Forest ecosystems are in serious trouble globally, largely due to the over-exploitation. To alleviate environmental problems caused by deforestation, China has undertaken a series of key forestry ecological development programs, including the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP), the Conversion of Cropland into Forests Program (CCFP), the Desertification Combating Program around Beijing and Tianjing (DCBT), the Key Shelterbelt Development Programs in the Three-North Region and in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River (KSDP) and the Nature Reserve Development Program in Forestry Sector (WCNR). This article aims to make a documentation of the specific contents (duration, major aims, geographic coverage and investment), and environmental impacts of these programs from peer-reviewed literature, official reports and journals. Environmental impact is measured with land area afforested (except the WCNR) and the consequent changes in ecosystem function. Overall, with the huge investment and long-term efforts, these programs have made tremendous progress in increasing vegetative coverage, enhancing carbon sequestration, controlling soil erosion, conservation of biodiversity, etc. For proper implementation and remarkable achievement, a more balanced approach with flexible planning, suitable measures and proper management should be adopted. Meanwhile, the scientific communities need to be more actively involved in execution and assessment of these programs. The environmental impact of the DCBT, the KSDP, and the WCNR deserve more research concern.

Asexual propagules are the dominant means of propagation in most submerged macrophytes. To improve the understanding of how water nutrient concentrations and population density influence the turion production of Potamogeton crispus L., the turions were planted in mesocosms with three water nutrient conditions (ambient lake water, high P and high N) and two plant density levels (4 and 15 turions m⁻²). After a 9-month experiment, the +P in the water column significantly increased the total turion number per plant under both of the plant density treatments. However, the +N in the water column did not affect the turion number per plant under low plant density. The +P in the water and high plant density significantly reduced the turion individual biomass. An examination of 3210 turion individuals from all treatments revealed that the increased water nutrient concentrations and plant density impacted the turion size by producing different stem diameters of individual turions. Most of the scale leaf morphological traits of the turions were significantly increased under higher water nutrients, but these traits were similar between the different plant density treatments. These results demonstrate that the water P concentration interacts with plant density, affecting both the production and traits of turions.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework puts forward a new conservation target to enhance urban biodiversity. Cities have a great potential for sustaining biodiversity and nurturing a healthy relationship between people and our nearest nature. It is especially important in developing countries such as China, which has a rich biodiversity and a rapidly growing urban population. Using citizen science data, we show that 48% of the national bird diversity and 42% of its threatened species have been recorded in the top-20 most avian-diverse cities of China. Urban bird diversity hotspots clustered along the eastern coast, indicating the importance of establishing an inter-city conservation network along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. This urban conservation network would be a starting point to promote social recognition of biodiversity’s relational value in a country with a vast population and an increasingly important role in meeting UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Potamogeton crispus is widely used in submerged macrophyte restoration in China. Turions are an important means of reproduction in this species. To compare the regeneration abilities of P. crispus turions in macrophyte- and phytoplankton-dominated lakes, we collected P. crispus turions from a macrophyte-dominated lake (Liangzi Lake) and a phytoplankton-dominated lake (Taihu Lake). Both lakes are important lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Our field survey revealed that the turions from the phytoplankton-dominated lake had smaller sizes and higher concentrations of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) than did those from the macrophyte-dominated lake. Rapid sprouting of the turions from the phytoplankton-dominated lake in 32 days was observed under experimental conditions, although the sprout sizes (heights and biomass) were smaller than those from the macrophyte-dominated lake. Compared with sprouted turions from macrophyte-dominated lake, the sprouted turions from the phytoplankton-dominated lake accumulated higher soluble sugar (SS) but lower starch and free amino acid (FAA) concentrations. A 12-day interval sprout removal treatment significantly stimulated the re-sprouting of turions from both lakes, but scale-leaf-removal treatments had no effect. This study provides evidence that the regeneration strategies of P. crispus turions differ in macrophyte- and phytoplankton-dominated lakes.