A study on the biodiversity and protection in Futian National Nature Reserve of mangroves and birds, Shenzhen

Nature reserves are widely considered as one available strategy for protecting biodiversity, which is threatened by habitat fragmentation, and wildlife extinction. The Chinese government has established a goal of protecting 15% of its land area by 2015. We quantitated the characteristics and distribution of nature reserves in mainland China and evaluated the expansion process for national nature reserves. National nature reserves occupy 64.15% of the total area of nature reserves. Steppe and meadow ecosystem, ocean and seacoast ecosystem, and wild plant nature reserves represent lower percentages, particularly in national nature reserves, in which they comprised 0.76%, 0.54%, and 0.69%, respectively, of the area. Furthermore, medium and small nature reserves compose 92.32% of all nature reserves. The land area under any legal protection has reached 14.80%, although only 9.78% is strictly protected. However, if 9 super-large national nature reserves, located in Southwest and Northwest China were removed, the percentage of strictly protected area decreases to 2.66% of the land area of China. The areas contained in nature reserves in each province are not proportional to the areas of the provinces, particularly for national nature reserves, with higher protection rates in Southwest and Northwest China than in other regions. Of the 31 provinces, 22 provinces feature strict protection of less than 4% of their areas by national nature reserves; these provinces are mainly located in East, Central, South, and North China. Moreover, the unevenness indexes of the distribution of nature reserves and national nature reserves are 0.39 and 0.58, respectively. The construction of nature reserves has entered a steady development stage after a period of rapid expansion in mainland China. In recent years, the total area of national nature reserves has increased slowly, while the total area of nature reserves has not increased, although the number of nature reserves continues increase.

China's national nature reserve network shows great imbalances in conserving the country's mega-diverse vegetation

In total, 28,385 higher plants were distributed in the nature reserves, accounting for 77.0% of the total number of higher plants in China. Among them, there are 3842 species which are effectively protected; 2478 species are better protected. More than 84.4% endangered species grow in national and/or provincial natural reserves. On the national scale, there are 237 state key protected species distributed in national nature reserves (NNRs), approximately 80% of the total key protected plants. More than 30% species with extremely small populations occur in NNRs and provincial nature reserves (PNR), while 35 species (29% of the total) are not covered by any national or provincial nature reserves. There were 162 botanical gardens or arboreta in China. In total, 22,104 native species from 2911 genera and 288 families are cultivated ex situ at botanical gardens or arboreta. These account for 65%, 86%, and 91% of all native flora species, genera, and families, respectively. The number of endangered and threatened plants in ex situ conservation was about 1500 species, which was about 39% of the endangered and threatened species recorded in China. By 2015, Chinese arboreta and botanical gardens had successfully introduced approximately 270 species on the checklist of state key protected wild plant species.

候鸟类型国家级自然保护区保护成效评估指标体系构建与案例研究

Over the past twenty-five years studies on the history of nature conservation in Great Britain have played a central role in the slow emergence of British environmental history. The work of John Sheail, David Evans and Peter Marren on a national scale, 1 has spawned not only individual histories of environmental agencies, charities and organisations, but also research into the origins, development and management of some nature reserves. There have been just a handful of historical studies focused on Scottish nature reserves. 3 Craigellachie National Nature Reserve (NNR) was declared by the Nature Conservancy (NC) on 21 January 1960 by Nature Reserve Agreement (NRA) with the owner of the site, the Countess of Seafield. Though less well known than its much larger neighbour the Cairngorms NNR, Craigellachie makes an interesting case study into the often confused question of access onto NNRs because of its very unique close proximity to Aviemore town centre and the new mass tourism industry of the 1960s. Additionally, this historical study provides an insight into how the NC in Scotland negotiated their NRA agreements, and illustrates how they planned and conducted scientific research on their reserves. The Nature Conservancy, which had its official origins as a statutory body in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949 and a Royal Charter in the same year, described the pure Birch Betula woodland of Craigellachie NNR as 'a valuable supplement to the neighbouring Cairngorm Reserve'. 4 In the 1990s Craigellachie NNR has an important role to play in Scottish Natural Heritage's (SNH) entire portfolio of Cairngorms area sites.

Establishment of protected areas is one of the most important approaches for biodiversity conservation. Up to 2015, China has established 2740 sites for nature reserves with a total area of 1470300 km <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> , covering 14.8% of Chinese land surface. Based on remote sensing inversion, model simulation and spatial analysis methods, we analyzed spatial and temporal variations of habitat from the vegetation fraction, net primary production, and their driving forces in different types and clime zones on the typical national nature reserves of China in the first 15 years of the 21st Century. And we then evaluated nature reserves in habitats and biodiversity protection. Results show that from 2000 to 2015, the vegetation fraction of national nature reserve increased from 36.3% to 37.1%, various types of nature reserve improved to some extent. The forest ecology national nature reserves lead annual growth of 0.11%, grassland meadow 0.84%, inland wetlands 0.21%, desert ecological 0.09%, wild animals 0.11% and wild plants 0.08%. For net primary production, grassland meadow, inland wetlands, desert ecology, wild animal had a growth of 2.06 g ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> ·a <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> , 1.23 g ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> ·a <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> , 0.28 g ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> ·a <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> and 0.4 g ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> ·a <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> respectively, the forest ecological and wild plants nature reserves respectively with a reduce rate of 3.45 g ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> ·a <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> and 2.35 g ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> ·a <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> . Nearly 15 years, national nature reserve had a weak change in human disturbance, from 5.72% to 4.83%.

Analysis on the ecosystem service protection effect of national nature reserve in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from weight perspective

Nature reserves are established to protect ecosystems and rare flora and fauna. However, with the rapid development of the social economy, many nature reserves are facing enormous pressures from human activities. The assessment of the sustainability of nature reserves is a fundamental task for the planning and management of such areas. In this study, the sustainability of China’s 319 national nature reserves (NRRs) was evaluated based on an ecological footprint (EF) method. The results indicated that the per capita ecological footprints of all national nature reserves increased 85.86% from 2000 to 2010. Meanwhile, the per capita biocapacity (BC) of all national nature reserves increased slightly, with a rate of increase of 1.79%. The ‘traffic light’ method was adopted to identify the sustainability status of those national nature reserves. It was found that currently (2010) 45% of NRRs were in the condition of ecological deficit. In terms of dynamic changes in EF and BC, only 16% of NRRs were sustainable. The 124 national nature reserves that were in the red light state were mainly distributed in Anhui Province, Chongqing City, Hunan, Guizhou, Fujian, Shandong Province, and Inner Mongolia. The percentage of nature reserves at the red light state in these areas were 83.3%, 66.7%, 64.7%, 62.5%, 58.3%, 57.1%, and 56.5%, respectively. The reserves in the red light state should be included in the priority concern level and should be strictly controlled in terms of population growth and the intensity of exploitation. The results of this study will provide more effective data for reference and for decision making support in nature reserve protection.

The national nature reserves in China: Are they effective in conserving mangroves?

Nature reserves (NRs) have been the backbone of biodiversity conservation and the construction of China’s ‘ecological-civilization’ since the 1950s. With over 11,800 protected areas (PAs) covering 18% of the country’s land area, Chinese NRs have made a great contribution to global biodiversity conservation. At this point, better protection effectiveness can be achieved by optimizing the management organization rather than expanding the area. We analyzed the management structure of Chinese NRs by looking at their ranks, the hierarchy of administrative organs, number of grass-root stations, manpower, and financial resources, among other variables. We found that the average number of staff employed and yearly financial input per km2 of Chinese NRs were both higher than the world and US averages. However, the range was extremely high, revealing great unbalance among different regions and ranks of NRs. In particular, the western part of China, which is less developed and features the least disturbed ecosystems, received less funding and staff resources than the developed east. A further analysis of the highest-ranked nature reserves, i.e., the national nature reserves (NNRs), showed that administrative organs of different hierarchical statuses (the lowest being Deputy family, the highest being Division level) could be in charge of them. Unexpectedly, we found that the amount of human and financial resources injected into NNRs was correlated with the level of their administration but dissociated from other important factors such as the reserve’s size or ecological value. Furthermore, the management organization was inadequate, with many NRs lacking key departments as defined by Chinese nature reserve regulations. We suggest that the administrative levels of management organization in NRs should be unified, and through the existing ecological transfer payments policy, strengthen the financial and staffing input in the western NRs of China. Moreover, the internal structure of NRs management should include all relevant departments with specific tasks and the creation of grass-root stations should be promoted without neglecting the capacity building to improve staff’s knowledge.

The global system of nature reserves is facing adjustment and restructuring towards the goal of harmonizing ecological conservation with regional development. We use multiple ecoregion data at both global and national scales as ecological indicators to explore the gap areas of China's nature reserves, which can help to build a global network of nature reserve systems and lay a spatial foundation for global biodiversity conservation. This paper comprehensively resorts to the ideas and modeling approaches involved in gap analysis, conservation prioritization analysis and eco-region planning. After identifying in both global and national scales the potential areas with gaps in national nature reserves in China, it proposes conservation priority areas and optimization strategies. The study finds that in a global extent, the areas with the gaps in China cover a large area and are distributed widely, mostly on the both sides of the Tengchong-Heihe Line. The conservation priority areas are concentrated in mid-subtropical humid areas, plateau subtropical sub-humid areas and semi-arid areas, and plateau temperate humid/sub-humid areas. These areas are usually not sufficiently protected due to their diversified landforms, complex ecosystems and lack of protection measures. The results have verified and identified the areas with gaps in the building of Chinese national nature reserve system. They may make a unique and important contribution to global ecological conservation efforts in terms of protected area system optimization and conservation network building. SynopsisThis paper analyses the conservation gaps in China's national nature reserves and proposes conservation priority areas for optimising the layout of the nature reserve network.

Nature reserves in Britain have been established by statutory conservation agencies, local authorities, voluntary conservation organizations, commercial companies and private individuals. While the majority of these sites have been selected for acquisition or lease because they represent good examples of particular biotopes, a few have achieved nature reserve status due to the presence of significant populations of scarce or threatened species, including butterflies. There is no comprehensive guide to all Britain’s nature reserves, although several books summarize the location and interest of many of them. Hywel-Davies, Thom and Bennett (1986) give a general account of a wide selection of nature reserves; Smith (1982) gives a general account of a selection of Royal Society for Nature Conservation (RSNC) Trusts’ reserves; Chapman (1987) and Newbery (1983) review Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserves. The role of nature reserves in conserving British butterflies, and information on the representation of butterflies on nature reserves, has been reviewed previously in publications and unpublished reports: for National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and other statutory sites see Morris (1967) and Peachey (1982); Pollard, Hall and Bibby (1986) include accounts of butterflies on NNRs with Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (BMS) transects; for reserves administered by the RSNC Trusts see Steel and Parsons (1989); for RSPB reserves see Cadbury (1990); for Butterfly Conservation (BC) reserves see Butterfly Conservation (1992). Ratcliffe (1977) includes a general review of the conservation of butterflies and moths for the series of Nature Conservation Review (NCR) key sites. Thomas (1984a) and Warren (1992b) present broader reviews which include analyses of the roles of nature reserves and examples of the failures and successes of conserving butterflies on these sites.

The energy consumption of farmers residing around nature reserves is an important factor that affects the coordinated development of nature reserves and the surrounding communities. The optimization of the energy consumption structure of farmers around nature reserves is important for maintaining the resources and environment of nature reserves and saving natural resources. Based on the microscopic survey data for the energy consumption structure of 956 rural households around six nature reserves in Liaoning province, a multiple linear regression model was used in this study to match tendency scores and empirically examine the impacts of regulatory policies of nature reserves on the energy consumption of rural households in Liaoning province. In addition, the influence of the income and environmental cognition of farmers on the energy consumption of rural households around nature reserves was examined. The results showed that the regulatory policies of the nature reserves were conducive to reducing the traditional biomass energy consumption of the farmers. The nature reserves indirectly affect the energy consumption of the farmers by influencing their income, and cognition plays an important role in reducing the traditional biomass energy consumption of farmers in nature reserves. Compared with provincial nature reserves, national nature reserves have a more evident impact on the energy consumption of farmers. Based on the empirical results, farmers should be encouraged to reduce their high-pollution and high-emission energy consumption activities and should be provided with technical support and financial subsidies for clean energy, such as solar energy and biogas. The following measures should be taken to maintain the ecological environment of the nature reserves and to reduce the contradiction between the nature reserves and farmers: supervise the coal quality in the surrounding areas of nature reserves, improve the non-agricultural employment ability of farmers around nature reserves and the photovoltaic poverty alleviation project in Liaoning province, increase the income of farmers and promote the energy consumption of farmers around nature reserves, strengthen the management of provincial nature reserves, promptly change the traditional idea of ‘depend on the mountain and water’ adopted by farmers, improve the environmental awareness of farmers residing around nature reserves, and advocate green energy consumption.

Until 2015, China had established 2740 nature reserves with a total area of 1.47 million km2, covering 14.8% of China’s terrestrial land surface. Based on remote sensing inversion, ecological model simulation and spatial analysis methods, we analyzed the spatial and temporal variations of fractional vegetation coverage (FVC), net primary production (NPP), and human disturbance (HD) in habitats of typical national nature reserves (NNRs) during the first 15 years of the 21st century from 2000 to 2015. And then the three indicators were compared between different NNR types and varied climate zones. The results showed that (1) the average 5-year FVC of NNRs increased from 36.3% to 37.1%, and it improved in all types of NNRs to some extent. The annual average FVC increased by 0.11%, 0.84%, 0.21%, 0.09%, 0.11% and 0.08% in NNRs of forest ecosystem, plain meadow, inland wetland, desert ecosystem, wild animal and wild plant, respectively. (2) The NPP annually increased by 2.06 g·m-2, 1.23 g·m-2, 0.28 g·m-2 and 0.4 g·m-2 in NNRs of plain meadow, inland wetland, desert ecosystem and wild animal, respectively. However, it decreased by 3.45 g·m-2 and 2.35 g·m-2 in NNRs of forest ecosystem and wild plant respectively. (3) In the past 15 years, besides the slight decreases in the NNRs located at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the south subtropical zone, HD enhanced in most of NNRs, especially HD in the warm temperate humid zone increased from 4.7% to 5.35%.

Nature reserves play a key role in the conservation of habitats, species and ecosystems in China. However, the issue of light pollution within these reserves has not received well recognition. Whereas previous studies have investigated light pollution in protected areas by remote sensing, the influence of the atmospheric scattered light from neighborhoods was ignored by using only direct light emissions. This study mapped the nighttime all-sky brightness from NPP/VIIRS data to quantify light pollution over the national nature reserves in China from 2013 to 2022. Based on the remotely sensed sky brightness, the spatio-temporal variations of sky brightness were analyzed. The mean sky brightness across all nature reserves was 0.63 mcd/m2 and the mean trend was 0.0189 mcd/m2/a, indicating obvious and accelerating light pollution. Furthermore, the sky brightness around the nature reserves was estimated and compared with the reserves. In general, the surrounding regions showed higher sky brightness and brightening trends, suggesting a certain but insufficient protective effect on the sky quality of nature reserves. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the light pollution conditions in the national nature reserves in China and serves as a valuable reference for future assessments of light pollution using remote sensing data.