![]() The reasons for these patterns are likely several. ![]() For the other three taxa (i.e., plants, amphibians, and reptiles) we find that the entire habitat is not well captured, though small-range species have better representation in the existing reserve network ( Fig. It also does well for large-range birds, many of which are migratory, but not well for small-range birds, although it does reasonably well for the entire bird habitat. When separating the species into those with relatively large and small ranges, we found that the nature reserve network does reasonably well for both large- and small-range mammals. These findings indicate that China’s national nature reserves focus primarily on mammal protection but lack adequate attention to plants, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. But the bird habitat coverage inside the national nature reserves was below 9.9% for both entire habitat and important habitat ( Fig. ![]() Considering only the national nature reserves, which cover 9.9% of land area in China, reveals similar results for plants, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. These results are consistent no matter whether we consider the entire habitat or only the most important habitat (the top 20% of habitat, according to importance values in Fig. There is, however, poor capture of the habitat for plants, amphibians, and reptiles. The nature reserve network does reasonably well with mammals and birds because their habitat coverage percentages are above nature reserve network’s 15.1% coverage of China’s total land surface. Our results show that China’s nature reserve network currently represents 13.1%, 17.9%, 16.4%, 10.0%, and 8.4% of the habitat for plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles, respectively ( Fig. ![]() This is a notable gap, considering that global-scale research suggests that the spatial overlap between biodiversity targets and ecosystem services is low ( 20). To date, no comprehensive analyses have been done to assess biodiversity and ecosystem services in China’s nature reserves, however. They showed that about half of China’s ecoregions have >10% of their land area protected through the reserve system, and most natural vegetation communities are represented in at least one nature reserve. Previous nationwide assessments of the effectiveness of China’s nature reserves have focused on ecological diversity ( 19), represented in ecoregions. Most nature reserves in China have been established opportunistically, without a clear planning framework to maximize efficiency and representation of conservation targets ( 19). Of them, 428 are national nature reserves (encompassing 9.9% of China’s land surface), and the remaining are local reserves. By the end of 2014, 2,729 nature reserves had been established, spanning approximately 15% of China’s land surface ( 18). The principal PAs in China are nature reserves (the most strictly protected PAs, primarily for biodiversity conservation), spanning over 80% of protected areas. We also propose a new category of PAs globally, for sustaining the provision of ecosystems services and achieving sustainable development goals. This could close the gap in a politically feasible way. This would encompass both nature reserves, in which human activities are highly restricted, and a new category of PAs for ecosystem services, in which human activities not impacting key services are permitted. Our analysis illuminates a strategy for greatly strengthening PAs, through creating the first comprehensive national park system of China. They are concentrated in western China, whereas much threatened species’ habitat and regulating service source areas occur in eastern provinces. Nature reserves encompass only 10.2–12.5% of the source areas for the four key regulating services. ![]() They capture 17.9% and 16.4% of the entire habitat area for threatened mammals and birds, but only 13.1% for plants, 10.0% for amphibians, and 8.5% for reptiles. China’s nature reserves encompass 15.1% of the country’s land surface. We find that China’s nature reserves serve moderately well for mammals and birds, but not for other major taxa, nor for these key regulating ecosystem services. We report a nationwide assessment for China, quantifying the provision of threatened species habitat and four key regulating services-water retention, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, and carbon sequestration-in nature reserves (the primary category of PAs in China). Increasingly, protected areas (PAs) are expected to serve dual goals: protect biodiversity and secure ecosystem services. Recent expansion of the scale of human activities poses severe threats to Earth’s life-support systems. ![]()
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