how to achieve catches at minimum cost to biodiversity in managed trawl fisheries. The results show that a combination of MPAs and fishing effort regulation is best for biodiversity when avoiding local extinction of sensitive species is a priority. However, if there are no sensitive species or if biodiversity is measured in terms of species abundances, then relying solely on fishing effort regulation is more effective. Evaluating the findings globally, it is estimated that over 72% of well-regulated crustacean trawl fisheries could benefit from no-trawl MPAs, although such MPAs may require increased fishing effort to maintain catches.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Yi-An Liao, Liliana Garcia-Mondragon, Deniz Konac, Xiaoxuan Liu, Alex Ing, Ran Goldblatt, Le Yu, Edward D. Barker
Summary: Nighttime light emission is associated with reduced mental and physical health. This study examines the impact of nighttime light emission and related urban features on mental and physical well-being. The findings suggest that higher nighttime light emission is associated with higher air pollution, less green space, higher economic and neighborhood deprivation, and higher levels of mental and physical symptoms. In areas with high nighttime light emission, urban features have a greater effect on mental and physical health problems.
CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Le Yu, Yue Cao, Yuqi Cheng, Qiang Zhao, Yidi Xu, Kasturi Kanniah, Hui Lu, Rui Yang, Peng Gong
Summary: This study uses advanced remote sensing techniques to produce annual oil palm plantation maps in four major producer countries in the Asia-Pacific region from 2007 to 2018. The study reveals a potential conflict between global oil palm expansion and local biodiversity and suggests incorporating related issues into the global biodiversity framework.
REMOTE SENSING LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tao Liu, Le Yu, Xin Chen, Hui Wu, Hui Lin, Chengxiu Li, Jiaru Hou
Summary: In recent decades, China has implemented ecological restoration projects to improve biodiversity and ecosystem services, and environmental laws have been issued for guidance. However, the quantitative evaluation of these projects' effectiveness remains unclear. In response to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness of these projects based on China's environmental protection and land administration laws. The findings showed that the projects enhanced ecosystem services by 15-58%, with varying effects in different regions and climate factors being crucial.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Remote Sensing
Fengjie Ren, Hui Lu, Bin Wang, Kun Yang, Le Yu, Weiwei Gan, Tianjie Zhao
Summary: In this study, SMAP36 and SMAP09 products from the SMAP mission and the AMSR2 FT product were compared against surface soil temperature measurements in Russia. The results show that AMSR2 FT performs better than the SMAP products, particularly in the overall accuracy of the descending orbit. AMSR2 FT has high accuracy in inland areas but lower accuracy along coastal zones due to the presence of water bodies or lake ice. The study also highlights the need to improve the algorithm for wet snow detection in mixed forest areas.
REMOTE SENSING LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xueliang Feng, Shen Tan, Yun Dong, Xin Zhang, Jiaming Xu, Liheng Zhong, Le Yu
Summary: Bamboo forest is a unique forest landscape mainly composed of herbal plants. It has a stronger capability to increase terrestrial carbon sinks than woody forests, playing a special role in absorbing atmospheric CO2. Accurate and timely bamboo forest maps are necessary for understanding and quantifying their contribution to the carbon and hydrological cycles.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhiying Yao, Yuanyuan Zhao, Hengbin Wang, Hongdong Li, Xinqun Yuan, Tianwei Ren, Le Yu, Zhe Liu, Xiaodong Zhang, Shaoming Li
Summary: As orchards have high economic, ecological, and cultural value, accurate and timely mapping of orchards is highly demanded. Selecting a remote-sensing data source is crucial, and a trade-off between spatial and temporal resolution must be made. In this study, different spatial and temporal resolution images were tested for orchard mapping, and their performance was assessed. Results showed that increasing spatial resolution and the number of images used improved overall accuracy, with temporal information having a higher classification ability than spatial information. Combining spatial and temporal features improved accuracies compared to using only temporal features or single-source data.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuhao Pan, Dailiang Peng, Jing M. Chen, Ranga B. Myneni, Xiaoyang Zhang, Alfredo R. Huete, Yongshuo H. Fu, Shijun Zheng, Kai Yan, Le Yu, Peng Zhu, Miaogen Shen, Weimin Ju, Wenquan Zhu, Qiaoyun Xie, Wenjiang Huang, Zhengchao Chen, Jingfeng Huang, Chaoyang Wu
Summary: Global warming has caused earlier spring green-up dates, impacting global carbon and hydrologic cycles. Land cover change (LCC) can also affect these dates. By analyzing satellite data from 1992 to 2020, we found that climate variables had a larger impact overall, but LCC controlled the variability in green-up dates in 6% of the Northern Hemisphere. Changes in land cover types led to earlier or later green-up dates in specific regions. Ignoring the impact of LCC overestimated the climate change attribution of earlier green-up dates by three days.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hui Wu, Shiming Fang, Le Yu, Shougeng Hu, Xin Chen, Yue Cao, Zhenrong Du, Xiaoli Shen, Xuehua Liu, Keping Ma
Summary: To maximize co-benefits after 2020, the existing protected areas network needs to be optimized and conservation targets need to be identified. A study in Southwest China found inconsistencies between biodiversity, climate vulnerability, and wilderness hotspots, and identified significant gaps in the protected areas network. To address this, conservation targets for 2025, 2030, and 2050 are proposed to expand the coverage of protected areas.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jiayuan Xu, Nana Liu, Elli Polemiti, Liliana Garcia-Mondragon, Jie Tang, Xiaoxuan Liu, Tristram Lett, Le Yu, Markus M. Noethen, Jianfeng Feng, Chunshui Yu, Andre Marquand, Gunter Schumann
Summary: Analyses of data from the UK Biobank reveal that different urban living environments are associated with affective, anxiety, and emotional instability symptom groups in adults. These associations are mediated by distinct neurological and genetic pathways. Using data from 156,075 participants, researchers found that social deprivation, air pollution, street network, and urban land-use density were positively correlated with affective symptoms. On the other hand, greenness and generous destination accessibility were negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms. The study suggests that urban living environments may influence specific psychiatric symptom groups through different neurobiological pathways.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rui Wang, Wenjia Cai, Le Yu, Wei Li, Lei Zhu, Bowen Cao, Jin Li, Jianxiang Shen, Shihui Zhang, Yaoyu Nie, Can Wang
Summary: Assessing biomass resource potential is crucial for China's goals of carbon neutrality, rural revitalization, and poverty eradication. This study estimates the biomass resource potential for various types of biomass feedstock in China at a high spatial resolution of 1 km. The assessment framework developed in this study combines statistical accounting and GIS-based methods, ensuring transparency and compliance with principles of food security, land and biodiversity protection. The reliability of the dataset is verified through comparisons with existing literature.
Article
Environmental Studies
Beatrice Asenso Barnieh, Li Jia, Massimo Menenti, Le Yu, Emmanuel Kwesi Nyantakyi, Amos Tiereyangn Kabo-Bah, Min Jiang, Jie Zhou, Yunzhe Lv, Yelong Zeng, Ali Bennour
Summary: Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) change is a major global concern and a topic of scientific debate. In West Africa, the key trend among the changes of the past few years is the loss of natural vegetation related to changes in different LULC categories, e.g., water bodies, wetland, and bare soil. However, not all detected changes in these LULC categories are relevant for LULC change management intervention in a resource-constrained continent, as a massive change in the dominant LULC types may be due to errors in the LULC maps.
Article
Agronomy
Chengxiu Li, Oscar Kambombe, Ellasy Gulule Chimimba, Dominic Fawcett, Luke A. Brown, Le Yu, Agossou Gadedjisso-Tossou, Jadunandan Dash
Summary: This study investigates the benefits and management of intercropping in smallholder fields in Malawi. The results show that the number of intercrops planted is correlated with smaller field sizes, drier conditions, and higher soil erosion levels. Intercropping is associated with reduced primary maize yield compared to pure maize yield, but overall field yield improves. More evidence on the benefits and best practices of intercropping in smallholder fields is necessary.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Xiyu Li, Le Yu, Xin Chen
Summary: The clear boundary between urban and rural areas is disappearing as they are connected in a gradient known as the rural-urban continuum. This study proposed a method and classification system to map and analyze the global rural-urban continuum using land-cover and population data. The analysis revealed a pattern of development from wildland to villages, then towns, and finally urban areas, with regional differences in the distribution of sparse villages, densely clustered towns, and dense villages.
Article
Environmental Studies
Hanguang Yu, Dongya Liu, Chunxiao Zhang, Le Yu, Ben Yang, Shijiao Qiao, Xiaoli Wang
Summary: The Pearl River Delta is one of the most dynamic economic regions in the Asia-Pacific region, but it still faces problems such as over-exploitation of urban land and unbalanced development. By studying the spatial-temporal characteristics and driving factors of its development intensity, the key points and difficulties of urban development can be found. Various research methods were used to analyze the overall trends, spatial distribution of hot and cold spots, and driving factors for the development intensity. The findings show a core periphery spatial pattern, agglomeration of hot and cold spots, and the interaction of multiple driving factors.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Zhenrong Du, Le Yu, Jianyu Yang, David Coomes, Kasturi Kanniah, Haohuan Fu, Peng Gong
Summary: We developed an automatic framework using Landsat time series, LandTrendr algorithm, and Google Earth engine platform to map global forest gain at fine spatial and temporal resolutions. Our results show that over 60% of forest gain occurred in Russia, Canada, the United States, Indonesia, and China, with approximately half of it happening between 2001 and 2010. The forest gain map developed in this study exhibited good consistency with statistical inventories and independent regional and global products. Our dataset can be useful for policy-relevant research on the global carbon cycle, and our method provides an efficient and transferable approach for monitoring other types of land cover dynamics.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
