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Invertebrates are crucially important components of wetland ecosystems. Their assemblages have been well described for wetlands in many parts of the world, but not for Asia. We sampled macroinvertebrates from 39 freshwater wetlands across Northeastern China. Wetland characteristics included permanent and temporary hydroperiods, and floodplain and palustrine settings. We determined which taxa dominated wetlands of the region, and assessed patterns of dissimilarity among this set of wetlands. We then contrasted the 39 wetlands from Northeastern China, with a previously published data set of macroinvertebrate assemblages from 447 freshwater wetlands worldwide, to frame the macroinvertebrate assemblages in Northeastern China wetlands to other wetlands from across the globe. Our data set is the only comprehensive description of aquatic macroinvertebrates from freshwater wetlands in China, and one of the few known data sets for the continent of Asia. We found that macroinvertebrate taxonomic composition in wetlands from Northeastern China shared many similarities in assemblage to wetlands from other cool, moist climates in North America and Europe. Northeastern China wetlands had some unique characteristics, most notably an unusual preponderance of non-pulmonate snail families. The prevalence of these snails makes wetlands of Northeastern China ecologically unique from wetlands elsewhere, with consequences for management and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the "Belt and Road" (B&R) initiative, China has significantly increased its outward direct investment (ODI). Although these investments help to boost these countries' productivity, their impacts on the environment are still controversial and deserve careful investigation. This study for the first time examines whether China's ODI has improved the green total factor productivity (GTFP), a comprehensive index for environmental quality and productivity. Moreover, a new data set composed of ICRG, World Bank WDI, Heritage Foundation, and Wind databases is used to match the panel data of 46 B&R countries for the period of 2003-2016. A newly developed dynamic threshold panel model with GMM characteristics is utilized to explore the possible nonlinear relationship with full consideration of heterogeneity. The empirical results indicate that there is no pollution shelter effect on China's ODI. With the increase in China's ODI, the GTFP of the B&R countries has been significantly improved. Additionally, China's ODI has a greater role in promoting GTFP in B&R countries with higher institutional quality. The positive effects of China's ODI on the GTFP of B&R countries depend on the institutional qualities of the countries, and the enhancement effect becomes greater when the countries have better institutions. There is also evidence that China's ODI significantly promoted the GTFP of countries in the East Asia and Pacific region, South Asia, Central Asia and Europe, while China's ODI did not significantly promote the GTFP of countries in the Middle East and North Africa., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)