Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Xia, Shaoxia
• Xue, Zhenshan
• Dong, Siqi
• Wu, Haitao
• Yu, Xiubo
• Hao, Zhiming

Titel

Identification and scoring of conservation gaps in wetlands of China's coastal provinces: Implications for extending protected areas

Ist Teil von

• Journal of environmental management, 2024-05, Vol.358, p.120865-120865, Article 120865

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Wetlands in China's coastal provinces are strategically positioned along migratory flyways for waterbirds, serving as essential habitats and stopover sites due to the expansive land area and abundant wetland resources they offer. This study aimed to introduce a simplified index system to enable rapid assessment and prioritization of unprotected areas for wetlands in China's coastal provinces. A spatial analysis was conducted, combining wetland distribution and existing protected areas data and spatial extent of wetlands extracted by remote sensing data. Results indicate substantial gaps in coverage, covering an area of 108.33 × 104 ha, with 76% being natural wetlands. Over half of these gaps are identified as high-value wetlands with significant ecological functions. The uneven distribution of unprotected wetlands reflects a tension between economic development and wetland conservation. Our findings support the expansion of the existing coastal wetland protected areas' coverage, as well as protecting critical habitats in conservation gaps, and establishing of a network-based waterbird protection system. This research contributes to informed decision-making and policy in wetlands' conservation planning. [Display omitted] •A new metric is proposed to rapidly prioritize wetlands along China's coasts.•Over half of unprotected nature wetlands are high-value ecological areas.•Addressing the challenge of balancing economic growth with wetland conservation.•Urgent action required to expand Protected Areas, aiming for 33.85% coverage.