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Simple Summary: This paper provides a methodology for analyzing the trajectory of the Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon): its clustering and mining habitats, trajectory-data supplementation, the analysis of behavioral patterns, and finally, potential habitat mining. It was found that the characteristics of the Crested Ibis habitat in nature reserves include proximity to water sources and cultivated land close to woodlands. Additionally, there is a certain aggregation and sharing of night roosting sites, which are easily disturbed by human activities, and there is a strong correlation between the spatial proximity of the Crested Ibis night. Although human behavior threatens the survival of the Crested Ibis, they still depend on human behavior, mainly for food and water. Moreover, farmers are encouraged to store water in paddy fields in winter and to avoid using harmful substances such as pesticides. Luoshan County provides a protected area for the Crested Ibis; it was analyzed and found to be appropriately located, with an excellent overall habitat-rating. The Chinese Government has also set up corresponding ecological and environmental protection zones, and it is essential to provide solutions for the reintroduction of the Crested Ibis. The Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) is an endangered animal with an extremely high ecological, humanistic, and scientific value. However, this species still faces survival challenges, due to rapidly shrinking foraging grounds, the serious interference of human behavior, and increased habitat requirements. Geographical environment is a significant factor affecting Crested Ibis behavior-pattern analysis and habitat protection. The spatial and temporal trajectory contains habitat location and period information, a vital record of the Crested Ibis' habits, and the basis of all research. Nevertheless, there are only a handful of studies on the missing trajectory data and fusing multiple sources of environmental data-research methods. We studied the spatial and temporal habitat use of the tracked Crested lbis by fusing multiple data-sources in China. This paper adopts the LSTM (long short-term memory) model to supplement the missing trajectory data and perform cluster mining; and a random forest model is used to predict the habitat of the Crested Ibis with high fitting accuracy (R2 = 84.9%). The results show that the Crested Ibis distribution-pattern is characterized by high altitude and proximity to woodland and rivers. Additionally, the habitat dependence on the village implicates human agricultural activities in positively impacting its reproduction. This paper provides a complete method for analyzing Crested Ibis' spatial and temporal trajectory by fusing multi-source data, which is crucial for protecting the survival and reproduction of the Crested Ibis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a relic species in China and a flagship species in the field of endangered wildlife conservation. The conservation of the giant panda's habitat has gained widespread attention for this reason. Historically, Chinese Giant Panda Nature Reserves are surrounded by communities and the resource utilization behavior of households disturbs the giant panda habitat. Changes in these communities and in Giant Panda Nature Reserves began around 2010, with the feminization and aging of the farm labor force. These changes brought different resource utilization behaviors that led to different evolutionary tendencies in giant panda habitats. This research study assesses the impact of these tendencies based on data from the fourth survey of the giant panda in the Sichuan Province and from geographic information data. The paper aims to uncover the internal mechanisms of farmers' resource utilization behavior in terms of the changes wrought to giant panda habitats. The paper simulates the future habitat of the giant panda based on the LUCC (land use/cover change) model to identify anticipated changes in future landscape patterns and the habitat quality of giant pandas under the current scenarios. The paper analyzes the spatial-temporal change of landscape patterns through the land use transfer matrix, based on the Markov model. The results of the scenario analyses illustrate the spatial and temporal difference in habitat quality. The driving mechanism for landscape pattern change is explored using the logistic regression model. The paper simulates the variation tendency of giant panda habitats under differential labor force structures and resource utilization behavior based on the CA (cellular automata) model, with the robustness of the results verified by participatory experiment. Through four scenarios of simulated farm labor force structure and resource utilization behavior, results suggest that the quality of giant panda habitats in the future will be relatively high when workforce feminization and aging is intense and resource utilization behavior is weakened. The simulated results confirm that the current agricultural labor force structure can reduce the intensity of resource utilization behavior. In this scenario, disturbance to giant panda habitats would decrease and their quality would improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape pattern of the Black‐necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) habitat in China changed at different spatial scales and long‐term periods due to natural factors and human activities, and habitat reduction and fragmentation threatened the survival of Black‐necked Cranes. The factors driving the habitat landscape pattern and individual population changes of Black‐necked Cranes remain to be studied. In this paper, based on remote sensing data of land use from 1980 to 2020, the changes in landscape pattern and fragmentation of the Black‐necked Crane habitat in China over 40 years were analyzed from two different spatial scales using the land cover transfer matrix and landscape index. The correlation between landscape and Black‐necked Crane individual population was analyzed. The most obvious observations were as follows: (1) Although transformation between landscapes occurred to varying degrees, the area of wetlands and arable land in the breeding and the wintering areas (net) increased significantly from 1980 to 2020. (2) Habitat fragmentation existed in the breeding and the wintering area and was more obvious in the wintering area. (3) The number of individuals of Black‐necked Cranes increased period by period, and habitat fragmentation did not inhibit their population growth. (4) The number of individuals of Black‐necked Crane was closely related to the wetland and arable land. The increasing area of wetlands and arable and the increasing landscape shape complexity all contributed to the growth of the individual population. The results also suggested that the number of individuals of Black‐necked Crane was not threatened by the expanding arable land in China, and they might benefit from arable landscapes. The conservation of Black‐necked Cranes should focus on the relationship between individual Black‐necked Cranes and arable landscapes, and the conservation of other waterbirds should also focus on the relationship between individual waterbirds and other landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasshoppers can greatly interfere with agriculture and husbandry, and they will breed and grow rapidly in suitable habitats. Therefore, it is necessary to extract the distribution of the grasshopper potential habitat (GPH), analyze the spatial-temporal characteristics of the GPH, and detect the different effects of key environmental factors in the meadow and typical steppe. To achieve the goal, this study took the two steppe types of Xilingol (the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China) as the research object and coupled them with the MaxEnt and multisource remote sensing data to establish a model. First, the environmental factors, including meteorological, vegetation, topographic, and soil factors, that affect the developmental stages of grasshoppers were obtained. Secondly, the GPH associated with meadow and typical steppes from 2018 to 2022 were extracted based on the MaxEnt model. Then, the spatial-temporal characteristics of the GPHs were analyzed. Finally, the effects of the habitat factors in two steppe types were explored. The results demonstrated that the most suitable and moderately suitable areas were distributed mainly in the southern part of the meadow steppe and the eastern and southern parts of the typical steppe. Additionally, most areas in the town of Gaorihan, Honggeergaole, Jirengaole, as well as the border of Wulanhalage and Haoretugaole became more suitable for grasshoppers from 2018 to 2022. This paper also found that the soil temperature in the egg stage, the vegetation type, the soil type, and the precipitation amount in the nymph stage were significant factors both in the meadow and typical steppes. The slope and precipitation in the egg stage played more important roles in the typical steppe, whereas the aspect had a greater contribution to the meadow steppe. These findings can provide a methodical guide for grasshopper control and management and for further ensuring the security of agriculture and husbandry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with four new species of Arrenurus (Acari, Hydrachnidiae, Arrenuridae) from standing water habitats in China: Arrenurus (Arrenurus) pseudonemanisp. nov., Arrenurus (Arrenurus) circinatussp. nov., Arrenurus (Arrenurus) menglaensissp. nov., and Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) guantingensissp. nov. Arrenurus (Arrenurus) pseudonemanisp. nov. can be distinguished by the petiole membrane enlarged in the middle, making the middle part significantly wider than the front and rear ends. Arrenurus (Arrenurus) circinatussp. nov. can be distinguished by petiole bearing a circular petiole membrane at the end. Arrenurus (Arrenurus) menglaensissp. nov. can be distinguished by petiole with a pair of setae and split down the middle, forming a pair of pointed crescents at the ends. Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) guantingensissp. nov. can be distinguished cauda slightly convex basally, without lateral extensions, P-2 with 15 small medial setae near distoventral corner. All the type specimens are deposited in GUGC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Understanding the formation and maintenance of biogeographical breaks is fundamental for developing analyses related to biodiversity and conservation. Biogeographical patterns along China's coast are changing dramatically in the face of climate change and alterations in land‐use. In this paper, we sought to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the formation and maintenance of a biogeographical barrier on China's coast. Location: Coastline of northern China. Methods: We have reviewed literature of research related to biogeographical and phylogeographical patterns of intertidal macrobenthos along the coast of Jiangsu Province and adjacent areas, summarized the distribution patterns and biogeographical breakers. We have also reviewed literature about the processes and drivers on coastal biogeographical breaks, to clarify the mechanisms acting to the northward shift of the biogeographical break. Results: The Yangtze (Changjiang) River Estuary Biogeographical Barrier (YREBB) at 30°–31°N, which serves as a coastal biogeographical boundary for the Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific Province and the Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific Province for marine species, has moved northward to ~33°–34°N due to the changes in habitat continuity, oceanographic circulation and climate factors. Consequently, a new biogeographic barrier for intertidal macrobenthos, the Subei Biogeographical Barrier (SBB) on the central coast of Jiangsu Province, has emerged. Main conclusions: The formation and maintenance of the SBB are closely related to the larval dispersal potential, larval settlement success and post‐settlement population establishment, all of which have been profoundly influenced by anthropogenic environmental changes. The northward shift of the YREBB and the appearance of the SBB provide an excellent model system for investigating the impacts of climate change and land‐use change on coastal biogeographic patterning and for clarifying the mechanisms underlying the formation and maintenance of biogeographical barriers in the face of the unprecedented environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shanghai Museum, which was established by the primarily British and American expatriate-led North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1874 and continued to operate until 1952, had a major influence on the popularization of natural history knowledge in China. It contributed to training the first generation of Chinese taxidermists, many descendants of whom continue even today to hold positions in academic institutions related to natural history in the country. Moreover, the Museum's habitat dioramas, in particular, played a significant role in raising public awareness about environmental issues among local and foreign residents of Shanghai. This paper traces the salient aspects of the Museum's history, focusing on the key individuals involved in its development and the contributions that it made to the production, dissemination and popularization of natural history knowledge and techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aloricate oligotrich ciliates are important components of marine microplankton. This paper summarizes the results of several biodiversity and faunal studies on this group in typical coastal habitats of southern China that were carried out from 2006 to 2016. The main findings are as follows: (1) a total of 39 species belonging to 17 genera, seven families and four orders of aloricate oligotrich (s. l.) ciliates were identified from coastal waters of Zhanjiang, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Huizhou, and Hong Kong; among these 16 species, four genera, one family and one order were new to science; (2) the order Oligotrichida represents the most abundant taxon with highest species richness and its members are widely distributed in all coastal habitats; the family Strombidiidae and the genus Strombidium comprise the highest proportion of all oligotrichs at family and genus levels, respectively; (3) based on the results of our taxonomic investigations, the biodiversity of oligotrichs in five typical habitats are compared; mangrove wetland possessing the highest species richness of oligotrich ciliates represents a biodiversity hotspot habitat in the southern coast of China; (4) morphologies of 10 poorly known species, namely Pelagohalteria cirrifera, Strombidium conicum, Spirostrombidium schizostomum, Parallelostrombidium paralatum, Omegastrombidium elegans, Varistrombidium kielum, Spirotontonia turbinata, Pelagostrobilidium simile, Strombidinopsis batos, and Strombidinopsis cheshiri are redescribed based on living and protargol-stained specimens, and some new characters are analysed. Improved diagnoses of Strombidium conicum and Strombidinopsis batos are supplied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The ecohydraulic modeling framework is a valuable tool for assessing fish ecology in dammed rivers. • Cascade dam construction could fragment spawning site habitats and reduce fish population abundance in the tailwater zone of the main stream. • Spawning site habitats would improve, leading to an increase in fish population abundance in the backwater zone of tributaries. • The effects of cascade dam construction on endemic fish habitat and population status depend on spawning site location, fish species, and life stages. Cascade dam constructions will alter the habitat of spawning sites and affect fish population in the Lancang River basin. This paper examines the impacts of cascade dam construction on four spawning sites, focusing on two co-distributed and endemic fish species: Schizothorax prenanti and Schizothorax davidi. An ecohydraulic modeling framework that combined hydro-morphodynamic, habitat, and population models was used to investigate changes in habitat quality and fish population under two scenarios: no-dam and with-dam. Fish habitat quality was evaluated using the habitat suitability index, and population fluctuations were assessed by the abundance and density of fish populations at all life stages. The simulation results indicated that cascade dam construction would fragment the spawning site habitat in the tailwater zone of the main stream and result in a decrease in fish population abundance and density. Conversely, spawning site habitats in backwater zone of tributaries would improve, and fish population abundance and density would increase. Additionally, the simulation results showed that the magnitude of fish population variations varied by species and life stages. These results highlight the different responses of spawning site location, fish species, and life stages to dam construction, which can help identify areas of the habitat with higher potential for finer-scale endemic fish conservation and recovery efforts. This study provides a comprehensive framework tool for fish ecological evaluation in dammed rivers, which has the potential to assist decision-makers involved in river ecosystem ecological conservation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Miocene squirrels of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province, and a paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological analysis based on the remains collected recently by screen-washing nine localities of early to late Miocene age. The assemblages contain 12 sciurid species (nine genera, three subfamilies), including squirrels with different adaptations, predominantly ground squirrels and chipmunks. Our analysis suggests that Miocene squirrels in Linxia reflect a relatively dry climate and open shrub-steppe environment, and favorable dispersal across Eurasia. The Linxia Miocene squirrels show close taxonomic composition with contemporary faunas known from the Mongol-Xinjiang highland and adjacent regions, implying that northern China represents a single biotic province with uniform paleoenvironment. In addition, the Linxia squirrels are quite different from those found in Yunnan in southern China, which are dominantly tree and flying squirrels that suggest a humid forest biotope. The differences in distribution indicate that Miocene squirrel faunas of China showed distinct provinciality and latitudinal ecological variation. Already in the Miocene we see evidence for predecessors of the present-day Palearctic and Oriental zoogeographic provinces of North and South China. • Rich Miocene Linxia Basin squirrel assemblages show distinctive adaptions. • Preferred habitat and ecology indicate open versus forested environments. • Miocene squirrels across China indicate zoogeographic province precursors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The depletion of resource reserves will cause stagnation of socio-economic development in resource-based cities. The formation of new sources of economic growth in resource-depleted cities can profoundly change the structure of human activities and affect the environment. The Chinese government has established a list of resource-depleted cities in three batches since 2008 to support these cities in finding new sources of economic growth. The article analyzes the impact of the regeneration process of resource-based cities on ecosystem quality. The paper constructs an inter-city panel dataset covering 281 cities from 2003 to 2018. The article valued the habitat quality of Chinese cities. Habitat quality index and normalized vegetation index were used to measure the long-term and short-term ecological impacts of economic recovery in resource-based cities. Using a difference-in-difference technique, the results show that the central government's economic support for resource-based cities significantly improves the condition of urban ecosystems. However, the long-term ecological effects are still smaller than the short-term changes in ecosystems. The transmission path of support policies affecting the ecological quality of cities depends on the shift in industrial structure and economic scale at the provincial level. In addition, urban-rural differences, regional distribution, and resource endowment also significantly affect the ecological effects of supportive policies. • Economic recovery in resource-depleted cities changes the economic structure and affects the urban ecosystem. • Economic recovery can improve the environmental quality of resource-depleted cities. • The variability of resource endowments affects environmental quality during the economic recovery process in cities. • The environmental benefits of economic recovery tend to decay over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dramatic urbanization process might severely impact the ecosystem service functions in resource-based regions, affecting the quality of life for the residents. Taking Huaibei, a mineral resource-based city in China during the period of 1990–2011 as a case study, this paper evaluates its level of urbanization and analyzes the relationship between the level of urbanization and ecosystem service values, using Xie's ecosystem unit service value table. The results show that Huaibei's level of urbanization has progressed gradually during the study period while ecosystem service values increased at the earlier time period but dropped in later time. Moreover, the relationship between the level of urbanization and ecosystem service values over time exhibits an irregular inverse “U” shape. From 1990 to 2002, Huaibei's ecosystem service value rose with the growing urbanization level, while it declined from 2003 to 2011. This indicates the possible effect that urbanization weakens the study area's ecosystem service function by altering ecosystem structure, ecological habitat and ecosystem circulation process. This paper provides the evidence why a coordinated development of urbanization and ecosystem service function is needed towards the sustainable management of mineral resources area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai is considered an aestheticised space for the growing Chinese middle class. Located within the booming and fast-urbanising Pearl River Delta, the theme park is a sizeable project consisting of rides, marine mammal enclosures and a well-equipped state-of-the-art circus. Utilising ethnography, including visitor interviews, and discourse analysis of websites, mobile apps and promotional materials, the theme park is found to deploy animal motifs in three key ways: as spectacular backdrops for amusement rides, as objects of biodiversity-based edutainment and as highly personified agents in visitor relations. Building on existing literature on decontextualised animal display – where emphasis on the provision of a natural habitat is replaced by simulated and actual proximity of animals to the visitors – I argue that the ‘out-of-situ’, cuteified and hyperreal stagings of Chimelong's animals have been shaped by two further China-specific processes. The first is the engagement with the theme park space as a sanitised and safe environment for a then one-child policy inspired child-centred visitation. The second refers to the retail-oriented consumerist experiences demonstrated by the new Chinese middle class. Both processes have brought about an aestheticising endeavour in line with the idealisation of other (Chinese) middle-class spaces, and have positioned Chinese theme parks as key nodes in our understanding of leisure and tourism spaces and of middle-class landscapes in contemporary China. Such an examination is made at a juncture where and when abuse of marine mammals is allegedly on the rise, and sheds light on the social processes shaping the popularity of such experiences in contemporary China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new distributional records of five Chinese species of Neckera Hedw.: N. bhutanensis Nog. (new to Sichuan and Yunnan), N. borealis Nog. (new to Xinjiang), N. himalayana Mitt. (Yunnan, new to China), N. setschwanica Broth. (new to Bhutan), and N. xizangensis Enroth (new to Sichuan and Yunnan, the first reports of the species since type material from Xizang). Maps showing the distributions of the treated species in China and an updated key to the Chinese species of Neckera sensu lato are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmonizing land use across space to optimize residential and agricultural land uses is an issue in many developed and developing countries. China, where the state has strong property rights, has developed its own set of policies to address this problem. One of the most common policies is the land coupon, a scheme where rural residential lands are reclaimed to farmland, and equivalent amounts of farmland located in urban regions are converted to construction (residential, industrial, or commercial) land. The scheme aims to preserve the total amount of farmland within a region, while also allowing cities to add commercial and residential buildings on former farmland. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an English speaking audience to the land coupon program in Chongqing, describe its characteristics, and finally investigate in depth the efficacy of the program to activate rural assets. Choosing Chongqing as our study area, we use a price gradient model to estimate the gap between prices compensated to rural residents for their residential land and the price of the land coupons at auction. We also compare the compensation to urban farmland owners, and rents to urban commercial land. The results indicate that 1) The average price gradient between supply (1.71 thousand yuan/m 2 ) and demand regions (3.14 thousand yuan/m 2 ) indicates that there is still a large land value gap between regions; 2) the scarcity degree—the amount of excess land in a city region that can be converted to agriculture—is a significant predictor of coupon price in both supply and demand areas; and 3) scarcity degree usually has an impact on price, negatively in supply regions, but in demand regions, there is a U-shaped relationship between price difference and scarcity degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most biodiversity-rich part of the protected areas system, habitats within the pilot national parks have long been threatened by drastic human-induced land use and land cover changes. The growing concern about habitat loss has spurred China's national park project to shift from pilot to construction phase with the official establishment of China's first group of national parks (CFGNPs) in October 2021. But far too little attention has been paid to the synergistic work concerning the habitat quality (HQ) dynamics of all five national parks. Here, the InVEST model, combined with a satellite-derived land use and land cover product and a hot spot analysis (HSA) method, was used to investigate the HQ dynamics at the park- and pixel-scale within the CFGNPs. Our results demonstrate that the past ecological conservation practices within national parks have been unpromising, especially in Giant Panda National Park, Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (NCTL), and Wuyi Mountain National Park (WYM), where HQ as a whole showed a significant decline. Furthermore, more than half of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (87.2%), WYM (77.4%), and NCTL (52.9%) showed significant HQ degradation from 1980 to 2019. Besides, increasing trends in the area shares of HQ degraded pixels were observed in all five national parks from 1980–1999 to 2000–2019. The HSA implied that the hot spots of high HQ degradation rates tend to occur in areas closer to urban settlements or on the edge of national parks, where human activities are intensive. Despite these disappointing findings, we highlighted from the observed local successes and the HQ plateau that the construction of CFGNPs is expected to reverse the deteriorating HQ trends. Thus, we concluded our paper by proposing an HSA-based regulatory zoning scheme that includes five subzones to guide the future construction of China's national park system. [Display omitted] • The first known investigation to reveal the habitat quality trends for China's first group of national parks was presented. • The past ecological conservation practices within national parks have been unpromising over the past four decades. • The area shares of habitat quality degraded pixels show an increasing trend in all five national parks from 1980 to 2019. • We developed a regulatory zoning scheme for habitat protection or ecosystem restoration within these national parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We developed an integrated model to quantify biodiversity by habitat quality. • Cultivated land mainly transfers into woodland, with some of construction land. • Biodiversity habitat quality under ecological protection scenarios is best. • The biodiversity of the upper and lower reaches in 2030 shows trend of improvement. The temporal and spatial dynamics of biodiversity and its future trends are of great significance for maintaining biodiversity pattern and ensuring regional ecological security in the Nanliu River Basin of Beibu Gulf. At present, most studies are concerned with the assessment of biodiversity in historical period, but few studies focused on the prediction of biodiversity under several scenarios in future years, and the history and future spatial simulation of habitat quality has not been carried out. Therefore, the establishment of biodiversity simulation studies under different scenarios in the future plays a crucial role in the sustainable development of regional social economy. This study takes Nanliu River Basin, which only flows into the sea in the Beibu Gulf, as the research object. Based on land use data and social and economic data interpreted from remote sensing data in 2000, 2010 and 2020, Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small Region Extent (CLUE-S) model was used to simulate and predict land use patterns for ecological protection scenarios, natural growth scenarios and food security scenarios in 2030. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Service and Tradeoff (InVEST) model was used to evaluate the biodiversity of different scenarios in the past and future and discuss the habitat quality and degradation degree of biodiversity in the watershed. Results were presented as follows. In 2000–2020, an increasing trend of construction land, shrub land and water area was found in the Nanliu River basin of Beibu Gulf. The largest increase was observed in construction land, and the largest decrease was noted in cultivated land and woodland. The best habitat quality will be under the ecological protection scenario in 2030. The biodiversity in the upstream and downstream of the three scenarios showed varying degrees of improvement, and the midstream exhibited a degradation trend. The research results of this paper can make up for the vacancy of biodiversity habitat evaluation system in Nanliu River Basin at home and abroad, and have important theoretical and practical significance for promoting ecological protection and ecological planning of watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riverine wetlands provide important habitats and travel corridors for resident and transient species, playing a key role in maintaining the diversity of entire landscapes. This paper assessed a long-term (1990–2013) landscape changes and avifauna community dynamics in the Yellow River wetland natural reserves, China. Remote sensing information was combined with field surveys to collect critical data on land use and avifaunal populations. The results reveal that land use has dramatic changes during 1990–2013. Utilized water features have significantly decreased over 20 years, whereas artificial land features such as paddy, dry field and built-up area have shown a steady increasing trend in the three riverine wetlands. The spatial landscape patterns of the three wetlands have become fragmented and notably heterogeneous as results of rapid economic development. With the changes of utilized water features, avifauna data show that some overwintering and transient species are becoming permanent residents. Though there is an abundant and diverse array of bird species utilizing the wetlands, migrating traits of these avifauna species have changed. This study can provide basic information for making effective and sustainable conservation plans for the entire Yellow River wetland natural reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Extinction debts of amphibians in SW China are examined. • Different habitats had different best-fitted debt models. • Grasslands and waters presented high extinction debts. • Debts in the region near Chengdu Plain were high. As a global biodiversity hotspot, southwestern China has been increasingly disturbed by human activities and has been undergoing rapid urbanization in recent years. In order to provide recommendations for conservation strategies, this paper explores the disequilibrium between land use and amphibian diversity. Four types of suitable habitat that are suitable for amphibians to inhabit (including farmland, woodland, grassland, and water habitat) were assessed and compared. Through fitting 20 models for species–area relationships (SARs), we found that different habitat types had different best-fitted SAR models. However, the conventional power law model had the advantage of being estimated without extreme values, and the estimation usually did not involve numerical problems. As such, we compared the debt mapping patterns derived from the best-fit SAR models and the power models. Regardless of the SAR models used, current amphibian richness was more strongly correlated with the past habitat area, suggesting that amphibian extinction debt existed in the region. Distribution of debt magnitude in different habitats presented congruent results: 1) The debt magnitude predicted in different habitats varied in decreasing order with grassland, water habitats, woodland, and farmland. 2) Debt magnitude in the region near the Chengdu Plain was high, while the extinction debt magnitude in the western region near the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was low. This followed expectations, as there is a profound impact of human activities in the Chengdu Plain that threatens the survival of amphibian species in that area. In summary, our results suggest that some specific habitats (grasslands and water) and areas (Chengdu Plain) need greater conservation effort to better protect the habitats of amphibians and reduce the extinction risks of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xinqing Wetland and Shengjin Lake Wetland are the main habitats of Hooded Crane in China. However, in recent years, the irrational land use situation of occupied wetlands has occurred frequently, resulting in the destruction of the breeding of the Hooded Crane population and the destruction of the wintering habitat. The paper takes Xinqing Wetland and Shengjin Lake Wetland as the research area, and uses landscape ecology and geostatistics as the theoretical basis to reveal the changes of land landscape in the study area, and analyze the main breeding and wintering habitat types of Hooded Crane. The landscape ecological risk assessment model is constructed by the landscape pattern index method, and the ecological risk in the study area is divided into five levels: extremely low ecological risk, low ecological risk, medium ecological risk, high ecological risk and extremely high ecological risk. The landscape ecological risk of the study area is analyzed from the aspects of single landscape type, spatial distribution characteristics and time series changes. Overall, from 1986 to 2018, the landscape ecological risks of Xinqing Wetland and Shengjin Lake Wetland all showed an upward trend, both from the low ecological risk level in 1986 to the middle ecological risk level in 2018. The ecological risk value of Xinqing Wetland increased from 0.3777 in 1986 to 0.5882 in 2018; the ecological risk value of Shengjin Lake wetland landscape increased from 0.2706 in 1986 to 0.5709 in 2018. The growth rate of the Shengjin Lake wetland is higher than that of the Xinqing Wetland. In order to better protect the ecological environment of the wetland and protect the habitat of the Hooded Crane, this paper will propose corresponding suggestions and countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suaeda salsa (L.) Pall. (S. salsa) acts as a pioneer species in coastal wetlands due to its high salt tolerance. It has significant biodiversity maintenance, socioeconomic values (e.g., tourism) due to its vibrant color, and carbon sequestration (blue carbon). Bohai Bay region, the mainly distributed area of S. salsa, is an economic intensive region with the largest economic aggregate and population in northern China. The coastal wetland is one of the most vulnerable ecosystems with the urbanization and economic developments. S. salsa in Bohai Bay has been changed significantly due to several threats to its habitat in past decades. In this paper, we analyzed all available archived Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI images of the Bohai Bay region by using a decision tree algorithm method based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to generate annual maps of S. salsa from 1990 to 2020 at a 30-m spatial resolution. The temporal-spatial dynamic changes in S. salsa were studied by landscape metric analysis. The influencing factors of S. salsa changes were analyzed based on principal component analysis (PCA) and a logistic regression model (LRM). The results showed that S. salsa was mainly distributed in three regions: the Liao River Delta (Liaoning Province), Yellow River Delta (Shandong Province), and Hai River Estuary (Hebei Province, Tianjin). During the past 31 years, the total area of S. salsa has dramatically decreased from 692.93 km2 to 51.04 km2, which means that 92.63% of the area of S. salsa in the Bohai Bay region was lost. In the 641.89 km2 area of S. salsa that was lost, 348.80 km2 of this area was converted to other anthropic land use categories, while 293.09 km2 was degraded to bare land. The landscape fragmentation of S. salsa has gradually intensified since 1990. National Nature Reserves have played an important role in the restoration of suitable S. salsa habitats. The analysis results for the natural influencing factors indicated that precipitation, temperature, elevation, and distance to the coastline were considered to be the major influencing factors for S. salsa changes. The results are valuable for monitoring the dynamic changes of S. salsa and can be used as effective factors for the restoration of S. salsa in coastal wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jurassic-Cretaceous Tuchengzi Formation has yielded at least 16 known theropod-dominated tracksites from northeast China, and in this paper, a new locality, the Lishi site in Hebei Province, is documented. A tuff layer positioned stratigraphically 90 m below the trackway layer yielded a U Pb date of 142.2 ± 0.9 Ma, placing the site in the Berriasian stage. The site includes sauropod tracks, assigned to Brontopodus , and large theropod tracks, informally assigned to Therangospodus and Megalosauripus as well as a well-preserved morphotype here named as Asianopodus wangi ichnosp. Nov. The Tuchengzi Formation theropod track assemblages have implications for theropod ontogeny, paleocommunity structure, palaeobiology and preferred habitats of different size groups, based on comparison with data from the skeletal record. The size-frequency distribution indicates that small theropod tracks (Footprint length, FL < 25 cm) represent the dominant trackmakers with estimated body masses of <100 kg, whereas intermediate sized trackmakers (FL 25.0 – ~38.0 cm) are comparatively scarce and there are no tracks suggestive of megatheropods with body masses of >1000 kg. The latter phenomenon is in contrast to recently published analyses from Cretaceous theropod skeletal data that recognize a gap between small and very large megatheropod individuals. • A J-K boundary dinosaur track assemblage is described from NE China. • Calculate 16 theropod dominated track sites from Tuchengzi Formation. • Demonstrates the potential value of size frequency data from large tracksites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]