The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is an ecologically significant class II-protected species in China. Using an ensemble species distribution model, niche dynamics analysis, and environmental similarity assessments, we evaluated climate risks to this species. Currently, suitable habitat covers 16.17% of China, primarily in the hilly southeast and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with temperature seasonality and slope as key drivers. Future projections indicate stable core areas, northward expansion, local contraction, and a northward shift of the distribution centroid. Niche dynamics show high similarity (0.89-0.91) between future and current niches, suggesting limited range expansion. Nevertheless, over 80% of the current habitat is projected to experience high climatic novelty, introducing conservation uncertainty. To address these challenges, we propose a climate-adaptive framework focused on enhancing habitat connectivity, mitigating fragmentation, and implementing preventive measures in human-wildlife conflict zones, thereby supporting core habitat identification, corridor planning, and adaptive strategy formulation.

Only one species of the subgenus Pseudolimnophila (Pseudolimnophila) Alexander, 1919 was previously known from northern China. Herein, two new species from northern China are described: Pseudolimnophila (Pseudolimnophila) chanbaensis Shui, Zhang B. & Yang, sp. nov. and P. (P.) shanxiensis Shui, Zhang B. & Yang, sp. nov. Additionally, P. (P.) inconcussa (Alexander, 1913) is reported for the first time from Shaanxi Province and redscribed. A key to the species of the subgenus Pseudolimnophila occurring in China is provided.

Invasive pests threaten agriculture, yet risks from related non-invasive species are understudied. We constructed a framework integrating species distribution models (biomod2), niche analysis, and multivariate environmental similarity surface (MESS) to assess the invasion risk of Carpomya incompleta into habitats of its congeneric quarantine pest, C. vesuviana. We identified C. incompleta’s environmentally host-coupled zones (EHCZs), dispersal simulation zones (DSZs), and synergistic hazard zones (SHZs) with C. vesuviana, and quantified niche overlaps between C. incompleta’s DSZs and its potential habitats, plus between DSZs and C. vesuviana’s habitats under future climate scenarios. Results confirmed significant niche consistency between C. incompleta’s DSZs and its potential distribution (Schoener’s D = 0.66). High niche overlap existed between both species (D = 0.62), persisting under SSP585 (D = 0.663). The framework effectively captures C. incompleta’s ecological requirements, confirming its high, climate-persistent invasion risk into C. vesuviana’s habitats, providing a predictive tool for early warning and biosecurity planning.

Biodiversity is fundamental to human well-being and economic development. The Yangtze River, the largest river in China, faces biodiversity loss due to habitat degradation, climate change, and other anthropogenic threats. However, the long-term changes in the region's biodiversity remain poorly understood. Here, we constructed an optimized living planet index (LPIO) by combining Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling and Random Forest Modeling. Using data from a monitoring network of 536 sites, we observed an increasing trend in terrestrial bird diversity and functional complexity across the entire watershed from 2011 to 2020. Our findings indicate that a large-scale ecological restoration program has contributed to increases in terrestrial and aquatic bird diversity in the Yangtze River Basin. In contrast, bird diversity in the downstream area has decreased by 2.83%, largely due to a rapid decline in wetland birds. The degradation of wetland habitats and insufficient conservation measures have negatively impacted bird diversity in the downstream region. This suggests that although there have been significant improvements in terrestrial bird diversity, more effective wetland restoration is necessary for biodiversity conservation. We recommend optimizing the national large-scale biodiversity monitoring network and increasing the number of upstream monitoring sites.

The Giant African Snail (Lissachatina fulica) is a highly invasive and destructive terrestrial mollusc that poses significant threats to biodiversity, agricultural systems, and human/animal health. This study systematically evaluated its suitable habitat dynamics, centroid migration patterns, niche characteristics, and environmental driving mechanisms under climate change by coupling biomod2 ensemble models, niche dynamic quantification, and Multivariate Environmental Similarity Surface/Most Dissimilar Variable (MESS/MoD) analysis. Key results demonstrate that: Suitable habitats exhibit expansive trends across all scenarios except for minor contraction under 2050s-ssp126, with distribution centroids persistently shifting northward, while habitat expansion consistently exceeds contraction in magnitude; High niche overlap (D=0.7676-0.8531) and strong stability (>99.8 %) confirm strict adherence to the niche conservatism hypothesis, whereas continuously increasing niche breadth (B1/B2) reflects adaptive evolution through broadened environmental tolerance; Mean temperature of coldest quarter (bio11), human influence index (hii), and precipitation of the wettest quarter (bio16) constitute core drivers, with MESS/MoD analysis further identifying bio11, bio16, precipitation of warmest quarter(bio18) and precipitation of coldest quarter (bio19) as critical differential variables driving the dynamics of suitable habitats. Consequently, we recommend establishing real-time monitoring and early-warning systems in high-risk zones (particularly agricultural belts and invasion fronts), implementing border quarantine and early eradication programs in uninvaded regions, and conducting sustained disinfestation to suppress population spread in colonized areas. The integrated "models-niche dynamic quantification-similarity" framework developed in this study provides a universal paradigm for invasive species risk assessment.

Invasive alien plants pose a significant threat to biodiversity and the agricultural economy. The invasive weed (Ammannia coccinea) competes with rice in paddy fields, potentially threatening rice production. Despite the crucial need to estimate the global geographical distribution and ecological niche dynamics of A. coccinea for effective early warning, control strategies, and global rice security, relevant research remains scarce. This study utilized the Biomod2 platform, which integrates multiple single models into ensemble model, incorporating environmental and species data to analyze the distribution range shifts of A. coccinea under current and future climate scenarios. It also quantified and analyzed shifts in the species’ ecological niche across these climate scenarios. The results indicated that the potential suitable areas for A. coccinea were mainly in Southern North America, northern and south-eastern South America, south-western Europe, the Middle East, central Africa, western Asia, south-eastern Asia, with a gradual increase in mid-high suitability habitat over time and radiation levels. While the overall ecological niche of A. coccinea remains stable, minor shifts are expected under future conditions. Temperature, precipitation, and the human impact index were the key factors influencing the future distribution of A. coccinea. Climate change contributes to the expansion of A. coccinea's highly suitable areas and shifts its ecological niche. Organizations efforts should focus on preventing the spread of A. coccinea in regions where its potential distribution overlaps with key rice production areas. The findings of this study provide critical insights into the global distribution and ecological niche dynamics of A. coccinea, aiding in the development of early warning and control strategies to mitigate its impact on biodiversity, agriculture, and particularly rice production under future climate scenarios.

The genus Tephrochlamys Loew, 1862, is a small genus in Heteromyzinae of the family Heleomyzidae. Only four species of this genus are known from the Oriental Realm so far: T. fasciata Czerny, 1924, T. javanensis Frey, 1934, T. japonica Okadome, 1967 and T. rufiventris Meigen, 1830. Here, we describe three new species of Tephrochlamys from Oriental China: Tephrochlamys wuyishanensis sp. nov., , Tephrochlamys variegata sp. nov. and Tephrochlamys pengi sp. nov. A key to the Oriental species of Tephrochlamys is presented.

Evolutionary changes in geographic distribution and larval host plants may promote the rapid diversification of montane insects, but this scenario has been rarely investigated. We studied the rapid radiation of the butterfly genus Colias, which has diversified in mountain ecosystems in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Based on a data set of 150 nuclear protein-coding genetic loci and mitochondrial genomes, we constructed a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree of Colias species with broad taxon sampling. We then inferred their ancestral geographic ranges, historical diversification rates, and the evolution of host use. We found that the most recent common ancestor of Colias was likely geographically widespread and originated similar to 3.5 Ma. The group subsequently diversified in different regions across the world, often in tandem with geographic expansion events. No aspect of elevation was found to have a direct effect on diversification. The genus underwent a burst of diversification soon after the divergence of the Neotropical lineage, followed by an exponential decline in diversification rate toward the present. The ancestral host repertoire included the legume genera Astragalus and Trifolium but later expanded to include a wide range of Fabaceae genera and plants in more distantly related families, punctuated with periods of host range expansion and contraction. We suggest that the widespread distribution of the ancestor of all extant Colias lineages set the stage for diversification by isolation of populations that locally adapted to the various different environments they encountered, including different host plants. In this scenario, elevation is not the main driver but might have accelerated diversification by isolating populations.

Diplopoda is one of the most diverse and important groups of soil arthropods, but little research has been done on their phylogenetic relationship and evolution. Here, we sequenced and annotated the complete mitochondrial genomes of Spirobolus grahami. The total mitogenome of S. grahami was typical circular, double-stranded molecules, with 14,875 bp in length, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, two rRNAs, and one control region. Base composition analysis suggested that the mitochondrial sequences were biased toward A and T, with A + T content of 58.68%. The mitogenomes of S. grahami exhibited negative AT and positive GC skews. Most of the 13 PCGs had ATN as the start codon, except COX1 start with CGA, and most PCGs ended with the T stop codon. The dN/dS values for most PCGs were lower than 1, suggesting that purifying selection was likely the main driver of mitochondrial PCG evolution. Phylogenetic analyses based on 13 PCGs using BI and ML methods support the classification of genus Spirobolus and Tropostreptus. Glomeridesmus spelaeus is distantly related to the other Diplopoda species.

Invasive pests reduce biodiversity and ecosystem service functions, thereby leading to economic and also agricultural losses. Banana skipper (Erionota torus Evans), red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), and coconut caterpillar (Opisina arenosella Walker) are invasive insect pests in the palm-growing regions and they have had serious consequences for the planting of bananas (Musa nana), palms (Trachycarpus fortune) and coconut (Cocos nucifera). Based on screened occurrence data, the present research utilized Maximum Entropy model (Maxent) to simulate the distribution dynamics of these three invasive insects in China, under current and future climate (2050s, 2070s, 2090s) in two shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs: 126 and 585) of the newly released coupled model intercomparison project phase6 (CMIP6). The results show that: (1) Under current and future climate conditions, all model groups exhibited an AUC value exceeding 0.92, which shows that the model prediction results are very good;(2) The suitable habitat area of E. torus Evans remains relatively stable with some expansion in the SSP126 of 2090s and some contraction in the SSP585 of 2090s. The suitable habitat area of R. ferrugineus showed an overall contraction, with substantial contraction in the SSP585 of 2090s.The suitable habitat area of O. arenosella has an overall expansion, with the most pronounced expansion in the SSP585 of 2070s; (3) The current centroid of suitable habitats for R. ferrugineus and E. torus Evans is located in Guangxi Province and wholely shift toward the south direction under future climate. The centroid of suitable habitats for O. arenosella is currently located in the northeastern maritime area of Hainan Province and will shift toward the north direction under future climate; (4) Temperature, precipitation and Human disturbance factors (Population density and Human influence index) were crucial variables for describing the distribution of the three species. For E. torus Evans in particular, percentage contributions of Population density was up to 31.4, which is only 0.1 different from ranked first Bio19 (Precipitation of the coldest quarter). The dynamics of habitats of these three species and the correlating driver factors proposed in this work provide essential insights into future spatial management of the three invasive insects in China. Our work is necessary and timely in identifying newly areas at high risk of expansion of the three invasive insects in the future, then suggesting strategic control measures to prevent their spread, and finally providing scientific evidence for the early prevention and rapid response to the three invasive insects.

AbstractChina has launched unprecedented investments in conservation and restoration programmes to prevent soil erosion, protect forest ecosystems and biodiversity, and improve carbon sequestration. However, the impacts of socio-economic developments and large-scale conservation and restoration programmes on biodiversity are still unclear. Here, we analyzed the spatial-temporal trends of the optimized Living Planet Index (LPI) based on bird monitoring from 2011 to 2020 in 536 sites in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), the third largest river in the world. We found that the LPI of all birds in the upper and middle reaches of the YRB increased by 7.80% and 7.64%, respectively, and terrestrial bird diversity showed an increasing trend in the whole watershed, owing to the huge investments of terrestrial conservation and restoration programmes. Increasing functional diversity of birds in YRB is indicative of enhanced ecosystem functioning. Almost 75% of the rare and endangered birds in the Yangtze River basin are protected. However, waterbird diversity mostly declined, notably by 14.40% in the lower reaches, likely because of insufficient conservation measures for and huge human pressures to wetlands. The significant improvements in terrestrial bird diversity indicate the success of post-2020 global targets as well as huge investments in biodiversity conservation, while the decline of waterbird diversity highlights the urgent need for further biodiversity protection for the world’s third largest river.

In recent years, invasive alien plants (IAPs) have caused serious ecological disasters and economic losses in China. This study combined three IAP species richness-related indices (species richness of IAPs, first records of IAPs, and the relative species richness of IAPs), as well as indices reflecting distribution and dispersal patterns (average similarity coefficient of IAPs) and invasiveness (average risk score of IAPs), to conduct an integrated regional-invasion risk assessment based on the principal component analysis (PCA) method. Partial least-squares (PLS) regression was conducted to explore the explanatory power of 12 environmental and anthropogenic factors on different invasion indices. The results indicated that coastal provinces and Yunnan had high IAP introduction risk, as well as high synthetic-risk scores. The dispersal of IAPs in mid-latitude provinces should be particularly prevented. For species richness of IAPs, more environmental factors with variable importance for the project (VIP) values higher than 1 were retained in the optimal model, reflecting the importance of environmental filtering on IAPs. Visitors were the most important predictor for first records of IAPs. Compared to species richness (R2 = 79.5%), first records were difficult to predict (R2 = 60.4%) and were influenced by anthropogenic factors. There was spatial distribution congruence of various families of IAPs. Generally, the correlations of the residuals of species richness were still significant, with 0.421 (p < 0.05) as the lowest Pearson correlation coefficient, which indicated that external factors could not fully explain the spatial distribution congruence. These findings could enrich the relevant research on IAP invasion mechanisms and provide suggestions for regional IAP detection and response.

Elaphropeza is one of the largest genera in the family Empididae with over 220 known species distributed worldwide.56 species were known to occur in China,of which only 3 species were known from Wuyishan.Here 7 species are added to the fauna of Wuyishan,including the following five new species:Elaphropeza brevidigitata sp.nov.,Elaphropeza conjunctiva sp.nov.,Elaphropeza jiuquxiana sp.nov.,Elaphropeza quadrata sp.nov.,and Elaphropeza wuyishana sp.nov.A key to the species of Elaphropeza from Wuyishan is presented.

曲纹紫灰蝶(Chilades pandava)是一种以幼虫危害苏铁(Cycas revolute)嫩枝嫩叶的园林害虫,对苏铁的生长繁殖、生产者的经济效益以及城市园林的美观造成严重影响.基于曲纹紫灰蝶和苏铁的现存分布点,利用最大熵模型(MaxEnt)、ArcGIS、R软件对当前和未来气候条件下曲纹紫灰蝶在中国的潜在适生区分布及当前气候条件下寄主苏铁在中国的潜在适生区分布进行了预测,其中当前气候数据基于1970—2000年的历史数据,未来气候数据(2021—2040年、2041—2060年和2061—2080年)选择第六次国际耦合模式比较计划(CMIP6)中中国北京气候中心中等分辨率气候系统模式(BCC-CSM2-MR)下的3种共享社会经济路径(SSP126(属于低强迫情景),SSP370(属于中等至高等强迫情景),SSP585(属于高强迫情景)).结果表明:(1)模型预测结果非常好,各组模型的受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线下面积(AUC)值均高于0.95,昼夜温差月均值(bio2)、等温性(bio3)、最热季平均温度(bio10)、最湿月份降水量(bio13)是影响曲纹紫灰蝶分布的主导气候因子;(2)当前气候条件下曲纹紫灰蝶的适生区面积占国土面积的29.7％,其中高适生区主要分布于长江以南,如海南、广东、广西、香港、江西、湖南、福建、中国台湾、四川东南部、重庆北部、安徽南部、上海、江苏、浙江等区域;(3)曲纹紫灰蝶与其寄主苏铁的适生重叠区占国土面积的25.9％;(4)未来气候变化条件下曲纹紫灰蝶的总适生区面积均比当前气候条件下的总适生区面积大,尤其是山东、河北、河南、天津、北京等高适生区面积扩增明显,其中2061—2080年SSP585情景下的曲纹紫灰蝶总适生面积最大,占国土面积的41.33％,比当前气候条件下预测的多出111.57万km2.构建的MaxEnt模型预测结果可信度高,可以为制定防治曲纹紫灰蝶相关检疫措施以及保护中国苏铁资源提供理论依据.

A rarely seen butterfly species, the large swallowtail butterfly Papilio elwesi Leech, 1889 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), endemic to the Chinese mainland, has been declared a state-protected animal in China since 2000, but its genome is not yet available. To obtain high-quality genome assembly and annotation, we sequenced the genome and transcriptome of P. elwesi using the PacBio and PromethION platforms, respectively. The final assembled genome was 358.51 Mb, of which 97.59% was anchored to chromosomes (30 autosomes and 1 Z sex chromosome), with a contig/scaffold N50 length of 6.79/12.32 Mb and 99.0% (n = 1367) BUSCO completeness. The genome annotation pointed to 36.82% (131.99 Mb) repetitive elements and 1296 non-coding RNAs in the genome, along with 13,681 protein-coding genes that cover 98.6% (1348) of the BUSCO genes. Among the 11,499 identified gene families, 104 underwent significantly rapid expansions or contractions, and these rapidly expanding families play roles in detoxification and metabolism. Additionally, strong synteny exists between the chromosomes of P. elwesi and P. machaon. The chromosome-level genome of P. elwesi could serve as an important genomic resource for furthering our understanding of butterfly evolution and for more in-depth genomic analyses.

外来入侵植物裸冠菊(Gymnocoronis spilanthoides)具有较强的入侵适应性能快速繁殖扩散,会对本土物种的生长繁殖及本地生态安全、景观格局等产生不良影响.基于265个有效分布点和7个环境变量,调整优化预测模型的调控倍频和特征组合参数,应用MaxEnt、ArcGIS、R软件预测当前和未来(2050s,2070s)不同气候情景(SSP126,SSP245,SSP370,SSP585)下裸冠菊在中国的潜在地理分布,定量分析其适生区的空间变化及质心移动轨迹,最后采用受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线下面积(AUC)和测试遗漏率评估模型的精确性.未来气候模式选择中国国家气候中心开发的CMIP6中BCC-CSM2-MR.结果表明:(1)模型预测结果极准确,各组模型的AUC值均高于0.97;(2)最干季降水量(bio17)、最冷季度平均温(bio11)、温度季节性变化(bio4)和最暖季度平均降雨量(bio18)是影响裸冠菊地理分布的主导气候因子;(3)当前气候条件下,裸冠菊的总适生区面积达到191.18×104km2,约占国土总面积的19.9％,其中高适生区主要分布于我国湖南西北部、浙江东北角、台湾、广东和广西零星区域等;(4)未来气候变化情境下,裸冠菊的总适生面积和低适生面积均比当前气候条件下预测的面积大,且呈现沿低适生区边缘向北扩散的趋势,其中2050s的SSP245情境下总适生区面积增加的最多,达到216.64× 104km2;(5)未来气候变化情境下,裸冠菊适生区扩增或收缩的变动区域主要集中于四川东北部和南部、陕西南部、河南南部、湖北北部、安徽北部、江苏北部.总体上看,裸冠菊在中国的潜在分布未达到饱和,呈现以长江以南为中心,向北辐射扩散趋势.从当前到未来(2050s,2070s),裸冠菊适生区的分布质心变化大体方向是先向东北迁移,再向西南迁移.对裸冠菊在中国的潜在分布格局及对气候变化的响应研究,将有助于对其进行早期防控减少入侵所带来的危害.

The satyrid species Chonala laurae Bozano, 1999, formerly only known from southern Shaanxi and western Hubei Provinces in the central part of China, is recorded from Mt. Wuyi, Fujian Province in southeastern China for the first time, and the population is described as a new subspecies herein: C. laurae wuyishana Huang, Guo & Wang, ssp. n. The new subspecies can be distinguished from the nominate one by the pattern at the costa and in space 2 on the forewing upperside in males and the ground color in females, and from the closely related C. houae by the coloration of the pattern on the forewing upperside and in space 2 on the forewing underside as well as the male genital character. A brief discussion on the relationship among C. laurae laurae, C. laurae wuyishana ssp. n., and C. houae is also presented. In addition, an updated key to species and subspecies of Chonala is provided.

A new species of the genus Phengaris Doherty, 1891 (s. str.), namely Phengaris chloe sp. nov., has been discovered in Wuyi Mountain National Park, E. China. This species is markedly different from the other members in the genus Phengaris Doherty, 1891 (s. str.) and can be identified by the following characteristics: Forewing without markings in the distal of space CuA1 and CuA2, the marginal marking of underside wings weaker than other species in this genus and the distinct short protuberance at distal of valve. Photographs of adults and male genitalia are provided. A key to the Phengaris (s. str.) species based on wing pattern and male genitalia morphology is presented.