Examining inequities in species loss due to land use in China from an interregional trade perspective

Abstract

The escalating impact of land use pressures indicates we've exceeded the proposed safe planetary boundary. Economic shifts and increased trade drive China's demand for agricultural and forestry products, land-use changes, and subsequent biodiversity damage often occur far from where they are consumed. Given many species in China are endemic or endangered, neglecting these interconnected economic trends threatens its biodiversity conservation targets. Here, we first quantify species loss due to six land use types embodied in the life cycle at the Chinese sub-national level. Then, a Chinese high-resolution multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model was used to link threatened species to key industrial sectors in the supply chain, tracking the spatiotemporal patterns of land use species loss embodied in Chinese trade from 2007 to 2017. Our results reveal a 6% increase in aggregated species loss in China during the study period. This subtle change in species loss footprints in recent years is partially due to increases in consumption levels being offset by reductions in species loss intensity, though drivers vary by region. Notably, the Northwest and Southwest, known for their high species richness, suffer the greatest inequalities in species loss. The domestic species loss transfer most apparent in the outsourcing from the Eastern Coast to the Southwest. The Southwest registered the highest territory-based species loss, particularly for amphibians, while the highest impacts in the supply chain are associated with Forestry, logging, and related activities. Our analysis underscores the need for enhanced provincial dialogue to systematically value and monitor biodiversity, a key natural capital, and encourage its conservation. Our study effectively monitors the consumption-based species losses across China, which can further improve knowledge and dialogue on ecological challenges associated with trade.