A revised definition for copal and its significance for palaeontological and Anthropocene biodiversity-loss studies

The quantitative evaluation of the intensity of regional human activity can reflect changes in the relationship between people and the environment and provide a scientific basis for the formulation of land-use policy and for the construction of the ecological environment. This paper adopted the ratio of the area of construction land to the total area to calculate human activity intensity in Inner Mongolia at the league/city, banner/county, and pixel levels, respectively. On this basis, the overall change in human activity intensity and its spatiotemporal differentiation, geographical unit change, and spatial autocorrelation were analyzed. The results are as follows: (1) The intensity of human activity increased from 2000 to 2020. The intensity of human activity in Inner Mongolia was 8.71% in 2000, and it increased to 8.73% in 2010 and to 9.71% in 2020. The growth rate has accelerated since 2010. (2) The areas with high and medium intensity of human activities are mainly concentrated in the area south of the Hinggan–Yinshan–Helan Mountains. The intensity in the Hulunbeier grassland area and Alxa desert area is relatively low, and the diffusion effect gradually becomes prominent in the proximal local area. (3) The results for the detection of influencing factors indicate that the livestock density, multi-year average precipitation conditions, and population density have significant driving effects on the changes in intensity of human activity in Inner Mongolia.

Archaeological anthrosols constitute a heritage of long-term carbon storage and soil fertility. Their anthropogenic features are affected by the type and intensity of ancient human activities. Human activities can follow a gradation of disturbance intensity, with lower intensity related to a weak human pollution of natural soil, and stronger intensity related to anthropogenic materials inputs (e.g. refuse pits). Soil properties are indeed deeply modified by the addition of objects (e.g. bones, ceramic) and of organic matter with distinct chemical composition and biological stability (e.g. charcoal). The aim of the study was to establish a new analytical approach to distinguish intensities of human activities, based on organic matter characteristics. To this end, we studied intertropical soil profiles (0-120 cm) from Cameroon, Brazil and Bolivia, with spatial or temporal intensity variations of human activities. We used standard compositional parameters (hydrogen index, HI, and oxygen index, OI) and advanced thermal parameters (I-index and R-index) from Rock-Eval® pyrolysis, as well as magnetic susceptibility, to characterize anthrosols.Results demonstrated the potential of Rock-Eval® pyrolysis parameters to identify human activities changes. First, the deviation of I-index (delta-I) between our samples and a reference value from natural sites informed about the intensity of human impacts, allowing for the distinction between artificial infilling of refuse pits and soil profiles with no or few human impacts. Second, positive HI:OI correlation established the importance of charcoal as main organic C source. The magnetic susceptibility informed about the presence of burnt soils in a Brazilian and one of the Bolivian sites. The combination of all these parameters, when represented with soil depth, allowed for the estimation of temporal changes in Brazilian and Bolivian sites. The topsoils were similar for all sites, relative to a low intensity of human activities or to the resumption of natural pedogenesis, thereby alleviating the effects of ancient human activities on organic matter characteristics. In contrast, the subsoils exhibited higher intensities of ancient human activities, with even higher values of intensities in Bolivian sites, thereby evidencing the long-term conservation of their effects on organic matter characteristics.To conclude, anthropogenic activities may durably affect organic matter characteristics in tropical sites, even after several centuries. Beyond being of interest for archaeological research, this new approach raises questions about the long-term consequences of our current human activities.

The acceleration of the urbanization process brings about the expansion of urban land use, while changes in land-use transformation affect the urban habitat quality, and land-use change brings a threat to regional sustainable development. Against such a backdrop, the assessment of land use on the habitat quality and the relationship between the intensity of human activities is becoming a hot spot in terms of the current land use coordinated with habitat quality. Based on the land-use data of Guiyang in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of habitat quality in the study area, combined with the spatial correlation between human activity intensity and habitat quality, were hereby analyzed using the InVEST model. The impact of human activity intensity on habitat quality was correspondingly analyzed. The results show that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the habitat quality level in Guiyang remained stable without drastic changes, but the changes showed hierarchical distribution and were scattered, mainly reflected in the urban expansion areas of the urban-rural fringe and the key areas of industrial development, and the ecological environment quality fluctuated in a small range. (2) From 2000 to 2020, the intensity of human activities in Guiyang was mainly affected by the relatively concentrated distribution, featuring obvious and significant changes. From 2010 to 2015, the high-impact area surrounded the Guanshan Lake New Area, and the regional habitat quality presented a downward trend. In 2020, the high-impact area of the main urban area and the key industrial development zone was expected to be formed, while the low-impact area was still distributed in forest areas with complex natural conditions. (3) From 2000 to 2020, there was a significant positive correlation between human activity intensity and habitat quality in Guiyang, and such a spatial correlation was weak from 2000 to 2005. The period from 2015 to 2020 witnessed the rapid development of urban construction in Guiyang, human construction activities continue to affect the urban habitat quality. The results show that the intensity of human activities on the promoting function of land use, and the dependencies between them should be considered at the same time, and that explorations on the influence of human activities on land-use intensity and habitat quality of space link are crucial to improving the efficiency of urban land use and ecological environment protection, as well as the coordination between land use and the sustainability of urban development.

人类活动的加强导致湖泊生态系统发生“突变”，造成生物多样性下降、藻类暴发、水质恶化等等环境和生态问题.中国许多湖泊已经发生“突变”或面临着突变风险.获悉湖泊生态系统发生突变的时空差异对于区域湖泊的保护，预防湖泊突变的发生以及制定合适的修复策略至关重要.本研究收集了中国55个不同区域湖泊的古湖沼学数据，探讨了湖泊突变的区域特点.研究确定了湖泊生态系统发生突变时间和区域差异，并揭示了空间差异的原因.结果表明，中国湖泊生态系统突变时间的区域分异特征为：长江中下游湖泊最早出现突变；东部和东北湖区湖泊突变时间明显早于西南、内蒙古和新疆湖泊；各湖区内，城郊湖泊突变时间早于乡村湖泊.人类活动强度是造成湖泊突变时空差异的主要驱动力.研究认为，区域人类活动强度影响了湖泊生态系统的演化进程，造成了中国湖泊生态系统突变的区域差异.本研究从生态系统突变的角度，利用古湖沼学综述了中国湖泊生态系统在人类活动下的演化进程，更深刻地认识了中国湖泊现状，为湖泊保护提供了有力的科学依据.;Increased human activity has caused a regime shift in lake ecosystem, which causes environmental and ecological problems such as biodiversity decline, algae blooms and deterioration of water quality. Many Chinese lakes have undergone regime shift or are facing the risk of abrupt change. It is essential to know the temporal and spatial differences of regime shift for the protecting lake ecosystem, preventing regime shift and formulating appropriate restoration strategies. This study collected paleolimnology data of 55 lakes in different regions of China and discussed the regional characteristics of lake mutations. The study determined the temporal and spatial differences of regime shift in lake ecosystem and revealed the reasons for the spatial differences. Our study found that the regime shift time of Chinese lakes has the characteristics of regional differentiation: regime shift time of lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is much earlier than that of the whole country. Regime shift happens earlier in the east and northeast lake areas than in the southwest, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang lakes. In various lake region, regime shift happens earlier in the suburban lakes than in rural lakes. The intensity of human activities is the main driving force for the temporal and spatial differences of regime shift. Lakes with slower warming but stronger human activities are more likely to undergo regime shift. Our result suggests that the intensity of regional human activities has affected the evolution progress of lake ecosystems and caused regional differences of the regime shift in Chinese lakes. From the perspective of abrupt change in ecosystem, this study uses paleolimnology data to summarize the evolution of Chinese lake ecosystems under human activities, achieves a deeper understanding of the current situation of Chinese lakes, and provides a strong scientific basis for lake protection.

(1) Background: Clarify the coordinated development level of production, living, and ecological spaces in the underdeveloped areas of China and their relationship with the intensity of human activity. Explore and address the problems that are likely to be faced when developing these areas and improve the quality of China’s new urbanization development. Promote the coordinated and sustainable development of the economy, society and ecology in underdeveloped areas. Guizhou Province is located in southwest China; the landform is broken and complex. Its economic development level is low. It is one of the representatives of underdeveloped areas in China. Therefore, Guizhou Province of China was selected as the study area. (2) Methods: This paper constructs the evaluation index system of the production–living–ecological space (PLES) functional system in China’s underdeveloped areas, and uses the coupling coordination degree model to measure the development coordination level of the study area. The human activity intensity model was used to calculate the human activity intensity in the study area. Response index is introduced to analyze the relationship between the spatial function coupling coordination degree and the intensity of human activities. (3) Results: Before 2015, the level of functional coupling coordination degree of production–living–ecological space (PLES) in the study area fluctuated, and after 2015, it showed a stable and coordinated development trend. The intensity of human activity continues to increase, and the interaction between human activity and local production–living–ecological space (PLES) function coupling coordination is intense. (4) Conclusions: human activity is a significant factor affecting regional, coordinated and sustainable development. In less developed areas, the impact of human activity is more obvious. Human activity, in combination with the theory of the human–land relationship and the moderate intensity of human activity, are important ways to improve the coordinated and sustainable development of underdeveloped regions.

Accurate and high-resolution urban activity information is essential for quantitatively estimating Sustainable Development Goal 11, but is unavailable. We examined the capacity and limitation of the Sustainable Development Science Satellite−1 nighttime light (SDGSAT−1 GLI NTL) data in capturing the spatial extent and intensity of human activity in two Chinese megacities using mobile phone data. Key findings: (1) Lit areas highly overlap with human activity areas but are smaller. Over 92.62% of lit areas are occupied by humans. Only a minor population (<2.15%) lived in unlit areas, despite these areas accounting for over 20.01% of human activity areas, as revealed by the panchromatic band. Additionally, the NTL better identifies activity areas related to young and middle-aged adults and working and residential populations than those related to older adults and tourists. (2) The intensity relationships between NTL data and population are highly spatially heterogeneous, with weak global but strong local correlations. When accounting for land use, correlation remarkably improved, with an R2 value of even 0.85. (3) Notably, the correlation increased from fine to coarse resolution. In summary, NTL data effectively capture the spatial extent and intensity of urban human activity, especially when considering land use, but its limitations should be noted.

Forest cover change over the last century in the Parâng-Cindrel Mountains in the central part of the Southern Carpathians is analyzed. The Parâng-Cindrel Mountains stand out as one of the tallest Romanian Carpathian ranges characterized by massiveness and relatively wild forest areas preserved in spite of the intensive population and related human activities. Three main cartographic products addressing three major time stages were used: Austrian military maps from the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, topographic maps from the 1960s, and Corine Land Cover Data from 2006 that were the inputs to a unique cumulative map of the forest cover change over the last century. In order to quantify forest fragmentation, various landscape metrics were calculated and morphological spatial pattern analysis was performed. By analyzing and interpreting forest change, we found three main periods related to major anthropogenic disturbances. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the most significant forest changes appeared in the northeastern part of the study area (Northern Cindrel Mountains) where human influence was mostly caused by the need to extend the grazing area and by high-altitude settlements related to an intensive pastoral activity that reached its widest extension in the Southern Carpathians. The second stage of drastic reductions was in the 1970s when large hydrotechnical constructions appeared, especially the Lotru and Sebes watersheds and adjacent logging, which increased timber harvesting rates and tourist infrastructure in the area. The third stage was is the post-socialist period due to a forest ownership change and lax institutional policies that caused an increase of forest harvesting for the purpose of large, short-term profit, which generated an overexploitation of the forests.

人类活动干扰下区域植被动态变化——以西双版纳为例

Coupling habitat suitability and ecosystem health with AEHRA to estimate E-flows under intensive human activities

Effect of environmental factors on soil properties under different land use types in a typical basin of the North China Plain

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Investigating past changes in temperate mountain spruce forest ecosystems and the processes behind them can provide valuable information for understanding present and future ecosystem dynamics. To assess the late Holocene ecosystem change and disturbance history in mountain spruce forests, we sampled four small forest hollows from the High Tatra mountains in Slovakia. &amp;amp;#160;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;We use pollen analysis to reconstruct changes in forest composition over the last circa 5000 cal. yr BP. Fire history is analysed using macroscopic charcoal counts and charcoal area measurements. As disturbance is one of the key factors shaping mountain forest dynamics, the analysed pollen records will be processed with a new method quantifying disturbance based on plant ecological indices (Kune&amp;amp;#353; et al. 2019). These indices for disturbance will be attributed to pollen taxa and then disturbance frequency and severity for the whole community will be calculated. We assess the role of climate and human impact as potential drivers on the past forest and disturbance dynamics. The climate variable will be constructed from modelled climate data for the last 4000 years and for the past 1000 years we will use climate reconstruction from the tree-ring records from the region. We use human indicator pollen taxa as the variable for human influence on ecosystem dynamics, and to indicate human activity in the region.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Preliminary results demonstrate opening of the landscape circa 800-500 cal. yr BP in connection with a change in the disturbance regime as indicated by the disturbance indices. The presence of human indicator pollen taxa in all small hollow records suggest landscape opening in connection with anthropogenic activity in the region. In addition, the charcoal records demonstrate periods of fire, which coincide with the opening of landscape and it is plausible that change in the fire regime is connected to the intensified human activity in the region. These results will be discussed further in the presentation in the light of climate data and further data analysis.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Reference:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Kune&amp;amp;#353;, P. Abraham, V. &amp;amp; Herben, T. 2019. Changing disturbance-diversity relationships in temperate ecosystems over the past 12&amp;amp;#160;000 years. Journal of Ecology 107:1678&amp;amp;#8211;1688.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

The Three Gorges Dam project and other human activities, including regional urbanization and industrialization, have had a substantial influence on the biological environment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA). They have changed the surface land use pattern, disrupted ecosystem structure and function, and influenced changes in the value of ecosystem services. The human activity intensity (HAI) assessment model, the ecosystem services value (ESV) assessment model, and the bivariate spatial autocorrelation model were used based on the spatiotemporal evolution data of towns along the Yangtze River in the TGRA in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. At the same time, the spatiotemporal impact of the HAI on land use patterns was evaluated and the magnitude of the spatiotemporal influences on the ESV was investigated. The findings demonstrate the following: (1) The TGRA’s higher reaches are occupied by forested land, while the middle and lower portions are characterized by agricultural land. Land change in the reservoir region has mostly featured transitions between wooded land, agricultural land, grassland, and building land during the last 25 years. Because of differences in natural geography and administrative divisions, the intensity of human activity in the TGRA changes throughout the Yangtze River, with higher intensity in Chongqing and lower intensity in Hubei. By comparing the ESV and the HAI and validating with Moran scatter plots, it was determined that there is a negative relationship between the value of ecosystem services and the intensity of human activities. (2) The ESV rose from CNY 1017.16 × 108 in 1995 to CNY 1052.73 × 108 in 2020, suggesting that the policies of converting farmland back into forests, eliminating outdated production capacity, and developing green industries, among other ecological conservation measures, are effective. (3) In the research area, the effect coefficient of HAI on ESV ranges from −0.02 to −0.032 to −0.031. This coefficient represents the correlation between the HAI and ESV and can preliminarily judge the change in the degree of correlation between the HAI and ESV. The increase in HAI leads to a decrease in the value of ecosystem services, and there is a clear negative spatial correlation between the two. The low human activity area and low ecosystem service value area in the Chongqing section have been transformed into a high ecosystem service value area through years of returning farmland to forest and ecological management measures for sustainable development.

The urban hierarchy and agglomeration effects influence the response of NPP to climate change and human activities

Investigating the intricate relationship between human activities and ecosystem service value (ESV) amid rapid urbanization is essential for advancing urban ecological sustainability and development. While previous research has extensively documented the broad impacts of human activities on ESV, several critical gaps remain in our understanding. Specifically, the mechanisms through which human activities affect ecosystem services with varying functions remain unclear. Additionally, the identification of local anomalies in the spatiotemporal association between human activities and ESV is still lacking. These gaps hinder our ability to develop targeted strategies for maintaining ESV equilibrium in the face of ongoing urbanization. To address these gaps, this research employed Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) data from Hefei spanning 2000 to 2020. An equivalent factor corrected ESV assessment model, an ESV flow matrix, a human activity intensity (HAI) measurement model, and a GeoDetector model were utilized to conduct a comprehensive analysis. The objective was to elucidate the driving mechanisms of HAI on ESV, establish clear thresholds for HAI’s impact on various functional components of ESV, and accurately identify localized ranges of anomalous impact. The results indicate that: (1) The ESV of Hefei declined continuously from 47.012 billion yuan in 2000 to 45.534 billion yuan in 2020. (2) This decline was attributed to increased losses and decreased gains. Losses primarily stemmed from the conversion of cropland to built-up land and the transformation of water area into cropland, while gains mainly originated from the reversion of built-up land to cropland and the conversion of cropland to water area. (3) HAI demonstrated a negative correlation with overall ESV, as well as with regulating and cultural service value, and displayed a transition from positive to negative effects on supporting and provisioning service, with the transition threshold range locked between 0.176 and 0.262. HAI exhibited three abnormal impact ranges on ESV, suggesting that strategic land management could sustain ESV equilibrium under both low and high intensities of human activity. This study fills a significant gap in our understanding of the threshold effects of HAI on different functional components of ESV and the identification of local anomalous information. These findings provide a scientific basis for urban ecological environment management and decision-making in the process of rapid urbanization.

Time series monitoring of earthquake-stricken areas is significant in evaluating post-disaster reconstruction and recovery. The time series of nighttime light (NTL) data collected by the defense meteorological satellite program-operational linescan system (DMSP/OLS) sensors provides a unique and valuable resource to study changes in human activity (HA) because of the long period of available data. In this paper, the DMSP/OLS NTL images’ digital number (DN) is used as a proxy for the intensity of HA since there is a high correlation between them. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology to analyze the changes of intensity and distribution of HA in different areas affected by a 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan, China. In order to compare the trends of HA before and after the earthquake, the DMSP/OLS NTL images from 2003 to 2013 were processed and analyzed. However, their analysis capability is greatly limited owing to a lack of in-flight calibration. To improve the continuity and comparability of DMSP/OLS NTL images, this study developed an automatic intercalibration method to systematically correct NTL data. The results reveal that: (1) compared with the HA before the earthquake, the reconstruction and recovery of the Wenchuan earthquake have led to a significant increase of HA in earthquake-stricken areas within three years after the earthquake; (2) the fluctuation of HA in a severely-affected area is greater than that in a less-affected area; (3) recovery efforts increase development in the most affected areas to levels that exceeded the rates in similar areas which experienced less damage; and (4) areas alongside roads and close to reconstruction projects exhibited increased development in regions with otherwise low human activity.