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• The 57.00% of the Yangtze River Economic Belt area exhibited a significant increase in annual NPP. • The response of NPP on climate factors was nonlinear, with greater sensitivity to temperature. • The impact of topographic factors on NPP changes had a threshold effect. Net primary productivity (NPP) of terrestrial ecosystems serves as a crucial carbon sink, playing a significant role in mitigating climate change. This study, focusing on the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), a key area for both economic development and ecological conservation in China, evaluates the temporal and spatial changes in regional NPP and its responses to climatic factors against the backdrop of global change. Utilizing long-term NPP and meteorological grid data from 1981 to 2017, we analyzed the annual change patterns of NPP and its linear and nonlinear responses to climatic factors using copula functions. Our findings indicate that 57.00 % of the YREB has experienced a significant increase in NPP, with the most substantial decreases observed in Shanghai and its surrounding areas (P < 0.05). Temperature emerged as the primary climatic driver, positively correlating with NPP changes in over half of the study area (P < 0.05). Moreover, the nonlinear response of NPP to temperature and precipitation underscores the complex interactions between these factors, revealing a sensitivity to temperature variations that surpasses that to precipitation. The study also highlights the influence of solar radiation and topographic factors, with a significant positive correlation between NPP and solar radiation observed in 15.85 % of the area (P < 0.05). The practical significance of these findings lies in their implications for regional ecological management and climate resilience strategies. The positive correlation between temperature and NPP underscores the potential for targeted temperature management to optimize carbon sequestration across the YREB. Furthermore, the identified nonlinear responses and the role of solar radiation and topography in influencing NPP offer valuable insights for the formulation of adaptive strategies that enhance ecosystem productivity and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality goals. By elucidating the dynamics of NPP in response to a range of environmental factors, this study provides a foundation for informed decision-making in ecological conservation and climate change mitigation efforts within the YREB and similar regions globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Climate change triggers shrub encroachment into alpine grasslands and snowbeds. • Back from the future aims restore the encroached vegetation through shrub removal. • A multicriteria research protocol is proposed to assess the experiment feasibility. • The data obtained assessed the full comparability of control and manipulation zones. • The protocol allows assess the experiment feasibility and its long-term monitoring. Climate change triggers changes of vegetation floristic composition, physiognomy and even the onset of new successional pathways, requiring adequate, robust and replicable methodological approaches to properly track these changes. In tundra ecosystems woody plants are encroaching into grasslands and snowbeds, inducing their gradual regression. "Back from the Future" is a pilot project performing selective shrub removal from grasslands and snowbeds in the Italian Central Alps to contrast climate-driven shrub encroachment and promote the recovery and active conservation of vegetation communities. Here we propose a multi-criteria research protocol providing a quantitative tool for: a) the set-up of the manipulation experiment; b) the assessment of the full comparability of manipulation and control areas; c) the long-term monitoring of the efficiency of the manipulation experiment. The experiment was carried out in three study sites (Braulio, Cedec, Sforzellina) across an elevation gradient from the subalpine to the nival belts in the Italian Central Alps. At each study site we identified a control and a manipulation zone to assess the efficiency of the manipulation experiment compared to the natural ecosystem dynamics. The multi-criteria research protocol integrates different sampling approaches: mapping and morphological characterization of trees and shrubs; phytosociological survey of permanent plots; grid-point intercept survey of permanent plots; line-intercept survey along transects; allometric shrub measurements along transects. Our data show that this protocol is applicable to different vegetation types, across different elevation belts, and is suitable to match different targets and/or bioindicators of change. Indeed, the limitations of each selected method when individually applied can be overcome by their combination. Our data demonstrate the full comparability of the control and manipulation zone at each of the three study sites in terms of species richness, floristic composition, species coverage, shrub characteristics and volume. Our results supported the feasibility of this protocol as tool for the set-up of the experiment, to assess the full comparability of control and manipulation zones, and perform a detailed monitoring of the effects and the feasibility of the restoration action and the success and efficiency of this pilot project. The protocol elaborated in the frame of this pilot project could be exported beyond the local context and applied to similar mountain regions, especially in the European Alps, for the planning, set up and monitoring of good land management practices aiming to climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Alpine study sites with a long close-to-nature forestry (CNF) history were studied. • Alternative climate change and CNF management scenarios were simulated. • CNF performs well in ensuring multiple forest ecosystem services and biodiversity. • Climate change requires adaptation of CNF by fostering climate-adapted tree species. • High multifunctionality, including biodiversity, needs diversified management. Close-to-nature forestry (CNF) has a long tradition in European Alpine forest management, playing a crucial role in ensuring the continuous provision of biodiversity and forest ecosystem services, including protection against natural hazards. However, climate change is causing huge uncertainties about the future applicability of CNF in the Alpine region. The question arises as to whether current CNF practices are still suitable for adapting forests to climate change impacts while also meeting the increasing societal demands regarding Alpine forests, including their potential contribution to climate change mitigation. To answer this question, we simulated forest development using the ForClim forest model at two Alpine study sites, together representing a large biogeographic gradient from high-elevation inner Alpine forests (Switzerland) to lower-elevation south-eastern Alpine forests (Slovenia). The simulations considered three climate scenarios (historical climate, SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) and six alternative management strategies, including both current CNF management practices and climate-adapted versions. Using an indicator based multi-criteria decision analysis framework, we assessed the joint impacts of climate and management on biodiversity and key ecosystem services of the investigated regions, including carbon sequestration (CS) inside and outside the forest ecosystem boundary. The joint effects of climate change and CNF varied, both among and within the study sites along the biogeographical gradient. While CS was more resistant to climate change under current CNF at the south-eastern Alpine site, it was more sensitive at the inner Alpine site, where CS potentials decreased at lower elevations. This adverse effect could be partly mitigated by fostering the use of climate-adapted tree species. However, current CNF and adaptations of it did not meet multiple management objectives equally well: while protection from gravitation hazards and timber production also benefited from this silvicultural practice, biodiversity benefited from CNF variants with low-intensity or no management. In conclusion, CNF has a high potential to continue fulfilling its crucial role in European Alpine forests. A differentiated approach will be needed in the future, however, to identify forest stands where adaptive measures are required, especially at sites particularly vulnerable to climate change. In combination with less intensively managed or unmanaged areas, CNF provides a management portfolio that will help European Alpine forests to meet the demands of future society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Substitution factors for forest products for the Canadian context were developed. • Substitution factors ranging from 0.51 to 0.91 tC/tC were found. • They will lead to more accurate assessments of the forest GHG mitigation potential. • These factors will help governments to manage forest and fight climate change. Evaluating the climate change mitigation potential of the forest sector requires a holistic approach based on forest carbon (C) sequestration, C storage in harvested wood products (HWP) and substitution on markets. High uncertainty is associated with substitution factors, that express avoided fossil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the use of forest-based products in replacement of GHG-intensive materials and fossil fuels. Few studies have focused on the development of substitution factors in Canada, resulting in the use of unrepresentative generic data. Here, we provide a framework to reduce uncertainties related to substitution factors for primary wood products in a Canadian context. A life cycle assessment framework is used to quantify fossil GHG emissions for a baseline and a wood-intensive scenario. For solid product substitution, we focused on the construction sector and analyzed a range of innovative wood buildings with steel and reinforced concrete as alternative materials. We found non-weighted averages of 0.80 tC/tC for sawnwood and 0.81 tC/tC for panels. For energy substitution, we analyzed cases with different specifications on biomass product, facility type and alternative fossil fuel source in non-residential heat production and biofuel transportation sectors. We found a non-weighted average of 0.80 tC/tC for non-residential heat production and 0.51 tC/tC for biofuel transportation, that can be interpreted as 0.91 tC/tC for heavy fuel oil, 0.69 tC/tC for light fuel oil and 0.68 tC/tC for natural gas substitution. These results provide a benchmark for substitution factors in Canada, to help guide forest management strategies for climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Different INM treatments affected soil N and C fractions; • INM produced one emission peak for CO 2 and CH 4 , whereas two for N 2 O from rice agroecosystem; • Significant positive correlation of dehydrogenase (DH) enzyme with CO 2 and N 2 O emissions; • GHG intensity index and yield of rice increased in the order rice stubble > FYM > Azolla ; • CH 4 emission is the dominant contributor to GHG intensity from the rice agroecosystem. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognize to agriculture the responsibility for about 15 % of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to global warming. The increasing nutrient inputs in industrial agriculture affect the GHG concentration in the atmosphere and varies substantially due to rate and type of fertilizers applied to the crops, making the management more or less sustainable. In this perspective, this study has investigated at small scale the effect of different adjusted agricultural management practices, based on different nutrient dosage, to optimize the effect of rice cropping systems on carbon dioxide (CO 2), methane (CH 4) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions. Farmyard manure (FYM), rice stubbles and Azolla integrated with chemical fertilizers have been correlated with microbial and enzymatic activities, and with different carbon and nitrogen fractions in acid Inceptisol. Results have revealed that the integrated nutrient management used in rice-rice agroecosystem yielded a peak for CO 2 and CH 4 emissions, whereas two peaks for N 2 O emission. This study has shown an increase in greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI) and grain yield of rice in the following order: rice stubbles > FYM > Azolla and it has confirmed CH 4 emission as the dominant contributor to GHGI from the rice-rice agroecosystem. When analyzed together GHGs emission and soil properties, a positive correlation was found with biological properties as well as with the different carbon and nitrogen fractions in soil. The highest GHGI has been highlighted in the treatment where recommended dose of chemical fertilizers has been combined with rice stubbles, primarily due to the increase in CH 4 emissions. In contrast, the lowest GHGI has been exhibited in Azolla treated plot, probably due to the cumulative effects of the photosynthetic rate of Azolla , the release of oxygen from the Azolla roots, and the physical protection capacity of the Azolla cover, which partially avoid the CH 4 diffusion from the standing water. The seasonality did not affect the estimated rates of GHGI that have been lower both in case of winter and autumn rice compared to previous studies, probably for dissimilarities in management practices. Further research is required in other cropping sequences for addressing the ecological contribution of smallholder agriculture to help reducing GHG emissions, thus, mitigating global warming with actions at local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Carbon sink capacity of a typical ecotypic county was precisely estimated. • STARFM was employed to estimate interannual NEP at county scale. • The NEP dataset at a 30 m grid scale from 2000 to 2020 was generated. • Spatio-temporal dynamics of NEP in ecotype county were grasped. Net ecosystem productivity (NEP) serves as a pivotal metric for quantitatively elucidating the carbon sink function of terrestrial ecosystems. As a prototype county for the development of an ecological civilization in China, the quantitative estimation of the ecotypic county's ecosystem carbon sink capacity holds immense significance in comprehending the carbon cycle and facilitating the sustainable advancement of regional ecosystems. This study undertook the estimation of NEP in Wuning County from 2000 to 2020, employing a fusion of multi-source remote sensing data, the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM), the improved Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach model, and the soil respiration model. Furthermore, we delved into the differences in NEP across various types of land cover. In addition, we employed the Theil-Sen Median trend analysis and Mann-Kendall test to discern the spatio-temporal trends of NEP. The findings indicated the following: (1) The downscaled NDVI generated by STARFM exhibited a remarkable consistency with Landsat NDVI overall (R 2 > 0.95, P < 0.01, 0 < RMSE < 0.1). (2) The gross NEP from 2000 to 2020 in the study area ranged from 542.78 to 720 Gg C, with a multi-year average NEP of 183.84 g C m−2 yr−1. The simulated NEP demonstrated higher accuracy when compared to the measured data (R 2 = 0.79, P < 0.01). (3) The NEP exhibited a spatial pattern characterized by lower values in the central area and higher values in the north and south. Approximately 89.60 % of the total area demonstrated an increase in NEP, with woodland acting as the primary contributor, while 4.50 % of the total area displayed a decreasing trend, predominantly due to the expansion of built-up land. (4) Notable variations in NEP existed among different types of land cover. In terms of vegetation types, the annual average NEP ranked as follows: woodland > grassland > cropland. The application of STARFM has provided valuable insights into the methodology for precise delineation of spatio-temporal dynamics of NEP at the county scale. The outcomes of this study have furnished support for implementing climate change mitigation strategies in ecologically-oriented counties and the bottom-up promotion of China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most of the NbS of Tropical drylands of India are not follow the IUCN standard criteria. • The Identified NbS are baised towards environmental services than addressing social needs of the people. • Improved NbS interventions requires intensive enagement of stakeholders for addressing social causes. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is a flexible, adaptable, and multi-functional strategies employed to address climate change. However, all the claimed NbS are actually do not adhere the criteria of being NbS. Therefore, present study analysed 87 articles to appraise adherence of potential NbS as per the IUCN Global Standard, along with evaluation of flow of associated ecosystem services (ES). The review identified 39 interventions, out of which only twelve interventions adhered the criteria of NbS. Among the classified NbS, two interventions, namely, sustainable forest management (SFM) (80.83%) and haveli rejuvenation (75.61%) strongly adhered to the IUCN Standard. Lack of adherence in the non-classified NbS interventions was mainly attributed to absence of information on inclusive governance, monitoring and associated trade-offs. The identified 39 interventions were also observed to be enhancing a total of 37 ES, evaluated through 37 distinct indicators i.e. different and enhanced flow of ES were observed by the different NbS. However, the majority of classified NbS were biased towards flow of environmental services than social services. Present study results that all claimed NbS cannot fulfilled the intended objectives of NbS and thus cannot be classified under the NbS as per global standard. Moreover, assessing the flow of associated ES may be an additional support to broaden the scope of NbS implementation. Therefore, present study also highlights to integrate the flow of ES along with the adherence criteria of NbS. Moreover, the review also facilitate to understand constraints associated with the implementation of potential NbS interventions and thus, suggests considering wider aspects in the future researches for assessing the implementation of NbS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Forests show higher temperature than croplands by 0.15 ± 0.06 ℃. • Forests show higher temperature than grasslands by 0.32 ± 0.04 ℃. • Non-growing season warming effects dominate annual positive temperature response. • The biophysical effects of forest transitions vary among forest types. • Radiative processes dominate the annual net warming effect on surface temperature. Forest cover change directly affects the surface energy balance by altering the radiative and non-radiative properties of the surface. These competing processes may yield considerable biophysical impacts on local and regional climate that depend on background climate and specific forest type. Here we compared the differences in land surface temperature (LST) between temperate forests and adjacent croplands/grasslands to quantify the potential biophysical effects of transitions from croplands/grasslands to forests in Northeast China, based on multiple satellite observation products from 2001 to 2016. Forests were found to show a slight lower daytime LST and strong higher nighttime LST than adjacent croplands or grasslands. As a result, the daily LST of forests was 0.15 ± 0.06 ℃ and 0.32 ± 0.04 ℃ higher than that of croplands and grasslands, respectively. On the seasonal scale, the warming effect of cropland/grassland-to-forest transition during non-growing season outweighed the cooling effect during growing season, and dominated the annual positive LST response. Moreover, the cooling effect of cropland-to-forest transition during growing season was stronger in the early growth stage than late growth stage (−1.65 ± 0.9 ℃ in May to June, −0.39 ± 0.5 ℃ in July to September). The net cooling effect of warm temperate broadleaved forests was found to shift toward net warming effect of cold temperate coniferous forests with increasing latitude. The daytime cooling effect of forests was mainly driven by increased non-radiative evapotranspiration. Overall, the radiative process related to the solar energy dominated the net warming effect of forest transitions over Northeast China. Estimating the climate feedback potential of forests could be useful to provide theoretical references for the adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The network structure characteristics of land-use carbon emissions (LUCE) are explored. • The problems of synergistic CO 2 reduction in Jiangxi province were identified. • The LUCE network structure in study areas becomes increasingly intricate and stable. • The LUCE spatial correlation network exhibited pronounced spatial spillover effects. • The study combines new relevant indicators to conduct carbon balance zoning. Exploring the spatial network structure of land-use carbon emissions (LUCE) and the carbon balance in developing regions is pivotal for climate change mitigation in these areas. Using socio-economic and land-use data from 2000 to 2020, this study focused on Jiangxi Province as a representative case to elucidate the spatial network structure of LUCE and conduct carbon balance zoning. The primary findings were as follows: (1) The LUCE distribution in Jiangxi Province demonstrated a spatial pattern with high values in the northwest and low values in the southeast. An increasing trend was observed in the total amount of LUCE. Furthermore, there were evident regional differences in the Ecological Support Coefficient (ESC), indicating a weakening regional carbon sink capacity. (2) The spatial network structure of LUCE was intricate but stable. Although the gravitational interactions of LUCE between cities have intensified, overall network connectivity remained moderately correlated, indicating a prominent regional development imbalance. (3) There was a pronounced "core-periphery" structure in the LUCE spatial correlation network. Northern Jiangxi was the "core" of the network, taking an "initiator" role, whereas most cities in southern Jiangxi played a "passive" role, and resided at the "periphery" of the network. The inter-regional LUCE network exhibited pronounced spatial spillover, with inter-block correlations surpassing those within blocks. (4) By leveraging empirical data and spatial metrics, we categorized Jiangxi Province into five distinct carbon balance zoning types and subsequently proposed land-use optimization strategies. From the perspective of social network analysis (SNA), this study offers methodological insights into low-carbon development and synergistic emission reduction in developing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Stand spatial structure plays an important role in the fragile natural secondary forest. • Species diversity have a negative impact in changing restored woodlands, thereby reducing productivity. • Stand spatial structure has a stronger impact on forest carbon sink than species diversity. • Stand spatial structure is a prioritized indicator in the regulation of fragile forest ecosystems. Increasing attention for adjusting forest structural and species diversity has been paid to enhance carbon storage. However, the relative importance of stand spatial structural diversity and species diversity to restored stand carbon stocks remains unclear. To address this issue, we conducted a sample plot setup in the Loess Plateau with the aim of exploring the effects of stand spatial structural diversity and species diversity on forest carbon stocks. Therefore, we determined index parameters for species diversity (Simpson, Shannon-Wiener, and Pielou) and spatial structural diversity (Angular scale, Mingling, Aggregation, and Competition) within the oak forest ecosystem. We examined carbon storage in all vegetation organs and different soil layers. Additionally, we employed a structural equation model to develop a model that illustrates the effects of stand spatial structure and species diversity on ecosystem carbon storage. The results reveal that stand spatial structure and species diversity influence the ecosystem carbon storage through biomass (trees and litter) and soil carbon (0–100 cm). Stand spatial structure exhibits positive direct effects (path coefficients: 0.764 and 0.890), while species diversity shows negative direct effects (−0.320 and −0.206) on biomass and soil carbon, respectively. Finally, the total effect of spatial structure diversity on forest carbon storage surpasses that of species diversity. Therefore, stand spatial structure should be adjusted preferentially during forest management in fragile ecological environment. Our results provide important insights into the climate change mitigation potential associated with the structure-based management of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The leaf area index (LAI) increased significantly in all climate zones of China. • Climate becomes wetter in A and SA areas, and soil becomes drier in SH and H areas. • Compared to LAI, the effect of climate on soil moisture (SM) was relatively strong. • The effect of LAI on SM was reversed with the change of vegetation greenness. • There are thresholds that switch the direction of vegetation influence on SM. Wetting and drying climate sequences and anthropogenic vegetation changes can have profound effects on the hydrological cycle and sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems. China contains many different climates, from humid to extremely arid and it contributes to the global mitigation strategies of climate change. China is also an important contributor to global greening and carbon sequestration. In view of this, we estimated the spatial and temporal variation of leaf area index (LAI), dryness/wetness index (DWI), and soil moisture (SM) in arid (A), semi-arid (SA), semi-humid (SH), and humid (H) climate zones during 1981–2018 in China and analyzed the patterns of DWI and LAI effects on SM under different vegetation greenness. The results showed a significantly increasing trend of LAI in all climatic zones, and the contribution was from highest to lowest: SH (8.17 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1), SA (7 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1), H (4.71 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1), and A (3.98 × 10-3 m2 m−2 year−1). The SA and A zones are becoming wetter, while the soil of SH and H zones are drying. The dry/wet climate variation plays a decisive role in soil moisture, while the role of vegetation is limited. Additionally, the LAI 3 (mean LAI from 2016 to 2018) thresholds were 0.25–0.41 and 0.84–0.86 for A and SA as a whole, respectively, as well as 0.47–0.54 and 0.93–1.18 for grassland, respectively. When vegetation exceeded this threshold, the effect of vegetation on soil moisture showed a shift from increasing to decreasing change. Overall, the results of the study provide improved understanding of the atmosphere-soil-vegetation interactions under climate change, as well as effects of vegetation restoration and water conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four design principles would inform a forest carbon market-based mechanism in India. • Robust governance and accounting emerge as key technical considerations. • Local community involvement and flexible spatio-temporal criteria would encourage participation. • Land tenure, implementation challenges and design flaws may inhibit effectiveness. Forest carbon markets (FCMs) have emerged as a significant means to direct resources toward urgent climate action that can mobilize a large set of actors and catalyze funding toward reducing deforestation and promoting sustainable forest management. Here, we conduct a critical qualitative review of global academic and investigative literature to identify ten major sets of design principles that provide a platform for the functioning of carbon markets worldwide. From these, we pinpoint four design principles which may be relevant to future market-based mechanisms in India We propose that clarity over market-quality standards, comprehensive regulatory framework, minimization of transaction costs and upfront financing options, and flexibility in time-bound and spatial commitments would be fundamental to ensure that market-based mechanisms in India accrue sustainable and long-term benefits to climate action and human well-being. A successful market-based mechanism in India's forestry sector would have to overcome challenges around land property rights, local implementation capacities and knowledge gaps, and incentive structures to ensure that it likely caters to the needs of all stakeholders while delivering socio-ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Carbon efficiency and abatement costs of the PLEEZ are estimated. • The regional heterogeneity among the three major types of functional zones in the PLEEZ are analyzed. • Major agriculture production zone has a higher carbon efficiency and lowest abatement costs in the PLEEZ. • The global non-radial directional distance function and its dual model are used. In this paper we investigate the carbon efficiency and abatement cost for different main functional regions in China, to test whether major agriculture production zone has higher carbon efficiency and abatement cost than other functional regions. For this purpose, we use a global non-radial distance function to examine the efficiency and abatement cost of carbon emissions and take China's Poyang Lake Ecological Economics Zone (PLEEZ), one of China's national strategy for sustainable development, as an empirical study. By using the non-radial efficiency model, the carbon emissions efficiency indicator can be constructed. By employing the dual model of the non-radial directional distance function, the shadow prices of carbon emissions, which is interpreted as marginal abatement cost can be derived. County level data from 2009 to 2013 of the PLEEZ is used as the empirical investigation. Empirical results show that the CO 2 emissions of the PLEEZ are not performing efficiently and the CO 2 emissions efficiency remains at a very low level with an average value of 0.279. Meanwhile, the shadow prices of CO 2 emissions are calculated, with a mean value of 11.867 yuan per ton, which is relatively low compared with other previous studies of different regions or industry and indicate that carbon emissions are not strictly regulated. Moreover, significant heterogeneities in the carbon efficiency and abatement cost are found among three major functional zones in the PLEEZ remain. Major agriculture production zone shows better carbon efficiency than key ecological function zone, but lower than key economic development zone. It is also found carbon abatement cost of major agriculture production zone is lower than key economic development zone indicating the less pressure under climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A RCM is used to study the effect of LCC on climate extremes in Europe. • LCC significantly changes the occurrence frequency and duration of extreme climate. • Increasing understanding of land cover change-climate interactions. • Findings are helpful in developing future land management strategies in Europe. Extremes in climate and weather can pose significant challenges to economy, ecosystems and human health. Changes in land cover are one of the drivers for variability in frequency and magnitude of extreme climate at regional and local levels. In this study, a regional climate model (COSMO-CLM v4.8) is used to simulate effects in climate extremes from two different idealized land cover change scenarios in Europe. These two simulations involve abrupt large-scale conversion of today forestland to herbaceous vegetation (deforestation), and of today cropland to evergreen needle-leave forest (afforestation). A control simulation with today land cover distribution is used to identify differences in extreme climate. We find significant changes in extreme climate in both deforestation and afforestation simulations, with seasonal and spatial differences. Deforestation causes a warmer summer (with higher annual maximum temperature) and a colder winter (with lower annual minimum temperature). Afforestation slightly increases the average intensity of the hot extremes, although with high spatial variability (a reduction is common in several locations), and mitigates cold extremes in winter. Changes in extreme indices show that deforestation increases both the frequency and duration of hot and cold extremes, while afforestation causes a lower frequency of extreme cold climate. The two simulations show opposing results in the number of frozen days, as they increase for deforestation and decrease for afforestation. A drier climate is found after deforestation, whereas a wetter climate is observed after afforestation. In general, deforestation and afforestation increase the frequency of hot extreme climate as they reduce the return period and increase the return level. Overall, our findings show the potential critical effects that land cover changes can have on climate extremes, and the possible synergies that land management strategies and planning can have for climate change mitigation and adaptation at a regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We quantified wood substitution benefits in the furniture sector for China. • Displacement factor is used to assess substitution effects on emission reduction. • The avoided emissions for the products were weighted by consumption statistics. • Each tC in wood used for material substitution reduces 1.46 tC of emissions. Wood and wood-based products have positive effects on climate change mitigation. These products can substitute for energy-intensive products made of conventional materials. The main objective of this study was to quantify substitution benefits of wood furniture for China via national-scale mitigation analyses. We selected a basket of representative furniture and estimated the emission reduction for two functionally equivalent products, which differentiate in wood intensity. The emissions avoided in each type of product were weighted by its share of the furniture market to ensure that the basket can represent the current situation. Then, avoided emissions were estimated for wood commodities contained in the products basket. Results demonstrated that wood materials exerted low environmental impacts. From the less to the more wood intensity products with the equivalent function, the proportion of energy-intensive materials decreased 24% while the proportion of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decreased 34%. The overall displacement factor for the wood material was 2.67 kg CO 2 eq/kg or 1.46 tC/tC. The findings highlight the importance of material selection in mitigating climate change in the furniture sector. It is urgent to use of the existing timber resources efficiently and pursue alternative schemes for emission reduction to achieve the goal of GHG mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Implemented the localization improvement of the CASA model parameters. • From 2001 to 2020, ASEAN's NEP saw a gradual, oscillating decline. • Forest NEP changes are most pronounced, with future trends likely worsening. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has attracted considerable attention for its rich land ecosystem productivity. However, recent excessive human disturbances may have triggered significant transformations. Consequently, understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of ecosystem productivity in this region is crucial for strengthening regional ecological sustainability and implementing climate change mitigation strategies. In this study, we harnessed multi-source remote sensing data, an improved CASA model, Theil-Sen Median estimators, Mann-Kendall tests, and Hurst exponent to estimate the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the ASEAN region and simulate its spatiotemporal dynamics change. The results showed that the mean annual NEP from 2001 to 2020 in ASEAN was 396.83gC/m2, exhibiting a gradual downward trend. From a spatiotemporal tendency perspective, the areas of NEP decline in the ASEAN region far outweighed the areas of increase, with 60.03% of the total area showing a decrease in NEP, 33.14% showing a boost, and 6.83% showing no significant change. In terms of change persistence, 79.3% of NEP demonstrated anti-persistence, indicating a stronger trend of NEP change reversal. Coupling analysis results indicated that the areas with a future increasing trend of NEP constituted 36.11% of the total area, while areas with no significant future change accounted for 0.08%, areas with a future decreasing trend included 25.21%, and 38.6% of the region exhibited uncertain future trends. Researchers should continually monitor areas with decreasing NEP and uncertain future trends. This study, driven by remote sensing data and combined with the improved CASA model, has successfully estimated the Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP) at both site and regional scales. The analysis results of NEP in the ASEAN region have enhanced our comprehension of the spatio-temporal patterns of vegetation carbon balance changes in ASEAN, providing data support for formulating "low-carbon economy" strategies and promoting the sustainable development of regional ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in Himalayas has sustainable management and restoration of resources. • Most of the NbS of Himalaya adheres the IUCN standard criteria. • Improved NbS interventions in Himalaya requires precise planning and engaging multiple stakeholders. Himalayan countries face many ecological challenges, including biodiversity loss and the many threats of climate change. In response, these countries are implementing Nature-based Solution to minimize these challenges and promote sustainable development. In this article we analyze the NbS programs implemented across the Himalayan region and assess the limitations of these NbS using the IUCN standard criteria of adherence to NbS for selected articles. We perform a systematic review of articles using the PRISMA methodology, through the Scopus, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate databases and followed by screening through the Rayyan web interface. Articles were screened out based on the location and lack of biodiversity and human well-being outcomes of NbS intervention. Nature-based Solutions in the Himalayas primarily use a sustainable management approach (35.29%), followed by restoration (23.53%), conservation (11.76%), holistic management (11.76%), eco-DRR (11.76%) and green infrastructure (5.88%) to address societal and climatic challenges. Institutional execution of NbS was 29.41% more common compared to the implementation of NbS by community or farmer groups. Pineapple based agroforestry (83.04%), forest restoration (78.57%), spring water storage (83.04%), spring restoration (86.61%), groundwater recharge (82.14%), bio-fertilizer and pesticides (77.68%), watershed restoration (78.57%), community-based watershed management (77.68%), community-based DRR (81.25%), community-based forest management (81.25%), sustainable harvest of medicinal plants (77.68%) and wetland restoration (82.14%), adhere to the IUCN criteria. In addition, some interventions adequately meet IUCN criteria, such as ice stupas (72.32%), forest restoration through plantation (73.21%), eco-safe roads (65.18), blue-green infrastructure (68.75%), and traditional ecological knowledge (72.32%). Our evaluation noted that NbS interventions can be improved by precise planning and design before implementation, engaging multiple stakeholders, comparing alternative solutions, and periodic monitoring of the impacts on the environment and society. This study shows that NbS in the Himalayas are contributing to biodiversity conservation and climate risk management. Tackling the limitation of this present review, mainly the exclusion of research not addressing biodiversity and human well-being, will yield more precise outcomes for climate actions and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Managed vegetation represents a powerful tool for climate adaptation and mitigation, offering significant potential for positive environmental impact. • In the context of the Arabian Peninsula, managed vegetation has the remarkable capability to cool the surface temperature by over 5°Celsius, particularly during the hottest days of the year. • Achieving sustainability in water management remains a critical challenge that requires careful attention and proactive measures. The growth of vegetation in desert areas is expected to cause considerable changes to the local climate. Compared to bare ground desert, the balance of different processes related to vegetation such as reduced albedo and increased evapotranspiration can either warm up or cool down the surface climate. Quantifying these changes is essential for impact assessments of climate mitigation and adaptation measures, especially in regions increasingly hit by heat waves such as the Arabian Peninsula. In this respect, the analysis of in situ observations is challenging owing to limited data, uneven vegetation distribution, complex terrain, and other confounding factors. Thus, this study, using long-term satellite data at the daily temporal resolution, estimates the impact of vegetation on land surface temperature for several agricultural regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Results demonstrate that managed vegetation has a significant cooling effect during the day and particularly during hot weather events, reducing the highest temperatures by > 5 °C. During heat waves, managed vegetation can provide an additional cooling effect of about 3 °C (2 to 4 °C depending on the location). This effect is robustly assessed though a tailored statistical indicator that is suitable for application over complex terrain that are found in the Saudi agricultural sites. However, a situation is identified where the vegetation vigor collapsed and the cooling effect vanished, which was possibly related to issues associated with water management sustainability. Thus, herein, this paper discusses several potential solutions to achieve sustainable irrigation among those that were recently proposed in the scientific literature, such as desalinization from renewable energy and land-use change options that could enhance local precipitation. This study supports the decision-making process of the green initiatives undertaken in the Middle East and similar efforts in other arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A high-resolution integrated assessment framework for estimating future watershed ecosystem services was proposed under the latest SSP-RCP scenarios; • The spatial–temporal dynamics on water-related ESs of the PRB were projected under the SSP-RCP scenarios; • The main driving factors affecting the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of water-related ESs of the PRB were identified under the SSP-RCP scenarios. The projection of future ecosystem service (ES) dynamics under SSP-RCP scenarios would be beneficial for the development of effective climate mitigation strategies for policymakers. However, current projection frameworks generally neglect the downscaling of high-resolution climate and land use data, leading to uncertainties in the simulation of ESs under the SSP-RCP scenarios. To address this issue, this study proposes an integrated analysis framework to downscale climate and land use data. We first identified areas of high risk in terms of inadequate water-related ESs in the Pearl River Basin (PRB) of China. Subsequently, we analyzed key socio-environmental factors driving the dynamics of water-related ESs under future SSP-RCP scenarios. The results indicate that 1) water-related ESs in the PRB are expected to show an overall increasing trend, 2) the sub-watersheds located in the downstream is at a higher risk of experiencing insufficient supply capacity for water-related ESs, and 3) under the coupling effects of climate change, land use change, and socio-economic development, drastic changes in future land use are expected to have a stronger impact on watershed ESs than the climate (i.e., global warming). Our work provides valuable insights for policymakers and managers regarding future water and land resource planning. The proposed framework can be integrated with other hydrological or land surface models to project the spatial–temporal evolution characteristics of future watershed ESs with finer temporal resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Modeled changes in GPP in China over the last 40 years. • Discovered an increase in GPP with a near 3-years periodic oscillation. • A recent 20 years accelerated increasing rate than that of previous 20 years. • Minimum temperature was found as the dominant factor for accelerated growth. Vegetation response to climate change can be characterized as long-term trends, but with periodic oscillations. Revealing vegetation response trends, with oscillations, is essential for formulating climate change mitigation and adaptation planning, as well as adopting ecological protection and restoration measures. Here, the long-term trend and periodic oscillations in vegetation changes were explored through a measure of gross primary production (GPP), an indicator of vegetation photosynthesis, using data of both high spatial resolution (1 km2) and a long-term of nearly 4 decades, from 1980 to 2018. The GPP data were estimated for China's terrestrial ecosystem and validated against the eddy covariance-based observations of 70 site-year in China and compared to other GPP data products. The results showed the estimated GPP can explain 76% of spatial–temporal variance with the same data accuracy as other products, but with the advantage of both high spatial resolution and long time periods that other products do not have. From the estimated GPP data, Chinese terrestrial vegetation growth was found to have a periodic oscillation of close to 2.79 years and a long-term increasing trend of 59.8 Mt C per year over 92% of all vegetated land in China from 1980 to 2018. Moreover, it was found that vegetation growth accelerated significantly in the two recent decades over the previous two decades. The growth rate was 83.5 Mt C a−1 from 2000 to 2018, which was 2.31 times faster than the rate from 1980 to 2000. The underlying mechanism of the vegetation responses was analyzed by ridge regression, a method to decrease the effects of multicollinearity. Long-term variability and trends in vegetation could be attributed to a warming minimum air temperature when examined with precipitation, maximum air temperature, and solar shortwave radiation. Though more influences, such as those from freezing and thawing and human activities, should be explored in the future, this study offers insight that warming, with increasing daily minimum temperatures, is likely to be a vital contributor to ecosystem changes, and will be essential knowledge for mitigation of effects and adaptation to future climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Diversity-predictor associations differed between species groups and ecoregions. • Annual average and seasonality in temperature and precipitation and human footprint were the strongest predictors. • Lower explained diversity variances in the mesic than xeric ecoregions. • Curbing human impacts destabilizing long-term climate regimes is vital to terrestrial mammal conservation efforts. Understanding the interactions between abiotic (environmental and anthropogenic) factors and species diversity and distribution patterns is fundamental to improving the ecological representativeness of biodiversity management tools such as protected areas (PAs). However, significant knowledge gaps remain about how species' ecological and evolutionary opportunities are associated with abiotic factors, especially in biodiversity-rich but economically ill-equipped countries such as Kenya. Here, we explored the interactions of terrestrial mammal diversity patterns and abiotic factors across species groups and ecoregions in Kenya. We coupled data on terrestrial mammal occurrences, phylogeny, functional traits, and environmental predictors in Kenya to derive multiple diversity indices, encompassing species richness and phylogenetic and functional richness, and mean pairwise and nearest taxon distances. We explored the interactions of these indices with several abiotic factors using multivariate regression analyses while adjusting for spatial autocorrelation. The results showed weak correlations between species richness versus the phylogenetic and functional diversity indices. The best-fit models explained variable proportions of diversity indices between species groups and ecoregions and consistently retained annual temperature and precipitation averages and seasonality and human footprint as the strongest predictors. Compared to the species-poor xeric northern and eastern Kenya regions, the predictors had weak associations with diversity variances in the species-rich mesic western and central Kenya regions, similar to focal species groups compared to ordinal classifications and the combined species pool. These findings illustrate that climate and human footprint interplay determine multiple facets of terrestrial mammal diversity patterns in Kenya. Accordingly, curbing human activities degrading long-term climatic regimes is vital to ensuring the ecological integrity of terrestrial mammal communities and should be integrated into biodiversity management frameworks. For a holistic representation of critical conservation areas, biodiversity managements should also prioritize terrestrial mammal phylogenetic and functional attributes besides species richness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • LAC GHG efficiency in agricultural sector using within and across country metrics. • 5 Countries offset agriculture emissions with land-use-related carbon sequestration. • Small Caribbean island-states report the worst-case decoupling elasticity scenario. • Top decoupling countries are not equivalent to high factor productivity countries. Abstract The paper explores the relationship between production and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the agricultural sector of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) between 1990 and 2015. By appraising how GHG emissions have changed with respect to agricultural production (elasticity), we are able to classify countries into six decoupling states. While the decoupling elasticity provides information for assessing the evolution within countries, we introduce a performance ratio for country comparison by calculating GHG emissions over agricultural production for 2015 and using the global distribution as benchmark. The information from both measurements serves to identify various country and sub regional situations. The findings illustrate that countries with performance ratios in the top 25% and under the best-case elasticity scenario (of strong decoupling) are not necessarily the same as the ones usually identified under factor productivity analyses, suggesting that environment-specific policy incentives and tools play a key role in enhancing sustainable agricultural production. Another major finding is that very few countries in the region (and worldwide) are able to offset agriculture emissions with land use-related carbon sequestration practices. Lastly, the evidence on small Caribbean island-states reporting the worst-case elasticity scenario (of strong negative decoupling) and performance ratios close to the world median, further supports the need for development plans related to climate change mitigation and adaptation in this sub region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Spatiotemporal distribution of vegetation productivity and climate drivers are identified. • Water availability dominated the variability of vegetation productivity for grasslands in Mongolia. • Drought contributed to more vegetation decline than hot. • Vegetation productivity declined more in the northern typical steppe under more severe hot and drought events. Vegetation productivity is controlled by multiple climatic variables such as temperature, precipitation, and radiation, while the driving mechanism remains unclear in Inner Mongolia grasslands. Since climatic factors change geographically and seasonally, we need to know their spatiotemporal patterns and how they impact plant growth. Here, we investigated vegetation responses to climatic changes by analyzing both climatic data and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) for 34 years (1982 to 2015). Our results indicate that water availability dominated the variability of vegetation productivity, regardless of grassland types. The vegetation productivity was more sensitive to variations in water conditions than to variations in temperature, especially in the northern region. The results are of great significance for formulating adaptation and mitigation strategies against climate impacts on grassland productivity in Inner Mongolia and provide an invaluable comparison for grassland studies in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is predicted to have severe impacts on mountainous regions, including urban settlements, and livelihoods of the urban poor. Adaptive capacity for marginalized groups is largely determined by household-level resources and decision-making capacity. This study investigated the vulnerability status and prevalent adaptation strategies of urban slum dwellers in Dehradun, Indian Himalayas, using a pre-tested questionnaire covering household characteristics and indicators of vulnerability, in face-to-face interviews with the head of 122 randomly selected households in four slums. We found that overall vulnerability was very high, with very low absorptive and coping capacity for potential impacts of climate change. Moreover, vulnerability and coping strategies were socially differentiated in terms of the decision-making capability and resource capacity of households. Two groups per category (good and bad decision makers; poor and poorer households) were distinguished. The exposure dimension of vulnerability differed significantly by resource capacity and decision capability. However, the sensitivity dimension of vulnerability did not differ between the groups, while the adaptive capacity dimension of vulnerability differed depending on decision-making capability. In designing appropriate strategies for long-term disaster mitigation for urban slums, it is thus important to address slum socio-ecology and the capability and capacity of slum dwellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America is one of the most urbanized region in the world, where patterns of urbanization are disorganized and disjoint from urban planning, with unknown effects for ecosystem services (ES). We evaluated the ES in Bogota and Santiago for a 30-year period. Using remote sensing data, models and census data we quantified carbon regulation, climate mitigation and recreation potential. We assessed ES provision changes and their spatio-temporal patterns using landscape metrics. Urban vegetation patterns differ between the two cities because of climate variability and greening policies. Bogota stored more carbon than Santiago given to climate effects, differences within city were the result of different policies and management. Climate mitigation showed similar behavior for both cities, influenced by global climate, densification and urban sprawling. Recreation potential increased in the inner-city and decrease at the outskirts, reflecting unplanned urban sprawling and increase population. Areas of high ecosystem services connected for Bogota and fragmented for Santiago. Bogota improved its environmental condition, as evaluated by ES provision, while Santiago worsens, even there was an increased in vegetation cover. Vegetation cover was not a sufficient indicator for ecosystem services and the distribution of it becomes highly relevant for informing mismatches between services and vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The earth’s climate system is highly nonlinear and the vulnerability of a community to a climate hazard is no exception. While this fact is widely accepted, indicator-based vulnerability assessments (IBVA) hardly ever take such nonlinearities into account. This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of assessment studies use methods based on Multiple Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) (e.g. simple additive weight or multiplicative aggregation) to aggregate indicators. These methods convert all indicators into a global utility function and produce only a linear, threshold-free scaling of the effects of an indicator on vulnerability. In a previous paper, we showed that outranking procedures developed in decision-making science offer a more theoretically-sound approach to aggregation because they allow the analyst to incorporate the incommensurability, fuzziness and uncertainty associated with indicators. In this paper, we develop a new mathematical framework for vulnerability in order to clearly identify various sources of nonlinearity and incommensurability in vulnerability assessments. We then propose a new outranking formulation which can accommodate both and can be used to conduct assessments at different scales. We do so by introducing the concept of harm criterion as a mediator between an indicator and the vulnerability it represents. The new assessment approach can aggregate a mix of indicators with various degrees of subjectivity and non-linearity, without converting them into a single utility function and without requiring them to be mutually compensating. We illustrate the proposed approach by applying it to a simplified model of urban vulnerability to heat, focusing on the non-linear relationship between mortality and temperature above a ‘comfort temperature’, long evidenced in the epidemiological literature. We compare vulnerability rankings yielded by linear and non-linear characterizations of the relationship between temperature and mortality and find that the incorporation of non-linearity can have a significant impact on the rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cooling effect of greenspaces is an important ecosystem service, essential for mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect and thus increasing urban resilience to climate change. Techniques based on landscape planning to alleviate the increasing frequency of extreme climate are becoming more of a focus in urban ecology studies. In this paper, we proposed and defined the urban cooling island (UCI) extent, intensity, and efficiency, as well as the threshold value of efficiency (TVoE) introduced from the “law of diminishing marginal utility” for the first time. The radiative transfer equation has been compared with other algorithms and used to retrieve accurate land surface temperature (LST) in a subtropical city of China − Fuzhou. Two important and arguable factor − size and shape of greenspaces also been expressed and explored. The results indicate that: (1) larger-sized greenspaces produce a higher cooling effect. However, there exist a TVoE, which is in line with our hypothesis. The TVoE in Fuzhou is 4.55 ha. (2) The circles and squares greenspaces have a significant correlation with LST and also show the highest UCI intensity and efficiency. (3) 92% of the maximum extent of greenspaces are within the 30–180 m limit, and the mean UCI extent and intensity are 104 m and 1.78 °C. (4) The greenspaces connected with waterbodies intensified the UCI effects, whereas the grassland-based greenspace shows the weakest UCI effects. The methodology and results of this study could help urban planners to mitigate the UHI effects efficiently, and to employ the climate adaptive planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making up for air pollution related mortality and accounting for the number of deaths has become an important environmental indicator in its own right, but differences across the Atlantic over how to account for these are making it difficult to find common ground in climate policy appraisals, where co-benefits from reducing air pollution of fossil fuels is to be factored in. This article revisits established quantification methodologies for air pollution related mortality applied by government agencies in USA and EU. Demographic lifetables are applied to explore uncertainties over latency periods and the number of affected victims. These lifetable simulations are based on WHO consensus estimates for the mortality risk ratio related to long-term exposures and suggest an average loss of life expectancy of 9–11 years for an annual air pollution exposure increase of 10 ugPM 2.5 /m 3 . With a common OECD base value approach the air pollution costs related to fossil fuels are found to be about 3 times lower with EU versus US methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Budyko framework was applied to 75 catchments covering a large area of Taiwan. • Varied landscape effects determined water resources availability among catchments. • Considerable spatial variability in the Budyko-related variables were found. • Three clusters were identified based on catchments' movements in the Budyko space. • 64 catchments will face the reduced availability of future water resources. Assessing water resources availability in a changing climate is a determinant of promoting sustainable development in a region. Such assessment should better be inter-basin in order to unveil a region's overall risk, so a time-varying Budyko framework is developed and adopted in this study. Gauge-based gridded precipitation and temperature, in company with runoff data, were used to derive the Budyko curves for 75 catchments over Taiwan. Downscaled precipitation and temperature data from selected global climate models and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) were then used to calculate the shifts in the Budyko space of each catchment. It was found that the Budyko-related variables (e.g., evaporative and aridity indices, and catchment-specific parameter) exhibited considerable variability island-wide, with a few outliers in certain catchments being modulated by distinct landscape features and/or human activities. Under all RCPs analyzed, the majority of catchments showed the magnified movement vectors pointing at the 1st quadrant in the Budyko space in the late-21st century, suggesting a predominant and aggravating drying trend over Taiwan. Cluster analysis of the movement vectors under RCP8.5, which entailed the least inter-model differences, identified three major clusters, two of which (64 catchments included) indicated a drying trend of varied significancy. According to our findings, without effective mitigation of climate change, an increased likelihood of the worst-case scenario will substantialize the reduced availability of Taiwan's water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • TUEEC in 10 urban agglomerations in China are substantially different. • TUEEC within urban agglomeration have an impact on CO 2 emissions. • Ecological construction partially mitigated emissions growth. • Guarding against unsustainable development is vital to carbon neutral. Urban agglomerations are major generators of CO 2 emissions owing to human socioeconomic activities. Evaluating the trade-offs between urban expansion and ecological construction during rapid urbanization is a crucial step towards climate change mitigation and carbon neutrality. This study investigated the impacts of trade-offs between urban expansion and ecological construction on CO 2 emissions using multi-source data and spatial and statistical analysis. Ten urban agglomerations in China, with various development levels, were selected as study areas. The results indicated that (1) urban development in the 10 urban agglomerations expanded by 90%–288.9%, while ecological land changed by −28.1–2.3%. (2) CO 2 emissions grew by 154.2–291.2% in urban agglomerations, and the south and east of China emitted more CO 2. The high-value clusters of CO 2 inside of all urban agglomerations expanded outward from cities. (3) Urban expansion increased emissions, while ecological construction partially mitigated emissions growth. Moreover, ecological development within cities helps to reduce excessive urban emissions and should be given more attention. (4) It is as important to guard against unsustainable development as it is to reduce existing high emissions. Low-carbon development paths must continue to be supported in western China. On the basis of the results, we identify important implications for meeting China's target of carbon neutrality. These contribute to an understanding of future development modes for urban agglomerations and reveal the impact of trade-offs of land use on CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of carbon productivity makes the effort of global climate change mitigation accountable and helps to formulate policies and prioritize actions for economic growth, energy conservation, and carbon emissions control. Previous studies arbitrarily predetermined the directions of directional distance function in calculating the carbon productivity indicator, and the traditional carbon productivity indicator itself is not capable of identifying the contribution of different energy driven carbon emissions in carbon productivity change. Through utilizing an endogenous directional distance function selecting approach and a global productivity index, this paper proposes a global Luenberger carbon productivity indicator for computing carbon productivity change. This carbon productivity indicator can be further decomposed into three components that respectively identify the best practice gap change, pure efficiency change, and scale efficiency change. Moreover, the carbon productivity indicator is shown as a combination of individual carbon emissions productivity indicators that account for the contribution of different fossil fuel driven carbon emissions (i.e. coal driven CO 2 , oil driven CO 2 , and natural gas driven CO 2 ) toward the carbon productivity change. Our carbon productivity indicator is employed to measure and decompose the carbon productivity changes of 37 major carbon emitting countries and regions over 1995–2009. The main findings include: (i) endogenous directions identifying the largest improvement potentials are noticeably different from exogenous directions in estimating the inefficiencies of undesirable outputs. (ii) Carbon productivity indicator calculated with the consideration of emission structure provides a more significant estimation on productivity change. (iii) The aggregated carbon productivity and the specific energy driven carbon productivities significantly improve over our study period which are primarily attributed to technical progress. (iv) Empirical results imply that policies focused on researching and developing energy utilization and carbon control technologies might not be enough; it is also essential to encourage technical efficiency catching-up and economic scale management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the use of impact indicators with respect to climate change in the 2007–2013 Rural Development Programme (RDP) of the European Union, with particular reference to the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). It concludes that the policy context has highlighted the need for the rural land use sector to respond to climate change but that the associated Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) did not develop suitable indicators to assess the impact of SDRP measures on GHG emission mitigation. It suggests improved impact indicators based on the relationship between rural land use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: first, an indicator based on net GHG emissions per holding; and a second based on net GHG emissions per unit volume of output. The paper points out the challenges in measuring land-based emissions accurately. It further proposes screening of RDP measures to ensure that climate change mitigation impacts are properly appraised. It is recognised that climate change policy in relation to rural land use is still at an early stage of development but greater sophistication of policy instrument design and evaluation will be required if the RDP is to contribute significantly to climate change policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We develop a comprehensive forest-carbon-economy model using VENSIM software. • We simulate effects of REDD+ on changes in deforestation with a dynamic baseline. • Results show that REDD+ is usually more cost-efficient under a dynamic baseline. • Countries may choose data sources by their differential impact on reductions. • Carbon and agricultural price changes affect REDD+ climate-effectiveness. The mechanism of reducing deforestation emissions in developing countries (REDD+) could play an increased role in climate mitigation by determining country-specific emission baselines. An impact evaluation able to assess the baselines change in response to carbon payments must be considered in order to highlight effective baselines. In this study, we proposed dynamic baselines and developed a forest-carbon-economy system-dynamic model to assess reduced deforestation emissions and payments for emission reductions. We conducted a comparative analysis from five countries, which were representatives of four forest country types. The results showed that the average dynamic baselines were lower than static baselines in Brazil, Cameroon, Guyana and Indonesia. It implied, in the context of limited climate funding, use of dynamic baselines will help REDD+ achieve more cost-efficient emissions reductions in these countries. Furthermore, the uncertainty analysis of the key parameters showed that different data sources of carbon density, carbon prices and changes in agricultural product prices affect emission reductions. Thus, when a country has high flexibility in determining data sources, it may choose profitable data under alternative data sources, which can compromise the climate effectiveness and cost efficiency of the entire REDD+ mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The SOC storage was primarily affected by vegetation coverage, soil water content, and soil pH, whereas the SIC storage was greatly affected by soil texture. • Riparian wetlands were potential hotspots of SOC storage and SIC storage. • Human activities have caused carbon storage function weaken and carbon loss accelerated in the riparian wetlands. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC) are key components of the global wetland soil carbon pool, which plays a crucial role in carbon cycling. However, research on carbon storage in riparian wetland soils, especially in inland steppe river environments impacted by human activities, is relatively scarce. Thus, we evaluated the SOC and SIC distributions and storage in riparian wetland soils under the pressure of human activities in the Xilin River Basin (XRB). We collected surface and profile soil samples, determined the SOC and SIC contents, aboveground biomass, and soil physicochemical properties, and calculated the SOC and SIC storage (SOCs and SICs) values. The surface soil SOC content decreased substantially from the upstream to the downstream zones (mean value range: 76.30–3.18 g/kg), and the SIC content showed the opposite trend (mean value range: 0.08–34.38 g/kg). The SIC content of the riparian wetlands along the permanently flowing stretch of river was much lower than that in the wetlands along the intermittently flowing stretch. In the XRB, the SOCs was primarily affected by vegetation coverage, soil water content, and soil pH, whereas the SICs was greatly affected by soil texture. A dry lake zone was markedly affected by wetland degradation, indicating a potential increase in the decomposition rate of the surface soil SOC; however, the SOC in the deep soils was relatively stable. The high SIC content most likely resulted from weathering, resuspension, and carbonate rock reprecipitation. Compared to different steppe grassland types, riparian wetlands appear to be potential hotspots of SOCs and SICs in the Inner Mongolian region. Riparian wetland SOCs in the upstream zones was substantially greater than in adjacent terrestrial locations. However, the SOCs in the downstream wetlands was similar to that in the grasslands. Under the impact of human activities, the water and soil environments in the downstream zone of the Xilin River were substantially modified, leading to severe wetland degradation, which most likely caused the carbon storage function of the riparian wetlands to weaken and carbon loss to accelerate. The mean SOCs in the riparian wetland soils decreased from 33.3 kg/m2 in the upstream area to 16.2 kg/m2 downstream, and the mean SICs increased from 2.3 kg/m2 to 34.6 kg/m2. Therefore, urgent measures are needed to restore the carbon sink function of river wetlands for long-term climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We predict climate change hotspots and coldspots based on climate change velocity in Europe. • Velocities are projected highest in the Continental region, lowest in the Mediterranean region. • The Alpine region will likely contain largest areal proportions of hotspots, the Mediterranean region largest proportions of coldspots. • Natura 2000 area overlapping with hotspots is largest in the Alpine region, with coldspots much smaller in any region. • The outcomes suggest climate-smart conservation prioritization across Europe and the Natura 2000 network. Anthropogenic climate change is challenging biodiversity conservation worldwide. Climate change metrics derived from future climate predictions help to assess potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity. Here we calculated future climate change velocities across biogeographical regions of terrestrial Europe and the Natura 2000 protected area network, the largest protected area network on Earth. We applied climate projections for the year 2070, considering two emission scenarios, six global climate models and a fine spatial resolution. Areas with very high climate change velocity were identified as climate change hotspots, while areas with very low velocity were recognized as coldspots. We further revealed where and to what extent climate change hotspots and coldspots coincide with Natura 2000 sites. We found that climate change velocities are projected highest in the Continental and Boreal regions, and lowest in the Mediterranean and Anatolian regions. However, the Alpine region will likely contain largest areal proportions of climate change hotspots, while areal proportions of coldspots are projected largest in the Mediterranean region. High mountain regions such as the Alps show a high proportion of Natura 2000 sites that coincide with climate change hotspots. Both, hotspots and coldspots, are geographically associated with areas of topographic diversity. Low topographical diversity indicates high climate change exposure. The impact of hotspots increases with spatial isolation. Oceanic climate buffers climate change exposure in contrast to continental climate. However, continental regions of Europe tend to exhibit less spatial isolation. We recommend conservation action in climate change hotspots and coldspots to simultaneously protect the most climate-exposed biodiversity as well as climate change refugia. Climate change hotspots and coldspots overlapping with Natura 2000 sites should be considered priority conservation sites because new protected areas are hard to realize in densely populated landscapes of Europe. This study directs European conservation management and policy towards meeting international conservation goals in a climate-smart way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) aims to address hunger and poverty. • We provided six principles for the selection of assessment indicators for CRA. • Developed a framework in quantifying the climate-resilient agriculture. • The assessment framework combined four dimensions and has 71 evaluation indicators. • The framework provides a quantitative tool to evaluate CRA in various scenarios. Climate change threatens agricultural production and leads to an increasing contradiction between food supply and needs. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural activities will exacerbate climate change in the future. Solving food security has become a major challenge around the world. The development of climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) is critical to address or slow climate change and is also helpful to improve agricultural quality and efficiency. Based on a review of previous studies and a deep understanding of CRA goals, this paper introduced a comprehensive assessment framework to evaluate CRA. This assessment framework combined four dimensions, i.e., agricultural productivity, farmer income, climate adaptability, and the green development level, and has 71 evaluation indicators. The highlights of this framework are to analyze the impacts of climate change on agricultural development and to stress the synergy of mitigation and adaptation strategies. All indicators represent various factors related to the development of CRA and have been used in previous studies. Therefore, the comprehensive assessment framework can be used as an evaluation tool for analyzing the changes in agroecosystem resilience under climate change, which is also helpful to implement scientific management to ensure sustainable agricultural development and food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Climate smart forestry (CSF) indicators based on forest inventory are presented. • Indicators were projected under management scenarios with a simulation model. • National carbon stock increases with current management, but regions differ. • Trade-offs occur between mitigation, adaptation and ecosystem services (ES). • The presented framework can support policy in balancing ES in the context of CSF. Climate-smart forestry (CSF) has gained increasing attention in recent years. Yet, a framework to assess the three pillars of CSF, in terms of mitigation and adaptation to climate change and ecosystem service (ES) provision based on national forest inventory (NFI) data is currently lacking. In this study, we present an assessment framework of CSF based on forest indicators derived from NFI. To quantify the three pillars of CSF we defined 1) mitigation based on the forest carbon stock, 2) adaptation using biodiversity and susceptibility to disturbances caused by storm and bark beetles and 3) ES provision with timber production and protection against avalanches and rockfall. We demonstrate the application of this framework using Swiss NFI data and projections of future forest development under four different management scenarios. Our results show that, in general, the carbon stock is increasing at the national scale when current management practices are maintained. Increases are especially pronounced in the Jura and Southern Alps regions. Trade-offs occur between enhancing mitigation and adaption, and the sustainable provision of ES such as timber production. Scenarios with increased harvesting intensities lead to a higher timber supply in the short-term, while decreasing the carbon stock, biodiversity-related old-growth indicators and the protective function of forests. The indicator framework presented in this study provides a first methodological approach that can support policy making to balance the different forest services in the context of CSF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ecosystem services have synergies and trade-offs between sustainability dimensions. • The complex nature of ecosystem model output make communicating findings difficult. • We developed modeled based CIs to evaluate forest management strategies. • Composites were systematically evaluated across three regions and climate periods. Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services, and ecosystem models can be applied to assess the contribution of different forest management strategies to climate mitigation and adaptation. Complex model output and trade-offs between environmental, economic, and social sustainability dimensions are difficult to convey. To facilitate stakeholder communication, we developed composite indicators based on ten ecosystem service indicators obtained from ecosystem model simulations representing 19 forestry management strategies across three ecoregions and climate scenario projections in Sweden. Eight alternative composites were generated around a central framework addressing sustainability aspects in terms of wood production, preservation of biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation (risk management). A combination of principal component analysis, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, and hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to account for the statistical relationships between indicators. Z-score normalization was superior to min-max normalization in capturing differences among management strategies. Two weighting schemes were applied, based on policy prioritizations between sub-components that reflected 1) current policy with an equal emphasis on production and biodiversity, and 2) a stronger focus on nature protection. Equal emphasis generated a larger range of scores (76.0 ± 21.2) than the focus on nature protection (32.0 ± 5.8), as the latter would provide less production benefits and thereby fewer trade-offs between production and other aspects. The final scores of the 19 management strategies fell within a variance boundary of each other, showing their contribution to different policy targets and the usefulness of combining strategies at the landscape level. The composites displayed agreement across regions and scenarios. They indicated that a shift from even-aged conifer monocultures towards a combination of continuous cover, broadleaf-mixture, and unmanaged would work well for balancing goals under changing climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• GDP growth is the main contributor to GHG emissions increase in low-income countries. • Decreases in energy intensity had the highest impact on GHG emission reductions. • Greater RES and EE efforts are necessary to offset effects from growing economy. • Current climate policies in the Baltics are not sufficient to achieve 2030 targets. The global economy is on the verge of one of the greatest transitions in modern history. The ability to ensure sustainable economic development and prosperity while significantly reducing consumption of energy resources and generated greenhouse gas emissions is a global challenge that affects every country in the world. To assess whether economies are ready for this challenge, there is an urgent need to examine this dual relationship between economic growth and climate change measures. European Green Deal strategy has set the ambitious goal of Europe becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, boosting competitiveness and long-term prosperity of the economy. Kaya identity and LMDI decomposition is applied to examine how European Union countries have been coping with these countereffects historically. The decomposition analysis is conducted for the EU-28 (including the UK) countries for a 10-year study period from 2010 to 2019. This study analyses the main drivers of changes in GHG emissions in European Union and estimates the progress made in implementing the Green Deal targets. The results show that in the EU, energy efficiency improvements have twice the effect on reducing GHG emission compared to RES strategies. The effect of economic growth was the main offsetting factor hindering the achievement of larger GHG emission reductions. More in-depth ex-ante and ex-post investigation is performed for the Baltic States. A novel forecasting technique is applied to project GHG emissions under three different development scenarios, such as the scenario with existing measures, the scenario with additional measures, and the business-as-usual scenario. The results show that the current climate policies in the Baltic States are not sufficient to achieve the 2030 emission reduction targets and that greater efforts should be made to enforce climate mitigation measures in the economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • We compared two valuation approaches to assess carbon sequestration ecosystem service. • The retired lands in the "Grain for Green" project was used as an illustration. • The dynamic method obtained high economic value from carbon sequestration. • The dynamic method decreased the possibility of biomass harvesting. Carbon sequestration plays an essential role in climate regulation, and its monetary value is critical for decision-making. To encourage carbon sequestration and avoid expensing the ecosystem services for future generations, a dynamic monetary valuation perspective was developed by integrating a carbon dynamics model of ecosystems and an atmospheric carbon cycle model. A case study of biomass utilization in Northern Shaanxi was conducted to illustrative the performance of this approach by comparing with the conventional approach. The carbon dynamics in the available lands were simulated by the CENTURY model under the RCP4.5 climate change scenario. The results suggested that the carbon storage was doubled without biomass utilization in the projected 25 years. When biomass was harvested, carbon storage decreased slightly. The monetary value without biomass harvesting in the dynamic approach was higher than that in the conventional approach. After analogizing the monetary values of carbon sequestration and biomass utilization, there was a lower likelihood of biomass harvesting in the dynamic approach than in the conventional approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Growth was negatively related to defoliation in conifers and broadleaves. • Even slightly defoliated trees (15%) showed significant growth reduction. • Overall, growth decreased by 0.7–0.9% per unit increase of defoliation. • Defoliation shifts can point at changes in growth and carbon sequestration. Climate and weather fluctuations and changes are the most important environmental drivers of tree canopy defoliation, an indicator of forest health. We examined the relationship between tree defoliation and Basal Area Increment (BAI), a dimension of tree growth related to wood biomass increment and carbon sequestration and therefore to the climate change mitigation potential of forests. We analysed data from mostly even-aged, single-species permanent monitoring plots in France over two growing periods (1995–2004: 47 plots, 2008 trees; 2000–2009: 63 plots, 3116 trees) and for which precipitation deficit was identified as the main environmental driver of defoliation. Trees from ten different species were assessed annually for defoliation and measured periodically for growth, from which we derived periodical (10-year) BAI (BAI period). We investigated (i) direction and significance of defoliation-BAI period relationships and (ii) occurrence, size and significance of BAI deviation of progressively defoliated trees in proportion to the BAI of undefoliated trees (BAI rel). Analyses were first carried out at the level of individual plots, with results subsequently evaluated using meta-analysis and further aggregated at different levels (all species, functional groups, individual species). BAI period resulted negatively and significantly related to defoliation, with a significant reduction detected already at slight (15%) defoliation level. A generalized statistically significant reduction of BAI rel was obvious, leading to an estimated reduction of 0.7–0.8% per 1% increase in defoliation for conifers and 0.9% for broadleaves. Considering the observed distribution of trees along the defoliation range, our results indicate an overall growth reduction of ca. 42% in comparison to a theoretical population of undefoliated trees. Shifts in such a distribution can result into loss or gain of growth, which in turn may have cascading effects on carbon sequestration and therefore on land-climate interactions. In the context of the significant increase in defoliation observed in Europe in recent decades, our results suggest that even slight and moderate variations in defoliation may have had a significant impact on tree and forest growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Climate-sensitive additive stand biomass models were developed. • The difference in biomass estimations when using the new models at a large scale was quantified. • Forecast combination method reduced the uncertainty from the biomass models. • About $8.3 million carbon services were underestimated using traditional models. • Climate-sensitive stand biomass models were recommended for carbon service accounting. Accurate forest carbon service accounting is essential for climate change mitigation. At present, the knowledge about whether and how climate-sensitive stand biomass models could reduce the uncertainty of forest biomass/carbon estimation is lacking. Hence, the aim of this study is to develop climate-sensitive stand biomass models and quantify their differences. Data containing 539 sample plots of larch plantations in northern and northeastern China were utilized to develop two basic and the corresponding climate-sensitive stand biomass models. Owing to the uncertainty from predictors, the forecast combination method was used to combine the two basic models (FCMs) and the two climate-sensitive models (CS-FCMs) and to quantify the difference in biomass estimations at the plot and regional scales. Results showed that the adjusted R 2 values of the stand biomass models were greater than 0.85 and the relative root mean square errors ranged from 5.51% to 22.62%. The CS-FCMs produced more accurate biomass estimates than the FCMs. The difference in biomass estimations derived from biomass models with and without climatic variables was 411,549 tons or 0.27% at the regional scale, but the carbon value difference amounted to about $8.3 million. This study underlined the importance of accurate carbon accounting based on climate-modified stand biomass models for forest carbon management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Urban streams can provide important services to cities population and support a wide biodiversity. • Yet, they have been neglected for centuries and their ecosystems are often highly degraded. • We propose a global, integrated system to assess urban streams ecosystems and services. • The tool includes five sections, 17 divisions, 89 indicators, and a scoring system. • UsAs contributes to promote urban stream restoration and better management. Urban streams and ecosystems are highly affected by the intense development of cities and an increase of impervious surfaces. If these environments are close to their pristine state, they can be considered a nature-based solution promoting the integration of both green and blue elements in the cities, while providing a wide range of services (e.g. better aesthetics, air quality, leisure areas, and mitigation of climatic changes). In view of this, the current study aimed to develop a holistic assessment tool for urban streams that can be used to highlight their importance and support decision makers in the elaboration of measures to recover urban streams. The tool called Urban stream Assessment system (UsAs) includes the assessment of (1) biodiversity, (2) ecological functions and habitat that are inherent components of the ecosystems, and (3) provisioning, regulating, and cultural services, following The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). The tool includes 89 indicators belonging to 17 divisions (services and functions) selected from studies on urban areas and fluvial ecosystems. In addition, the tool introduces a method for the measurement of an indicator, rationale for the used indicator, positive and negative scope of the indicator, and reference to the proposed method. The tool incorporates also a step-by-step scoring system, which results in a global quality classification of streams. The UsAs tool was tested with a case study stream located in the city of Coimbra, Central Portugal. The final classification attributed to this stream was moderate, which is slightly higher than the ecological status, highlighting its potential ecosystem services (ES). However, the UsAs clearly showed a poor biodiversity (namely of aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, fish, aquatic mammals, and terrestrial insects), habitat conditions and the most compromised services that could be improved: water supply, air quality, health and well-being. The use of this novel tool supports also new research and knowledge on aquatic ecosystems and particularly urban streams by generating relevant data to answer and test important ecological questions, such as the influence of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning and services. Further investigation should focus more on tests in different types of urban streams, regions, and climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Maps of forest age classes were obtained from high resolution imagery. • Segmentation, Random Forests and post-processed methods improved accuracy of age maps. • Vegetation structure and species composition were strongly associated with successional age. • Vegetation structure and species composition can be used as ecological indicator of forest age. Land use changes generate a mosaic of forest patches with different ages of abandonment (i.e. succession) intermingled with other land uses. Mapping the successional age of vegetation is crucial to understand carbon accumulation patterns and the recovery of vegetation structure, diversity, and composition of forests over time. The overall objective of this research was to produce maps portraying secondary vegetation age classes and to assess how successional age classes can be related to vegetation structure, diversity and composition in two types of tropical dry forests (TDF) in the Yucatan Peninsula. We used a two-stage image classification process. First, SPOT-5 imagery were segmented and then classified using a Random Forests method. Second, the classified images were post-processed to rectify any classification errors. Additionally, we evaluated the association between the different forest age classes and vegetation structure, species richness and composition using a separate Random Forests classification of field plot data. Post-processing improved the accuracy of the Random Forests classifications by 14.19% and 16.28% for the tropical semi-deciduous and semi-evergreen forests, to attain final accuracy values of 91% and 88.37%, respectively. Vegetation structure, richness and composition were all strongly associated with successional age, accounting for 77.7% and 84.7% of the total variation among forest age classes for the tropical semi-deciduous and semi-evergreen forests respectively. Therefore, the forest age maps obtained can be related to attributes of vegetation structure, diversity and composition that are useful for biodiversity conservation, forest management and climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multi-hazard risk was evaluated for 109 districts of Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). • A Mountain Specific Risk Management Framework (MSMRMF) was proposed. • The MSMRMF consists two components i.e. risk assessment and risk addressal. • The framework deals risk management strategies for multi-hazard prone mountains. Mountains are characterized by their specificities such as fragility, marginality and remoteness. They are prone to various hazards such as drought, flood, forest fire, landslide and therefore physical, ecological and social systems of the mountains are at risk. Climate change adds to intensifying the magnitude of multi-hazard risk in mountains. The present study attempts to evaluate risk induced by multi-hazard and climate change in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework. The proposed multi-hazard risk index was based on indicators from a broader domain and applied on 109 administrative districts of IHR. Exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and coping capacity were defined using comprehensive and sub-regional indicators identified through inductive and deductive approaches. The result showed that the differential risks among the districts of IHR were governed by the multiplicity of the factor such as demography, amenities, natural capital, partnership, technology and spatial specificities of the districts. The result highlighted the need of inclusion of spatial specificities for the risk mitigation in the IHR and therefore a Mountain Specific Risk Management Framework (MSMRMF) was proposed for sustaining the mountainous communities. The proposed MSMRMF contained two broad components as risk assessment and risk addressal. The framework detailed the risk mitigation and coping strategies (based on adjustment of internal and external strengths) for addressing risks. Risk mitigation was proposed to achieved through habitation resilience, natural capital enhancement, external partnerships, climate change adaptation, and technological interventions. The framework would provide an insight of risk and risk management strategies for the multi-hazard prone mountain regions for the sustainable development under the global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Depth gradients in microbial biomass and activity were not affected by land use. • Intensive land use exerts negative impact on ecological indicators, especially metabolic quotient. • Soil texture strongly affects the impact of land use on microbial ecology. • Metabolic quotient and substrate use efficiency of glucose are reliable indicators for carbon nutrition. Land use change and agricultural intensification in developing countries affect terrestrial carbon (C) stocks, CO 2 efflux, microbial communities and overall soil health. This study assesses the effects of four land use types typical for northern Ethiopia (forests, exclosures, grazing lands and intensively cultivated croplands) on various soil health indicators. We quantified and compared microbial biomass carbon (MBC), water extractable organic carbon (WOC), metabolic quotient (qCO 2), substrate use efficiency (SUE) and dynamics of 14C-labelled glucose added to soil. Irrespective of the land use, MBC but not SUE decreased 2- to 8-fold with increasing depth, demonstrating the C limitation of subsoil microbial communities under all land use forms. Sandy soils, however, which permit seepage and leaching of WOC into lower layers and promote subsoil microbial communities, adapted to frequent input of easily accessible C substrates. Significantly higher qCO 2 were recorded in subsoils compared to topsoils, especially in croplands with low MBC. In croplands, high glucose-14C incorporation (≈20%) into their low microbial biomass indicates a high SUE and reflects a better nutrient supply of these microbial communities. Mineralization of up to 95% of 14C-labeled glucose in topsoils of forest and grazing lands was higher than in croplands, and exclosures never reached the level of natural ecosystems. This demonstrates that 6–10 years of exclosure establishment does not result in soil microbial communities and soil C dynamics resembling those of natural forests. Our study demonstrates that land use can negatively affect the ecological performance of microbial communities and that these impacts are more severe in sandy than in clayey soils. Mitigation strategies such as minimum tillage or residue retention in intensively cultivated croplands can increase microbial abundance and activity and help ensure environmental sustainability and mitigation of climate change. Nonetheless, such measures need to be carefully accompanied by monitoring indicators of soil health to confirm the sustainability of the chosen mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We present an indicator approach for the assessment of carbon (C) sustainability of forest management. • The indicator integrates forest C-pool changes by logging and C-offsets by timber utilization. • The indicator assesses the sustainable management of forests (SFM) in terms of climate mitigation. • Studying entire wood product chains relates utilization intensities to C-sustainability. • Two indicator alternatives are presented for regional levels and individual forest stands. In forest management, the sustainability of a multitude of economic, ecological and socio-economic impacts and services is assessed. The role of forests in the global carbon (C) cycle is almost exclusively assessed through an ecosystem approach that relates emissions from timber harvesting and removals through biomass growth and C sequestration. While harvested wood leads to a reduction in the C-stock in forest C-pools, the use of wood for energy and production of wood-based materials results in significant emission reductions by substituting in place of greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive fuels and energy-intensive non-wood materials respectively. We present a new indicator approach for the assessment of sustainable forest management that includes the entire emissions and removals associated with the harvested wood along the wood product value chain and thus represents represents C-sustainability with respect to emissions and removals. The indicator is implemented in two variants. If information available on wood use and the carbon offsets associated with it is sufficient, the indicator can be derived by presenting emissions from wood harvesting and removals from wood use in the form of a carbon balance (C-balance indicator). If the balance is even or if removals predominate, forest management fulfills the requirement of C-sustainability. If the information is insufficient, the emissions from the wood harvest and possible wood processing losses are summed up, and the necessary displacement factor (DF) is calculated, which is necessary to compensate the corresponding emissions by carbon offsets of the wood use (DF-indicator). A comparison of the necessary displacement factor with common carbon offsets of typical wood uses allows an assessment of C-sustainability. The effectiveness of the C-indicator for assessing sustainable forest management is illustrated by two case studies. We found that in order to achieve carbon neutrality, substitution factors between 1.9 (lignite) and 2.5 (gas) are necessary, depending on the fossil fuel substituted. If no energetic substitution is assumed, the DF increases to a value of 3.3. In situations with high harvest losses, the necessary DFs well exceed values that can be achieved even under very positive assumptions; C-sustainability is therefore not met. Both approaches allow an assessment of C-sustainability beyond forest boundaries by giving appropriate weight to the importance of wood use in the carbon cycle. In addition to the implication of the indicator to evaluate SFM, we claim that this indicator is responsive to the emerging global forest related international processes and their reporting requirements such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) as well as nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NDCs, Low Emission Development Strategy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Productivity parameters of Cedrus deodara forests decreases with altitude. • Biomass and soil carbon of Cedrus deodara forests decreases with altitude. • Litterfall production also decreased with altitude. Carbon inventories are urgently needed for understanding climate dynamics and implementing climate mitigation strategies, but such data is scarce in for forest ecosystem of Himalaya. Therefore, the present study focuses to supplement the existing information by estimating carbon stocks in temperate forests dominated by Cedrus deodara along the altitudinal gradients in the Central Himalaya. Three altitudes i.e., lower (1750 m), middle (1900 m) and upper (2050 m) of the stand was considered to understand and estimate biomass and soil carbon storage potential of the forests based on the standard protocol. The results showed that the soil carbon stock (SOC) decreased significantly with increasing soil depths and altitudes. Litterfall production in the forests varied adversely with altitude. Above and below-ground biomass carbon stock also decreased along with altitude. The study observed that the total carbon stock (soil, trees and forest floor) of the Cedrus deodara forest in different altitudes was 395.4 t ha−1 (lower altitude), 321.6 t ha−1 (middle altitude) and 282.5 t ha−1 (upper altitude). The estimates of the Cedrus forests would provide guidelines for estimating carbon for forest-based mitigation activities in the Himalayan region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A climate change impact model is proposed for forest management. • The vulnerability and resilience degree of forest to climate change was analysed. • Ecological and management indicators have been developed for forest systems. Global warming has caused significant environmental and socio-economic impacts on the global and local scales. Based on the definitions of vulnerability and resilience provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, some ecological and management indicators have been developed for forest systems. Using Dempster-Shafer's theory of evidence, forests were subdivided into different classes of vulnerability and resilience. Results enabled the estimation of economic damages to forests by 2050. The findings of this study are useful in promoting further research and guiding management decisions towards sustainable environmental policies on the monitoring and mitigation of climate change damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]