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Understanding the spatial patterns in species richness gets new implication for biodiversity conservation in the context of climate change and intensified human intervention. Here, we created a database of the geographical distribution of 30,519 vascular plant species and 565 mammal species from 2,376 counties across China and disentangled the determinants that explain species richness patterns both at national and regional scales using spatial linear models. We found that the determinants of species richness patterns varied among regions: elevational range was the most powerful predictor for the species richness of plants and mammals across China. However, species richness patterns in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Region (QTR) are quite unique, where net primary productivity was the most important predictor. We also detected that elevational range was positively related to plant species richness when it is less than 1,900 m, whereas the relationship was not significant when elevational range is larger than 1,900 m. It indicated that elevational range often emerges as the predominant controlling factor within the regions where energy is sufficient. The effects of land use on mammal species richness should attract special attention. Our study suggests that region-specific conservation policies should be developed based on the regional features of species richness.

Understanding the spatial patterns in species richness is a central issue in macroecology and biogeography. Analyses that have traditionally focused on overall species richness limit the generality and depth of inference. Spatial patterns of species richness and the mechanisms that underpin them in China remain poorly documented. We created a database of the distribution of 580 mammal species and 849 resident bird species from 2376 counties in China and established spatial linear models to identify the determinants of species richness and test the roles of five hypotheses for overall mammals and resident birds and the 11 habitat groups among the two taxa. Our result showed that elevation variability was the most important determinant of species richness of overall mammal and bird species. It is indicated that the most prominent predictors of species richness varied among different habitat groups: elevation variability for forest and shrub mammals and birds, temperature annual range for grassland and desert mammals and wetland birds, net primary productivity for farmland mammals, maximum temperature of the warmest month for cave mammals, and precipitation of the driest quarter for grassland and desert birds. Noteworthily, main land cover type was also found to obviously influence mammal and bird species richness in forests, shrubs and wetlands under the disturbance of intensified human activities. Our findings revealed a substantial divergence in the species richness patterns among different habitat groups and highlighted the group-specific and disparate environmental associations that underpin them. As we demonstrate, a focus on overall species richness alone might lead to incomplete or misguided understanding of spatial patterns. Conservation priorities that consider a broad spectrum of habitat groups will be more successful in safeguarding the multiple services of biodiversity.

National and local governments need to step up efforts to effectively implement the post‐2020 global biodiversity framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity to halt and reverse worsening biodiversity trends. Drawing on recent advances in interdisciplinary biodiversity science, we propose a framework for improved implementation by national and subnational governments. First, the identification of actions and the promotion of ownership across stakeholders need to recognize the multiple values of biodiversity and account for remote responsibility. Second, cross‐sectorial implementation and mainstreaming should adopt scalable and multifunctional ecosystem restoration approaches and target positive futures for nature and people. Third, assessment of progress and adaptive management can be informed by novel biodiversity monitoring and modeling approaches handling the multidimensionality of biodiversity change.

Using land use types in multiple spatial scales (entire basin, buffer zones, and slopes) as well as statistical and spatial analysis, relationships between land use types and concentrations of dissolved trace metals were determined in the Le'an River Basin, China. The result showed that farmland and urban land were determined as the source of the pollutants, while forestland and grassland were identified as the sink of the pollutants. The temporal differences of relationships between land use types and concentrations of dissolved trace metals mainly due to the discrepancy of rainfall characteristics. Land use type close to river was a better indicator for the effectiveness of concentrations of trace metals, especially at scale of 0-200 m. Forestland and grassland on lower slopes greatly affected the water quality, and the former had no significant or weak influences on higher slopes. Urban land had the greater positive correlations with concentrations of dissolved trace metals on higher slopes, which are mainly due to frequent mining activity. Further analysis suggested that the buffer zones with low slope needed to be seriously taken into consideration for effective land use management in similar basin.

The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis (Statius Müller, 1776)) is a rare and endangered species that lives in wetlands. In this study, we used variance partitioning and hierarchical partitioning methods to explore the red-crowned crane–habitat relationship at multiple scales in the Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve (YRDNR). In addition, we used habitat modeling to identify the cranes’ habitat distribution pattern and protection gaps in the YRDNR. The variance partitioning results showed that habitat variables accounted for a substantially larger total and pure variation in crane occupancy than the variation accounted for by spatial variables at the first level. Landscape factors had the largest total (45.13%) and independent effects (17.42%) at the second level. The hierarchical partitioning results showed that the percentage of seepweed tidal flats were the main limiting factor at the landscape scale. Vegetation coverage contributed the greatest independent explanatory power at the plot scale, and patch area was the predominant factor at the patch scale. Our habitat modeling results showed that crane suitable habitat covered more than 26% of the reserve area and that there remained a large protection gap with an area of 20,455 ha, which accounted for 69.51% of the total suitable habitat of cranes. Our study indicates that landscape and plot factors make a relatively large contribution to crane occupancy and that the focus of conservation effects should be directed toward landscape- and plot-level factors by enhancing the protection of seepweed tidal flats, tamarisk-seepweed tidal flats, reed marshes and other natural wetlands. We propose that efforts should be made to strengthen wetland restoration, adjust functional zoning maps, and improve the management of human disturbance in the YRDNR.

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Protected areas are considered as an essential strategy to halt the decline of biodiversity. Ecological representation in protected areas is crucial for assessment on the progress toward conservation targets. Although China has established a large number of protected areas since the 1950s, ecological representation of protected areas is poorly understood. Here, we performed the complementarity analysis to evaluate ecological representation of protected areas in China. We used a database of the geographical distribution for 10,396 woody plant species, 2,305 fern species, 406 amphibian species, 460 reptile species, 1,364 bird species, and 590 mammal species from 2,376 counties across China. We identified complementary sets of counties for all species or threatened species of plant and vertebrate species using a complementarity algorithm. We evaluated ecological representation of 3,627 protected areas and discerned conservation gaps by comparing the distribution of protected areas with complementary sets. The results show that the spatially representative and complementary sites for biodiversity are poorly covered, and a fairly large proportion of protected areas is not designed to efficiently represent biodiversity at the national scale. Our methodology can serve as a generic framework for assessment on ecological representation of protected areas at the national scale.