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Societal Impact Statement Summary The strangler fig is known for its hemiepiphytic growth form and conspicuous strangling behavior in the tropics worldwide. It also plays an important role in providing ecological functions in tropical urban ecosystems. This study reveals strangler figs tend to colonize large trees with suitable microsites in a large tropical botanical garden and cause some negative effects on their hosts. We advocate balanced management strategies considering ecological functions, potential risks, and overall values of stranglers and their hosts. These results provide a scientific basis for us to develop better practices for plant management in urban green spaces (especially botanical gardens with high plant biodiversity) in tropical urban ecosystems. Strangler figs colonize trees in tropical cities, which contribute to a unique urban ecology and enrich local ecological functions. Understanding ecological associations between strangler figs and their host trees can improve green space management in tropical urban ecosystems. We investigated 9282 trees growing in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and then analyzed the diversity, characteristics, and network of strangler figs and their host trees. We found 13 strangler fig species (319 individuals) widely colonized 67 host species, with palm hosts bearing 52% of all strangler individuals. Strangler figs had a high colonization rate in large trees with appropriate microsites (e.g., persistent palm petioles and the fork of mature trees with rough trunks). Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content of hosts decreased significantly after strangler figs' aerial roots had entered the ground. The strangler–host network was characterized by relatively high specialization and low nestedness, and simulated management of strangler figs on large hosts and palm hosts could simplify the strangler–host network. Strangler fig colonization can be managed. Planting trees with large diameters at breast height and rough bark can increase the colonization of stranglers, while cutting off aerial roots can inhibit their establishment. The epiphytic stage is the best time to manage strangler figs. We recommend taking into consideration the trade‐offs among ecological functioning, human safety, and the multifaceted value of strangler figs and their host trees and thereby implementing comprehensive management strategies tailored to different contexts for improving green space management in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pivotal aspects of enhancing regional ecosystem services and augmenting socioeconomic growth lie in optimizing the land-space development and protection strategies, coupled with the establishment of a robust ecological network (EN). This article examines the Poyang Lake area and employs the MOP model, NSGA-II, and PLUS model to determine the best sustainable land use strategy. Subsequently, the MSPA, InVEST model, circuit theory, complex network, and others are employed to construct and analyze the land-space EN across three time periods. Ultimately, the EN is optimized based on spatial protection priority, ecological obstacle areas, and ecological nodes. The results show the following: (1) From 2005 to 2035, more construction land will be developed around the Greater Nanchang area and other urban centers. In the BAU scenario, construction land will expand faster, while cultivated land, forest, grassland, and bare land will continue to decline. In the SD scenario, the alteration to comparable land is minimal, the growth rate of construction land will slow, cultivated land, forest, grassland, and bare land will all decline little, and the water area will increase slightly; (2) While the area of ecological sources is decreased and ecological corridors become longer and narrower in the BAU scenario, the spatial distribution of ENs in different periods is small, and the quantitative structure and spatial distribution of ecological sources and corridors are essentially unchanged in the SD scenario; (3) Based on the topological structure of ENs, it is found that the clustering of nodes in the SD scenario is more obvious, the importance of ecological sources is enhanced, the efficiency of information transmission is improved, and the radiation range is wider and more stable; (4) The greatest priority ecological sources in each period are concentrated around Poyang Lake. In the SD scenario, the priority of ecological sources improves, and 7025 km2 of ecological obstacle restoration area is identified, with 41, 31, and 36 ecological breakpoints in the first, second, and third levels. The study's findings can assist and shape theoretical and practical approaches to land governance and sustainable development in great lake areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food web robustness is a critical aspect of ecosystem stability and has been extensively studied in ecology. However, the potential of machine learning techniques in predicting food web robustness and the identification of key network structure indicators have not been fully explored. We compared the suitability of different machine learning methods and assessed the relative importance of network structure indicators for predicting the robustness of food webs. We utilized a variety of food web datasets spanning different ecosystems to calculate network structure indicators, which include average distance (AD), betweenness centrality (BC), directional connectivity (C), closeness centrality (CC), diameter (D), degree centrality (DC), edge betweenness centrality (EBC), number of links (L), linkage density (LD), and number of nodes (N). We then compared the performance of machine learning methods, including artificial neural network (ANN), random forest (RF), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and decision tree (DT), and evaluated the relative importance of network structure indicators on robustness predictions. The results demonstrate that the RF model has the best performance (MAE = 0.0178, RMSE = 0.0263, R2 = 0.9063). Meanwhile, the CC indicator has a significant impact in predicting robustness of food webs. It is suggested that both the RF model and the CC indicator should be considered seriously in predicting food web robustness. This research elucidates the differential outcomes when various machine learning methodologies and indicators are employed to predict the robustness of food webs. It significantly enhances our understanding by demonstrating the precise capability of machine learning models in forecasting the robustness of food webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Resources & Ecology is the property of Journal of Resources & Ecology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The reasonable construction of rare animal habitat ecological networks is an important way to maintain the stable development of wild species, and it is of great significance in biodiversity conservation. Based on the habitat suitability perspective, the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model was used to identify the ecological sources of the Giant Panda National Park; the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and hydrological analysis principles were used to extract the ecological corridors and ecological nodes; the ant colony algorithm and kernel density analysis were introduced to identify the range of corridors and key restoration points; and the ecological network of giant panda habitat was constructed. We evaluated and analyzed the constructed ecological network and pointed out the key areas for ecological protection and restoration. The results show that the habitat suitability of the region as a whole is low, and the spatial differences are obvious. There is a pattern of high values in the east and north and low values in the west and south. 24 ecological sources were extracted, with a total area of 1737.63 km2, mainly distributed in the central and northern regions. 55 ecological corridors were extracted, with a total length of 1667.816 km and a total area of 1312.08 km2, which were widely distributed in the central part of the study area in a network pattern. 23 key ecological corridors and 14 key restoration points were identified, which are areas that should be considered in the construction of national parks in the future. Based on the ecological network characteristics of Giant Panda National Park, the future direction of future ecological restoration in the region was proposed. The research results are expected to provide a reference and basis for the construction of Giant Panda National Park and biodiversity protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The aims of this study are to investigate the spatial configuration and scale nesting characteristics of ecological networks under the two scales of Nanchang City and Nanchang City Circle, and to provide reference for regional ecological security protection. [Methods] Nanchang City Circle was taken as the research area. Based on the comprehensive sources identification framework of ‘Function-Attribute-Structure’, the ecological sources were extracted under the two scales of Nanchang City and Nanchang City Circle, and the ecological network was constructed by the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model. Simultaneously, nested analysis of ecological corridors, ecological pinch points, and barrier points at two scales were conducted to identify similarities and differences across different scales. [Results] (1) The comprehensive ecosystem services in Nanchang City were significantly lower than those in the Nanchang City Circle. There were significant faults in the top 35% of the comprehensive ecosystem services at the two scales. Combined with the structure and attribute characteristics, 56 ecological sources were extracted at the scale of Nanchang City, and the distribution of the ecological sources was more fragmented from the east to the west, while 78 ecological sources were extracted at the scale of Nanchang City Circle, and the spatial distribution of the ecological sources was more uniform. (2) At the scale of Nanchang City, 77 ecological corridors were constructed, and the corridors connecting the east and west sources of Nanchang City were fragile. At the scale of Nanchang City Circle, 310 ecological corridors were constructed, of which 29 were used to connect the ecological sources of Nanchang City and surrounding counties and districts. The ecological sources in Nanchang City and those in surrounding counties and districts of Nanchang City had strong interaction and connection. (3) The ecological processes of two different scales in Nanchang City and Nanchang City Circle were closely related. There were 26 overlapping corridors under the two scales, a total of 611.78 km, 4 overlapping ecological pinch points and 8 overlapping barrier points. The ecological pinch points were significantly different in the northwest and east of Nanchang City, and the barrier points were significantly different in the northeast and southwest of Nanchang City. [Conclusion] Nanchang′s ecological network is relatively stable. There are many overlapping features of corridors, ecological pinch points, and barrier points in the ecological network at two scales, and they are essential for ecological conservation and restoration. The repair of overlapping elements can increase the link of the ecological network on the east and west sides of the city, as well as help to maintain the general safety and stability of the city′s ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the differences in natural resource endowments and human activity levels across regions, optimizing the ecological network became an effective approach to mitigating landscape fragmentation, enhancing connectivity, and ensuring the realization of sustainable development goals. By enhancing the connectivity between fragmented landscapes, the optimized ecological network helped maintain ecological processes and services that are essential for both environmental health and human well-being. Taking the Weihe River Basin as the study area, firstly, the ecosystem service supply and demand ratio (ESDR) for five ecosystem services in 2000, 2010 and 2020 were quantitatively measured by using the InVEST model and the ecological process equation method. Secondly, the theory of landscape ecology and complex network were introduced to construct and analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of the ecological network and its topological structure characteristics, mainly using morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), connectivity analysis, circuit theory model, connectivity robustness formula and other methods. Then, the ecological network was optimized by ranking and screening the ecological pinch points and barriers in the ecological corridor based on the correlation between the ESDR and the topological comprehensive importance of the nodes at the ecological patches. Finally, the ecological network optimization effect was evaluated by connectivity robustness The results show that: 1) Compared with 2000, the average ESDR of food production, soil conservation, and water yield in 2020 increased by 70%, 7%, and 215%, respectively, while carbon storage and habitat quality decreased by 97% and 1%, respectively, which indicated that the supply increased or demand decreased most significantly for water yield services. 2) The number of ecological patches and the ratio of ecological patches to the total area were 125 and 36%, respectively. The ecological resistance exhibited the spatial characteristics of “low in the south and high in the north”, with resistance in the north showing a decreasing trend. There were approximately 280 ecological corridors with an average length of 15 km. The ecological quality of the basin improved, but the number of elements of the ecological network changed little. 3) The average values of structural connectivity robustness of the ecological network in the three years of research were 0.160, 0.168, and 0.150, indicating that the ecological network in 2010 had better stability. The topological comprehensive importance of ecological patches was positively correlated with the ESDR of each type of service, with the highest correlation being with the ESDR of carbon storage at 0.51. 4) Compared with 2020, the optimized ecological network had higher connectivity robustness in the face of deliberate attacks, with an average value of 0.194. Additionally, it showed a more significant “emergence” phenomenon within a certain range of attacking nodes, which means that the optimized network had stronger resilience and buffering capacity. By delivering detailed insights into the spatial and temporal patterns of the ecological network, the study facilitated more informed decision-making and strategic planning. The results of the study provided a scientific foundation for optimizing the ecological network structure and improving the anti-disturbance ability of the ecosystem in the WRB. They also provided effective support for the ecological spatial planning of the basin [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first records in the literature compiled on the parasitic fauna of amphibians in Northeastern Brazil date back to the 1990s. Since then, several new studies have been published on parasite-host relationships, parasite communities, and descriptions of new taxa. However, only in the last decade has there been a significant increase in these studies. Given this growth, we aim to provide a complete and updated compilation of helminth records associated with amphibians from the Brazilian Northeastern region and to analyse the dynamics and network structure formed between parasites and their hosts. Therefore, 33 studies were found in the specialized literature that addressed data from eight families, 15 genera, and 34 species of anuran amphibians, distributed mainly in areas of the morphoclimatic domain of the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest remnants in the Brazilian Northeast. These data correspond to 35% of the total known species of the Caatinga, with Leptodactylidae being the most representative taxon. Regarding helminths, 51 species were recorded, belonging to 20 families and 32 genera. To evaluate the structure of the network, we used measures of connectivity, nestedness, modularity, and centrality, that were considered to identify key species. The web presented 247 interactions with a highly connected structure formed by two parasite generalist species, non-nested and non-modular. We concluded that anuran amphibians from the Brazilian Northeast possess a high parasitic diversity, being Bufonidae and Leptodactylidade taxa considered fundamental for the network structure. Herein, we provided the first analysis of the global framework of parasite communities in amphibians from Brazilian Northeast, by using antagonistic network interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connectivity enhancement of ecological networks is an efficient and advantageous spatial planning strategy, and it is a hot research topic to analyze ecological networks based on complex systems theory and perform model optimization. As a typical geographic network, the evolution process of ecological network, such as node and edge growth, will be subject to geospatial constraints, and the current research lacks optimization models that take the geospatial constraints into account. This study focused on urban ecological network connectivity and the distribution of nodes as well as structural fractures where the connectivity of the ecological network was hindered were analyzed. Then it introduced a local world network model to optimize network connectivity and designed a network growth mechanism with limited added nodes and optimal connections. An ecological network optimization model considering geospatial constraints was constructed, and the network closeness index was used to fit the objective function curve to select optimization schemes. This study used Shenzhen, China as a case study, and the results indicated that the initial ecological network was significantly fractured by urban construction. In the optimization scenario, the network evolution reached its optimal state at the simulation step size of t = 26. At this point, the closeness index of the optimized network was increased by 15%. The optimization model constructed in this paper emphasizes the importance of functional restoration of existing network nodes, and the results of the study can provide support for ecospatial layout optimization and management.

The paper considers the possibility of using mining waste rock dumps as elements of regional ecological networks. Such use of dumps will promote their biological reclamation and application of measures aimed at prevention of erosion and pollution of soil cover of agricultural lands located in the zone of influence of dumps. The aim of the research was to develop a methodology for the selection of waste dumps for their inclusion in the ecological networks of Ukraine. The objects of the research were waste dumps of coal mines of the Donetsk coal basin (Donbas). The main research method is the analysis of space images using Google Earth tools. It is shown that in the conditions of the lack of forest and land resources, waste dumps can be used in the ecological network of coal mining districts and towns not only as "restorable territories", i.e. reserve territories, but also as "interactive elements" of “key territories” (“natural kernels”) and ecological corridors. A three-stage scheme for assessing the suitability of waste dumps as elements of the ecological network is proposed, which includes 3 indicators of the suitability of dumps for the requirements of restorable territories, 2 indicators of the suitability for the requirements of kernels, and 2 indicators of the suitability for the requirements of interactive elements. The system of evaluation of dumps in points for their ranking by the order of their inclusion in the schemes of the local ecological network is developed. Biological engineering measures have been proposed to better integrate the dumps into the local ecological network. These measures will result in improved protection of agricultural land from pollution, water and wind erosion.

The paper considers the methodological approaches to the use of waste rock dumps of mining enterprises as elements of regional ecological networks. Such use of dumps will promote their biological reclamation and application of measures aimed at prevention of erosion and pollution of soil cover of agricultural lands located in the zone of influence of dumps. The aim of the research was to develop a methodology for the selection of waste dumps for their inclusion in the ecological networks of Ukraine. The objects of the research were waste dumps of coal mines of the Donetsk coal basin (Donbas). The main research method is the analysis of space images using Google Earth tools. It is shown that in the conditions of the lack of forest and land resources, waste dumps can be used in the ecological network of coal mining districts and towns not only as "restorable territories", i.e. reserve territories, but also as "interactive elements" of "key territories" ("natural kernels") and ecological corridors. A three-stage scheme for assessing the suitability of waste dumps as elements of the ecological network is proposed, which includes 3 indicators of the suitability of dumps for the requirements of restorable territories, 2 indicators of the suitability for the requirements of kernels, and 2 indicators of the suitability for the requirements of interactive elements. The system of evaluation of dumps in points for their ranking by the order of their inclusion in the schemes of the local ecological network is developed. Biological engineering measures have been proposed to better integrate the dumps into the local ecological network. These measures will result in improved protection of agricultural land from pollution, water and wind erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This gap in knowledge regarding ecological interactions has prompted the development of various predictive approaches. Traditionally, ecological interactions have been inferred using traits. However, the lack of trait information for numerous organisms necessitates using phylogenetic data and statistical insights from interaction matrices for prediction. Previous studies have overlooked the validation of model‐predicted interactions. This study used a novel method in predicting ecological interactions using a self‐organizing map (SOM), an unsupervised machine learning algorithm. The SOM learns from the input interaction matrix by grouping the nodes into output layers based on their interactions. Subsequently, the trained model predicts the interactions as scores. To distinguish between interactions and non‐interactions, we employed F1 score maximization, setting scores above a specific threshold as interactions and the remainder as non‐interactions. We applied this method to three unipartite metawebs and one bipartite metaweb and subsequently validated the predicted interactions using two innovative approaches: taxonomic and interaction recovery validation. Our method exhibited outstanding predictive performance, particularly for large networks. Various binary classification performance indicators, including F1 score (0.84–0.97) and accuracy (0.97–0.99), indicated high performance. Moreover, the method generated minimal predicted interactions, signifying low noise in the predictions, particularly for large networks. Taxonomic validation excels in metawebs with a connectance >0.1 but performs poorly in metawebs with very low connectance. In contrast, interaction recovery was most effective in larger metawebs. Our proposed method excels at making highly accurate predictions of ecological interactions with minimal noise, solely utilizing input interaction data without relying on traits or phylogenetic information regarding interacting nodes. These predictions are particularly precise for large networks, underscoring their potential to address knowledge gaps in emerging extensive metawebs. Notably, taxonomic validation and interaction recovery methods are sensitive to connectance and network size, respectively, suggesting prospects for developing robust interaction validation methods.

Introduction. Considerable attention of scientists at the current stage of development of society is given to the theory of formation and assessment of the state of the nature reserve network and its ability to ensure biodiversity. The upper part of the Pripet River basin in the Volyn region is marked by various nature-reserved objects that belong to the pan-European, national and regional eco-networks. The objective of the work is the assessment and territorial distribution of NRF within the Pripet River basin in Volyn. Methods. The research used a complex and systematic approach, as well as mathematical, cartographic and comparative descriptive methods. Results. The river basin contains 314 objects of the nature reserve fund (NRF) with a total area of 164,735.7 hectares. The actual area is 149,186.4 hectares as a number of objects that are included in the total area of the nature reserve fund are actually located within the boundaries of other NRF objects, much larger in area. There are more than 40 such objects in the Pripet river basin. Such objects located within several river basins are also found within the basins of the main tributaries of the Pripet – the Vyzhivka, the Turia, the Tsyr, the Stokhid, the Styr rivers. In the upper Pripet River basin, there is an uneven distribution of protected areas across the territory, which indicates the need to increase their size in the Styr, Turia, Vyzhivka, and Korostyanka river basins to achieve an optimal ratio of areas and conserve species biodiversity based on a basin approach. The results of the calculation of the insularity index of the NRF of the Volyn region and of the degree of protection within the river basins are presented. The effectiveness of the nature reserve fund of the Pripet River basin was assessed, where the actual area of the protected area is 149,186.4 ha, the density of objects is 2.14 per 100 km2, the degree of protection (Spro) is 10.17%, and the insularity index (I) is 0.32. Twelve species of flora included in the International Red Lists were identified (Daphne cneorum L., Cypripedium calceolus L., Aldrovanda vesiculosa L., Salvinia natans (L.) All., Jurinea cyanoides (L.) Rchb., Tragopogon ucrainicus Artemczuk., Silene lithuanica Zapal., Liparis loeselii (L.) Rich., Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill., Saxifraga hirculus L., Galanthus nivalis L., Crataegus ucrainica Pojark.), the areas of distribution of which are protected areas located in the Pripet River basin. Conclusions. Prospectively, a successful expansion of the NRF area of the basin will make it possible to develop a national and pan-European eco-network, as well as to expand the area of wetlands of international importance.

The changes in the landscape structure within resource-dependent urban areas is influenced by a confluence of factors, potentially resulting in a decreased landscape ecological quality and a heightened ecological vulnerability. Landscape ecological quality directly influences the flow and transmission of ecological functions, rendering it a pivotal consideration in the development of landscape ecological networks. In this study, an investigation was conducted utilizing land-use data spanning from 2005 to 2020, encompassing the city of Linfen in Shanxi Province, China. A landscape ecological risk assessment model was formulated to analyze the spatiotemporal attributes of landscape ecological risk during this timeframe. Acknowledging the underlying connection between ecosystem resilience and landscape ecological quality, the 2020 landscape ecological risk assessment served as the basis for the extraction of ecological source areas using the Minimum Spanning Tree with Path Algorithm (MSPA), and the corridors were established using the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model. This framework facilitated the construction of a landscape ecological network, and the complex network analysis was employed to scrutinize the network’s topological properties. The regions within the study area exhibiting high and extremely high ecological risk displayed an initial increase followed by a subsequent decrease, culminating in an overall reduction in risk levels. The areas surrounding urban development and mining activities displayed relatively heightened risk levels, while the regions characterized by forests and grasslands experienced relatively lower risks. The shifts in risk within the study area were predominantly attributed to various factors, including mining activities, urban expansion, governmental policies, alterations in land-use types, and village migrations. Through the optimization of the landscape ecological network using edge addition strategies and a subsequent comparison of network robustness pre- and post-optimization, it was discerned that the edge addition strategy notably improved the efficiency of energy transfer and interconnectivity among network nodes. This ecological risk assessment model, in conjunction with the development of a prospective ecological network, lends a valuable theoretical support to the enhancement of landscape structure within resource-dependent urban areas and the establishment of comprehensive ecological security systems.

Predator-prey interactions in marine ecosystems control population sizes, maintain species richness, and provide intermediate disturbance. Such ecosystem structuring interactions may be rare in Antarctic epibenthic communities, which are unique among marine ecosystems worldwide for their dominance of soft bodied fauna (sponges, soft and hard corals, and echinoderms) and a simultaneous paucity of shell crushing predators (sharks, rays and durophagous decapods). In the shallow benthos, instead of durophagy, important Antarctic predators such as starfish, pycnogonids (sea spiders), nemertean worms, and nudibranchs employ grazing, scavenging, or sucking strategies. Far less is known about deep sea (>1000 m) Antarctic benthic communities due to the challenging nature of polar data collection, so that photographic surveys provide one of the only means of making in situ observations of these deep sea communities. We used seabed photographs of the deep (~2000m) slope of the Powell Basin, northwest Weddell Sea, taken by the Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System on board the RV Polarstern (PS118, April 2019) to investigate the epibenthic community composition, and Bayesian Network Inference (BNI) to determine the ecological network, namely the ecological associations, including potential invertebrate predator-prey relationships between taxa. Photographs show that the rocky substrates of the basin slope support between 10-22 morphotaxa per photo, and highly abundant communities (density between 106 to 553 individuals/m2). BNI results reveal a network of associations between the sessile and mobile suspension and filter feeding organisms and their physical environment. However, associations between invertebrate predators like starfish, and other organisms, were not detected in the network. This lack of inclusion within the network suggests that, despite the presence of these normally important mobile predators, invertebrate predator-prey interactions on the rocky Powell Basin slope do not have the same ecosystem-regulating impact that they do on shallow Antarctic epibenthic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As main components of terrestrial ecosystems, forests play irreplaceable roles in maintaining ecological balance and protecting the basic environment for human survival and development. In this study, the dynamic changes in the forest landscape connectivity in Zhejiang province in 2000, 2010, and 2020 were detected by identifying ecological sources and evaluating connectivity indexes based on morphological spatial analysis (MSPA) and a minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. The results are as follows: (1) The forest area of Zhejiang increased by 64.88% from 2000 to 2020, indicating that the overall habitat quality has improved and that ecological risks have decreased, which are attributed to Zhejiang's adherence to comprehensive environmental management. (2) Regions with low connectivity are distributed mainly in the north, where human activities are intensive. The overall pattern of high connectivity in the middle of the region and low connectivity elsewhere demonstrates the uneven distribution of forest landscape connectivity across the province. (3) The extracted ecological corridors have a mesh-like structure that is dense in the middle and slack in the north. Important corridors have disappeared over time, indicating potential issues in maintaining connectivity for species migration. (4) These results can provide optimization strategies for ecological infrastructure planning in Zhejiang province and offer a theoretical reference for the optimization of the ecological network system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indeterminacy of ecological networks--the unpredictability of ecosystem responses to persistent perturbations--is an emergent property of indirect effects a species has on another through interaction chains. Thus, numerous indirect pathways in large, complex ecological communities could make forecasting the long-term outcomes of environmental changes challenging. However, a comprehensive understanding of ecological structures causing indeterminacy has not yet been reached. Here, using random matrix theory (RMT), we provide mathematical criteria determining whether network indeterminacy emerges across various ecological communities. Our analytical and simulation results show that indeterminacy intricately depends on the characteristics of species interaction. Specifically, contrary to conventional wisdom, network indeterminacy is unlikely to emerge in large competitive and mutualistic communities, while it is a common feature in top-down regulated food webs. Furthermore, we found that predictable and unpredictable perturbations can coexist in the same community and that indeterminate responses to environmental changes arise more frequently in networks where predator-prey relationships predominate than competitive and mutualistic ones. These findings highlight the importance of elucidating direct species relationships and analyzing them with an RMT perspective on two fronts: It aids in 1) determining whether the network's responses to environmental changes are ultimately indeterminate and 2) identifying the types of perturbations causing less predictable outcomes in a complex ecosystem. In addition, our framework should apply to the inverse problem of network identification, i.e., determining whether observed responses to sustained perturbations can reconstruct their proximate causalities, potentially impacting other fields such as microbial and medical sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This gap in knowledge regarding ecological interactions has prompted the development of various predictive approaches. Traditionally, ecological interactions have been inferred using traits. However, the lack of trait information for numerous organisms necessitates using phylogenetic data and statistical insights from interaction matrices for prediction. Previous studies have overlooked the validation of model‐predicted interactions.This study used a novel method in predicting ecological interactions using a self‐organizing map (SOM), an unsupervised machine learning algorithm. The SOM learns from the input interaction matrix by grouping the nodes into output layers based on their interactions. Subsequently, the trained model predicts the interactions as scores. To distinguish between interactions and non‐interactions, we employed F1 score maximization, setting scores above a specific threshold as interactions and the remainder as non‐interactions. We applied this method to three unipartite metawebs and one bipartite metaweb and subsequently validated the predicted interactions using two innovative approaches: taxonomic and interaction recovery validation.Our method exhibited outstanding predictive performance, particularly for large networks. Various binary classification performance indicators, including F1 score (0.84–0.97) and accuracy (0.97–0.99), indicated high performance. Moreover, the method generated minimal predicted interactions, signifying low noise in the predictions, particularly for large networks. Taxonomic validation excels in metawebs with a connectance >0.1 but performs poorly in metawebs with very low connectance. In contrast, interaction recovery was most effective in larger metawebs.Our proposed method excels at making highly accurate predictions of ecological interactions with minimal noise, solely utilizing input interaction data without relying on traits or phylogenetic information regarding interacting nodes. These predictions are particularly precise for large networks, underscoring their potential to address knowledge gaps in emerging extensive metawebs. Notably, taxonomic validation and interaction recovery methods are sensitive to connectance and network size, respectively, suggesting prospects for developing robust interaction validation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arid Zone Research / Ganhanqu Yanjiu is the property of Arid Zone Research Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Eco-engineering is an important tool for wetland restoration, but there are still large theoretical and application gaps in the knowledge of the effects of eco-engineering implementation on the interactions between environmental conditions and organisms during wetland restoration processes. In this study, we investigated water quality parameters and plankton communities in a national wetland park to clarify the mechanism of changes in plankton community structure and their ecological networks before and after the eco-engineering project. Undoubtedly, we found water quality was significantly improved with increased metazooplankton diversity after the implementation of eco-engineering. Ecological engineering reduced the effect of farmland drainage on the restored wetland and changed the phytoplankton community structure, which significantly reduced the relative abundance of Cyanobacteria and increased the relative abundance of Bacillariophyta. The structural equation modeling revealed that the total effect of metazooplankton on phytoplankton was significantly enhanced and associated with weakened relationships between phytoplankton and environmental variables after eco-engineering. In addition, the ecological network analysis also showed that the network connection between phytoplankton and metazooplankton was stronger after the eco-engineering implementation, leading to an enhanced biotic interactions in different trophic levels. These results indicate that the main approach to regulating primary producers in wetland ecosystems changed from "bottom-up" control to a combination of "bottom-up" and "top-down" control under the intervention of artificial recovery measures. Our findings shed new light on the effects of eco-engineering on the interactions between water quality and organisms and provide a scientific basis for the sustainable management of wetland ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban–rural fringes (URFs) are crucial for biodiversity yet often neglected in conservation efforts. This study refines URF habitat evaluation and integrates it into a coordinated ecological network (EN) and territorial planning framework. Using Qingpu District, Shanghai as a case study, we defined its URF via k-means clustering of night-time light data and applied the InVEST model, MSPA, Integrated Habitat Value, Patch Importance, and Betweenness Centrality analyses to identify high-value URF habitats. Furthermore, we constructed the EN using circuit theory and evaluated the impact of URF sources on network connectivity and construction costs. Our findings reveal that integrating URF sources increased connectivity indices significantly (α by 127.18%, β by 47.00%, and γ by 33.4%) and decreased construction costs (CR index by 0.07). Despite these benefits, under China's "Three Zones and Three Lines" policy, 78.18% of Qingpu's URF sources remain unprotected, with 56.78% at risk of conversion to construction land. Our study proposes a comprehensive evaluation system for URF habitats and strategic recommendations for their incorporation into regional ENs, thus informing policy making and planning for more inclusive ecological conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structure and function are the inherent characteristics of each ecosystem providing various services such as clean air, extreme weather mitigation, and mental and physical well‐being. The objective of this study is to develop a unified model combining Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services, ecological network (EN), and correlation analysis to investigate changes in ecosystem structure, function, and process. In this context, carbon sequestration, soil reduction, and flood risk mitigation were quantified from 2000 to 2020 and predicted for 2040 using the cellular automata and Markov chain (CA‐Markov) model. Finally, correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship over time between the land use (LU) classes and the components of the forest EN that provide and exchange desired ecosystem services (ESs). Thus, the changes in LU in the region in recent years led to significant reduction of ESs in the region as well as changes in the interaction between services. These changes, on the one hand, reduced the area of cores and increased isolated forest patches and, on the other hand, led to the horizontal expansion of cities and agricultural lands. If this trend continues, the decline in services provided by the ecosystem will persist into the future. Consequently, it can be said that structural changes in the ecosystem can lead to changes in the ESs. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1099–1111. © 2023 SETAC Key Points: We present an integrated model to investigate structural, functional, and process changes caused by land use and land cover changes in the regions where natural and pristine ecosystems have close and complex interactions with built‐up ecosystems.We evaluated the structural changes related to land use change and its role in ecosystem functioning through changes in ecosystem services by selecting ecosystem services that reflect land use, land cover, vegetation, and ecological network change and soil conditions.We propose that the role of land use in changing ecosystem services represents another difference between this study and similar studies.We forecast the quantity of ecosystem services for future years as a basis for planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paulownia fortunei, one of the world's fastest growing timber tree species, is universally applied with fertilizer as a management approach to meet the nutrient requirements for efficient cultivation. The substantial effects of fertilizer on soil microorganisms in Paulownia plantations have been empirically tested; however, the successive chronosequence of soil microbial carbon and nitrogen functional genes under different fertilizer application durations remains limited. The objective of this study was to explore the characteristics of soil microorganisms involved in carbon and nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas (GHG) production under different fertilizer application durations. Different fertilizer treatments, i.e., the short-term group (SG) versus the long-term group (LG), and durations were applied to subtropical plantations in southern China and compared with zonal evergreen broad-leaved forests. Results showed that fertilizer treatment significantly increased the relative abundance of Acidobacteriota and the expression of nirK and nosZ. The functional groups that dominated metabolism in SG and LG treatments belonged to Actinobacteria and Acidobacteriota, respectively, suggesting that the nutrient preference of microorganisms in forest soil may change from copiotrophs to oligotrophs with increasing fertilizer application duration. Correlation network analysis showed that the communities that dominated the carbon and nitrogen cycles belonged to Actinobacteria and Acidobacteriota, respectively, and were closely related to ammonium nitrogen and available iron. Actinobacteria and Acidobacteriota were likely the major taxa that affected soil GHG production under different fertilizer application durations. We concluded that long-term fertilizer use changed the preference of microbial nutrient uptake into recalcitrant nutrients, and the sensitivity of the microbial community to nutrients gradually decreased with increasing fertilizer application time. The dominant Actinobacteria affected soil carbon and nitrogen cycles largely by stimulating denitrification to increase the release of nitrous oxide, which might lead to the loss of nitrogen components and the intensification of the GHG effect with increasing fertilizer application time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology / Yingyong Shengtai Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Rapid urbanization has led to ecosystem fragmentation, conversion, and degradation, posing great threats to natural habitat and biodiversity. The utilization of ecological networks has gained importance in ecological restoration planning to mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization on ecosystems. This study focused on Nanchang City, China, as a case study area to examine the application of integrated ecological networks in 2000, 2010 and 2020. This study analyzed the dynamic characteristics and spatial differences in landscape connectivity, providing evidence-based support for ecological conservation and restoration. The results indicate the following: (1) a decrease in the number of ecological sources and corridors, especially general sources and corridors, along with a decreasing trend in their importance; (2) an increase in ecological barrier points and breakpoints over time, especially in the southeastern region of the study area; and (3) the identification of ecological conservation priority areas, ecological improvement priority areas, and ecological restoration points based on connectivity and dynamic analysis. Multiple priority actions were proposed, which remarkably improved network connectivity and strengthened biodiversity conservation. Our research provides a valuable reference for identifying ecological priorities and developing ecological protection and ecological restoration actions in highly urbanized areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arid Land Geography is the property of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Bulletin of Soil & Water Conservation is the property of Bulletin of Soil & Water Conservation Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urbanisation is a significant driver of global climate change. It increases global temperatures, impacting the health of residents. To date, research on urban heat environments has focused on society or ecology, overlooking the value of integrating the two factors. The research objective is to integrate socio-ecological benefits, explore the construction methods of ecological-cooling networks, and provide reasonable guidance for urban climate planning, thus contributing to the alleviation of urban heat risks and improving thermal comfort. Using Fuzhou as an example, an environmental risk framework was used to construct an urban heat environment risk assessment strategy based on hazards (thermal comfort), exposure (human-development footprint), and vulnerability (natural geographic conditions). The source area was identified based on evaluation results, an ecological network was constructed using circuit theory, and key nodes were identified. Results showed that in 2005 and 2020, 3% and 12% of areas in Fuzhou had higher thermal environmental risks, the proportion of low-risk areas was 43% and 28%, respectively. In sum, 54 ecological source locations, 124 ecological corridors, 76 ecological pinch points, 110 obstacle points, and 12 stepping stones were identified during the construction of corridors in 2020. Compared with 2005, the source area has decreased by 1622.46 km2 and the average length of the corridor has also decreased by 4.69 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interprovincial circulation of goods and services has formed virtual water flows between regions, which can redistribute water resources. Based on previous virtual water trade research, this study further explored the multiple dependencies of virtual water, i.e., direct, indirect, and complete dependence. This study examined the direct, indirect, and complete dependence of virtual water between provinces in China by constructing multilayer dependence networks and identified the key regions and paths of virtual water trade network. The results showed direct dependence was the densest and had the largest overall dependence degree, but indirect dependence was the most stable and orderly. Second, the dominant provinces were Guangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Xinjiang, and Anhui, referred to as "core‒five‒region," and the flow relevant to them accounted for approximately 30% of the virtual water. The seven provinces of Shanxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Shaanxi, and Gansu depend both directly and indirectly on the "core‒five‒region." Shanxi and Zhejiang have close direct and indirect dependence, with more than one of the "core‒five‒region." Guangdong was the province with the most direct and indirect input of virtual water from the "core‒five‒region." The study provides a scientific basis for multiregional identification for the collaborative management of water resources in China from the perspective of dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to fast urbanisation, urban green space fragmentation has become a critical global concern. Nevertheless, understanding the planning and analysis of GI is deemed challenging. This paper examines the issue by focusing on Green Infrastructure (GI), a comprehensive strategy that provides viable answers. The foundation of the research relies on a methodical examination of existing literature, carried out with great attention to detail and adherence to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards. The Scopus and Elsevier databases yielded a total of 22 relevant articles. The study results provide insight into the existing GI planning and analysis approaches, specifically emphasising the utilisation of MSPA and the Landscape Connectivity Index. In addition, there are also other supplementary tools and resources for connectivity, such as minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR), Circuitscape, UNIversal CORridor network simulator (UNICOR), MatrixGreen, Zonation, FunConn, Fragstat and InVest. The review’s outcome is a structured framework based on landscape ecology principles designed explicitly for urban green infrastructure planning and analysis. This framework is specifically developed to tackle and reverse the prevailing pattern of fragmentation of green spaces in urban settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arid Zone Research / Ganhanqu Yanjiu is the property of Arid Zone Research Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Biological pest control relies on interactions between herbivores and their natural enemies. Maintaining this ecosystem service requires considering herbivore and natural enemy interactions and their response to anthropogenic change at multiple scales. In this study, we used ecological networks to quantify the network structure of interactions between herbivorous insects and their parasitoids. We examined how herbivore host abundance, parasitism rates, and shifts in network structure relate to changes in local habitat management and landscape context. We sampled herbivores and parasitoids in Brassica oleracea plants at 22 urban gardens in the Central Coast of California. At each site, we measured local management characteristics (e.g., vegetation, ground cover, canopy cover) and quantified surrounding landscape composition (e.g., urban, natural, open, and agricultural cover). For the eight sites with large enough networks, we calculated three network structure metrics (interaction richness, vulnerability, and functional complementarity). We then used generalized linear and mixed models to examine relationships between herbivore host abundance, parasitism rates, garden management and landscape characteristics, and network metrics. We found that both local management and landscape composition influenced parasitism, while only local factors affected host abundance and network structure. Higher network interaction richness was marginally associated with enhanced parasitism rates for two host species and lower parasitism rates for one host species. Our results suggest that local garden management decisions may shift the structure of host–parasitoid networks, which may subsequently affect host parasitism rates, but outcomes for biological pest control will likely vary across host species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, rapid and disorderly urbanization has led to the fragmentation of habitat patches, placing the biodiversity of these areas and their surroundings at significant risk. By exploring the stability of ecological network and predicting the spatial change pattern of land use in the future, the contradiction between regional development and ecological protection could be effectively alleviated. Therefore, we selected Nanchang as the research object, identified important ecological sources through assessing ecological services and sensitivity, identified potential ecological corridors and stepping stones with the help of circuit theory to conduct stepping-stone ecological networks, and utilized robustness analysis to evaluate the stability of the networks under different scenarios. Finally, we used the PLUS model to predict future land use change in Nanchang. The results showed that 19 ecological sources covering a total area of 1537.99 km2 were identified in Nanchang, with resistance values showing a trend of being high in the center and low on the periphery. Additionally, according to circuit theory, there were 31 potential corridors and 224 stepping-stone ecological patches in the study area, with a total stepping stone area of 35.08 km2. Through the establishment of the stepping-stone network, there were 609 active connections within the network, and the density of the ecological network varied across different regions. The results of the robustness analysis indicated that the stability of the stepping-stone network varied under different scenarios, with the central failure scenario being able to ensure the network’s stability to the greatest extent. In comparison to the natural development scenario, under the ecological protection scenario, the areas of forest land, grassland, water bodies, and other ecological lands experienced slight increases, while the decrease rate of cultivated land and the expansion rate of construction land both slowed down. The research results can provide a reference for guiding the rational development of urban and promoting the function of regional ecological land use as much as possible.

Ecological control line (ECL) has become an important policy for enhancing ecological conservation and achieving sustainable urban development. Landscape connectivity of ecological network provides a method for exploring the effect of ECL policy on biodiversity conservation. This study used Shenzhen as an example to analyze the distribution of important habitats based on species occurrence points, environmental factors and artificial neural network methods. Four-phase ecological networks of focal species (Ardea cinerea, Callosciurus erythraeus, Copsychus saularis, Egretta garzetta, Pycnonotus sinensis) in 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020 were constructed, and the effects and changes of ECL on habitat connectivity of species, geographical zone, and species zone scales were sequently analyzed using the difference-in-difference method. The results showed that: (1) Forty-one important habitats were identified, with a total area of 743 km2, and the average area of each habitat was 18.1 km2. The number of ecological corridors and the area of ecological pinch points in Shenzhen decreased in the first ten years but remained stable over the final ten years. (2) ECL delineation can promote habitat connectivity of regional species and with the passage of time, this promoting effect increases. The protective effect in the high habitat quality zone was greater than that in the low habitat quality zone. (3) City managers can develop habitat connectivity conservation schemes for different species according to the five habitat quality zones: high, mid-high, middle, mid-low, and low. This study proposes a method to assess the effectiveness of the existing ecological control line, and provide a scientific basis for formulating, adusting and optimizing ecological management.

Numerous disorderly expansions of impervious surfaces have resulted from the ongoing urbanization process, eroding the ecological security pattern and exacerbating ecological risks, subsequently leading to a progressive deterioration in its integrity. The tension between the expansion of ecological space and urban spatial expansion is becoming increasingly acute. Exploring the connection between ecological risks in urban landscapes is important for effectively managing regional ecological risks and optimizing patterns of regional ecological security. However, previous studies focus on selecting ecological sources in an ecological network and ignore how ecological resilience is impacted by factors such as species diversity, ecological structure complexity, etc. Based on remote sensing images of Liaoning Province in 2000, 2010, and 2020, the study used the landscape core index as the main indicator of ecological risk assessment, constructed a landscape ecological risk assessment model, and analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of landscape ecological risk over the past 20 years. The impact of landscape ecological risk on ecological resistance was further explored, and the landscape ecological risk results in 2020 were used as one of the resistance factors to construct a multi-indicator comprehensive resistance surface. After identifying important ecological sources, an ecological network based on the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) was constructed, the optimal path connecting important ecological source areas was determined, and the distribution pattern characteristics of the internal ecological network in Liaoning Province were revealed. The findings indicate a general shift in ecological risks from high to low, following a distribution pattern of “high in the east and low in the west”. Additionally, the study identified 8 ecological sources and established 28 ecological corridors, spanning a total length of roughly 8160 km. This study aims to furnish a scientific foundation for developing an ecological security pattern network and optimizing the landscape pattern within Liaoning Province.

Networks have been widely used to describe a range of biotic interactions in ecosystems; topological indicators of ecological networks provide systematic way to characterize patterns of different interacting systems. However, it is hampered by sampling bias and detecting the true structures to compare the stability of ecological communities. In this context, we aimed to employ innovative approach of identifying critical transition indicator to compare stable network structure by simulating dynamics of network assembly. Four epiphyte–host networks were compiled, including two groups (epiphytic bryophyte and epiphytic vascular plant) of tropical rainforest (TRF) and subtropical forest (STF). The dynamics of three structure indictors, i.e. connectance, nestedness and modularity were simulated to explore what changes occurred as sampling effort increases. The critical transition indicator was detected to compare the structure of four networks at a stable state. Meanwhile, the variation dynamics of host size and epiphyte richness were fitted to analyze the underlying processes shaping the stable network structure. Using a dynamic simulation, the network structures showed the critical transition to stable state when sampling size approximated 30 hosts for epiphytic bryophytes and 100 hosts for epiphytic vascular plants. After critical transition, connectance and nestedness were higher in the STF than in the TRF. In contrast, modularity was higher in the TRF than in the STF. The coefficient of variations (CV) of host size and epiphyte richness tended to be stable at the same critical transition point; the distribution of host size and epiphyte richness could be the fundamental factors for the assembly of stable epiphyte–host network. Our study emphasized the importance of considering sampling effort while evaluating the network structure. Combining critical transition indicator with structure indicator dynamics could be a powerful method to compare the stable structure of different ecological networks.

Constructing an ecological network is crucial to maintaining ecosystem stability, optimizing ecological space, and ensuring regional ecological security. Using circuit theory, the study integrated habitat condition, ecosystem function, and landscape structure to construct ecological network in Ulanqab. The ecological networks consist of four basic components, including sources, resistance surfaces, corridors and nodes. Ecological sources refer to patches with high habitat quality, while the resistance to species movement between patches is named as ecological resistance surfaces, the important corridors for movement between patches are referred to as ecological corridors, and the vital spots in ecological network are referred to ecological nodes. In addition, the drivers affecting these changes were also analyzed using geographical detector. The results indicated that the area of ecological sources dropped by 19.1 % and the area of high value of ecological resistance surfaces increased from 2000 and 2020. The length of ecological corridors increased by 793.80 km. Mean annual precipitation is the main natural factor influencing the ecological network, and land use intensity and human footprint are the main anthropogenic factors. Our findings suggest that in this region, urban developing should minimize the encroachment on grasslands, forests and waters. Additionally, the availability of water resources should be considered in the planning and implementation of ecological restoration and protection. The findings of the study offer reasonable suggestions for the protection and restoration of priority regions, as well as a scientific foundation optimization and sustainable development of the regional ecological network.

Habitat fragmentation is an important factor affecting biodiversity conservation, and few studies have discussed the relationship between the overall pattern of wetlands and biological ecological functions. Based on this, this study proposed the construction of wetland biodiversity conservation Ecological Networks (ENs) from the perspective of connectivity, and proposed a comprehensive framework for the construction of wetland ENs. Firstly, the key species were identified, and the habitat patches suitable for egret migration were analyzed by Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and landscape connectivity index, and the ecological sources were determined based on the policy influence. The Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model was used to extract the wetland ENs, and the network evaluation index, gravity model and Hydrological analysis model were used to analyze the “network − corridor − node” respectively. The results showed that: (1) The wetland patches in Haikou City were relatively trivial, and the connectivity between and within the patches was insufficient. There were 13 potential sources suitable for egret habitat and 17 ecological sources for comprehensive extraction; (2) The wetland ENs tends to be east of Nandu River, the network tightness is 0.038, and the network connectivity is low; (3) There are 45 important corridors and 8 important ecological sources, mainly concentrated in the east of Nandu River; (4) Identify 115, 50 and 66 ecological pinpoints, obstacle points and break points of wetland network, and propose protection, optimization and restoration strategies respectively. Comprehensive identification of ecological sources and the progressive wetland ENs analysis model of “network − corridor − node” will promote the further systematization of wetland biological protection research.

Colombia has experienced alarming rates of deforestation, posing a threat to forest biodiversity both inside and outside protected areas. Furthermore, a decline in ecological connectivity can potentially disrupt vital ecological processes such as pollination, gene flow, breeding, seed dispersal, among others. To address this issue at a national scale, it is crucial to identify and conserve a comprehensive network of ecological corridors.In this study, we identified high priority potential ecological corridors linking protected areas in Colombia. We categorized a representative set of 16 threatened mammal species into four ecological profiles. Then, we used Least Cost Path (LCP) analysis to model potential corridors between protected areas as those that minimized resistance for forest species dispersal. To prioritize conservation efforts, we applied the decrease in the Probability of Connectivity index (dPC) to identify corridors with the highest priority.Our findings emphasize the importance of preserving large forest patches within protected areas for species inhabiting lowland and sub-Andean forests. However, for species residing in Andean and high Andean forests, restoration measures (e.g., increasing forest cover) between protected areas are needed to enhance landscape permeability and facilitate their dispersal, thereby contributing to their conservation.Our results have practical implications for decision-makers involved in conservation efforts. These findings can aid in identifying conservation priorities for existing protected areas and their surrounding forest habitats in Colombia. Additionally, we provided expert-based resistance values for different forest mammals that can be further used in other large scale connectivity analyses, including other countries where these species inhabit.

Abstract With the rapid advancement of urbanization and industrialization, ecological patches within cities and towns are fragmented and ecological corridors are cut off, regional ecological security is threatened and sustainable development is hindered. Building an ecological network that conforms to regional realities can connect fragmented patches, protect biodiversity and regional characteristics, and provide scientific reference for regional ecological protection and ecological network planning. By taking Qilin District, the main urban area of Qujing City as an example, and using geospatial data as the main data source, based on morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR), this study identified ecological source areas, extracted ecological corridors, and build & optimize ecological networks. (1) All landscape types are identified based on MSPA, the proportion of core area was the highest among all landscape types, which was 80.69%, combined with the connectivity evaluation, 14 important ecological source areas were selected. (2) 91 potential ecological corridors were extracted through MCR and gravity models, there were 16 important ones. (3) The network connectivity analysis method is used to calculate the α, β, and γ indexes of the ecological network before optimization, which were 2.36, 6.5, and 2.53, while after optimization, α, β and γ indices were 3.8, 9.5 and 3.5, respectively. The combined application of MSPA-MCR model and ecological network connectivity analysis evaluation is conducive to improving the structure and functionality of ecological network.

High-intensity land use and fragmented habitats are becoming more prevalent with urbanization, thereby accelerating the demand for maintaining and improving the ecological connectivity of habitat patches in high-density built-up areas. Previous studies have shown that small dispersed patches are crucial for enhancing connectivity across an entire landscape. However, as an important component of urban green space, residential green space in high-density built-up areas is often overlooked in ecological connectivity analysis. Taking Futian district, Shenzhen, as a case study, we explored the ecological connectivity in high-density built-up areas considering not only habitat patches but also green areas in residential quarters. We identified ecological patches and green areas in the residential areas of the study area. This was followed by a functional connectivity analysis under different scenarios. Several protection suggestions for improving ecological connectivity have been proposed based on functional connectivity analyses under different scenarios. The results show: 1) The area of residential green space in Futian district is 3.86 km2, covering 26.9% of the total green space in the study area, with the western part being sparser than other regions. The total area of the ecological patches was 14.34 km2, and the importance of the patches was not consistent with their size. The ecological connectivity of Lianhuashan Park in the central region, Lichi Park in the eastern region, and Huanggang Park in the southern region is greatly affected by the contiguous or continuously distributed strips of residential green space around them. 2) Residential green spaces affect eco-connectivity primarily by lowering corridor resistance, creating connectors for regions that require protection, and supporting biological flow. In particular, it had the largest effect on middle-resistance corridors (the unit cost distance was reduced by 29.2%) and alleviated the situation of pinch points formed in narrow low-resistance channels in high-density built-up areas. 3) The ecological pinch points that recurred in the ecological network under different scenarios of connecting residential green spaces and different resistance thresholds were identified as the most valuable primary pinch points for protection. It is recommended to strengthen the intersection of Xinzhou Road and Fumin Road and prioritize the protection of residential green spaces located near the ecological patches and on the topological connection between the ecological patches, with a scale exceeding the average size of 5,920.22 m2. Through the analysis of pinch points in various scenarios, it was found that 21 pinch points, including those close to Lianhuashan Park, could be used as substitute green spaces for urban renewal projects when nearby residential green spaces are destroyed or occupied. This supports the preservation of functional connectivity in urban renewal projects. It is increasingly difficult to construct significant habitat patches in high-density built-up areas to compensate for habitat fractures. The results identified the significant location and proportion of residential green spaces as critical bio-flow carriers in Futian District. These findings could encourage more comprehensive urban conservation plans that incorporate both sizable habitat patches and residential green spaces. These findings can be used to create more effective sustainable development plans that encourage biodiversity in urban renewal planning.

[Objective] This study is aimed to scientifically construct the ecological network of urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and to provide scientific basis and theoretical reference for cross-regional ecological protection and collaborative governance. [Methods] Multi-temporal ecological network was conducted based on the framework of “source identification-resistance surface construction-corridor extraction”, and network evaluation was done based on network attributes and human activities. [Results] (1) Ecological sources were mainly concentrated in the mountainous of northwestern Hubei Province, junction of Jiangxi and Hunan, and the basin of Poyang Lake basin, with the area reducing from 2.67×107 km2 in 2000 to 2.29×107 km2 in 2020. The number of ecological corridors decreased from 69 to 42, and the total length decreased from 1.53×104 km to 1.16×104 km. The resistance of study area increased gradually, the center of gravity of network had shifted from Hubei Province to Hunan Province, transforming from a strip distribution of “three horizontals and two verticals” to a concentrated group distribution. The overall degree of aggregation and network connectivity of the ecological network were weakening, and showing a trend of structural contraction and functional weakening overall. (2) In network optimization, 102 ecological “breaking points” were identified, and 17 stepping stones were set based on the distance between the source and destination. A “core protection belt” and an “ecological control belt” were set up within 5 and 15 km of the network, with length of 1 505 km. [Conclusion] In synergistic governance, at the provincial level, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces should improve the cross-provincial ecological compensation mechanism for river basins, while Hunan and Jiangxi provinces should strengthen the judicial guarantee in the implementation of the synergistic mechanism. At the city level, differentiated management and control would be implemented for key management areas, and potential ecological corridors would be planned to promote synergistic governance at the city level. The integration of the optimized ecological network was improved from 0.22 to 0.30, effectively improving ecological connectivity between regions.

ABSTRACTThe main aim of our study was to delineate a coherent ecological network for large carnivores, using a unified methodology, which would be flexible and serve as a basis for nature and habitat connectivity protection across the Carpathians. We applied a comprehensive methodological approach based on habitat suitability modelling followed by connectivity modelling. For the habitat suitability modelling, we used a robust set of large carnivores occurrence data, which allowed us to build a solid model. From the model, we derived a layer of patches of suitable habitat of required quality and resistance surface to express landscape permeability. Both outputs were crucial for the connectivity modelling. We applied Random Walk and Least-Cost Path models and combined them to determine feasible connections between suitable habitats. With expert discussions and editing/improvement of modelled corridors, we developed a unique ecological network consisting of various components adapted to the heterogeneity of the Carpathian landscape.

Understanding how non-trophic social systems respond to environmental gradients is still a challenge in animal ecology, particularly in comparing changes in species composition to changes in interspecific interactions. Here, we combined long-term monitoring of mixed-species bird flocks, data on participating species evolutionary history and traits, to test how elevation affected community assemblages and interspecific interactions in flock social networks. Elevation primarily affected flocks through reassembling interspecific associations rather than modifying community assemblages. Specifically, flock networks at higher elevations (compared to low elevations) had stronger interspecific associations (larger average weighted degree), network connectivity (enhanced network density) and fewer subnetworks. A phylogenetic and functional perspective revealed that associations between similar species weakened, whereas connections between dissimilar and/or random species were unchanged or strengthened with elevation. Likewise, network assortativity for the traits of vertical stratum and breeding period declined with elevation. The overall pattern is a change from modular networks in the lowlands, where species join flocks with other species that have matching traits, to a more open, random system at high elevations. Collectively, this rewiring of interspecific networks across elevational gradients imparts network stability and resiliency and makes mixed-species flocks less sensitive to local extinctions caused by harsh environments.

With the rapid advancement of urbanization and industrialization, ecological patches within cities and towns are fragmented and ecological corridors are cut off, regional ecological security is threatened and sustainable development is hindered. Building an ecological network that conforms to regional realities can connect fragmented patches, protect biodiversity and regional characteristics, and provide scientific reference for regional ecological protection and ecological network planning. By taking Qilin District, the main urban area of Qujing City as an example, and using geospatial data as the main data source, based on morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR), this study identified ecological source areas, extracted ecological corridors, and build & optimize ecological networks. (1) All landscape types are identified based on MSPA, the proportion of core area was the highest among all landscape types, which was 80.69%, combined with the connectivity evaluation, 14 important ecological source areas were selected. (2) 91 potential ecological corridors were extracted through MCR and gravity models, there were 16 important ones. (3) The network connectivity analysis method is used to calculate the α, β, and γ indexes of the ecological network before optimization, which were 2.36, 6.5, and 2.53, while after optimization, α, β and γ indices were 3.8, 9.5 and 3.5, respectively. The combined application of MSPA-MCR model and ecological network connectivity analysis evaluation is conducive to improving the structure and functionality of ecological network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-intensity land use and fragmented habitats are becoming more prevalent with urbanization, thereby accelerating the demand for maintaining and improving the ecological connectivity of habitat patches in high-density built-up areas. Previous studies have shown that small dispersed patches are crucial for enhancing connectivity across an entire landscape. However, as an important component of urban green space, residential green space in high-density built-up areas is often overlooked in ecological connectivity analysis. Taking Futian district, Shenzhen, as a case study, we explored the ecological connectivity in high-density built-up areas considering not only habitat patches but also green areas in residential quarters. We identified ecological patches and green areas in the residential areas of the study area. This was followed by a functional connectivity analysis under different scenarios. Several protection suggestions for improving ecological connectivity have been proposed based on functional connectivity analyses under different scenarios. The results show: 1) The area of residential green space in Futian district is 3.86 km2, covering 26.9% of the total green space in the study area, with the western part being sparser than other regions. The total area of the ecological patches was 14.34 km2, and the importance of the patches was not consistent with their size. The ecological connectivity of Lianhuashan Park in the central region, Lichi Park in the eastern region, and Huanggang Park in the southern region is greatly affected by the contiguous or continuously distributed strips of residential green space around them. 2) Residential green spaces affect eco-connectivity primarily by lowering corridor resistance, creating connectors for regions that require protection, and supporting biological flow. In particular, it had the largest effect on middleresistance corridors (the unit cost distance was reduced by 29.2%) and alleviated the situation of pinch points formed in narrow low-resistance channels in high-density built-up areas. 3) The ecological pinch points that recurred in the ecological network under different scenarios of connecting residential green spaces and different resistance thresholds were identified as the most valuable primary pinch points for protection. It is recommended to strengthen the intersection of Xinzhou Road and Fumin Road and prioritize the protection of residential green spaces located near the ecological patches and on the topological connection between the ecological patches, with a scale exceeding the average size of 5,920.22 m2. Through the analysis of pinch points in various scenarios, it was found that 21 pinch points, including those close to Lianhuashan Park, could be used as substitute green spaces for urban renewal projects when nearby residential green spaces are destroyed or occupied. This supports the preservation of functional connectivity in urban renewal projects. It is increasingly difficult to construct significant habitat patches in high-density built-up areas to compensate for habitat fractures. The results identified the significant location and proportion of residential green spaces as critical bio-flow carriers in Futian District. These findings could encourage more comprehensive urban conservation plans that incorporate both sizable habitat patches and residential green spaces. These findings can be used to create more effective sustainable development plans that encourage biodiversity in urban renewal planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a key carrier supporting urban ecological health and living environment quality, urban ecological network is a key focus of current urban green space research. Jingzhou City of Hubei Province is taken as the research object. Relying on GIS technology platform, MSPA method is used to analyze the landscape pattern of Jingzhou City. On this basis, the landscape connectivity evaluation method is used to accurately identify and extract the source areas with important ecological value in Jingzhou City. Then, the normalization method and weighting method are combined to create a resistance factor evaluation system to construct the resistance surface. Based on the MCR model, the ecological network of Jingzhou City is successfully constructed, and targeted spatial optimization strategies and development suggestions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a land use planning protocol which integrates criteria for both the intrinsic properties of a unit and its significance in a broad spatial context. The purpose was to develop a methodology, represented as a questionnaire, that allows thorough consideration of the static and dynamic attributes of a landscape for making land use decisions. The methodology involves: (1) identification of landscape patterns, (2) revealing mechanisms of radial and lateral relationships, (3) considering changes of landscape patterns, (4) revealing functioning mechanisms that cause directed changes, and (5) socio-economic regulations. The protocol integrates knowledge of processes within biophysical units, catenas, catchments, and matrix elements. We proposed a plan for the taiga landscapes in northern European Russia. The highest ecological value was assigned to the units that control matter transportation over vast areas, and a lower value to the units that protect important habitats or intercept pollutants on their pathway towards rivers and floodplains. Outside the ecological network, we recommended reducing arable lands on eroded slopes (288 ha), increasing buffer zones at the footslopes (39 ha), and cultivating, instead, 331 ha of fallows with nutrient-rich soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop–pollinator interactions are essential for world food security. Studying crop pollination from a network approach allows identification of target pollinators for conservation and management, and gaps in our knowledge. Solanaceae represents the third highest ranked family based on economic value, and its production is highly improved by animal pollination. This study aimed to integrate global data on solanaceous crop pollination and analyse the interaction patterns using a meta‐network approach. Our questions were: (i) how are interactions structured and what are the structuring roles of species; and (ii) what are the main gaps in our knowledge?Data were obtained through a systematic review of the main scientific databases. The network structure was described using connectivity and modularity calculations, and the role of species using centrality metrics.The 251 pollinator species reported were in seven orders, mainly Hymenoptera (84.9%). The generalists Bombus and Apis species were the most common pollinators. The meta‐network was modular, and all modules mostly included bees. Most species were peripherals, around 12% were connectors, and there were no module hubs. Apis mellifera was the only network hub (supergeneralist).The most important pollinators are the most managed pollinators worldwide; however, many native species play a role in structuring the meta‐network. Main gaps include species of importance to pepper pollination, lack of species‐specific identification, and the need for more robust experimental studies evaluating the pollination efficiency of native, manageable bees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]