Integrating biodiversity conservation and local community perspectives in China through human dimensions research

Ma, Heidi; Zhang, Di; Xiao, Lingyun; Wang, Yifu; Zhang, Lu; Thompson, Cynthia D.; Chen, Jingyu; Dowell, Simon D.; Axmacher, Jan C.; Lü, Zhi; Turvey, Samuel T.

doi:10.1002/pan3.10408

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 111 publications

(156 reference statements)

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“…There are many reasons that lead to increased ecological risks in ecologically fragile areas (Larsen et al, 2011; Ma et al, 2022). For the Tibetan Plateau, overgrazing by local herdsmen on the one hand and nature‐based tourism activities carried out by the floating populations on the other hand are becoming the dominant factor increasing the ecological risks on the plateau.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many reasons that lead to increased ecological risks in ecologically fragile areas (Larsen et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2022). ecology is further extended to the interaction relationship between tourism, the ecological and social system, the path to achieve local sustainable development becomes more complex (Figure 6b).…”

Section: The Ecological and Economic Effects Of Nature-based Tourism ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stress of spatial orientation of floating populations into Tibet on fragile ecosystem—Using geo‐tagged big data

Fan,

Liu,

Sun

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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Increased global floating populations is an important driver of local social‐ecological systems change, especially in ecologically fragile areas. However, the limitations of accurate data and specific methods have prevented the exploration of spatial visitation of floating populations and its risk of negative effects on fragile ecosystems. Here, we contribute to filling the knowledge gap in Tibet by adopting large‐scale geolocation data and incorporating factors such as landscape aesthetic value, ecological vulnerability and traffic accessibility. We found that 89.97% of the digital footprints of floating populations in Tibet have entered nature areas with low density of resident population, and 40.57% of them have entered ecologically fragile areas, leading to increased ecological risks. Nature‐based tourism is the main motive for floating populations to enter the ecologically fragile areas, accounting for 65.56%. The central government inadvertently exacerbated ecological risks by leading road construction, resulting in 64.62% of the ecological risks being located in areas with high traffic accessibility. The floating populations entering Tibet have the dual effects of promoting economic development and causing ecological risks. Therefore, it is urgent to put forward strategies to promote the sustainable development in Tibet based on the complex system of “nature‐based tourism–ecological protection–economic income–government behavior”. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Ecological and Economic Effects Of Nature-based Tourism ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress of spatial orientation of floating populations into Tibet on fragile ecosystem—Using geo‐tagged big data

Fan,

Liu,

Sun

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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“…We also found that primate habitat suitability decreases with increasing GDP (>0; Figure S3), indicating that areas of increased human development and infrastructure are not compatible with primate persistence (Estrada et al., 2022). It is worth noting that most areas of remaining highly suitable habitats for primates are located in economically underdeveloped areas of China (Figure 1c), with 80% of China's impoverished counties located in remote areas, whose natural ecosystem functions quickly degenerate in that of anthropogenic stresses (i.e., ecologically fragile areas) are considered ecologically fragile (Deng et al., 2016; Ma et al., 2022). Our results indicated that the majority of primate species are distributed in impoverished counties, especially in the southwest mountainous of China (Figure 1c).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human activity and climate change accelerate the extinction risk to non‐human primates in China

Li,

Teng,

Zhang

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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Human activity and climate change affect biodiversity and cause species range shifts, contractions, and expansions. Globally, human activities and climate change have emerged as persistent threats to biodiversity, leading to approximately 68% of the ~522 primate species being threatened with extinction. Here, we used habitat suitability models and integrated data on human population density, gross domestic product (GDP), road construction, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the location of protected areas (PAs), and climate change to predict potential changes in the distributional range and richness of 26 China's primate species. Our results indicate that both PAs and NDVI have a positive impact on primate distributions. With increasing anthropogenic pressure, species' ranges were restricted to areas of high vegetation cover and in PAs surrounded by buffer zones of 2.7–4.5 km and a core area of PAs at least 0.1–0.5 km from the closest edge of the PA. Areas with a GDP below the Chinese national average of 100,000 yuan were found to be ecologically vulnerable, and this had a negative impact on primate distributions. Changes in temperature and precipitation were also significant contributors to a reduction in the range of primate species. Under the expected influence of climate change over the next 30–50 years, we found that highly suitable habitat for primates will continue to decrease and species will be restricted to smaller and more peripheral parts of their current range. Areas of high primate diversity are expected to lose from 3 to 7 species. We recommend that immediate action be taken, including expanding China's National Park Program, the Ecological Conservation Redline Program, and the Natural Forest Protection Program, along with a stronger national policy promoting alternative/sustainable livelihoods for people in the local communities adjacent to primate ranges, to offset the detrimental effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change on primate survivorship.

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“…However, gaps remain in developing robust ways to monitor the extent of trade, especially of lesser-known species ('t Sas-Rolfes et al, 2019). This is a particular concern in regions that have limited capacity in the interdisciplinary research needed to generate evidence on wildlife trade at the local community level (Wang et al, 2021b;Ma et al, 2022). Both legal and illegal wildlife trade is difficult to quantify and is limited by the ability of researchers to gather data systematically, and some conventional market and consumer survey approaches are inadequate because of the clandestine nature of trade activities and networks (Wong, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, gaps remain in developing robust ways to monitor the extent of trade, especially of lesser‐known species (‘t Sas‐Rolfes et al., 2019). This is a particular concern in regions that have limited capacity in the interdisciplinary research needed to generate evidence on wildlife trade at the local community level (Wang et al ., 2021b; Ma et al., 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological knowledge and value of traded species: Local awareness of native turtles in Hainan, China

Papworth

et al. 2023

Animal Conservation

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Wildlife trade is driving species extinctions globally, and the Asian Turtle Crisis is posing a threat in China as turtle species are collected from the wild and sold at high prices. Local ecological knowledge is increasingly used to determine the status of threatened taxa, but there is little understanding of wider relationships between indices of ecological knowledge and other conservation‐relevant factors such as market values of traded species. To assess whether local people's awareness of potentially traded turtles might indicate direct interaction with trade in these species, we conducted 185 interviews in rural villages around Bawangling National Nature Reserve, Hainan, China. Interviewees were asked to free‐list native turtles to determine species salience and then were shown photographs of the species to assess recognition and knowledge. We investigated relationships between species' salience, whether species were recognized, named and/or perceived to be traded by more people, and independently obtained market prices. Indices of species awareness varied among interviewees, but all species were reported to be traded by at least some people. There was no correlation between indices of awareness and market value, indicating that more valuable species were no more likely to be well known. However, the perception that turtles are traded irrespective of species is a concern for conservation because all species are then vulnerable to exploitation. Our results highlight that local communities should not be assumed to have accurate knowledge of traded species, with implications for the management of wildlife trade and conservation at the community level.

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Integrating biodiversity conservation and local community perspectives in China through human dimensions research

Cited by 13 publications

References 111 publications

Stress of spatial orientation of floating populations into Tibet on fragile ecosystem—Using geo‐tagged big data

Stress of spatial orientation of floating populations into Tibet on fragile ecosystem—Using geo‐tagged big data

Human activity and climate change accelerate the extinction risk to non‐human primates in China

Ecological knowledge and value of traded species: Local awareness of native turtles in Hainan, China

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