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Context Urban parks play a critical role in alleviating urban heat island effects, affecting human development directly and background climatic conditions greatly influence the intensity of their cooling effects. Objectives Here, focusing on 108 urban parks in four major cities across different climate zones—temperate subhumid continental climate (Shenyang city), north temperate continental monsoon climate (Zhengzhou city), subtropical monsoon humid climate (Wuhan city), and subtropical monsoon climate (Nanning city) in China, we explored the optimal area threshold for cooling effectiveness in urban parks under different background climatic conditions. Methods Using land surface temperature (LST) inversion data, the cooling intensity and cooling distance of each park were analyzed by temperature classification, buffer analysis and segmentation function, and the influence of 11 landscape elements on the cooling effect characteristics of parks and regional differences were explored. Results The results indicate: (1) Surface temperature inversion aligns with actual conditions during summer noon, with all four cities experiencing a heat island effect. (2) The average park cooling effect distance (PCE d ) across all parks in the four cities is 161 m, the average park cooling effect intensity (PCE i ) was 2.73 °C, the maximum PCE d was 437.35 m, and the maximum PCE i reached 6.9 °C. (3) The perimeter-to-area ratio (PARA) is the most influential parameter negatively correlated with park cooling effect, while the most influential positively correlated factor is park area (AREA). Interestingly, the number of factors that enhance the park cooling effect decreased from north to south. (4) The park area thresholds for optimal cooling effect in Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Nanning was 7.27 ha, 8.08 ha, 9.69 ha, and 44.42 ha, respectively. Conclusions All four cities in the study area experience urban heat island effects. Overall, the most influential positive landscape element correlating with the park cooling effect was park area. Therefore, planning parks according to optimal cooling effect area thresholds can maximize land use efficiency, enhance cooling value, and promote urban and human development.

Background Leonurus japonicus , a significant medicinal plant known for its therapeutic effects on gynecological and cardiovascular diseases, has genetic diversity that forms the basis for germplasm preservation and utilization in medicine. Despite its economic value, limited research has focused on its genetic diversity and divergence. Results The avg. nucleotide diversity of 59 accessions from China were 0.00029 and hotspot regions in petN-psbM and rpl32-trnL (UAG) spacers, which can be used for genotype discrimination. These accessions divided into four clades with significant divergence. The four subclades, which split at approximately 7.36 Ma, were likely influenced by the Hengduan Mountains uplift and global temperature drop. The initial divergence gave rise to Clade D, with a crown age estimated at 4.27 Ma, followed by Clade C, with a crown age estimated at 3.39 Ma. The four clades were not showed a clear spatial distribution. Suitable climatic conditions for the species were identified, including warmest quarter precipitation 433.20 mm ~ 1,524.07 mm, driest month precipitation > 12.06 mm, and coldest month min temp > -4.34 °C. The high suitability distribution showed contraction in LIG to LGM, followed by expansion from LGM to present. The Hengduan Mountains acted as a glacial refuge for the species during climate changes. Conclusions Our findings reflected a clear phylogenetic relationships and divergence within species L. japonicus and the identified hotspot regions could facilitate the genotype discrimination. The divergence time estimation and suitable area simulation revealed evolution dynamics of this species and may propose conservation suggestions and exploitation approaches in the future.

Aim The ability of predicting which naturalized non‐native species are likely to become invasive can help manage and prevent species invasions. The goal of this study is to test whether invasive angiosperm (flowering plant) species are a phylogenetically clustered subset of naturalized species at global, continental and regional scales, and to assess the relationships of phylogenetic relatedness of invasive species with climate condition (temperature and precipitation). Location Global. Time period Current. Taxon Angiosperms (flowering plants). Methods The globe is divided into 290 regions, which are grouped into seven biogeographic (continental) regions. Two phylogenetic metrics (net relatedness index and nearest taxon index), which represent different evolutionary depths, are used to quantify phylogenetic relatedness of invasive angiosperms, with respect to different tailor‐made species pools. Phylogenetic relatedness of invasive angiosperms is related to climatic variables. Results The global assemblage of invasive angiosperm species is a strongly phylogenetically clustered subset of the species of the entire global angiosperm flora. Most invasive angiosperm assemblages are a phylogenetically clustered subset of their respective naturalized species pools, and phylogenetic clustering reflecting shallow evolutionary history is greater than that reflecting deep evolutionary history. In general, the phylogenetic relatedness of invasive species is greater in regions with lower temperature and precipitation across the world. Main conclusions The finding that invasive angiosperm assemblages across the globe are, in general, phylogenetically clustered subsets of their respective naturalized species pools has significant implications in biological conservation, particularly in predicting and controlling invasive species based on phylogenetic relatedness among naturalized species.

Direct seeded rice (DSR) systems have been considered a sustainable strategy for sustainable rice (Oryza sativa L.) production and resilience under adverse climatic conditions. Providing essential nutrition for more than 50% of the global population, there has been a significant decline in rice productivity due to climate change. The results suggest that an adoption of DSR options, without raising rice nursery, improved rice productivity and time saving. A rice field experiment in the kharif season of 2021 was examined to identify the best crop establishment method. A comparison study of the direct seeded rice crop establishment method and the mechanical transplanting of rice crop establishment method was investigated to improve rice productivity. The results show that significantly higher (+10%) rice productivity was registered in the DSR option compared with mechanically transplanted rice. In this case, growth attributes, effective tillers (+37%), panicle length (+8%), the number of grains per panicle (+21%), and 1000-grain weight (+2%) were significantly higher in the DSR option compared with mechanically transplanted rice. It was observed that, after the third extreme rainfall, 100% of the mechanically transplanted rice crop was lodged, compared with only 25% of the DSR option. Overall, the results suggest that an adoption of DSR options significantly improved rice productivity and rice resilience, while offering the additional benefit of advancing the seeding of succeeding crops by 15 days compared with the mechanically transplanted rice system. Our study suggests that the adoption of the DSR option would sustain food security and crop resilience under adverse climatic conditions.

As a significant sector within the tourism industry, desert tourism has developed rapidly in recent years, contributing significantly to local economic development. On the other hand, desert tourism is constantly influenced by the desert climate, characterized by high temperatures, aridity, and dust events. This study examines and analyzes the impact of dust events on the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) using an improved methodology. It incorporates comprehensive meteorological data including temperature, relative humidity, cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and dust events of Tazhong, located in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert. The results indicate that the maximum mean monthly HCI dips from an ideal level (91) to a very good level (73), the minimum dips from good level (66) to a marginal level (47), and the annual comfortable days (HCI ≥ 80) decrease from 180.5 to 95.3 after considering the impacts of dust events. The corrective HCI indicates that autumn, especially October, offers relatively comfortable climatic conditions for tourism, with the mean monthly comfortable days reach 20.1. These findings can better guide desert tourism activities and also demonstrate that the impact of dust weather on tourism activities cannot be ignored.

Energy conservation in buildings has been the focus of many studies since nearly one-third of global energy consumption is due to buildings. Phase change material (PCM) technology promises to be an attractive solution for energy saving in buildings since it is a passive and effective technology, as demonstrated in the literature. Therefore, this study focuses on the energy-saving performance of PCM-integrated buildings located in a Mediterranean climate to reveal their energy-saving potential. PCM is integrated both in external or internal south walls and roofs of buildings under four different climatic conditions. EnergyPlus, which is a well-known building simulation software, is adopted for building thermal analyses. The effects of melting temperature, location of PCM layer in the wall, thickness of PCM layer, type of envelope (wall or roof), and PCM double-layer system in the wall are investigated. The corresponding energy savings and CO2 emission reductions are obtained for the considered cases. The results showed that up to 41.6% reduction in energy demand can be obtained depending on the PCM application. Besides, PCM with a low melting temperature (21 °C) favored heating energy savings, while PCM with a high melting temperature (29 °C) favored cooling energy savings. Moreover, the double-layer PCM system provided higher energy savings than the single-layer PCM system, especially in warm and arid regions (Sousse and Tozeur).

There is a consensus that climate factors strongly influence species richness along elevation gradients, but which factors are crucial and how they operate are still elusive. Here, we assess the relative importance of temperature-related versus precipitation-related variables and the relative importance of extreme climate versus climate seasonality in driving pteridophyte species richness. We used correlation and regression analyses to relate species richness of pteridophytes, and their two major groups (lycophytes, ferns), in fifty 100-m vertical bands to climatic factors representing different aspects of climatic conditions (general climate, stressful climate, and climate seasonality). Variation partitioning analysis was used to determine the relative importance of each group of climatic factors on species richness. Across the entire elevational gradient, species richness had a parabolic response to mean annual temperature (adjusted R2 = .87−.91), and a linear response to annual precipitation (adjusted R2 = .82). Mean annual temperature and annual precipitation in the second-order polynomial model together explained 96.3%−98.7% of the variation in species richness. The variation in species richness uniquely explained by minimum temperature of the coldest month was much greater than that uniquely explained by temperature seasonality, but the variation in species richness uniquely explained by precipitation during the driest month was much smaller than that uniquely explained by precipitation seasonality. Overall, extreme climate variables explained slightly more variation than did climate seasonality. Our study suggests that pteridophyte richness along the elevational gradient is largely driven by a combination of both temperature- and precipitation-related parameters, although precipitation-related variables play a slightly stronger role, and that extreme low temperature events (at high elevations) and seasonal precipitation variability (at low elevations) are the strongest determinants of pteridophyte species richness.

Rainwater harvesting has been widely used to alleviate urban water scarcity and waterlogging problems. In this study, a water balance model is developed to continuously simulate the long-term (57 to 65 years) stormwater capture efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems for three water demand scenarios at four cities across four climatic zones of China. The impacts of the “yield after spillage” (YAS) and “yield before spillage” (YBS) operating algorithms, climatic conditions, and storage and demand fractions on stormwater capture efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems are analyzed. The YAS algorithm, compared with the YBS, results in more conservative estimations of stormwater capture efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems with relatively small storage tanks (e.g., ≤50 m3). The difference between stormwater capture efficiency calculated using the YBS and YAS algorithms can be remedied by increasing storage capacity and reduced by decreasing water demand rates. Higher stormwater capture efficiency can be achieved for rainwater harvesting systems with higher storage and demand fractions and located in regions with less rainfall. However, the lager variations in annual rainfall in arid zones may lead to unstable stormwater management performance of rainwater harvesting systems. The impacts of storage and demand fractions on stormwater capture efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems are interactive and dependent on climatic conditions. Based on the relationships among storage capacity, contributing area, water demand, and stormwater capture efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems, easy-to-use equations are proposed for the hydrologic design of rainwater harvesting systems to meet specific stormwater control requirements at the four cities.

Background Understanding the impacts of past and contemporary climate change on biodiversity is critical for effective conservation. Amphibians have weak dispersal abilities, putting them at risk of habitat fragmentation and loss. Both climate change and anthropogenic disturbances exacerbate these risks, increasing the likelihood of additional amphibian extinctions in the near future. The giant spiny frog ( Quasipaa spinosa ), an endemic species to East Asia, has faced a dramatic population decline over the last few decades. Using the giant spiny frog as an indicator to explore how past and future climate changes affect landscape connectivity, we characterized the shifts in the suitable habitat and habitat connectivity of the frog. Results We found a clear northward shift and a reduction in the extent of suitable habitat during the Last Glacial Maximum for giant spiny frogs; since that time, there has been an expansion of the available habitat. Our modelling showed that “overwarm” climatic conditions would most likely cause a decrease in the available habitat and an increase in the magnitude of population fragmentation in the future. We found that the habitat connectivity of the studied frogs will decrease by 50–75% under future climate change. Our results strengthen the notion that the mountains in southern China and the Sino-Vietnamese transboundary regions can act as critical refugia and priority areas of conservation planning going forward. Conclusions Given that amphibians are highly sensitive to environmental changes, our findings highlight that the responses of habitat suitability and connectivity to climate change can be critical considerations in future conservation measures for species with weak dispersal abilities and should not be neglected, as they all too often are.

A 15N tracing study was carried out to investigate the potential gross nitrogen (N) dynamics in thirteen forest soils in Eastern China ranging from temperate to tropical zones (five coniferous forests, six deciduous broad-leaf forests, one temperate mixed forest, one evergreen broad-leaf forests ecosystems), and to identify the major controlling factors on N cycling in these forest ecosystems. The soil pH ranged from 4.3 to 7.9 and soil organic carbon (SOC) ranged from 6.6 gkg-1 to 83.0 gkg-1. The potential gross N transformation rates were quantified by 15N tracing studies where either the ammonium or nitrate pools were 15N labeled in parallel treatments. Gross mineralization rates ranged from 0.915 μ N g-1 soil day-1 to 2.718 μg N g-1 soil day-1 in the studied forest soils. The average contribution of labile organic-N (MNlab) to total gross mineralization (MNrec+MNlab) was 86% (58% to 99%), indicating that turnover of labile organic N plays a dominant role in the studied forest ecosystems. The gross mineralization rates in coniferous forest soils were significantly lower (ranging between 0.915 and 1.228 μg N g-1 soil day-1) compared to broad-leaf forest soils (ranging from 1.621 to 2.718 μg N g-1 soil day-1) (p< 0.01). Thus, the dominant vegetation may play an important role in regulating soil N mineralization. Nitrate production (nitrification) occurred via two pathways, oxidation of NH4+ and organic N the forest soils. Correlations with soil pH indicated that this is a key factor controlling the oxidation of NH4+ and organic N in theses forest ecosystems. NH4+ oxidation decreased with a decline in pH while organic N oxidation increased. The climatic conditions (e.g. moisture status) at the various sites governed the NO3--N consumption processes (dissimilatory NO3- reduction to NH4+ (DNRA) or immobilization of NO3-). Total NO3- consumption and the proportion of total NO3- consumption to total NO3- production decreased with an increase in the drought index of ecosystems, showing that strong interactions appear to exist between climatic condition (e.g. the drought index), N mineralization and the rate of DNRA. Interactions between vegetation, climatic conditions govern internal N cycling in these forests soils.