The article uses a case study approach to investigate the mechanisms of ecological product value realization, and influencing factors. Specifically, we use a case analysis framework based on the “economy-society- natural ecology” perspective to analyze and compare the three batches of “Typical Cases of Ecological Product Value Realization” released by the Ministry of Natural Resources. We find: First, different modes of ecological product value realization exist. Different resource endowments, and institutional and environmental factors affect the selection of the value realization modes. Second, certain obstacles also exist for realizing ecological product value, which are mainly reflected in the fact that the articulation of the individual, society, and government is not yet sufficiently close. Third, to promote the development of regional eco-products’ mode and value conversion, the implementing party needs to guide the synergy between individual concepts, social participation, and governmental top-level design; rationally arrange the allocation of resource elements; mitigate elemental constraints; and propose effective technical means and optimization strategies according to the actual situation.

Bracket fungi (Polypores) are a morphologically distinct category of Agaricomycetes (Basidiomycota) that are important agents for decomposition and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. The species composition and ecology of these fungi in particular forest ecosystems are overlooked in Nepal. Thus, the current study is aimed at assessing the diversity and distribution of bracket fungi in oak-dominated forests in the middle mountains of central Nepal. Regular field visits over a six-year period (2017-2022) were done at nine study sites of oak-dominated forests in Karnabhumi Community Forest (KCF) and Gumalchoki Community Forest (GCF) from Makawanpur and Kathmandu districts respectively. A total of 26 species of bracket fungi belonging to 17 genera and 8 families were reported. The majority of the bracket fungi are known to be saprobic, while Coltricia cinnamomea is the only mushroom found to be mycorrhizal based on its ecology. Most of the bracket fungi were found to be inedible, while Ganoderma lucidum, Laetiporus sulphureus, and Pycnoporus cinnabarinus were found to be medicinal. The diversity indices, such as the Shannon Weiner index and the Simpson diversity index, were found to be 0.26 and 0.53 in GCF, respectively, and 0.17 and 0.35 in GCF. This suggest that Oak dominated forests harbor considerable diversity of bracket fungi such that conservation of these forests is necessary.

In the mass tourism era, the rising demand for personalized and high-quality experiences necessitates a distinct urban tourism image. This study examined tourists’ perceptions of Harbin during non-ice and snow seasons using network text analysis within the “cognitive-emotional-overall” framework and a ROST content mining tool. Our analysis of travelogues revealed that Harbin is seen as an exotic, culturally rich destination, yet tourists have limited awareness of its natural resources. While overall emotional responses from tourists were positive, facilities and services received some criticism. The views of tourists were primarily focused on popular urban sites, highlighting the need for diversification. This study contributes to the theoretical discussion on the formation of the city’s tourism image and suggests strategies that will allow Harbin to transition from a season-specific tourism model to a year-round tourism model, thereby enhancing its four-season destination brand in terms of infrastructure, industry innovation and market management.

Land use structure is an important factor affecting carbon emissions. Taking the Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River (MRYRUA) as an example, this study uses transfer matrix, the carbon emission coefficient method, spatial analyses and geo-detectors to analyze the carbon emission effects of land use changes, as well as their spatial evolutionary characteristics and driving factors, based on the data of 31 cities during 2010-2020. This analysis led to three outcomes. (1) The carbon sinks are insufficient to counterbalance the carbon sources, and net carbon emissions continued to grow from 144.88 million t in 2010 to 160.37 million t in 2020 due to the expansion of construction land. (2) The high-value areas of net carbon emissions shifted from dispersed to concentrated, while low-value areas shifted from concentrated to dispersed and decreased in number. The spatial agglomeration pattern is dominated by High-High agglomeration (H-H) and Low-Low agglomeration (L-L) areas. (3) The spatial differentiation of carbon emissions from land use (LUCEs) is primarily influenced by population density, carbon emission intensity, and technological innovation. Moreover, the interactive effects of land use, energy-efficient technologies, population status, industrial structure, and economic development significantly amplify their individual impacts.

Sports tourism plays a significant role in the revitalization of rural areas in China. This study analyzed survey responses from 406 rural residents and conducted surveys with 15 village leaders in the Dabie mountain region. The results showed that 85.71% of the rural residents believe that their family’s average income increased by about 19865.93 yuan because of the presence of sports tourism in the area. They also showed that the sports tourists engaged in 17 kinds of consumption activities within the local villages. Additionally, it seems that 86.39% of rural residents see potential benefits from sports tourism, and 85.71% of the residents’ household incomes were increased due to sports tourism. In that regard, the average household annual income increased by 4677.58 yuan, and the average annual income of the residents in the whole area increased by 449000 yuan. Despite the positive impact of sports tourism in generating income for rural residents and contributing to rural revitalization, the tourism industry faces challenges. These include a lack of sufficient market appeal, leading to a new “Matthew effect,” disparities in income distribution that conflict with the goals of rural revitalization, and a deviation from the intended developmental direction. Considering these findings, it is recommended to establish a sports tourism structure that aligns with local characteristics, incorporate sports tourism projects into the Chinese government's public service initiatives, safeguard rural incomes amidst sports tourism development, and strengthen the connection between sports tourism and rural revitalization.

Dietary modification has been suggested as a viable path to mitigate climate change. This study explored the evolution of dietary structures in China’s megacities and quantified food-related carbon emissions using the carbon footprint method. Then, we developed a multi-objective optimization model to identify low-carbon dietary options that align with cultural preferences, economic feasibility, and nutritional requirements. We found that from 1992 to 2021, the total food consumption of residents in Beijing and Shanghai experienced a period of fluctuating decline and slow rise, respectively, with their dietary structures both shifting toward animal-based diets. Additionally, the significant increase in meat consumption led to increasing food carbon emissions in Beijing and Shanghai, with per capita emissions rising by 37.2% and 25.2%, respectively. According to the multi-objective optimization model, shifting towards reduced consumption of animal products, particularly meat, would align with culturally acceptable, economically feasible, and low carbon emission goals in Beijing and Shanghai, potentially leading to reductions of 92.14 t and 212.65 t in total food carbon emissions compared with the actual in 2021, respectively. This study enhances understanding of the changing dietary patterns in urban areas and their associated carbon emissions, and emphasizes the significance of optimizing diets as a key priority for advancing global sustainable development.

Tourism-related plastic waste poses a significant threat to ecosystems worldwide, underscoring the need for effective tools for measuring its generation and informing decision-making and management. This paper introduces the concept of the tourist plastic footprint through a conceptual framework analysis and proposes a measurement methodology that uses a time-geography approach. Empirical data were collected from Fragrant Hills Park in Beijing and analyzed using statistical methods. The findings reveal that the plastic footprint of tourists at Fragrant Hills Park averages 10.04±0.32 items per capita per day. The waste consists of 27 distinct components, with the key contributors including plastic garbage bags (17.12%), plastic food packaging (12.48%), and tableware packaging (9.96%). Plastic garbage bags are predominantly discarded in hotel settings, while tableware packaging is primarily disposed of in restaurants outside the scenic area. Plastic food packaging is discarded in various locations, including the scenic area, transportation hubs, and hotels. This study enhances the tourism ecological footprint literature by providing deeper insights into the plastic consumption of tourists and offering a structured framework for quantifying plastic waste. For practical application, it offers valuable guidance for decision-makers in tourist destinations who aim to improve their plastic pollution control measures.

Existing studies of tourists’ behaviors of tourism destination focus on place attachment. Although tourists’ attachment is related to tourists’ emotional experiences at the attractions of a tourism destination (ATDs), the role that tourists’ attachment styles play in establishing their emotional experiences and behavioral intentions toward different ATD types have not been verified. This study used the Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village as a typical tourism destination to examine these effects. Based on research on attachment styles, emotional experiences, and behavioral intentions, a conceptual model of the relationships among tourists’ attachment styles, emotional experiences of, and behavioral intentions toward ATDs was constructed. The impact of tourists’ attachment styles between their emotional experiences of and behavioral intentions toward ATDs was then studied empirically. The impact pathways of tourist attachment styles on different ATD types were tested. The results indicate that tourists’ emotional experiences of ATDs had no significant or direct impacts on their behavioral intentions in terms of relationship closeness and diversive exploration. Both their emotional experiences of and their behavioral intentions toward ATDs were affected by the mediating effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance, which were full and partial, respectively. Further, the paths of the mediating effects of tourists’ attachment styles on the emotional experiences of and behavioral intentions toward different types of ATDs varied significantly. Tourists’ emotion-behavior paths when experiencing a TD were clarified, providing a theoretical basis to satisfy their real needs for experiencing ATDs.

Deeply integrated vulnerability and its evaluation framework provide a new perspective for the study of socio-ecological systems in metropolitan suburbs. A new vulnerability evaluation system of ‘exposure-sensitivity- adaptability’ based on the socio-ecological system and vulnerability theory was constructed. Meanwhile, drawing on the concept of ‘spatial trap’, the concept of ‘spatial vulnerability trap’ was tried to put forward. The spatial-temporal interaction characteristics were analyzed, the existence of spatial vulnerability trap was tested and the interaction mechanism of vulnerability dynamic evolution was revealed using spatial-temporal exploration analysis method and geographic detector for socio-ecological system vulnerability of 184 administrative villages in Qingpu District from the year 1998 to 2018. The results showed that: (1) During the study period, the socio-ecological systems vulnerability of Qingpu District increased from 0.518 to 0.621, and the vulnerability level increased from low grade to medium grade. The spatial-temporal pattern showed the dynamic characteristics of first increase and then decrease and high in the East and low in the west. (2) The relative length of the socio-ecological systems vulnerability temporal path movement in Qingpu District from 1998 to 2018 showed a trend of gradual decline from the central region to the surrounding area. The mobility curvature of the vulnerability time path was relatively small, showing the spatial pattern of low in the north and high in south, and the cohesion index of the spatial transition of vulnerability is 0.496. The spatial agglomeration structure had relatively high transfer activity and low path locking. (3) No ‘spatial vulnerability absolute trap’ was detected during the study period, yet the ‘spatial vulnerability relative trap’ highlighted in the 11 administrative villages mainly distributed around the administrative boundary in the north and south of the area. (4) Social capital factor, human capital factor, social factor, economic factor, ecological factor and financial capital factor are the main factors influencing the vulnerability change, but the influence of each factor showed fluctuation and type difference. The main interaction types of socio-ecological system vulnerability differentiation in urban suburbs are the cumulative type of internal and external coupling, the type of endogenous capacity constraint and the external environmental stress type. The results of the study are of great theoretical and practical significance to guide the suburban areas to prevent the vulnerability risk, promote regional coordination to reduce vulnerability and sustainable development.

Soil salinization is a type of soil degradation phenomenon caused by the gradual accumulation of salt in soil due to natural processes or improper irrigation practices. Understanding the spatial variations of salinization is the basis for salinized land management and resource utilization. Taking Yinbei Plain irrigation area of Ningxia as the research area, 154 sampling points were set up and soil samples were collected at depths from 0-100 cm in six layers to determine the pH value and total salt content of the soil. Then geostatistics and GIS were used to study the spatial variations of soil pH and total salt content in the irrigation area. The results show three important aspects of this system. (1) The soil in the study area is alkaline soil with pH values ranging from 8.18 to 10.22, and the pH increases with increasing soil depth. The pH values of soil at 0-10 cm are significantly higher than at depths of 10-20 cm and 20-80 cm (P<0.05). The variation coefficients of the soil pH value in each layer are less than 10%, which is characterized as weak variability. The total salt content of soil decreases with increasing soil depth, ranging from 0.24 to 14.95 g kg^-1. The total salt content of soil in the surface layer at 0-10 cm was significantly higher than in the lower soil layers (P<0.05). The coefficient of variation of total salt content showed moderate variability except at depths of 10-20 cm and 80-100 cm. Other layers have variabilities of more than 100%, indicating strong variability. (2) The semi-variance function fitting of pH and total salt showed that the soil pH value in each soil layer depth block base ratio ranged from 28.1% to 61.2%, which indicates a medium spatial correlation, and the spatial variability was mainly influenced by the joint action of human activities and natural factors. The total salt block base ratio of each soil layer ranged from 5.5% to 13.3%, which indicates strong spatial autocorrelation. The variation among soil samples is mainly caused by natural structural factors such as parent material, topography, soil and groundwater level. (3) Kriging interpolation was used to obtain the spatial distribution of soil pH values and total salt contents in the study area, and the results showed that the overall pH distribution was high on the eastern and western sides and low in the middle. The total salt distribution was patchy and uneven, and the saline soil was mainly distributed in the surface layer. As the depth increased, the total salt content declined, and the proportions of saline soil and severely salinized soil decreased. In the whole study area, mild salinized soil was the main category, the total salt content increased from south to north, and the profile characteristics of total salt content were mainly surface clustering. This study investigated the distribution and spatial heterogeneity of soil salinization in the Yinbei Irrigation Area, and provides theoretical guidance for the formulation of soil salinization control measures in this area.

Among cultural ecosystem services, aesthetic value is one of the most strongly related to humans. The scientific assessment of the aesthetic value of cultural ecosystem services plays a vital role in achieving the refined management of national park ecosystems. In the current study, Qianjiangyuan National Park in China was taken as an example, three typical types of aesthetic ecosystem services (AESs) were extracted, and an AES evaluation index system was constructed by combining the cultural attributes and landscape aesthetic value of national parks. Tourists’ value perception of AESs was analyzed based on 542 valid survey questionnaires, and the influences of various demographic characteristics were explored using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Based on this, the importance and overall level of various AESs in national parks were systematically evaluated using the entropy method and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. The results reveal the following. (1) Tourists believe that national parks have natural, cultural, and social aesthetic service value. The value perception of physical and mental health services is the highest (2.44), while that of spiritual worship services is the lowest (1.86). (2) Different demographic characteristics have significant impacts on the value perception of aesthetic services. The greater the number of visits to the national park, the higher the tourists’ value perception of primitive wilderness, spiritual worship, folk culture, and human settlement services. Moreover, tourists visiting the national park for research purposes have the highest value perception of natural ASEs. (3) There are cognitive differences in the importance of various AESs: cultural aesthetic services (0.8473) > natural aesthetic services (0.7032) > social aesthetic services (0.5780). Moreover, tourists consider spiritual worship services to be the most important (0.3695). (4) The value perception evaluation of the AESs of the national park is generally high, with a comprehensive evaluation score of 4.11, among which the value of physical and mental health services is the highest (4.44) and that of folk culture aesthetic services is the lowest (3.79). The results of this study are helpful for further improving the management level of national park ecosystems.

Awe, as a positive emotional experience, is recognized for its role in facilitating tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (TPEB). However, despite its significance, awe has received minimal attention in tourism-related research. This research introduces an expanded model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) that integrates awe into the rational-oriented TPB framework to examine its impact on TPEB. We collected data at the Mount Huangshan scenic spot in China and employed structural equation modeling for data analysis. Findings suggest that the extended TPB model, which incorporates the emotion of awe, outperforms the original TPB model in predicting TPEB. Awe experienced in nature-based destinations is mainly influenced by the perception of the natural environment (PNE) and significantly predicts TPEB. Study findings offer an integrated framework combining emotional and rational perspectives to understand the factors driving TPEB in nature-based tourism. Furthermore, the study aims to establish connections between the psychological experience of awe and the philosophical perspective of the sublime. Importantly, our findings provide compelling evidence supporting the role of nature-based tourism as an effective model to facilitate tourists’ environmental attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. Finally, the implications for practice are discussed.

Realizing comprehensive green transformation is the necessary path for high-quality and sustainable development in Qinghai Province. We constructed an indicator system for evaluating the green development in Qinghai from five dimensions: resource utilization, environmental protection, ecological protection, growth quality, and green life based on the national green development indicator system; and comprehensively used the entropy method, comprehensive index method, coupled coordination model, and obstacle degree model to evaluate the green development level of Qinghai from 1998 to 2022. The results showed four important points. (1) The green development comprehensive index of Qinghai increased gradually in the past 25 years, but there is still much room for improvement. (2) The focus of green development changed in the three evaluation stages. The focus in 1998-2004 and 2005-2011 was on improving the ecological environment, and in 2012-2022 the focus was on economic and industrial development and the improvement of residents’ living standards. (3) Since 2001, the coupling degree of the five dimensions of green development has maintained a high-level coupling stage, and the coordinated development degree entered a good coordination stage in 2021. (4) The key obstacles hindering the improvement of green development level shifted from growth quality to resource utilization and ecological protection. Therefore, improving the resource utilization level is the primary task for Qinghai to achieve high-quality green development. The study provides methodological support for green development evaluation, and suggestions for directing the formulation of green development policies in Qinghai Province.

Empowering the value realization of ecological products with a digital economy is an important path for achieving the transformation of “two mountains” and the construction of ecological civilization. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2022, a fixed-effects model was used to empirically test the impact, heterogeneity and mechanism of the effects of the digital economy on the value realization of ecological products. This analysis revealed three key findings. (1) The digital economy has a significant driving effect on improving the ability to realize the value of ecological products, and this effect is still applicable in a variety of robustness tests such as shrinking the years, replacing explanatory variables, and endogeneity tests. (2) The rise of the digital economy affects the value realization of ecological products to different degrees in different regions, especially in the eastern region, while the effect in the central region is not obvious. (3) The analysis of mechanistic variables indicated that the digital economy has an impact on the value realization of ecological products through the development of green finance and government revenue. Therefore, the government should design differentiated and multi-level support policies for the realization of ecological product value according to the heterogeneity of natural resources, ecological potential and the levels of digital economy development in different regions, and it should strengthen the control of non-environmental protection behaviors of the enterprises. Enterprises should accelerate the digital transformation of the entire production, distribution, circulation and consumption chain of ecological products, and actively develop financial products and services that meet the characteristics and needs of ecological products.

The Turpan region serves as a vital transportation hub along the Silk Road, facilitating economic and cultural exchanges between the East and West. Its distinct natural environment, rich historical culture, diverse customs, and delectable fruits have contributed to the development of abundant tourism resources. Statistics show that Turpan boasts 272 tourism resource units and 36 A-level scenic spots, offering significant potential and opportunities for the growth of its tourism industry. This study conducts a SWOT analysis of regional tourism in Turpan and provides an objective evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. The appeal of visiting Turpan lies in its rich historical and cultural heritage, as well as its location in the Huozhou Turpan, known for the country’s highest temperatures and lowest altitude. Additionally, the myths and legends of Journey to the West add to its allure. The region is renowned for its diverse grape varieties and is referred to as the “vineyard of the world,” offering a distinctive tourism experience. However, there are also evident drawbacks to tourism in Turpan. The peak tourist season is limited to July-October, which restricts the development of year-round tourism. Additionally, the distance between scenic attractions is relatively long, and the supporting tourism infrastructure is limited, failing to meet the varied needs of tourists. Additionally, the competitiveness of the tourism industry has not been effectively enhanced by the low brand awareness and loyalty among consumers. In order to ensure sustainable tourism development in the Turpan area, various strategies and approaches must be employed to ensure the unique and diverse growth of regional tourism. This includes creating suitable marketing plans, building a fully functional three-dimensional service management scheme, and enhancing policy support and financial investments. The tourism industry in Turpan is poised to benefit from new opportunities, leading to sustained development and enhancement of its economic, cultural, and social values.

High-quality development is essential for China’s modernization. The in-depth implementation of the new development philosophy has become crucial for promoting China’s development in the context of “domestic and international” double-cycle development. This study constructs an evaluation index based on the new development philosophy, measures the level of China’s high-quality development majorly from 2005 to 2020, dynamically examines the spatial and temporal pattern of China’s high-quality development on a multi-level spatial scale, and explores its influence mechanism with the help of the obstacle degree model. The results show that: (1) China’s high-quality development level has increased as a whole, with the high-quality development index rising from 0.056 in 2005 to 0.092 in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 3.36% and an overall development pattern of “high level in the east and fast growth rate in the west”. (2) Spatial correlation, China’s high-quality development shows a significant positive correlation, with cities with higher levels of high-quality development concentrated in the eastern coastal region, the Pearl River Delta region, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and those with lower levels of high-quality development clustered in the western region. (3) In terms of dynamic evolution, China’s high-quality development level shows a small rightward shift, the polarization of high-quality development level is weakening, and the rightward trailing situation has been alleviated. (4) Obstacles to identifying the factors affecting China’s high-quality development include the amount of imports, exports, and the number of foreign direct investment contract projects. From the criterion level, openness and innovation are the biggest obstacles to high-quality development, and the obstacle degree of each criterion level shows significant spatial differentiation characteristics in the research period. The results can provide a scientific basis for China’s path to upgrading and building a modern socialist country.

The construction of an agricultural powerhouse in China is confronted with the practical dilemma of relying mainly on small-scale farming and weak agricultural competitiveness, so an exploration of feasible paths for building an agricultural powerhouse is urgently needed. This study constructed indicator systems that reflect the level of agricultural development from three dimensions: resource endowment, output status, and urban-rural relations. On this basis, the gap between China and the world’s representative agricultural powers was analyzed, and the evolutionary characteristics of agricultural policies in the European Union, Japan, and the United States were explored, leading to relevant policy implications. This analysis found that the superficial problems of China's agricultural development lie in the relative scarcity of good resource conditions and insufficient modernization, while the underlying crux lies in the lack of obvious industrial competitive advantages, which is especially reflected in the lack of coordinated development between industry, agriculture, and urban-rural areas. The European Union, Japan, and the United States all focus on improving the international competitiveness of agriculture based on their comparative advantages, attach importance to the comprehensive development of rural areas, and have effectively constructed coordinated industry-agriculture and urban-rural relations, all of which have promoted the comprehensive development of agriculture. China’s construction of an agricultural powerhouse should be based on its national conditions and the general laws governing the building a world-class agricultural powerhouse. The strategy should include focusing on building a diversified food supply system to ensure food security; focusing on the modernization of agricultural science and technology, which will promote the process of agricultural modernization; promoting the development of the entire agricultural industry chain, which will enhance the competitiveness and risk resistance of the agricultural industry; accelerating public policy reform and continuing to promote urban-rural integration.

Based on the attention restoration theory, this study focuses on rural tourists and utilizes questionnaire surveys to collect data. The research constructs a structural equation model to investigate the influence mechanisms among restorative environment perception, restorative experience, positive emotions, and experience quality. The study reveals that: (1) Restorative environment perception has a significant positive impact on the restorative experience and positive emotions of rural tourists. It serves as an important driving factor for improving the experience quality of rural tourists. (2) Restorative experience plays a significant mediating role between restorative environment perception and positive emotions. Restorative environment perception promotes the development of overall experience quality through the mediation of restorative experience and positive emotions. (3) Both the restorative experience and positive emotions independently mediate the relationship between restorative environment perception and experience quality, and they also play a chain-mediated role. Therefore, rural tourism destination managers should prioritize the restorative function of natural environments, improve the supply of high-quality products and services to enhance tourist restorative experience and positive emotions, and ultimately aim to continuously enhance the quality of tourist experience. This study has theoretical and practical implications for improving the tourism experience of rural tourists, optimizing the supply for rural tourism products, and promoting the high-quality development of rural tourism destinations.

This study introduces a novel framework to dissect and understand tourists' cultural perceptions within river basins. The framework consists of two complementary parts: first, it develops a multi-dimensional system to identify cultural perceptions through textual analysis; second, it uses advanced methods like deep learning and spatial clustering to analyze and compare these perceptions across different cities and regions. The findings from the Yellow River Basin reveal six key dimensions of cultural perception: historical, architectural, folklore, food, religious, and leisure. The basin exhibits three distinct cultural patterns: an upstream polycentric network, a central ‘cultural circle’ around Xi’an, and a city-to-city pattern downstream. Furthermore, the basin is categorized into ten unique cultural perception regions, each highlighting diverse tourist perceptions. This framework not only offers a methodological beacon for future regional tourism studies but also equips managers with strategic insights to enhance the quality and cooperation in river basin tourism development.

Street greening is a popular topic in urban design research. Traditionally, assessments for urban greening levels using Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from satellite remote sensing images, often overlooking street greening from a human-scale perspective. This study combined spatial syntax, machine learning techniques, streetscape images, and remote sensing data to comprehensively assess thoroughly analyse street greening levels in Chengdu’s Fourth Ring Road. Additionally, by integrating accessibility analysis with Green View Index (GVI), this study identified areas that should be prioritised for street greening interventions. The results indicate that: (1) Streets in the western and southern regions of Chengdu City’s Fourth Ring Road possessed higher GVI. (2) There is a significant difference in the overall distributions of GVI and NDVI, particularly in the central and eastern regions. (3) Streets with “high commuting and walking accessibility (low GVI) overlapped in the area east of Shuncheng Avenue. The methodology presented in this study can serve as a reference for human-scale street greening in Chengdu and other cities.

Stray dog invasion caused by human activities poses a significant challenge to wildlife communities worldwide. Conservation biology efforts must prioritize controlling stray dog populations to maintain equilibrium within local wildlife communities. In the Helan Mountains, ungulate population recovery and the absence of top predators present critical issues. The presence of a stray dog as a predator may complicate ecological restoration efforts in the region. Through molecular and camera trapping data analyses, we investigated the overlap of ecological niches between stray dogs and local carnivores across nutritional and spatiotemporal dimensions. The results revealed a high overlap between stray dogs and local carnivores across various niches, likely linked to food abundance, suggesting the possibility of increased future competition between them. Stray dogs cannot be ignored when conservation of wild carnivores involved.

Canopy openings have a vital role in forest structure, regeneration, and plant composition. In this study, we investigated and compared the species composition and densities of seedlings and saplings between canopy gaps (openings) and forest understories (in dense canopies) in a sub-tropical forest of Bangladesh. We objectively identified 42 canopy openings between transect lines and 42 main plots in dense canopies, sampled for regeneration and young tree patterns. For the regeneration study, we placed 2 m×2 m four subplots in each canopy opening and the main plot of dense canopy, thus making a total of 336 subplots. The species diversity of seedlings, saplings, and trees were significantly (P≤0.05) higher in the dense canopy than in the canopy opening. Although, most dominant and frequent regenerating species such as Diospyros pilosula, Garcinia cowa, Brownlowia elata, and Lithocarpus polystachya were common in both dense canopy and openings, the canopy openings had the highest Importance Value Index, suggesting the significance of gap dynamics in the dominance of native floral species. The dense canopy played an important role in forest compositions because 12 regenerating species, including Stereospermum suaveolens and Diospyros montana, were not found in the canopy openings, implying that rain forests must maintain a high canopy cover for regeneration.

As a large province with forest resources, assessing the value of forest ecosystem services in Yunnan is of great significance to maintain the sustainable development of Yunnan’s economy. Based on the latest survey data of Yunnan Province, i.e., the forest resources type II survey data, and in accordance with the Specification for Forest Ecosystem Service Function Assessment (GB/T 38582-2020), the value of forest ecosystem service function of 16 cities (prefectures) in Yunnan was assessed, and the ridge regression method was used to study the main factors affecting the value differences among cities (prefectures). The results show that: (1) The value of forest ecosystem services in Yunnan is 982.926×10⁹ yuan yr^-1, of which the value of carbon fixation and oxygen release is the largest. (2) The top four cities (prefectures) in terms of value of services are Pu’er City > Chuxiong Prefecture > Diqing Prefecture > Dali Prefecture; the bottom four cities (prefectures) are Kunming City > Yuxi City > Dehong Prefecture > Zhaotong City; (3) The main factors affecting the value of the service function of each city (prefecture) are forested land area, forest cover, GDP and population density. The findings of this study provided a reference for the sustainable development of the ecological environment in the prefectures and cities of Yunnan Province.

Urbanization has resulted in growing ecological pressures on cities, necessitating assessments of urban ecological quality. Long-term characterization of regional dynamics and drivers is critical for environmental management. This study proposes an enhanced ecological quality model (MRSEI) incorporating vegetation cover and EVI rather than just NDVI. The MRSEI model was applied to analyse ecological quality in Yulin City during 2000-2018 using Landsat TM/OLI data on Google Earth Engine. Geographic detectors also quantified anthropogenic and environmental influences on the study area. The results are summarized as follows: (1) MRSEI showed an average correlation coefficient of 0.840 with other indices, demonstrating higher representativeness than individual components. The principal component analysis indicated a 12.88% increase in explained variance. MRSEI also exhibited significantly improved identification of roads, villages, and unused lands over RSEI, better matching ground conditions, and suitability for regional ecological assessment. (2) During 2000-2020, the average MRSEI in Yulin City was 0.481, peaking at 0.518 in 2018, indicating general ecological improvement over time. Spatially, conditions were better in the southeast than northwest. While 38.81% of the area showed significant improvement, 10.15% exhibited significant deterioration, concentrated in western Dingbian and Jingbian counties, highlighting areas requiring enhanced protection. (3) Ecological conditions in Yulin City remained stable over time. High-high clusters were concentrated in eastern counties (Qingjian, Wubao, Jia, Fugu) and central lower-altitude areas near Yokoyama and Zizhou. Low-low clusters predominated in the northern Yuyang desert and high-altitude western Dingbian regions. (4) Enhanced vegetation cover had the greatest influence in improving Yulin’s ecological quality. Rainfall was the most impactful environmental driver, while precipitation and land use change interactions showed the strongest combined effects. In contrast, air quality had minimal explanatory power in Yulin City. (5) The MRSEI model significantly impacts the ecological assessment of urban areas, thereby enhancing urban ecological monitoring accuracy. Moreover, our analysis demonstrates applicability to watershed regions, facilitating comprehensive regional ecological assessment and monitoring.

Urban park green space effects a critical role in addressing adverse climate and uncertain disaster events. Thus, it is exceedingly significant for evaluating and analyzing the disaster prevention and resilience ability of urban parks and for enhancing their disaster prevention function. Using ArcGIS software, the study analyzed the kernel density pertaining to the spatial distribution of park green space in Haigang District, Qinhuangdao City. The results indicated that there is a spatial mismatch between park green space resources and population distribution in Haigang District. If Tanghe Park is considered as the research object, the Fuzzy Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process are utilized to construct an evaluation index system, and 13 indexes from three dimensions, namely safety, accessibility, and infrastructure were evaluated to analyze the problems pertaining to the disaster-prevention resilience design of the park. Subsequently, the following corresponding strategies are proposed: optimizing the human-oriented spatial layout and building a nested disaster prevention network system; strengthening the park’s multi-disaster comprehensive defense capability and stabilizing the ecological security function; increasing the safe and effective escape area and enhancing the park’s functional space layout; and replenishing emergency infrastructure resources and establishing dynamic emergency management plans.

Identifying ecologically vulnerable areas is critical for constructing ecological barriers and precisely controlling ecological risks. With the rapid development of big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, many intelligent methods have been developed to support the identification of vulnerable ecological areas. This paper reviews the methodological advancements in identifying ecologically vulnerable areas, including geographic zoning, expert integration, mathematical statistics, geographic information visualization, artificial neural networks, and unsupervised deep learning clustering methods. Additionally, we assessed several classic software tools used in ecology and natural resource management. Based on the review, several urgent research challenges for ecological function zoning research are proposed, such as the application of ecological vulnerability assessment intelligent algorithms, big data collaborative analysis, and the development of automated identification software. Considering the requirements in the Mongolian Plateau, this study proposes future development prospects of methods for identifying ecologically vulnerable area zoning, combined with the new AI research paradigm. They include enhancing the comprehensive analysis of multimodal data, increasing ecological barrier big data collaborative processing, advancing the interpretability of ecological function partitioning algorithms, developing automatic zoning software tools, and pushing the collaborative analysis of geographic big data and citizen science data.

Humanity’s struggle with floods has revolved around living near water bodies and attempting to prevent and control inundations. With the expected increase of floods in the future due to global climate change and acknowledging the rising uncertainty of weather phenomena, humans should learn to cope with natural floods. Gilbert F. White’s flood adjustment approach, which is used in floodplain management, can harmonize the relationship between humans and floods by regulating people’s development behavior in floodplains and adjusting the management of land use and the flood resistance standard of buildings in such areas so as to alleviate flood disasters and promote the coordinated development of the economy, society, and environment in these areas. The US, EU, France, and the Netherlands have formulated relevant policies and implemented practices under the guidance of White’s principles. In recent years, flood resilience theory and resilience planning have become the focus of flood management. However, flood adjustment still has some limitations, such as lack of independence, lack of comprehensiveness and systematization, limited application scenarios, unresolved contradiction with human survival and development needs, and an insufficient spatial scale, necessitating further research and verification. Cities in the floodplains of China should learn to harmoniously coexist with floods and thus achieve ecological environmental protection and sustainable development through flood adaptation planning of urban-rural integration.

This paper investigates ecological asset accounting methods tailored for agricultural cultural heritage sites, specifically through the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er. These heritage sites globally act as reservoirs of extensive cultural history and ecological richness, yet they face increasing risks and challenges from urban expansion and modernization. (1) The research develops a comprehensive methodological framework that merges ecological, economic, and cultural valuation techniques. This framework identifies and evaluates crucial ecological assets such as land, water, vegetation, fauna, and microorganisms, categorizing their value into direct values (e.g., agriculture), indirect values (e.g., flood control), and non-use values (e.g., biodiversity and cultural heritage). (2) It emphasizes the necessity of integrating cultural heritage preservation with ecological stewardship. This dual approach supports the sustainability of both cultural and natural resources, underpinning broader conservation goals and necessitating innovative management strategies for heritage conservation. (3) The study advocates for sustainable management practices that maintain the ecological and cultural integrity of these vital sites. Through detailed ecosystem analysis, the paper proposes balanced policies that cater to both ecological preservation and the socio-economic needs of local communities, promoting a replicable model for similar heritage sites worldwide. Overall, this model exemplifies how to effectively utilize ecological and cultural assets for sustainable development, ensuring the coexistence of natural and cultural values in a harmonious environment.

To explore the universal influencing factors and promote the development of conservation tillage technology in China, this study conducted a meta-analysis of 40 relevant studies and 42 effect sizes with a total sample size of 27071 to investigate the factors influencing farmers’ conservation tillage technology adoption behavior, changes in the intensity of the influencing factors over time, the existence of heterogeneity in the influencing factors and the sources of that heterogeneity. This analysis yielded three main results. (1) The variables of gender, education, arable land area, cooperative membership, propaganda, training, economic benefit perception, eco-efficiency perception, and risk preference all have significantly positive effects on farmers’ conservation tillage technology adoption behavior. (2) Most of the influencing factors are heterogeneous, but the sources of heterogeneity of the variables are not reflected in the information given in the studies. (3) Over time, the influence of gender (male) on farmers’ technology adoption behavior has emerged as a negative influence, and the degrees of influence of economic benefit perception, eco-efficiency perception, and risk preference on farmers’ technology adoption behavior are weakening. In the future, more attention should be paid to the influence of women on the adoption of conservation tillage technologies, and other important factors should also be incorporated to promote the adoption of conservation tillage technologies by multi-stakeholder coalitions.

The coordinated development of ecological security (ES) and high-quality economic development (HQED) is of great significance to the integrated sustainable development of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomeration. In this study, the entropy weight-TOPSIS model and the improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model were used to analyze the coupling coordination mechanism of ES and HQED. The results indicate that the level of ES in the YRD showed a fluctuating upward trend from 0.475 in 2000 to 0.481 in 2020, while HQED continued to rise from 0.097 in 2000 to 0.232 in 2020, and the coordinated development index of ES and HQED increased from 0.293 in 2000 to 0.795 in 2020, highlighting an obvious trend of balanced development. Notably, the eastern coastal cities exhibited superior HQED and ES levels, with a better CCD, compared to the inland cities. The multi-scale geographically weighted regression model (MGWR) analysis shows that industrial structure, production efficiency and urbanization rate were key factors in the imbalanced development of the YRD. Finally, policy suggestions are proposed from the aspects of strengthening technological and industrial innovation and comprehensively promoting new urbanization.