Background and Objectives: As urbanisation is a significant global trend, there is a profound need for biodiversity protection in urban ecosystems. Moreover, the potential of urban green space to support urban biodiversity should be appreciated. Butterflies are environmental indicators that are sensitive to urbanisation. Therefore, it is important to identify butterfly distribution patterns and the factors influencing butterfly diversity and species composition in urban parks within cities. Research Highlights: To our knowledge, ours is the first study evaluating the effects of both land cover and local habitat features on butterfly species composition in urban parks of Beijing, China. Materials and Methods: In this study, we surveyed butterfly richness and abundance in 28 urban parks in Beijing, China. The parks differed in age and location in the urban area. Meanwhile, we investigated the green space in the surroundings of the parks at multi-spatial scales at the landscape level. We also investigated local park characteristics including the age of the park (Age), perimeter/area ratio of the park (SQPRA), area of the park (ha) (Area), green space cover within the park (Greenp), nectar plant species richness (Necpl), abundance of flowering nectar plants (Necabu) and overall plant species richness (Pl). Generalised linear models (GLMs) and redundancy discriminant analysis (RDA) were applied to relate butterfly diversity and butterfly species composition to environmental variables, respectively. Results: We recorded 3617 individuals belonging to 26 species from July to September in 2019. Parks on the city fringe had significantly higher butterfly diversity. Butterfly species richness was mostly related to total plant richness. The abundance of flowering nectar plants was closely linked to butterfly abundance. Land cover had little impact on butterfly diversity and community structure in urban parks. Conclusions: Once a park has sufficient plants and nectar resources, it becomes a useful haven for urban butterflies, regardless of the surrounding land cover. Well-planned urban parks focused on local habitat quality support butterfly conservation.

In the context of an aging population and the rise of age-friendly communities, the creation of outdoor spaces that cater to the daily needs of elderly residents, promote their physical and mental well-being, and strengthen their sense of community is a pressing matter requiring immediate attention and solutions. This study focuses on boosting the outdoor space of communities that are age-friendly. The research sample consists of four age-friendly communities in the representative city of Hangzhou. Aerial and ground surveys were carried out to examine the spatial distribution and behavioral tendencies of elderly citizens in outdoor community gathering locations. A GoPro MAX panoramic camera and a weather meter were utilized to evaluate the outside space’s landscape components, spatial attributes, and microclimate. Using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses, we discovered the key parameters impacting the spatial gathering and behaviors of elderly residents in age-friendly communities’ outdoor spaces. When constructing outdoor gathering spaces for the elderly, our findings indicate that weatherproof amenities, a greater variety of pavers, and greenery should be prioritized. Community fitness facilities should be considered throughout the development and refurbishment phases for activity areas. Consideration should also be given to the construction of weatherproof facilities with less walls and increased hard surface areas for chess spaces.

(1) Background: Urban parks play a critical role in conserving biodiversity within city landscapes, yet the effects of fine-scale microhabitat heterogeneity remain poorly understood. This study examines how land cover and vegetation unit type within parks influence butterfly diversity. (2) Methods: From July to September 2019 and June to September 2020, adult butterflies were surveyed in 27 urban parks across Beijing. We classified vegetation into units based on vertical structure and management intensity, and then applied the patch–matrix framework and landscape metrics to quantify fine-scale heterogeneity in vegetation unit composition and configuration. Generalized linear models (GLM), generalized additive models (GAM), and random forest (RF) models were applied to identify factors influencing butterfly richness (Chao1 index) and abundance. (3) Results: In total, 10,462 individuals representing 37 species, 28 genera, and five families were recorded. Model results revealed that the proportion of park area covered by spontaneous herbaceous areas (SHA), wooded spontaneous meadows (WSM), and the Shannon diversity index (SHDI) of vegetation units were positively associated with butterfly species richness. In contrast, butterfly abundance was primarily influenced by the proportion of park area covered by cultivated meadows (CM) and overall green-space coverage. (4) Conclusions: Fine-scale vegetation patch composition within urban parks significantly influences butterfly diversity. Our findings support applying the patch–matrix framework at intra-park scales and suggest that integrating spontaneous herbaceous zones—especially wooded spontaneous meadows—with managed flower-rich meadows will enhance butterfly diversity in urban parks.

Simulating the change in ecosystem service values (ESVs) caused by land use changes in metropolitan areas under multiple scenarios is of great significance to ensure regional ecological security and sustainable urban development. This study assessed the variations in land use and ESV in the main urban area of Hangzhou, China, from 2000 to 2020. A total of four future land use scenarios for 2030 were created using the cellular automata–Markov prediction model and ESVs were calculated for four future scenarios. The results are as follows: (1) Arable land and construction land were the most drastic types of land use changes in the main urban area of Hangzhou during the study period. From 2000 to 2020, construction land in the main urban area of Hangzhou expanded rapidly, with an increase of 46,916.82 hm², while the cultivated land area decreased significantly by 38,396.43 hm². (2) The ESV in the study area continuously declined from 2000 to 2020, with high-value ecosystem service areas predominantly found in forest areas and water areas. (3) The values of ecosystem services under the simulated future scenarios of natural development, rapid development, planned development, and ecological development were CNY 15.053, 14.525, 16.690, and 16.799 billion, respectively. The planned development and ecological development scenarios effectively ensure a high ESV. The results indicated that balancing various types of land use is essential to guarantee ecological security in urban development. Moreover, urban development and construction should be undertaken in areas with a low ESV. This forecasting study can serve as a key reference for policy makers regarding the urban landscape sustainability of Hangzhou City. The integrated simulation method of land use and ESV proposed in this study can shed light on the urban spatial layout and spatial regulation in urban land use planning.

With the acceleration of urbanization, urban parks play a critical role in protecting biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem stability. As environmental indicator species, butterflies exhibit high sensitivity to environmental changes and anthropogenic disturbances, making them ideal subjects for studying urbanization's impacts on biodiversity. This study focuses on the effects of spatial heterogeneity in the surrounding matrix and its interaction with park resources on butterfly diversity in urban parks. Using Harbin City in Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China, as the study area, we collected data on butterfly species richness and park characteristics from 44 urban parks. Spatial heterogeneity was quantified through landscape metrics across eight spatial scales (100–2500 m), and generalized linear mixed models were employed to analyze butterfly community responses to park characteristics and landscape patterns (composition and configuration) at multiple spatial scales. The results identified 38 butterfly species and 12,885 individuals in Harbin's urban area, with significantly higher species richness in urban fringe zones compared to the city center. Heterogeneity indicators across different spatial scales showed complex relationships with butterfly communities. Butterfly community structure and composition demonstrated highest sensitivity to landscape heterogeneity at 100 and 200 m scales, with optimal model explanatory power for richness, abundance, and diversity being 67.8%, 81.1%, and 38.8% respectively. Key predictors exhibited hierarchical differentiation: richness was primarily positively driven by flowering plant richness and distance from the city center, while being significantly suppressed by park perimeter‐area ratio and built‐up land patch proportion; abundance was core‐driven by flowering plant richness, patch quantity, and patch proximity; diversity relied on the synergistic effects of grassland patch proportion and plant diversity. This study confirms that under intensive urbanization, coordinated management of intra‐park habitat resources and surrounding landscape heterogeneity can significantly mitigate urban development‐induced butterfly diversity decline, providing a multi‐scale planning framework for establishing a “patch‐matrix” linkage ecological regulation system in high‐latitude cold‐region cities.

Preserving the authenticity of forest colors is essential to highlight regional characteristics and promote the sustainable development of forest landscapes. However, the factors and mechanisms influencing forest color remain unclear. We quantified 1422 forest color images from 43 parks across seven biogeographic regions in China to capture the forest color composition among regions. A generalized linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the effects of meteorological and anthropogenic disturbance factors on forest color. Meteorological factors included accumulated sunshine hours, average temperature, accumulated precipitation, frost-free period, average wind speed, and average air quality index. Anthropogenic disturbance factors included park feature indicators (area, elevation, and perimeter-area ratio) and human activity indicators (distance to urban areas, building density, and road density). We calculated p-values and relative effect estimates to determine the sensitivity and degree of sensitivity of color to each factor. The results indicated the following: (1) forest color composition varied significantly among different regions in China with variations observed particularly in the proportions of primary (green), secondary (yellow and yellow-green), and accent colors (orange and blue-green); (2) forest colors were sensitive to all meteorological factors; (3) orange, yellow, purple, and red were all sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance factors; and (4) forest accent colors were more strongly influenced by anthropogenic disturbance factors, particularly park features. To protect the authenticity of forest colors, it is necessary to avoid excessive borrowing of forest color schemes from different regions, control park features, reduce building area within the park buffer zones, and optimize park tourism routes.