Forests

Pine wilt disease (PWD), caused by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, poses a severe threat to coniferous forests worldwide, yet conventional control measures remain limited. Therefore, identifying resistance genes from resilient species such as Larix kaempferi has become crucial for developing genetic strategies to protect forests. The overexpression of LKF3H2 (LKF3H2-OE) from L. kaempferi in A. thaliana significantly enhanced both plant growth and resistance to B. xylophilu. Compared to wild-type (WT) plants, LKF3H2-OE transgenic lines exhibited a 61.4% increase in plant height, a 61.5% increase in silique number per plant, and accelerated bolting and flowering by 6 days and 5 days, respectively. Following nematode inoculation, the disease incidence in transgenic plants was 40%, significantly lower than that in WT plants (76%). This enhanced resistance was associated with the density- and time-dependent induction of LKF3H2 expression, which reached 2.04-fold under high inoculum pressure and 5.48-fold at 7 days post-inoculation. Furthermore, transgenic plants accumulated higher levels of defense-related metabolites, including flavonoids (up to 3.12 mg/g) and proline (up to 34.35 mg/g). These results demonstrate that LKF3H2 significantly improves nematode resistance by synergistically enhancing growth traits and activating disease-resistant metabolic pathways, highlighting its potential as a key genetic resource for breeding disease-resistant wood plants.

This paper quantifies the rerouting of China’s wood and paper sector value added to the United States over 2016–2022, a period spanning the imposition of U.S. Section 301 tariffs and subsequent supply-chain reorganization. Using OECD ICIO, a three-term value-added decomposition separates direct bilateral from indirect trilateral flows through third-country transit economies. A structural decomposition analysis attributes changes in the trilateral channel to four factors: value-added intensity, China’s domestic supply-chain structure, China’s intermediate export orientation toward transit economies, and transit-economy global value chain output combined with U.S. final demand. The trilateral channel grew by 125.5% in wood and 159.4% in paper over the study period, substantially exceeding bilateral channel growth. China’s active reorientation of intermediate exports toward transit economies emerged as the dominant supply-side driver. Vietnam, Mexico, and Canada are identified as the principal conduit economies. Value-added RCA consistently exceeded gross-trade RCA in both sectors; in paper, the gap widened throughout the tariff period, indicating that China’s upstream international competitiveness strengthened despite bilateral trade barriers. These findings demonstrate that bilateral tariffs are materially less effective than gross-trade statistics imply. Value-added tracking should accompany gross-trade monitoring in trade policy assessment.

Elucidating the spatio-temporal evolution of ecosystem services (ESs) and their complex driving mechanisms is crucial for the restoration and differentiated management of integrated land-use systems in alpine national parks. Sanjiangyuan National Park is characterized by a forest–grassland–wetland mosaic, yet the ecological effects of long-term land-use transitions and their underlying drivers remain insufficiently understood. In this study, the InVEST model was used to evaluate the spatio-temporal dynamics of four key ESs: water conservation (WC), carbon storage (CS), habitat quality (HQ) and soil conservation (SC) from 1990 to 2020. Using the Geographical Detector Model (Geodetector), we quantitatively attributed the interactive effects of physiographical and socioeconomic factors on ES spatial differentiation. The results showed that (1) ESs generally exhibited positive changes over the past three decades, with WC and SC showing the greatest increases. Spatially, ESs exhibited a southeastward increasing gradient. (2) Single-factor detection showed that precipitation and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were the main explanatory factors for WC, CS and HQ, while slope and precipitation were the main explanatory factors for SC; socioeconomic factors exerted weak but localized effects. (3) Pairwise interactions showed higher q-values than individual factors, primarily exhibiting bivariate enhancement and nonlinear enhancement, while the dominant interaction combinations varied among ESs and over time. This indicates that interactions among multiple physiographical and socioeconomic factors jointly shape the spatial patterns of alpine ES. This study deepens the understanding of ES dynamics in alpine national parks, providing scientific support for ecological conservation assessment, differentiated spatial management, and regional human–nature harmony.