Regional Conservation Research Articles

Integrating threat mapping and animal movement data to identify high‐risk areas for endangered mobile species

AbstractGiven the current biodiversity crisis, understanding how animals move across a landscape dotted with different anthropogenic threats and the consequences of those threats for animals is paramount to devising evidence‐based conservation interventions. Vultures roam across large areas and are highly exposed to poisoning, which represents a particularly damaging form of wildlife crime. In this study, we introduce a framework for quantifying the exposure to threats and illustrate an example of poisoning risk as a threat in an endangered African vulture species, the Lappet‐faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos). We combined GPS tracking data of 19 individuals collected between 2012 and 2022 with food availability and spatial threat maps of both intentional (poachers directly targeting vultures) and unintentional (farmers aiming to kill carnivores, with vultures being secondarily affected) poisoning across most of Southern Africa. We identified poisoning hotspots in northern Botswana and south‐eastern Namibia. These areas were also associated with a high number of vulture mortalities, providing additional support for poisoning risk. Northern Botswana and areas at the border between Botswana and South Africa were characterized by high food availability, potentially amplifying the mortality rate by attracting vultures from surrounding areas. Our results offer valuable insights for regional vulture conservation, together with a methodological framework for quantifying and mapping the spatial exposure to threats for mobile species of conservation concern, enabling improved targeting of conservation actions.

Psychological characteristics of environmental stakeholders and interactions in their social network

This research explores the roles of (1) the stakeholder categories conservation association, land use association, public authority and research group, (2) Organizational Culture, operationalized by the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument; (3) Environmental Worldview, operationalized by the New Environmental Paradigm; and (4) Environmental Risk Perception, operationalized by the Myths of Physical Nature, in shaping the interactions in the social network of environmental stakeholders in the city and district of Osnabrück in Northwest Germany. First, the study examines the stakeholder categories (1), regarding the expression of the constructs (2), (3) and (4) among them. Second, all constructs (1), (2), (3) and (4) are examined regarding possible correlations with the presence of collaboration and conflict between stakeholders. Our analysis reveals that (1) Stakeholder Categories are significantly correlated with the presence of collaboration, but not of conflict. (2) A significant correlation between membership of a stakeholder category and the dominant manifestation of a particular organizational culture is present, while no correlation between Organizational Cultures and the presence of collaborations or conflicts could be found. Moreover, the study highlights (3) a generally pro-environmental orientation across stakeholders as captured by the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP), indicating a shared foundation for potential collaborative efforts. (4) Analysis of Environmental Risk Perception, through the Cultural Theory’s myths of physical nature, uncovers a widespread preference for the hierarchical myth, suggesting a common perception of environmental risks and resilience. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding psychological and social dimensions in environmental stakeholder management to enhance collaborative efforts towards sustainable development. It highlights the need for management approaches that acknowledge the complex interplay of diverse psychological constructs in driving effective and sustainable collaborations between stakeholders of regional land use, nature conservation, public authorities, academia and other sectors depending on the context. Through its insights into stakeholder interactions, this research contributes to the broader discourse on achieving sustainable development goals through informed, cooperative stakeholder engagement.

WITHDRAWN: Short-term Load Forecasting Method Based on LSTM Optimized by the Hybrid Dung Bettle Optimization Algorithm

Forecasting electricity load is a crucial responsibility for the power system. Precise short-term power load forecasting (STLF) is a valuable tool for regional production planning, energy conservation, emission reduction, and grid coordination and dispatch. This study suggests a model for STLF that makes use of an optimized Long and Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network through the Hybrid Dung Beetle Optimization algorithm (HDBO-LSTM). Firstly, the Hybrid Dung Beetle Optimization (HDBO) algorithm is used to optimize the LSTM network's hyperparameters to address the problem that the LSTM network's random hyperparameter selection will materially influence the accuracy of load forecasting. Secondly, to address the problems that the original Dung Beetle Optimization (DBO) algorithm has poor global exploration ability and is easy to falls into local optimization, multiple improvement strategies are proposed to enhance the DBO algorithm, and the HDBO algorithm, which has a stronger searching ability and faster convergence speed, is proposed. By comparing with several algorithms on 10 benchmark functions, HDBO shows better search performance. Finally, the HDBO-LSTM load forecasting model is developed and evaluated using the Electrotechnical Mathematical Modeling Competition's power load dataset. The outcomes show that HDBO-LSTM outperforms the other comparison models in terms of accuracy and predicting efficacy.

A decadal-scale qualitative comparison of lotic Odonata nymph surveys in northwestern Pennsylvania, USA, reveals possible assemblage restructuring

Detecting long-term changes to Odonata assemblages requires repeated sampling at fixed locations over decadal periods. However, few such biomonitoring efforts exist for Odonata, especially at low taxonomic resolution and immature life stages. We repeated a survey of Odonata nymphs conducted nearly thirty years ago in ten streams from a northern Pennsylvania forest reserve to qualitatively explore assemblage-scale changes and identify streams supporting species of conservation concern. Our survey collected five more species among all sites than the original survey, reflecting a 15% increase in richness despite a reduced sampling effort. Rank abundances of many species changed substantially between surveys. Some, such as Calopteryx maculata, fell in rank while other species like Boyeria vinosa and Phanogomphus lividus that were rare in 1994 became the most numerically dominant. We did not detect patterns in species richness or changes in richness between surveys along gradients of unconventional natural gas extraction or timber harvest among streams. The fraction of species deemed vulnerable or imperiled within Pennsylvania grew from 22 to 38% between surveys, highlighting the regional conservation value of protected area we sampled. Our sampling methodology precludes population estimates or quantitative community comparisons due to the sampling design and inconsistencies in the literature used for identification between surveys. However, the substantial differences in rank-abundance among species between surveys suggests potential long-term changes in these lotic Odonata assemblages. The collective findings presented here emphasize the high value of data from repeated surveys with species-level taxonomic resolution.

Research on spatial patterns of soil erosion in wind erosion region based on the revised wind erosion equation and partial least squares regression

Understanding the complex influencing factors of soil erosion is critical for maintaining regional ecological security. The revised wind erosion equation (RWEQ) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) model were used to reveal the primary factors affecting soil erosion. Based on the results of the RWEQ model, the wind erosion area was 8,439.3 km2 in 2018, accounting for 54.3% of the total planning area, and mild erosion, moderate erosion, intense erosion, very intense erosion, and fierce erosion accounted for 18.22%, 11.43%, 11.78%, 10.16%, and 2.74% of the total planning area, respectively. Based on the results of the PLSR model, the results indicate that the proportion of mining land, meteorological indicators, and mean square deviation of slope difference were positively correlated with the soil erosion area, intensity, and severity, respectively. The proportion of grassland and forest land was negatively correlated with the soil erosion area, intensity, and severity. The mean square deviation of slope difference, the mean square deviation of difference in elevation, and the proportion of urban land use contributed the most to the soil erosion severity index, with variable importance in projection (VIP) scores of 1.55, 1.44 and 1.43, respectively. The mean square deviation of slope difference, the proportion of urban land, and the mean square deviation of difference in elevation contributed the most to the soil erosion area, with VIP scores of 1.53, 1.26 and 1.24, respectively. The results provide new insights into wind erosion and the influences of weather conditions and human influences, which can guide regional soil and water conservation planning in wind erosion regions.

Seasonal movement behaviour of large male elephant in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

AbstractA great challenge for African conservationists is human–wildlife conflict outside the boundaries of protected areas (PAs). This is particularly true when considering large mobile species, such as elephants, that often disperse from PAs into community land. In Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, studies on elephant dispersal have focused on breeding herds. Here, we analyse the movements of five older, large males fitted with GPS collars. We found some dispersal outside Hwange, but large males were largely restricted to the Park, especially during the late dry season when water was scarce. Our findings may be useful to regional conservation decision makers.

Community-engaged flood mitigation and ecological restoration on a university campus

Abstract Urban flooding is a major climate change risk that can be mitigated with green infrastructure such as tree plantings and restored naturalised buffers along watercourses. The creation and maintenance of green infrastructure projects for climate change adaptation provides opportunities for community partnerships and programming with co-benefits for human well-being and biodiversity. Here we present findings of action research on a flooding adaptation and education that was implemented on an urban higher education institution’s campus in partnerships within the university and with local Indigenous peoples, the regional conservation authority, the municipal government, and the public library. Through participatory workshops, we applied bioengineering and mixed planting methods to restore a creek bank. Using a combination of oral storytelling, digital media, and visual art that integrated perspectives across disciplines and knowledge systems, we situated our creek restoration project within a framework of environmental justice, emphasising specific acts of stewardship to improve watershed health and advance reconciliation. We produced digital resources and outreach materials to disseminate lessons from the project into the community and to support similar flooding adaptation efforts at local and global scales. Our project demonstrates how incorporating partnerships into the design and implementation of nature-based solutions can build cross-cultural ecological knowledge, forge important on and off-campus relationships, and create place-based opportunities for students to take direct and measurable action on climate change.

Semi-automated mangrove mapping at National-Scale using Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1, and SRTM data with Google Earth Engine: A case study in Thailand

Mangroves are a crucial part of the coastal ecosystem; thus, precise and up-to-date monitoring is essential to guide regional policies and inform conservation strategies. This study investigates the capabilities of semi-automated remote sensing approaches within a Google Earth Engine framework for national-scale mangrove mapping in Thailand. Remote sensing data from 2018—10,000 data points acquired from Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)—was used to train several machine learning models. The Gradient Tree Boost (GTB) proved to be the most reliable, with the least variation in validity (the lowest IQR) and the highest average Overall Accuracy of 96.75 ± 0.63 % compared to the others—96.64 ± 0.72 % for Random Forest (RF); 96.12 ± 0.80 %for Classification and Regression Trees (CART); and 95.43 ± 0.74 % for Support Vector Machines (SVM). Thus, the GTB was instrumental in mapping mangrove distribution with 10-m spatial resolution across Thailand from 2016 to 2022, the period in which the mangrove areas increased by 11 %, reflecting successful conservation efforts over the past decade. The developed framework establishes the foundation for semi-automated mangrove mapping that can be developed for other geographical contexts.

Conservation-oriented management benefits the Black-faced Spoonbill, an endangered migratory waterbird

Active conservation management is crucial for maintaining and recovering populations of threatened species. Yet, there are remarkably few studies quantifying the benefits of conservation management and comparing ecological and anthropogenic influences on populations. We investigate these issues using the Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor as a case study. This species is an endangered migratory waterbird that garnered significant conservation attention along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Its global population has shown an upward trend recently, yet the speed of recovery has varied spatially. Understanding the species’ occurrence across wintering sites and the factors driving the geographical variation in recovery is vital for examining the benefits of management. In winter 2021–2022, we surveyed the occurrence and abundance of Black-faced Spoonbills and gathered data on environmental conditions across six important wintering sites in Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. Our results indicated a preference for larger wetlands with water depths of 10–20 cm. Birds were more likely to be present in wetlands receiving conservation management interventions. Wetlands with vegetated bunds and fewer artificial materials tended to attract larger flocks. The contribution of wetland size and conservation management aimed at increasing spoonbill abundance varied across regions, with a more significant positive effect of conservation management observed in Taiwan. Our results serve as a valuable reference for regional conservation planning and wetland management in wintering areas, aiding their long-term conservation. In line with this, we recommend increased conservation management efforts informed by our findings, particularly in regions with relatively slow recovery rates.

State Management of Energy Efficiency Improvement in Agricultural Regions of the Russian Federation

The sustainable development of the Russian Federation and its subjects, associated with limiting the negative impact of economic entities on the environment and ensuring the rational use of natural resources of the territory, is not just following the modern trends of the international community to reduce the energy intensity of the national economy, but also economic expediency caused by increasing the competitiveness and energy efficiency of economic entities and regions of the country by reducing energy costs in production products. Agriculture as one of the energy-intensive sectors of the economy (the second after industry, which accounts for over 12% of electricity consumption in the country) is characterized by a significant diversity in the levels and rates of energy consumption in different regions of the country, which of course requires consideration in public administration and implementation of regional energy conservation policies. In this regard, the article proposes a typological grouping of agricultural regions of Russia, which is based on the growth rates of energy production, energy consumption, agricultural production and the share of agriculture in regional energy consumption. The originality of the study lies in the fact that on the basis of a geographically sectoral approach, the grouping of agricultural regions of the country is carried out not according to the actual volumes of agricultural products produced (as it is typical in such cases), but according to the amount of energy resources (electricity) consumed by agriculture in a particular subject of the Russian Federation, which allows obtaining more relevant data. The research results obtained in this way allow us to develop incident measures and additive mechanisms for improving energy efficiency, taking into account the specifics of the energy development of the industry and the trends of sustainable development of the region. The article contains elements of novelty in the formulation of the problem and the research methodology presented by the typology of agricultural regions of Russia. The article contributes to the evaluation of management decisions at the regional level in the framework of the implementation of energy conservation policy and the application of regional energy efficiency programs.

Human Activities Have Altered Sediment Transport in the Yihe River, the Longest River Originating from Shandong Province, China

Climate change and human activities affect regional sediment transport and ecological environment construction. Investigating sediment transport and its influencing factors in the Yihe River Basin (YHRB) will provide guidance for regional soil and water conservation and sustainable development. We analyzed the chronological changes, cycles, spatial distribution and influencing factors using Mann–Kendall (M-K) trend analysis, wavelet analysis, and the Pettitt mutation point (PMP) test, then quantified the role of precipitation and human activities in sediment transport changes. The results showed that annual precipitation decreased marginally, whereas sediment load has noticeably declined. Four precipitation cycles were observed: 4–8a, 9–14a, 16–19a, and 20–28a, where 9–14a was dominant; sediment transport cycles were tracked: 3–5a, 9–15a, and 30a, where 30a was dominant with a decreasing trend. The sediment load was higher in the central, northern, and southwestern sub-basins of the YHRB, while it was lower in the southeast. The contribution of human activities and precipitation changes to sediment transport was 73.14% and 26.86% in transitional phase I (1965–1980) and 71.97% and 28.03% in transitional phase II (1981–2020), respectively. Hydraulic engineering construction, water resource development, land-use changes, and soil and water conservation measures intercepted precipitation and sediment, making them the primary factor affecting sediment transport changes in the YHRB.

Above and belowground carbon stocks among organic soil wetland types, accounting for peat bathymetry

Wetlands are widely recognized for their carbon (C) sequestration capacity and importance at mitigating climate change. Yet, to best inform regional conservation planning, the variability of C stocks among wetland types and between above and belowground compartments requires further investigation. Additionally, the bathymetry of peat basins has often been ignored, with soil C stock calculations mostly relying on the thickest peat section, potentially leading to overestimates. Here, we sampled vegetation and soil of 57 wetlands of southeastern Canada to characterize the variability of above and belowground organic C stocks among four wetland types: open bogs, open fens, swamps, and forested peatlands. We also compared carbon stock estimation approaches considering peat bathymetry or not. Results showed that peat thickness, and thus soil organic C (SOC), varied substantially within sites due to peat basin shapes. Omitting bathymetry led to site-scale SOC overestimates of about 20–38 % on average, depending on the approach used, with wide variability among sites (overestimates up to 200 %). Belowground C stocks varied among wetland types with mean values of 132, 101, 19, and 44 kg C m−2 for bogs, fens, swamps, and forested peatlands, respectively. Aboveground C was nearly zero in open bogs and fens but reached ∼30 % of total C stock in swamps and ∼ 15 % in forested peatlands. C stocks in tree roots and shrubs were negligible. Despite the lower C density (per m2) of swamps and forested peatlands, these ecosystems represented the dominant C stocks at the regional scale due to their abundance in the landscape. Overall, the four wetland types stored an estimated 2–7 times more C than forest per unit area. Evaluating differences in C stocks according to wetland type, while integrating peat bathymetry in calculations, can significantly improve regional wetland conservation planning.

Tarsus historic city center, identification of problem and potentials as base for strategic guideline

Tarsus historic city center is a continuous settlement from the Neolithic Age to the present day. Archaeological heritage is integrated with traditional historic quarters, historic city center, Early Republican buildings and industrial heritage. Social practices, cultural production processes, legends and religious events transferred from generation to generation constitute the intangible cultural heritage elements and also the symbols of the city. In 2013, conservation area boundaries were revised and Tarsus historic city center, was declared as 3rd Grade Archaeological Site by the Regional Conservation Council. In defined context, the Conservation-Strategy Guideline was prepared with the contract signed between Mersin Metropolitan Municipality and Mersin University, Faculty of Architecture in 2022. Within the scope of document, a guideline containing urban conservation strategies for the historic city center of Tarsus has been prepared. Within the scope of this article, findings and evaluations regarding current situation based on field surveys and questionnaires that form the basis for the guideline are presented. The study aims to document the physical and socio-cultural situation of the historic center in 2022 to guide further studies concerning cultural heritage in Tarsus.

Examining resilience indices and influencing factors in Xishuangbanna Community Conserved Areas, southwest China

Community Conserved Areas exemplify a harmonious interplay between human and nature, contributing to biodiversity conservation. Nonetheless, their sustainability faces jeopardy due to social disruptions. Taking Xishuangbanna as an example, we explore the social-ecological system resilience of Community Conserved Areas at the regional level, taking the disturbances caused by human social activities as the entry point, and construct a resilience evaluation index system based on the pressure-state-response model, evaluating its resilience, and analyzing in depth the factors influencing it. Taking into consideration the pressure, status and response, the percentage of townships with resilience levels ranging from Level V to Level I are 20 %, 23 %, 20 %, 27 % and 10 %, respectively. Among the prominent social factors affecting the resilience of Xishuangbanna’s Community Conserved Areas, the hierarchy of influence, ranked in descending pressure, encompasses: agricultural development, population growth and urbanization rate. The status hierarchy is largely dependent on the quality of resources and the condition of the community. Within the response hierarchy, we have explored factors such as education, traditional culture and forest conservation are key. Our study extends the comprehension of socio-ecological resilience within Community Conserved Areas to encompass the regional scale. This clarification underscores the pivotal role of management systems in fortifying social-ecological system resilience, laying a foundation for regional conservation and management efforts.

Threshold Effects between Ecosystem Services and Natural and Social Drivers in Karst Landscapes

It has been shown that there are thresholds of influence on the response of ecosystem services to their drivers, and the range of drivers that provide high levels of ecosystem services can be delineated through thresholds. However, due to the spatial heterogeneity of landscapes in karst regions, the results of ecosystem service threshold studies in non-karst regions may not be applicable to karst regions. This study explores the threshold effects between ecosystem services in karst landscapes and their natural and social drivers. It is shown that there are nonlinear constraints between them, and different critical thresholds exist for different kinds of ecosystem services. The main thresholds for water supply services include the slope (43.64°) and relief amplitude (331.60 m); for water purification services, they include relief amplitude (147.05 m) and distance to urban land (DTUL) (32.30 km); for soil conservation services, they include the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) (0.80) and nighttime light intensity (43.58 nW∙cm−2∙sr−1); the main thresholds for biodiversity maintenance services include population density (1481.06 person∙km−2) and distance to urban land (DTUL) (32.80 km). This enables regional ecological conservation planning based on different threshold ranges corresponding to different ecosystem services to meet the different needs of different decision makers.

Could Lontra longicaudis be considered a flagship species of the southern Yucatan Peninsula? Perspectives on its distribution, ecology, and conservation

There are historical reports of the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) in water bodies of the Yucatan Peninsula, and some efforts have been made to understand villagers’ perceptions of this threatened species. However, these studies vary in terms of season and location, and the data are limited and outdated. To help fill these gaps, our objective was to determine the current local knowledge on the conservation status of this species in the southern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and the northeastern part of Petén, Guatemala. In 2021 and 2022, we conducted 90 semi-structured interviews with users of local water bodies in Mexico, including Río Hondo (n = 52), Laguna Bacalar (n = 17), and Laguna Guerrero (n = 6), and two natural protected areas (n = 15) in Petén, Guatemala. We tested whether associations existed between the characteristics of the interviewees (e.g., schooling level and activity in the water body) and their responses. We obtained information on 122 otter sightings, most of which involved single individuals (80 %). We found associations among the schooling level (e.g., elementary, high school), the activities of the interviewees (e.g., fishing, tourism services, technical activities), the water bodies and the perceived threats and values given to the otter. Our study provides updated information on the local perception of the species in a transboundary region and suggests that this species does not pose a competitive threat to local human fishing interests. Therefore, this species could be considered a flagship species for promoting regional conservation awareness in unprotected areas.

Landscape influences on thermal sensitivity and predicted spatial variability among brook trout streams in the southeastern USA

AbstractWarming water temperatures as a result of climate change pose a major threat to coldwater organisms. However, the rate of warming is not spatially uniform due to surface‐ground‐water interactions and stream and watershed characteristics. Coldwater habitats that are most resistant to warming serve as thermal refugia and identifying their locations is critical to regional aquatic conservation planning. We quantified the thermal sensitivity of 203 streams providing current and potential habitat for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) across nearly 1000 linear km of their native range in the southern and central Appalachian Mountains region, USA, and characterized their spatial variability with landscape variables available in the National Hydrography Dataset. Using the Bayesian framework, we calculated the maximum slope of the logistic function relating paired weekly mean air temperature and stream temperature as an index of stream thermal sensitivity. Streams differed greatly in thermal sensitivity and those with more resistant water temperature regimes (i.e., thermal refugia) were consistently characterized by southerly latitudes and groundwater input. Landscape variables derived from a principal component analysis explained 16% of the variation in thermal sensitivity, indicating that the existing landscape variables were modestly successful in explaining spatial thermal heterogeneity. Using our model and spatial interpolation, we predicted thermal sensitivity at 8695 stream segments potentially suitable for brook trout in the study region. Thermal refugia were more common southward presumably due to higher elevations, but elsewhere they were also clustered at finer spatial scales. Our analysis informs prioritizing habitat conservation and restoration of this native salmonid and other aquatic organisms that depend on coldwater habitats in a warming world.

Research on Sustainability of Property Insurance Based on LSTM Model

Losses from extreme weather events are increasing in recent years, and climate change will drive premiums higher. At present, the adjustment of insurance policies by insurance companies, as well as the protection of real estate siting and ancient buildings, are the problems that we need to solve now. To explore the circumstances under which insurance companies undergo insurance, this paper identified two severely affected areas and collected monthly insurance claims data from 2010 to 2023. Based on the collected data, an LSTM is established to derive the amount of compensation, and then determine whether to underwrite. The research centers on "how and where to choose a site and whether to build in a certain place", we determined 5 aspects of research in natural conditions, transportation conditions, infrastructure, surrounding environment and economic factors, and selected 17 secondary indicators; firstly, the paper quantified the secondary indicators into 3 parts of proximity, remoteness and Neutral factor 3 parts. Firstly, using EDA and feature engineering & insurance factor quantitative measurement to find out the required insurance factor F. Then using Kmeans cluster analysis to classify the 19 regions, and using Random Forest to find out the weights of the 17 indicators. Secondly, using TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation model to find out the scores of the 19 regions, and finally determining the highest-scoring the "leader" with the highest score is finally determined as the optimal region, For the research of developing building protection model, this paper identifies four aspects of research from basic information, economic contribution, historical contribution and architectural information. Finally, the Word to vector word embedding vector model is used to number the words after the text is transformed; then the LSTM is used to do the text binary classification to get the emotional percentage of each area, and the emotional percentage is used as a new column of indicators; the PCA is used to extract the variance contribution rate of each indicator; then the MinMax variance contribution rate is used to carry out the normalization and the sigmoid function for weighting; finally, use AHP to find out the score, and from the results, it can be seen that the regional conservation model of Yellowstone National Park is the most reasonable.

Shallow groundwater quality and health risk assessment of fluoride and arsenic in Northwestern Jiangsu Province, China

Assessing groundwater quality is critical to regional water resource conservation and human health safety, especially in areas with co-existence of toxic constituents fluoride (F−) and arsenic (As). In this study, fourteen groundwater samples were collected in Feng County, Northwestern Jiangsu Province to identify dominant contaminants and their spatial distribution and health risk. The composition and variation characteristics of major ions (K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, and NO3−) and trace elements (F−, As, and Mn) were analyzed. The hydrochemical results revealed that high F− groundwater was mainly distributed in the northern areas whereas As-riched groundwater was primarily distributed in southern areas. Notably, over 85.7% and 21.4% of the shallow groundwater samples exceeded the drinking water quality standard of 1.5 mg/L for F− and 10 µg/L for As, respectively. Based on the water quality index (WQI) appraisal result, 71.4% of the groundwater in the study area is classified as “poor”, and thus unsuitable for drinking directly. We assessed the human non-carcinogenic health risk of F− (HQFluoride) and As (HQArsenic) and the carcinogenic health risk of As (CRArsenic). The calculated hazard quotient (HQ) for F− indicated nearly all groundwater samples have an unacceptable risk (HQ > 1) for each age group. However, HQArsenic values revealed that 28.6%, 21.4%, 21.4%, and 21.4% of groundwater samples posed potential non-carcinogenic health risks for infants, children, females, and males, respectively. The calculated results of CRArsenic showed that 0%, 21.4%, 28.6%, and 28.6% of groundwater samples posed unacceptable health risks (CR > 1.0 × 10−4) to infants, children, females, and males, respectively. The groundwater irrigation suitability assessment results showed that 21.4% of samples were doubtful to unsuitable for irrigation, and 85.7% owed magnesium hazards. The findings of this study will assist policymakers in formulating proper remedial policies and mitigation strategies to ensure the safety of drinking and irrigation water.

Gradient Analysis of Spatial-Temporal Change and Conservation Effectiveness in Different Ecological Protected Areas

The protection of ecological systems is currently a trending topic. Numerous countries have implemented various measures to safeguard ecosystems. Evaluating the effectiveness of regional ecological protection and cooperative conservation is of paramount importance. In this paper, Hainan Island, China, was taken as an example to construct an evaluation framework of the ecosystem change characteristics and conservation effects of different types of protected areas. In this way, the study evaluated the ecological status of important protected areas and the effects of collaborative management and control, and it discussed the changes in ecological status and protection effects. The results revealed the following. (1) Important protected areas occupy a large proportion of natural ecological space, reaching 76.33%, more than twice the proportion of ecological space on Hainan Island. In the past 20 years, the ecological space retention rate has increased by 0.57%. (2) The contribution of excellent-quality and good-quality ecosystems is the greatest, accounting for 82.65% of the whole island. In the past 20 years, the ec7osystem quality has improved in more than 80% of the areas. The proportion of excellent-quality and good-quality ecosystems is as high as 96.75% in these conservation areas, and their contribution to Hainan Island is 44.29%, while conservation areas only account for about 38%. (3) The ecosystem services of Hainan Island have improved and become stable in the past 20 years. The contribution of all types of protected areas to the ecosystem services of Hainan Island is more than 53.22%. In general, the ecological quality and service function has increased in Hainan Island, and the ecological space tends to be stable. Different types of protected areas have effectively protected various ecosystems on Hainan Island with different protection and management mechanisms.