Search Results (16,392)

Rubus sachalinensis, a Mongolian medicinal plant, serves as a valuable raspberry breeding resource due to its high value and stress resistance. Global climate change and human logging have contributed to its gradual decline in population. In this study, we utilized MaxEnt modeling to forecast the potential distribution of suitable habitat for R. sachalinensis under changing climatic conditions, aiming to facilitate controlled cultivation to lessen dependence on wild populations and support conservation efforts. In this study, by integrating 573 global distribution records of R. sachalinensis with 22 environmental variables related to climate and terrain, we developed the MaxEnt model and selected 11 variables based on the correlation (correlation threshold r < 0.8) for analysis. Through the jackknife method, we found that the distribution of R. sachalinensis is primarily influenced by precipitation during the warmest quarter (bio18, 43%), mean temperature of the coldest quarter (bio11, 20.5%), temperature seasonality (bio4, 17.1%), and slope (12.2%). The habitat of R. sachalinensis reached its maximum extent during the Last Interglacial period, subsequently decreased, and then expanded to 4726.25 × 10³ km² during the Mid-Holocene period, and currently stands at 5293.45 × 10³ km² in northeastern China, eastern Mongolia, and southeastern Russia, with a smaller distribution in North America, particularly in western Canada. Future projections indicated a declining trend in SSP1_2.6 and SSP5_8.5, with the centroid expected to shift eastward. Consequently, due to environmental changes, the suitable habitat distribution of R. sachalinensis will shift eastward, leading to a reduction in habitat area, and human logging will further exacerbate the reduction in wild resources. The resources within the area that remain constant from the ancient climate period to the future suitable habitat should be strengthened for protection, as well as the resources in the shrinking areas. These findings provide potential distribution information and dynamic changes in R. sachalinensis, which will provide vital data for identifying important conservation areas and sustainable harvesting. Full article

Coal-resource-exhausted cities face severe spatial conflicts between mining land redevelopment, urban sprawl, agricultural expansion, and ecological restoration, necessitating optimized spatial planning of forest-dominated ecological landscapes. This study constructs an ecology-prioritized identification and multi-scenario optimization framework for forest landscapes in resource-depleted urban fringes, taking Xinqiu District, Fuxin City, China, as a representative case. Coupling the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Entropy Weight Method, a mining-adapted Ecological Protection Importance (EPI) evaluation system was established. Results indicated that geological hazard sensitivity exerted the highest weighting dominance ($w_6=0.2322$) in EPI, establishing an Ecological Priority Control Zone covering 47.86% (6782.04 ha) of the district. Spatial dual-conflict mapping revealed a conflict footprint of 1493.82 ha, heavily dominated by Ecological-Urban/Mining Conflicts (1156.95 ha). Multi-scenario simulation via Fragstats 4.2 demonstrated that Option A (ecology priority-agriculture secondary) achieved the highest landscape score (0.8870), effectively maximizing network cohesion (COHESION = 99.3911) and restoring natural fractal boundary geometry (PAFRAC = 1.4760). The “southern conservation, central remediation, and river corridor connectivity” zonal strategy provides a science-based decision tool for forest network reconstruction in resource-exhausted cities. Full article

One adaptive silvicultural strategy to address the increasing frequency and severity of climate extremes is the promotion of genetic material best suited to a changing environment. Using a long-term provenance trial established in 1966 in central Poland, we evaluated how climate humidity at the parental site (provenance origin) influences individual-tree growth–drought resilience trade-offs in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Stem discs from 240 trees representing 16 provenances were initially assessed, of which 202 trees were retained following cross-dating and quality control. Drought responses were quantified using complementary growth resilience indices for major drought events identified using the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index. Mixed-effects models followed by Type III Wald chi-square tests and Sidák-adjusted pairwise comparisons revealed significant provenance-level differences in drought responses. Structural equation modeling showed that parental-site climate directly and indirectly affected drought resistance through its influence on relative tree size. Trees from provenances originating in more water-rich environments tended to be smaller but exhibited higher resistance, indicating a potential trade-off between growth and drought tolerance. Relative tree size was also negatively associated with resilience, whereas recovery and relative resilience were not significantly associated with provenance climate or relative tree size. These findings indicate that provenance climate is associated with drought resistance in Scots pine, with tree size emerging as an important mediator of this relationship. Full article

Post-transplant shock is a key barrier to seedling establishment in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, especially when plant species are selected without consideration of functional traits conferring drought resistance. In this study, we investigated the responses to soil water restriction after the planting of six native sclerophyllous species, with growth form and leaf habit of evergreen trees (Lithraea caustica, Quillaja saponaria, Escallonia pulverulenta, Peumus boldus), semideciduous (Colliguaya odorifera), and deciduous shrubs (Vachellia caven), in a Mediterranean-type climate site in Central Chile. Seedlings were outplanted with tree shelters on a fire-disturbed site and subjected to two contrasting watering regimes during summer (2 L⁻¹ week⁻¹ seedling⁻¹ for 5 months versus no watering). We assessed growth, survival, gas exchange, and midday water potential one season after planting. Species differed markedly in their drought response strategies. Deciduous shrubs such as V. caven maintained high stomatal conductance and photosynthesis despite the relatively high water potential, whereas evergreen trees sustained lower water potential through pronounced stomatal closure. The highest survival (>80%) and height increments were observed in V. caven, Q. saponaria, and C. odorifera. In contrast, E. pulverulenta exhibited positive increments in height but medium survival (63%), whereas P. boldus exhibited the poorest survival (33%), indicative of low capacity to survive and successfully establish after dry summers in Mediterranean-type climates. The different strategies of the species to cope with the post-transplant shock and the harsh conditions of the planting site may guide the selection of appropriate species to guarantee the successful seedling establishment and to support the future restoration of degraded sites characterized by long periods of drought. Full article

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in mountain forest ecosystems exerts critical controls over regional carbon balance and climate feedback loops. This study collected 209 stratified topsoil (0–30 cm) samples across temperate mountain forests of Northeast China, conducted a boosted regression tree (BRT) modeling framework integrated with space-for-time substitution, and established 15 combined thermopluviometric sensitivity scenarios to simulate SOC shifts under diversified climate disturbances. Tenfold cross-validation yielded a model mean R² of 0.62, revealing mean annual temperature (MAT, RI = 35.31%) as the most influential predictor of SOC spatial variation, followed by elevation (ELE, RI = 19.11%), while single-season NDVI and soil particle fractions showed weak predictive capacity. Multi-scenario spatial simulation outputs demonstrated that simultaneous warming and aridification drastically reduce the coverage of high SOC zones, whereas increased precipitation can partially offset temperature-induced carbon mineralization losses. Terrain-mediated SOC spatial stratification remained stable across all climate backgrounds. This study quantifies the layered environmental association hierarchy of mountain SOC and generates spatially explicit modeled carbon sink projections under climate change. The terrain-dependent SOC response patterns provide operable differentiated carbon regulation guidance: humid low-lying convergence zones require long-term soil moisture conservation, while arid steep ridges need native mixed forest restoration to lift baseline carbon storage capacity, supporting precise watershed climate adaptation and targeted forest carbon sink management for temperate mountain regions. Full article

Population aging is increasing demand for social services, and natural environments are increasingly recognized as health-promoting resources. Korea has institutionalized forest welfare as a national service system delivered through public facilities and a certified professional workforce. Its linkage with the statutory social service system nevertheless remains at an early stage, with few implementation frameworks grounded in the perspectives of those who would implement such a linkage. This study addressed that gap through a three-stage qualitative design—exploratory focus group interviews (FGIs), in-depth interviews with nine experts across four strata, and a follow-up FGI—with the data analyzed thematically. Experts converged on three target groups—socially isolated youth, middle-aged adults, and social workers—and showed that accessibility, though raised in every stratum, comprised four distinct barriers: psychological and informational, temporal and economic, organizational, and market-related. Social workers further occupied a dual position as both a channel for service dissemination and a population in need of the service. The resulting framework comprises three operational entities—support, delivery, and supply—across four dimensions: user characteristics, delivery system, service operation, and policy environment. Institutional foundations, target-group-differentiated accessibility, interagency collaboration, and a strengthened private supply base were identified as conditions for integration. By showing how a nationally institutionalized forest welfare system can be linked with statutory social services, the framework offers a reference for nature-based provision in other national contexts. Full article

In urban green spaces, stand density and pruning jointly modulate canopy structure, plant resource allocation, and leaf physiological traits. However, their interactive effects on the spatial heterogeneity of canopy photosynthetic characteristics remain poorly understood, which hinders the development of low-carbon, high-efficiency management strategies for urban forests. In this study, 50-year-old camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Presl) plantations with three density gradients were investigated to disentangle the interactive effects between stand density and pruning. The results showed that stand density dominated the resource competition regime within the canopy. In low-density stands, mean canopy leaf carbon (C), nitrogen (N), chlorophyll concentration (Chl), maximum net photosynthetic rate (A_max), stomatal conductance (g_sw), mesophyll conductance (g_m), actual photochemical efficiency of PSII (Φ_PSII), maximum Rubisco carboxylation rate (V_cmax), and maximum electron transport rate for RuBP regeneration (J_max), were significantly higher than those in medium- and high-density stands. Most photosynthetic traits increased logarithmically with increasing light intensity in low-density stand, whereas they followed parabolic trends in medium- and high-density stands with depressed values observed in upper sunlit leaves. Pruning triggered a physiological compensatory response in remaining leaves, significantly enhancing canopy C, N, Chl, and photosynthetic parameters such as A_max, g_sw, g_m, and Φ_PSII. Notably, the increments in canopy-averaged N, Chl, Φ_PSII and V_cmax/J_max following pruning were substantially greater in low-density stand than in medium- and high-density stands. Pruning predominantly regulated the spatial distribution of canopy photosynthesis. As stand density increased, pruning compensated for the insufficient photosynthetic capacity in the lower canopy, and decreased photosynthetic heterogeneity across canopy positions, but it failed to achieve targeted enhancements of whole-canopy photosynthetic potential. Concurrently, increasing stand density gradually shifted photosynthetic limitation from mesophyll to stomatal, and pruning further exacerbated stomatal limitation in the upper sunlit leaves of high-density stand. Consequently, high stand density weakened the responsiveness of photosynthetic traits to N. In addition, pruning significantly reduced nitrogen use efficiencies for A_max, g_sw, g_m, and J_max, due to N redundancy in the low-density stand. This study advances the mechanistic understanding of how urban forest management optimizes within-canopy photosynthetic resource allocation, and provides scientific support for enhancing the carbon sink function of urban green spaces. Full article

Species distribution models (SDMs) estimate how climate change may alter habitat suitability. Connectivity models quantify how landscape structure facilitates or constrains species movement among habitat patches. However, links between the two approaches are uncertain. This study assessed their integration and the use of SDM outputs in connectivity analyses. Records from 2010 to 2025 were retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science. The records were grouped into three corpora: SDM-only, connectivity-only, and integrated. Publication trends were compared with negative-binomial models. Concept dictionaries identified main themes, and pathway classification distinguished forms of methodological integration. Of 5715 records, only 244 integrated both approaches (5.3% of the SDM literature; 17.9% of the connectivity literature). The integrated corpus increased by 21.7% per year, faster than connectivity-only (13.9%; p = 0.001) but comparable to SDM-only (19.1%; p = 0.266). Integrated records formed a larger share of the connectivity literature than of the SDM literature in all 16 years (median difference: 11.2 percentage points; p < 0.001); because the two shares have a common numerator and unequal denominators, this contrast describes the relative weight of integrated work in each literature and does not by itself establish the direction of methodological transfer. Metadata consistent with the use of projected habitat-suitability surfaces as a connectivity input were identified in 38.1% of integrated records. The strongest keyword link paired SDMs with landscape connectivity (n = 61), but this pair is imposed by the search vocabulary; among pairs not required by the query, SDM concepts linked most often to habitat fragmentation and to dispersal or range shifts (n = 29 each). Despite the rapid expansion of the literature, methodological integration is still limited. Stronger links require explicit and transparent transfer of SDM outputs into corridor, resistance, and network models. Full article

Wildfire and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition are increasingly important drivers of forest recovery under global change, yet their combined effects on understory shrub dynamics remain poorly understood in subtropical forests. We quantified temporal changes in shrub aboveground biomass (AGB) following low-severity fire and N addition in a subtropical conifer–broadleaf mixed forest in Central China, and evaluated the underlying mechanisms of resource and trait. Burning reduced shrub AGB by 58.3% in the first post-fire year, but this negative effect rapidly weakened, disappeared within two years, and shifted to a net positive effect (+28.2%) by year four. Nitrogen addition increased shrub AGB by 26.5%, with gradually strengthening effects over time. Understory light availability, soil available N, and community-weighted leaf area were the key predictors explaining variation in shrub AGB. Fire induced changes in shrub AGB was most strongly associated with leaf area rather than specific leaf area or foliar nutrient concentrations. Nitrogen addition improved shrub growth primarily through increased soil N availability and foliar N enrichment. Overall, post-fire shrub recovery was governed by a successional shift in limiting factors, transitioning from initial disturbance constraint to light-driven structural control with increasing importance of soil nutrient supply. These findings demonstrate that post-fire shrub recovery in subtropical forests is increasingly governed by canopy-mediated structural strategies rather than acquisitive leaf economics during succession. Therefore, increasing wildfire activity and atmospheric N deposition may reinforce shrub-dominated understory states, with important implications for post-fire regeneration trajectories and long-term forest carbon dynamics. Full article

In complex agroforestry mosaics, similarities in canopy structure and spectral response among tree species constrain medium-resolution peach orchard identification. Using 2023 multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery from Ganyu District, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, we assessed NIR–SWIR features, vegetation indices, and phenological parameters for classifying peach orchards, poplar, pine, and willow. First, spectral curves, Jeffries–Matusita (JM) distances, and bootstrap confidence intervals compared separability across leaf-off, early-spring, and leaf-on periods. Subsequently, HANTS reconstructed the time series from which SOS and EOS were extracted; multi-temporal bands, MSI, NDVI, EVI, and NDRE were used in Random Forest schemes. Furthermore, McNemar tests, repeated random splits, and permutation feature importance assessed differences, stability, and feature contributions; the 2023 model was transferred to 2025 imagery. Results showed phenological dependence, with leaf-off and early-spring performance exceeding leaf-on. MSI and NDII showed similar separability and performance, indicating effects from shared B8 and B11 information rather than index formulation. The optimal scheme yielded OA = 94.545%, Kappa = 0.924, peach orchard PA = 97.619%, and UA = 91.111%. Ten splits gave OA = 92.83% ± 2.08% and peach orchard F1-score = 94.34% ± 2.27%. At fixed validation locations, cross-year transfer achieved OA = 90.184% and Kappa = 0.863, indicating temporal transfer potential within the forestland and orchard mask. Full article

Accurate quantification of aboveground biomass (AGB) for sparse desert vegetation is fundamental for assessing regional carbon sink potential, yet large-scale data retrieval remains constrained by high spatial heterogeneity and severe background noise. Focusing on Haloxylon ammodendron communities in the Gurbantunggut Desert, this study integrated plot-level ground truth derived from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Light Detection and Ranging (UAV-LiDAR) with multi-source satellite imagery (Sentinel-2 and Jilin-1) to evaluate AGB estimation accuracy and spatial distribution patterns across various feature combinations and employed four machine learning algorithms at a 10 m pixel scale. The Difference Vegetation Index (DVI) exhibited the strongest explanatory power for AGB spatial variance, whereas downsampled high-resolution textures induced feature redundancy. Among the evaluated algorithms, the Random Forest (RF) model driven solely by multispectral parameters achieved the optimal cross-scale mapping accuracy (R² = 0.72, RMSE = 1.32 t ha⁻¹). The total regional AGB storage was estimated to be approximately 6.99 × 10⁴ t, with low-density habitats (0.2–2.0 t ha⁻¹) occupying 90.39% of the area. This study confirms the feasibility of integrating UAV point clouds with multi-source satellite imagery for the large-scale retrieval of sparse shrub biomass, providing a quantitative basis for desert carbon management. Full article

Forest management strongly influences understory plant communities, yet their responses to management remain context-dependent and scale-sensitive. This review synthesizes current knowledge on understory vegetation in managed forests by combining a bibliometric analysis of global research trends (1986–2025) with a comprehensive qualitative evaluation of empirical studies. The bibliometric assessment identified 726 publications, with a marked increase in output after 2017 and a predominance of research articles within Environmental Sciences, forestry, and biodiversity conservation. Research activity is geographically concentrated in North America and Europe, while other biomes remain comparatively underrepresented. The classical review highlights canopy structure and light availability as primary drivers of understory diversity. Management interventions such as thinning, harvesting, gap creation, and prescribed fire frequently increase local (α) species richness and vegetation cover in the short term by promoting early-seral and light-demanding species. However, these gains are often accompanied by compositional shifts toward ruderal and generalist taxa, reductions in bryophytes and forest specialists, and declines in spatial heterogeneity at broader scales. Consequently, β-diversity and landscape-level distinctiveness may decrease despite stable or elevated plot-level richness. Management intensity, retention of structural legacies (e.g., large trees and deadwood), soil and hydrological conditions, landscape context, and interactions with global change drivers (e.g., nitrogen deposition and climate warming) strongly mediate vegetation responses. Low-to-moderate-intensity systems that maintain structural heterogeneity and approximate natural disturbance regimes appear most effective at balancing production objectives with biodiversity conservation. Understory vegetation responses to forest management reflect trade-offs between short-term richness increases and long-term risks of compositional homogenization and specialist decline. Evaluating biodiversity outcomes therefore requires multi-scale, trait-informed approaches that move beyond species richness alone. This synthesis provides an integrative framework to support evidence-based, biodiversity-oriented forest management in increasingly human-modified landscapes. Full article

Urban forest policies are increasingly used as nature-based solutions, but their large-scale effects on ambient air quality remain uncertain. This study evaluates China’s National Forest City Construction Policy (NFCC) using a panel of 2076 counties from 2001 to 2021 and a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) design. Annual mean PM_2.5 concentration is used as the main outcome. In the preferred specification with county and year fixed effects, NFCC exposure is associated with a reduction of approximately 1.39 μg/m³ in annual mean fine particulate matter (PM_2.5). The estimated effect remains negative across most robustness checks, although its magnitude and statistical precision weaken under more restrictive specifications. Both direct county-level designation and prefecture-level exposure are associated with lower PM_2.5, with a larger point estimate for directly designated counties. The effect is stronger in counties with higher pre-policy pollution and population density. Spatial analyses further indicate that neighboring NFCC exposure is associated with lower PM_2.5, although the estimated separation between own-county and neighboring effects depends on the definition of spatial proximity. Supplementary normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) results are consistent with increased vegetation greenness following NFCC exposure. These findings suggest that forest-city construction can complement source-oriented pollution control, while the estimated magnitude remains sensitive to regional shocks and assumptions about treatment dynamics. Full article

Environmental accumulation issues arise from discarded waste, synthetic, and natural polymers in landfills, whose slow degradation exacerbates the problem. These materials can be upcycled as renewable feedstocks and properly reused. Therefore, this research examines the fabrication of an extruded wood–plastic suitable for large-scale production, made from recycled polypropylene (PP) and reinforced with plant-based fillers extracted from the lignocellulosic shell of Bertholletia excelsa, well-known as Castanha-do-Pará (CDP), offering a cost-effective and sustainable solution that minimizes waste and fosters a circular economy, enhancing its mechanical properties and environmental benefits. The fractions of 10%, 20%, and 30% by mass of CDP were tested. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses indicated that CDP acts as a nucleating agent for the polymer’s beta phase. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated interactions between the components as the filler content increased. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images revealed increased void regions at different CDP contents, corroborating the impact results. These outcomes indicate that incorporating 20%–30% Castanha-do-Pará filler can enhance the wood–plastic flexural properties. This reduces reliance on purely synthetic materials and positions Bertholletia excelsa wood–plastic as a valuable, potentially large-scale product. Full article

A near-infrared (NIR) light transmission imaging system was constructed using a stereomicroscope equipped with an 860 nm NIR LED light source to evaluate its applicability for observing wood anatomical structures. Species identification of wooden Buddhist statues is important for clarifying their provenance and production period, but such objects require non-destructive examination, and surface darkening from aging and soot deposits often limits observation under visible light. Fifteen wood species used for Buddhist statues and other cultural and architectural properties—eight hardwoods and seven softwoods—were examined, and NIR transmission images of the transverse section were obtained under air-dried and water-saturated conditions. Under air-dried conditions, NIR transmittance differed among species and between heartwood and sapwood, revealing anatomical structures such as vessels, growth-ring boundaries, and resin canals. Under water-saturated conditions, transmittance increased in all species and resin-canal structures became more distinct in softwoods, although some image blurring occurred. These results indicate that NIR transmission observation is effective for non-destructive species identification of wooden cultural properties, and that wood moisture strongly affects the resulting transmitted image. Full article