M. alternatus is considered to be an important and effective insect vector for the spread of the important international forest quarantine pest, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The precise determination of potential suitable areas of M. alternatus is essential to monitor, prevent, and control M. alternatus worldwide. According to the distribution points and climatic variables, the optimized MaxEnt model and ArcGIS were used to predict the current and future potentially suitable areas of M. alternatus worldwide. The optimized MaxEnt model parameters were set as feature combination (FC) = LQHP and β = 1.5, which were determined by the values of AUC_diff, OR₁₀, and ΔAICc. Bio2, Bio6, Bio10, Bio12, and Bio14 were the dominant bioclimatic variables affecting the distribution of M. alternatus. Under the current climate conditions, the potentially suitable habitats of M. alternatus were distributed across all continents except Antarctica, accounting for 4.17% of the Earth’s total land area. Under future climate scenarios, the potentially suitable habitats of M. alternatus increased significantly, spreading to a global scale. The results of this study could provide a theoretical basis for the risk analysis of the global distribution and dispersal of M. alternatus as well as the precise monitoring and prevention of this beetle.

Low-cost activated carbons were prepared from waste polyurethane foam by physical activation with CO₂ for the first time and chemical activation with Ca(OH)₂, NaOH, or KOH. The activation conditions were optimized to produce microporous carbons with high CO₂ adsorption capacity and CO₂/N₂ selectivity. The sample prepared by physical activation showed CO₂/N₂ selectivity of up to 24, much higher than that of chemical activation. This is mainly due to the narrower microporosity and the rich N content produced during the physical activation process. However, physical activation samples showed inferior textural properties compared to chemical activation samples and led to a lower CO₂ uptake of 3.37 mmol·g⁻¹ at 273 K. Porous carbons obtained by chemical activation showed a high CO₂ uptake of 5.85 mmol·g⁻¹ at 273 K, comparable to the optimum activated carbon materials prepared from other wastes. This is mainly attributed to large volumes of ultra-micropores (<1 nm) up to 0.212 cm³·g⁻¹ and a high surface area of 1360 m²·g⁻¹. Furthermore, in consideration of the presence of fewer contaminants, lower weight losses of physical activation samples, and the excellent recyclability of both physical- and chemical-activated samples, the waste polyurethane foam-based carbon materials exhibited potential application prospects in CO₂ capture.

The measurement of physical traits of animals is an important topic in animal ecology and wildlife management, but it is quite difficult to achieve an acceptable level of accuracy, especially for free‐ranging wild animals. As a non‐invasive method, camera trapping has become a common tool for detecting and monitoring wild animals. In this study, we combined camera‐trapping images and a photogrammetry technique to present a camera trap‐based photogrammetric estimation (CTPE) approach for robust measurement of morphological traits of animals. We first tested our method in a captive population of fallow deer (Dama dama) and compared the estimated shoulder heights by CTPE with corresponding hand measurements. The results revealed a remarkable accuracy, with an expected measurement error within ± 5 cm. Second, we mainly demonstrated a field application of CTPE in a wild population of Altai wapiti (Cervus elaphus sibiricus) in the Kanas National Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China. For wapiti, we found that the average shoulder height of males was 135 ± 9 cm (mean ± sd, n = 30) and that of females was 125 ± 6 cm (n = 37), with all data significantly fitting a normal distribution. We did not find any differences in CTPE results among cameras, between photograph types (colour vs. black and white) or temperatures. No significant difference existed between our results and the hand‐measured shoulder heights of wapiti from deer farms. Finally, we discussed the strengths, limitations and potential extensions of the method. We suggest that the combination of camera trapping and the photogrammetry technique is quite promising and that CTPE has great potential in wildlife field investigations.

As a globally invasive quarantine pest, the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, is spreading rapidly, posing serious threats against agricultural and forestry production and biosecurity. In recent years, the niche conservatism hypothesis has been widely debated, which is particularly evident in invasive biology research. Identifying the niche dynamics of P. solenopsis, as well as assessing its global invasion risk, is of both theoretical and practical importance. Based on 462 occurrence points and 19 bioclimatic variables, we used n-dimensional hypervolume analysis to quantify the multidimensional climatic niche of this pest in both its native and invasive ranges. We examined niche conservatism and further optimized the MaxEnt model parameters to predict the global invasion risk of P. solenopsis under both current and future climate conditions. Our findings indicated that the niche hypervolume of this pest in invasive ranges was significantly larger than that in its native ranges, with 99.45% of the niche differentiation contributed by niche expansion, with the remaining less than 1% explained by space replacement. Niche expansion was most evident in Oceania and Eurasia. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.83) and true skill statistic (0.62) indicated the model’s robust performance. The areas of suitable habitats for P. solenopsis are increasing significantly and the northward spread is obvious in future climate change scenarios. North Africa, northern China, Mediterranean regions, and northern Europe had an increased invasion risk of P. solenopsis. This study provided scientific support for the early warning and control of P. solenopsis.

Carposina sasakii Matsumura is a significant lepidopteran pest in the Carposinidae family, inflicting substantial damage on stone and pome fruit trees such as jujube, peach, and apple. Using MaxEnt, we assessed the worldwide climatic suitability for C. sasakii and its key environmental drivers, evaluating how climate change impacts dispersal risks. Integrating global occurrence records with 37 environmental variables, the model (AUC = 0.982) quantitatively identifies July precipitation (prec7), minimum average temperatures in April and August (tmin4 and tmin8, respectively), and maximum average temperature in May (tmax5) as critical distribution determinants. Among these, prec7 exhibits the highest contribution (threshold approximately 370 mm). The current suitable habitat spans 10.39 × 10² km², concentrated predominantly in East Asia’s temperate monsoon zone (eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan) and southern North America. Under future climate scenarios, the high-emission pathway (SSP585) will reduce highly suitable areas, while moderately suitable zones expand coastward. In contrast, SSP370 projects a significant, albeit phased, habitat increase with a 19.61% growth rate. Precipitation regimes and extreme temperatures jointly regulate niche differentiation in C. sasakii, whose range shifts toward Southeast Asia and suboptimal regions in Europe and America, underscoring cascading climate change effects. These findings provide a scientific basis for transnational monitoring, early warning systems, and regional ecological governance.