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Long-term observations of the volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles and total columns of key atmospheric constituents are significant for understanding climate change and the impact of the carbon budget in China. This study provides an overview of the first ground-based high-resolution Fourier-transform spectrometry (FTS) observation station in China, which is located in Hefei, east China. The FTS observation station can observe the total columns and VMR profiles of more than 30 atmospheric constituents. Time series of some key atmospheric constituents observed at the Hefei station since 2014 have been released to the public. The major scientific achievements obtained to date at this station include spectral retrieval characterization and harmonization, investigation of the overall characteristics of key atmospheric constituents, emission estimates, satellite and chemical transport model (CTM) evaluations, and a summary of pollutant sources and transport patterns. An outlook is also presented of the envisaged plan for observations, scientific studies, and data usage at the Hefei station. China has explicitly proposed reaching a peak in its CO2 emissions by 2030 and realizing carbon neutrality by 2060. The Hefei station will provide scientific assistance to the Chinese Government for developing green economy policies and achieving carbon neutrality and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The decline of ecological connectivity poses a challenge for China as it faces a continuous loss of biodiversity. However, this phenomenon also increases the country’s natural reserves and afforestation area. With the approval of the national plan for combating climate change and the implementation of the “ecological redline” policy, there is an opportunity to improve China’s eco-connectivity with significant investments available for a continuous ecological restoration. However, little research has been conducted with respect to ecological connectivity, thus preventing policy makers from allocating a central investment between provinces for ecological restoration. This study modelled the resistance map against connectivity conservation by quantifying indicators of human disturbance and subsequently derived the national eco-corridor network by using least-cost path methods. A total of 2790 potential eco-corridors, connecting 97% of the protected areas in continental China were extracted. The paper ranked the importance of each eco-corridor for maintaining national ecological connectivity and identified the pinch points with high resistance. Based on the national eco-corridor framework, this paper proposed a two-dimensional coded table to help policy makers conduct effective management. The table also develops scenarios to aid decision makers in allocating central investments in provinces. By prioritizing ecological restoration to enhance ecological connectivity, the established eco-corridor network and scenario analysis will contribute to biodiversity conservation in China. This paper gives policy suggestions on cross-border management and plan implementation of eco-corridors, which helps decision makers in working towards ecological protection in China.

Climate change and land use management were competing explanations for vegetation dynamics in cold and semi-arid region of north-eastern Inner Mongolia, China. In order to reveal the role of human disturbance and clarify the regional climate-vegetation relationship, long-term (1982–2013) datasets of climate variables and vegetation dynamics in a forest-steppe transition zone of north-eastern Inner Mongolia, China were collected. Partial correlation analyses, principal components regression (PCR), and residual analyses were conducted to reveal the vegetation sensitivities to different climate variables and the impact of anthropogenic activities on climate-vegetation relationship. The results showed that.(1) Annual mean air temperature (TMP) significantly increased at a linear slope of 0.08 °C per decade, annual precipitation (PRE) had an insignificantly linear slope of −16.42 mm per decade (p = 0.15). The average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) had a significantly negative trend over the past decades. A change point around the year 1998, coincided with the occurrence of an intense global El Niño event was also identified.(2) Regional climate change can be represented by changes in temperature, humidity and radiation. NDVI in the steppes display high sensitivity to moisture availability. Whereas, forests was influenced by the warmth index (WMI), accumulation of monthly temperature above a threshold of 5 °C. Partial correlation analyses showed that pixels of positive correlation with PRE (controlling TMP) overlap with the pixels of high partial correlation with minimum temperature (controlling maximum temperature), which suggests a hidden link between minimum temperature and PRE in this region.(3) The spatial distribution of significantly decreased NDVI overlap with cropland expansion, as well as the low residual square (R2) from PCR analysis. The NDVI decline in these expanded croplands suggests human disturbance on vegetation dynamics. Following climate warming, NDVI of forested land displayed positive trend. Whereas, most of steppe displayed negative trend, possibly resulting from combined effects of climate drying and human disturbance.We conclude that the regional climate change can be characterized as warming and drying. Steppe areas were sensitive to humidity changes while forested land was mostly influenced by growing season warmth. Overall, the regional NDVI displayed significantly negative trend over the past decades. Beyond climate drying, cropland expansion in the transition area between grassland and forested land is also an important driver for decreased NDVI. Further studies on the ecological and hydrological consequences of crop land expansion is necessary.

The expansion of protected area (PA) networks is necessary for countries and territories worldwide to conserve biodiversity, protect natural ecosystems and achieve sustainable development. However, challenges remain in expanding the PA network effectively, especially in regard to addressing priority conservation areas and balancing social development and ecological conservation. These problems are addressed in the “Ecological Conservation Redline” (ECR), an ambitious program launched in China to establish a comprehensive and large-scale conservation network. In this study, we presented a framework based on the ECR to guide PA network expansion, which identifies the areas requiring priority conservation and incorporates coordinated ecological conservation and social development. The framework consists of three steps: (1) design the network by identifying the hotspots of ecological function, ecological fragility and biodiversity, (2) transform the network from theory to practice through boundary verification, and (3) define a management policy with consideration of the livelihood of local communities. This framework was applied in Sichuan Province, China to demonstrate its effectiveness on expanding the PA network and improving conservation efforts. The framework provides important references for planning of PA networks and contributes to global expectations of effective environmental management.

Increasing light is widely recognised to be harmful to the wilderness of protected areas (PAs). However, minimal studies revealed the spatiotemporal distribution and variation of nighttime lights (NTLs) at the regional and single protected area levels on a continuous time. We assessed the extent and intensity of NTLs within and around the PAs during 1992–2012 in mainland China. Lighted area index (LAI), lighted intensity index (LII), potential LAI (PLAI) and potential LII (PLII) were developed as indicators to represent the total quantity and the intensity in a PA and in a 5-km buffer zone around the PA on the basis of the Defense Meteorological Program Operational Line-Scan System NTL data. NTL in PAs covered 7192 km2 in 2012, accounting for 0.73% of the total area of PAs. The highest values of LAI and LII were observed in Northeast and South Central China among the six geographical divisions. The LAI and LII increased by 3.22 and 3.51 times from 1992 to 2012, which showed that the area and intensity of NTL in PAs experienced simultaneous growth. We identified a significant increase of NTL within 36% of PAs and outside 60% of PAs, indicating the persistent increase in the intensity of human disturbance in and around these PAs. The NTL growth rates in marine and coastal and wild plant PAs were the greatest and lowest among different types of PAs, with values of 76.47% and 15.79%, respectively. We suggested that development of targeted countermeasures for each PA should comprehensively consider the conservation objectives, the type of PA, and the lighting conditions inside and outside the PA. The findings can provide useful information for targeting management strategies to alleviate light pollution and human disturbance.