Mature forests have been almost completely destroyed in China’s northern regions, but this has been followed by large-scale reforestation in the wake of environmental degradation. Although future forest plantations are expected to expand over millions of hectares, knowledge about the ecology and biodiversity of China’s replanted forests remains very limited. Addressing these knowledge gaps, we recorded ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in five secondary forest types: plantations of Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) and Prince Rupprecht’s Larch (Larix principis-rupprechtii), Oak (Quercus wutaishanica) and Asian White Birch (Betula platyphylla) woodlands, and naturally regenerated mixed forest. Species richness peaked in mixed forests, while pine and oak woodlands harboured discrete communities of intermediate species richness. Oak, pine and mixed forest habitats also showed high levels of species turnover between plots. Canopy closure was an important factor influencing ground beetle assemblages and diversity, and a number of forest specialist species only occurred in pine or oak forests. We believe that some forest specialists have survived earlier deforestation and appear to be supported by new plantation forests, but maintenance of secondary native oak and mixed forests is crucial to safeguard the overall species pool

As a perennial plant with long productive span of 30–50 years, grapevine may experience cross-lifespan climate change, which can modify wine quality and challenge viticultural sustainability. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the viticultural suitability by considering both current and future climate conditions. To this end, a maximum entropy model was proposed to delimitate potentially suitable areas for viticulture based on multi-source data in a novel wine region, Ningxia, China, considering both current and future climate conditions. Firstly, we combined traditional data of climate, soil, and topography with remote sensing data to screen predictors that best characterize current geographical distribution of vineyards. Then, we used those predictors to assess current suitability (2001–2020) in Ningxia. The results indicated altitude, aridity index during April–September (K0409), precipitation during July–September (P0709), normalized difference vegetation index during July–September (NDVI0709), soil organic carbon (SOC), and precipitation in September (P09) were key predictors to assess potential suitability for viticulture, and their threshold values ranged from 1075 m to 1648 m, 2.93 to 4.83, 103.1 mm to 164.1 mm, 0.1 to 0.89, 0.07 g/kg to 11 g/kg and 28.4 mm to 45.0 mm, respectively. Suitability maps revealed a total suitable area of 12029 km2, among which the highly and moderately suitable areas accounted for 6.1% and 23.1%, respectively. Finally, the alteration in proportion of potential suitable areas due to changing climate was estimated. The potential suitable areas varied from 8742 km2 to 10623 km2 over the next 40 years (2022–2060) and decreased to 8826–9184 km2 under a short-term sustainability (suitable only during current–2040). To further consider long-term and sustainable development of the wine industry (current–2060), total suitable areas dropped by 26.7–29.2% under different climate scenarios compared with current suitable areas (2001–2020). The conclusions provide indispensable guidance for vineyard zoning considering long-term climate change.