Global Ecology and Conservation最新文献

{"title":"No country for small cats: Systematic analysis of media-reported incidents unravel a troubled scenario for the fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus in Bangladesh","authors":"Muntasir Akash ,&nbsp;Tania Zakir ,&nbsp;Tahsina Saniat ,&nbsp;Arjun Dheer ,&nbsp;Arjun Srivathsa","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03505","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03505","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Several recent commentaries by conservationists underscore the inadequacy of scholarly investigations on the ecology and conservation of non-apex carnivores. This bias spells multi-arrayed challenges for carnivores living in anthropized landscapes. The globally Vulnerable fishing cats (<em>Prionailurus viverrinus</em>) living across human-dominated South Asian wetlands exemplify this problem. Bangladesh, a densely populated, tenuous place for human-wildlife coexistence, constitutes ∼ 30 % of the fishing cat’s known distribution range. Based on systematic surveys of media reports (n = 361; 2005–2021), we implemented a novel application of predictive modeling to map fishing cat presence, and hotspots of human–fishing cat negative interactions across Bangladesh. The distribution of fishing cats was best explained by the extent of wetlands and dry-season precipitation. Negative interactions were associated with patchy mosaics of wetlands, croplands, and road networks. Around 47 % of the reported negative interactions were triggered by mere sightings of the cat and 26 % involved transactional costs. Chase-and-capture of the ‘problem’ animal ensued in &gt; 50 % of reported cases; 26 % mentioned the use of traps or other gears. From 31 % of reports, we recorded 160 fishing cat mortality incidents, but no human fatalities. Our results show that around one-third of Bangladesh likely has breeding fishing cat populations; &gt; 95 % of these regions are outside Protected Areas. We recommend formulating an action plan to strategize a redressal policy, enhance public perception of coexistence, and increase conservation units. We suggest applying this case study to other fishing cat range countries, or other carnivores in the Global South, where data deficiency and lack of systematic large-scale assessments often hinder conservation interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03505"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143621161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Considering plant-ungulate interaction contribute to maximizing conservation efficiency under climate change","authors":"Yingying Zhuo ,&nbsp;Muyang Wang ,&nbsp;Sabina Koirala ,&nbsp;Alice C. Hughes ,&nbsp;Wenxuan Xu ,&nbsp;Abdulnazarov Abdulnazar ,&nbsp;Ali Madad Rajabi ,&nbsp;Askar Davletbakov ,&nbsp;Jibran Haider ,&nbsp;Muhammad Zafar Khan ,&nbsp;Nabiev Loik ,&nbsp;Sorosh Poya Faryabi ,&nbsp;Stefan Michel ,&nbsp;Stephane Ostrowski ,&nbsp;Wenjun Li ,&nbsp;Ye Tao ,&nbsp;Zalmai Moheb ,&nbsp;Kathreen E. Ruckstuhl ,&nbsp;António Alves da Silva ,&nbsp;Joana Alves ,&nbsp;Weikang Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03536","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03536","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change poses a major threat to biodiversity, thus understanding how these impacts manifest, and how they might be mitigated is a major priority for conservation biologists. Yet understanding the impacts is complex, due to the nuanced impacts on species directly, as well as resources they depend on. In this study, we examined how biotic interactions, specifically plant availability, effects the distribution patterns of an ungulate, i.e., Marco Polo sheep (<em>Ovis ammon polii</em>). Our findings suggest that plant availability is a major predictor of the sheep's range. The species distribution models (SDMs) incorporating biotic interactions, i.e., plant availability, increases accuracy in predicting the underlying implications of climate change on ungulates compared to models that exclude these interactions. Our results reveal discrepancies in ungulate spatial distribution patterns, with future suitable habitat contraction being less pronounced when incorporating biotic variables than without biotic variables (27 % vs. 33 %). Therefore, ignoring biotic interaction may overestimate the impacts of climate change, resulting in the inefficient allocation of scarce conservation resources. Additionally, our results indicate the importance of protected areas (PAs) as important climatic refugia, though less than half of the range is currently within PAs. This study emphasizes the non-negligible role of biotic interactions in forecasting the geographical distribution of ungulates, which has critical implications for the future wildlife conservation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03536"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143621100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A decade of sampling reveals spittlebug population dynamics in different cultivation system","authors":"Alexander Machado Auad ,&nbsp;Tiago Teixeira Resende ,&nbsp;Charles Martins Oliveira","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03534","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03534","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is a large proportion of degraded pastures in monoculture system, caused especially by the complex of spittlebugs (Hemiptera : Cercopidae), which are the main pest insects of pastures in Latin America. Hence, the aim of the research was to understand how the conversion from monoculture to silvipastoral systems impacts on the diversity of spittlebugs, and how the populations of these insects behave over the years in each of these systems. Insect sampling was carried out from January 2010 to December 2019. In each system (signalgrass monoculture or silvipastoral), the capture of adult spittlebugs was performed using entomological sweep nets, randomly throughout the area. We sampled 23,040 spittlebugs specimens over a period of 10 years. The spittlebug species collected were <em>Deois schach</em> (Fabricius) (45.3 %), <em>Notozulia entreriana</em> (Berg) (26.8 %), <em>Deois flavopicta</em> (Stål) (24.9 %); besides, <em>Mahanarva fimbriolata</em> (Stål) and <em>Mahanarva spectabilis</em> (Distant) that together represent 3 % of the total samples. The total abundance of specimens was significantly higher (Z = -3.129, <em>p</em> = 0.0017) in the monoculture compared to the silvipastoral system. The results of this study suggest that the silvipastoral system, in comparison to the monoculture system, could be capable of mitigating the damage caused by most species of spittlebugs by reducing the population and the pressure caused by these insects on the forages. However, special attention must be given to the species <em>D. schach</em>, which does not appear to have its population dynamics affected by changes in cultivation systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03534"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143637721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phylogenetic diversity and structure above the tree line in the central Chilean Andes in the light of competing macroecological hypotheses","authors":"Ítalo Tamburrino ,&nbsp;Mary T.K. Arroyo ,&nbsp;Paola Jara-Arancio","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03537","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03537","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The “Tropical Niche Conservatism” (TNC) and “Out of the Tropics” (OTT) hypotheses were developed originally in relation to latitudinal species richness gradient. To determine whether the predictions of these theories play out across elevational gradients in the central Chilean Andes, we determined species richness (SR), Relative Phylogenetic Diversity (PD_SES), Mean Pairwise Distance (MPD_SES) and Mean Nearest Taxon Distance (MNTD_SES) at 100 m elevational intervals for five plot sizes over two above tree line gradients embedded in the same regional flora. We assessed the effect of phylogenetic resolution using two species-level phylogenies resolved to different degrees. After an initial gradual increase followed by a gradual decline, both SR and PD decreased with elevation. MNTD_SES transitioned from phylogenetic overdispersion in the subalpine to clustering in the upper alpine with unclear elevational trends at the smaller spatial scales. Results for MPD_SES were equivocal. Although results for the two phylogenies were closely correlated, lower phylogenetic resolution favored decreased site-level PD at all spatial scales and a trend in the direction of phylogenetic overdispersion for PD_SES and MNTD_SES at the smaller spatial scales. Overall, TNC provides a more coherent explanation for our results in the Chilean Andes than OTT. Lower SR and lack of phylogenetic clustering at lower elevations on the two gradients are attributed to contingencies of the Miocene uplift of the Andes leading to a more arid climate and depressed treeline. Spatial scaling effects call for well resolved species-level phylogenies in studies seeking to relate phylogenetic structure to local ecological effects. However, the degree of phylogenetic resolution becomes less critical when the focus is on broad macroecological trends.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03537"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143644583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Defaunation disrupts the behavior of large terrestrial vertebrates, impacting ecological functions in the Amazon","authors":"Gabriela da Silva Batista ,&nbsp;Carlos R. Brocardo ,&nbsp;Arlison B. Castro ,&nbsp;Emiliano F. Fogliatti ,&nbsp;Mauro Galetti ,&nbsp;Mathias M. Pires ,&nbsp;Rodrigo F. Fadini","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03522","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03522","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wildlife defaunation in tropical forests disrupts critical ecological functions such as predation, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling. While exclusion experiments are commonly used to investigate the effects of wildlife loss on plant diversity and vegetation structure, their potential impact on broader ecosystem functions remains underexplored. Here we investigate how defaunation could affect ecosystem functions in the Amazon rainforest by quantifying the changes in the occurrence and frequency of behaviors exhibited by terrestrial mammals induced by experimental defaunation. Using camera traps, we recorded vertebrate behaviors across exclusion and control plots, categorizing them into feeding, excretion/defecation, bioturbation, and trampling. We then calculated weighted standardized indices, integrating behavior frequency and body mass, to assess the potential local impacts of vertebrates across plots. We found that all behaviors were drastically reduced (&gt;95 % reduction) under severe defaunation conditions, primarily due to the absence of medium- and large-bodied mammals and birds. In defaunated plots, small mammals partially performed some behaviors, but they were unable to compensate for the loss of larger species. These results highlight the substantial reduction in critical vertebrate behaviors and suggest that such changes can significantly disrupt ecosystem functions in defaunated tropical forests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03522"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143611116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Distribution of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), African forest elephants (L. cyclotis), and their hybrids across Africa based on genetic evidence","authors":"Mary K. Kuhner,&nbsp;Kathleen S. Gobush,&nbsp;Zofia A. Kaliszewska,&nbsp;Ryan Horwitz,&nbsp;Samuel K. Wasser","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03530","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03530","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It has recently been recognized that African forest and savanna elephants represent separate species. We analyzed 2445 known-origin elephant samples from across Africa for presence of the two species and hybrids between them, and augmented this with hybrid detection in 4883 samples from ivory seized as contraband. Hybrids were rare overall (6.6 % of reference samples, 1.5 % of contraband samples), occurring only in areas in or near forest-savanna ecotones. Of our known-location hybrids, 117/167 (70 %) were in the Albertine Rift major hybrid zone in eastern DRC and southwestern Uganda, confirming previous reports; in some Albertine sites hybrids outnumbered pure species. Hybrids inferred to be F1 (the product of a forest/savanna mating) were particularly rare, with only 4 found in reference samples and 5 in contraband, suggesting that most hybridization occurred two or more generations ago. We discuss the distribution of the two African elephant species and their hybrids, forces driving hybridization, implications for conservation and management, and areas that need additional sampling effort.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03530"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143611113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Overgrazing impacts plant species diversity in alpine wetlands indirectly by altering its environmental dependency","authors":"Kun Ye ,&nbsp;Jie Li ,&nbsp;Zhenghong Liang ,&nbsp;Xuyan Zhao ,&nbsp;Huaixiu Luo ,&nbsp;Zhiming Chen ,&nbsp;Pengbo Du ,&nbsp;Kai Wu ,&nbsp;Ruijing Qiao ,&nbsp;Jinming Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03532","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03532","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grazing is a significant disturbance in alpine wetlands that affects plant species diversity directly through livestock activity and indirectly by altering environmental factors. Although the direct effects of grazing are well understood, indirect pathways remain underexplored. We conducted a comparative study of plant species diversity and their environmental dependencies in the ungrazed and overgrazed areas of a typical alpine wetland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to address this. Our results showed that the average Q value (representing the explanatory power of environmental factors on plant species diversity) for hydrological regimes was 0.29 in ungrazed areas and 0.47 in overgrazed areas. The proportion of the Q value attributed to hydrological regimes relative to the total Q value of environmental variables increased from 11.6 % in the ungrazed areas to 26.3 % in the overgrazed areas. Furthermore, the interaction Q values (representing the extent to which the interaction between two environmental factors explains plant species diversity) among the environmental variables in both regions were significantly higher than those of individual variables. The average interaction Q value exceeded 0.5 in the ungrazed areas, whereas it fell below 0.5 in the overgrazed areas. Overgrazing also shifted the impact of hydrological regimes on plant species diversity to a significantly positive effect (β = 0.64, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001), with soil factors indirectly influencing plant species diversity through hydrological pathways. Our study demonstrated that overgrazing modifies the environmental dependencies of plant species diversity in alpine wetlands. Specifically, it amplified the role of hydrological regimes, which have emerged as critical mediators influencing the effects of both biotic and abiotic soil factors on plant species diversity. Additionally, the direct relationship between soil factors and plant species diversity was significantly weakened, and the overall environmental interactions were suppressed. Both environmental interactions and plant species diversity should be considered key indicators to better assess the health of alpine wetland ecosystems. Our findings underscored the substantial impact of overgrazing on alpine wetland ecosystems, with important implications for biodiversity management and conservation in fragile environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03532"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143611114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental translocation of Primulina species provides insights into the conservation of threatened karst cave plants","authors":"Mengling Li ,&nbsp;Rong Liu ,&nbsp;Dongmei Li ,&nbsp;Shupeng Dong ,&nbsp;Hui Liu ,&nbsp;Zulin Ning","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03531","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03531","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Karst caves are hotspots of biodiversity and endemism, but threatened by human unsustainable activities. Many cave plants are site-endemic restricted in isolated caves and are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss. To explore the adaptability of cave plants to different karst cave habitats and confirm whether there are alternative habitats for conservation translocation, seedlings of <em>Primulina huaijiensis</em>, <em>P. rubella</em> and <em>P. fengkaiensis</em> were transplanted to four different sites. Comparative analysis of the environmental variables at four different sites, as well as survival rates (SR), phenotypic, photosynthetic and biochemical traits of these species showed that the three species can adapt to twilight zone of alternative caves with similar climatic conditions, but transplanting them outside caves was not conducive to their growth. This was confirmed by lower SR, poor growth status, decreased photosynthetic efficiency and increased antioxidant enzymes activities of plants outside caves. Light intensity was negatively correlated with the growth of the three species, while relative humidity was positively correlated with the growth of <em>P. rubella</em> and <em>P. fengkaiensis</em>. Moreover, soil microbial biomass carbon content and soil available Na content were correlated with the growth of <em>P. rubella</em> and <em>P. fengkaiensis</em>, respectively. The present study furthers our understanding of the physiological and ecological adaptability of <em>Primulina</em> species, and lays foundations for the conservation of threatened karst cave plants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03531"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143593415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating drivers shaping the structure of bird-plant pollination and seed dispersal mutualistic networks in a subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest","authors":"Praeploy Nonsri ,&nbsp;Xuelian He ,&nbsp;Luxiang Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03523","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03523","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Animal and plant mutualistic interactions can be shaped by various simultaneous processes, including neutral-based processes that emphasize species relative abundance, as well as forbidden links that reflect phenotypic complementarity in terms of species phenology, geographic distribution, or morphology. A thorough comprehension of various factors that shape the architecture of different mutualistic networks is essential for understanding ecological stability of natural communities. However, the variation in the relative importance of underlying processes across different types of mutualistic networks within the same research system remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the relative importance of species relative abundance, phenological overlap, and morphological constraint/matching in explaining the architecture of both nectarivorous bird-plant (pollination) and frugivorous bird-plant (seed dispersal) mutualistic networks within a subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest. Furthermore, we assessed the relationship between fruit nutrients (water, lipid, protein, fiber, carbohydrate, and energy) and species degree, pairwise interaction frequency, interaction strength, and Z-score (species contribution to nestedness) in the seed dispersal networks. Among processes shaping the two mutualistic network structures, phenological overlap was most important in explaining the frequency of pairwise interactions in the pollination network, while a combination of morphological constraint and species relative abundance best explained the frequency of pairwise interactions in the seed dispersal network. Furthermore, morphological constraint among species within the pollination network predicted nestedness. In addition, the combination of species relative abundance, phenological overlap and morphological constraint could explain the nestedness of the seed dispersal network. Our results showed that the water and fiber content of fruits influences both the species degree and interaction strength within the seed dispersal network. Overall, our findings provide evidence regarding the difference of underlying processes that shape the structure of two types of mutualistic networks within a research system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03523"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143593414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecosystem services thresholds and interconnected feedback loops in the vulnerable Tarim River Basin: Confronting climate and vegetation transformations","authors":"Chun Luo ,&nbsp;Xiaofei Ma ,&nbsp;Yonghui Wang ,&nbsp;Wei Yan ,&nbsp;Yonglong Han ,&nbsp;Wei Yu ,&nbsp;Binbin Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ecological thresholds play a key role in understanding ecosystem stability and vulnerability, and in predicting the impacts of future environmental changes. This study focused on the Tarim River Basin (TRB), using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to evaluate key ecosystem services (ESs), including carbon storage (CS), water yield (WY), and habitat quality (HQ). Through cubic polynomial fitting, we analyzed the responses of these ESs to climate change and fractional vegetation cover (FVC), identifying critical threshold points. Between 2000 and 2020, the TRB experienced slight increases in temperature (+0.028°C per decade) and precipitation (+2.9 mm per decade), while FVC showed significant spatial heterogeneity, with notable declines in the northern mountainous areas. Specific thresholds for ESs were identified: 1.57°C for temperature, 60.3 mm for precipitation, and 16 % for FVC. Exceeding these thresholds triggered varying degrees of functional changes in ESs. Identifying these thresholds is essential for assessing the vulnerability of ESs and improving our understanding of the complex relationships between ESs and environmental changes in the arid area.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54264,"journal":{"name":"Global Ecology and Conservation","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article e03529"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143579431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}