Water-Regulating Ecosystem Services (WRES) play a crucial role in maintaining water quality and preventing soil erosion, particularly in watershed areas that are vulnerable to Land Use Land Cover Changes (LULCC) and climate change. This study focuses on the Upper Beht Watershed, the most ecologically significant basin of the Ifrane National Park (INP). The main objective is to understand how WRES values respond to the challenges posed by grasslands degradation, agricultural intensification, and urban expansion before and after the park's creation. In this research, we first analyzed historical Land Use Land Cover (LULC) data from 1992 to 2022 using Google Earth Engine platform. We then employed the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST 3.10.2) models to quantify and map the impacts of ongoing LULCC on the watershed's capacity to retain sediments and nutrients. Finally, we used the damage costs avoided method for economic assessment of WRES. Our findings demonstrate a notable improvement in the economic value of WRES following the establishment of the park, reaching USD 10,000 per year. In contrast, prior to its creation, this service experienced a decline of USD -7000 per year. This positive trend can be attributed to the expansion of forest cover in areas prioritized for reforestation and conservation interventions. The study highlights the critical importance of continuous WRES monitoring, providing park managers with robust data to advocate for sustained conservation efforts and increased investment in restoration initiatives within protected areas. Moreover, the findings can be used to raise awareness among local communities and encourage their active engagement in sustainable development initiatives.

In landscapes with high elephant density, trees often exhibit more open canopies with fewer branches and foliage due to browsing pressure. This can result in altered tree morphology, with trees exhibiting stunted growth, multiple stems or unusual branching patterns in response to repeated damage from browsing. The objectives of this research were to (i) model the vegetation structure allometries, (ii) assess the impact of African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) herbivory on the vegetation structure and (iii) assess tree cover change and vegetation performance over time in Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe. We established 26 plots of 30 x 30 m size. Selection of sampling plots was done following several steps. First, a fish net grid with 30 x 30 m polygons was created and projected on the polygon of Mana Pools National Park. The polygons for exclusion zones were then clipped from the fish net grid using the clip tool in ArcGIS Pro 3.0. Then, selection of sampling plots was done initially by stratified random sampling using the Sampling Design Tool add in for ArcGIS Pro 3.0. Landsat images for the years 2003, 2013 and 2023 were used to assess land use land cover (LULC) time series and to calculate Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) for the period. A generalised linear model (GLM) was used to analyse tree allometries. Further statistical investigations were performed using Bayesian piecewise regression (BPR) and Bayesian regression modelling (BRM). Basal area, number of stems, height, long canopy, diameter and basal circumference were all significantly different (p < 0.05) across all sampled plots. The change in growing conditions occurring as a tree grows beyond the reach of the African savannah elephant browsing indicates a natural system breakpoint. The best-fitting models were a simple linear model and a two breakpoint model for the plant population exposed to elephant herbivory. LULC, NDVI and SAVI confirm evidence of high tree regeneration over 2 decades. Understanding the dynamics in vegetation and LULC changes is critical for effective conservation and management of the habitats for African savannah elephants, as well as for maintaining the health and resilience of forest ecosystems.

The carbon stock stored within the biomass of tree species is vital in the forest ecosystem as it contributes significantly to the carbon balance. In addition, the physicochemical properties of soil play a critical role in influencing overall ecosystem health. In the present study the carbon stock and influence of seasonal change on soil physicochemical properties along soil depths in the Shivpuri Nagarjun National Park (SNNP), Nepal were analyzed. The above-ground biomass carbon stock was found to be 227.09 t/ha and below-ground stock was 45.42 t/ha. Tree species Castanopsis tribuloides exhibited the highest values of above and below-ground tree carbon stock. The soil of the study site was sandy loam and slightly acidic. High temperature and moisture in the monsoon season were followed by an increased bulk density during the pre-monsoon with deeper soil layers. The sand, silt, and clay contents did not differ significantly across the seasons and depths. The key soil nutrients, like carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were high during the monsoon season at the topsoil layer, which gradually declined with increasing depth in all seasons. The study highlights that the total tree carbon stock in the study site is 272.51 t/ha, with significant seasonal and depth-related variations in soil attributes. The monsoon season, characterized by maximum soil moisture and higher concentrations of essential soil components, is crucial in influencing soil physicochemical properties and offers important insights for forest conservation and management.

Termite mounds are keystone structures in African savannas, affecting multiple ecosystem processes. Despite the large size of termite mounds having the potential to modify conditions around them, patterns of mound-induced ecosystem effects have been assumed to be isotropic, with little attention given to how effects might vary around mounds. We measured soil nitrogen content, grass species composition, and mammalian grazing on and off termite mounds in the four cardinal directions, and across wet and dry seasons at three savanna sites varying in mean annual rainfall in South Africa's Kruger National Park. Evidence of directional effects (anisotropy) on ecosystem properties around termite mounds varied with site. Grass species composition differed between north- and south-facing slopes at the two drier sites where mounds were taller. However, differences in grazing extent and soil nitrogen content around mounds were only present at the intermediate rainfall site where mammalian herbivore biomass was highest, and mounds were of medium height. Our results suggest that termite mound effects display significant variation with direction, but that the emergence of directional effects is context dependent. Our results further suggest that such context-dependent directional effects can lead to positive feedback loops between termites, abiotic conditions, and mammalian herbivores.

The conversion of natural areas into agricultural land has increased human-wildlife interactions, often resulting in crop damage. This study focuses on the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), which thrives in landscapes where well-preserved, naturally-vegetated public and private lands are juxtaposed with agricultural fields. We investigated the habitat use and selection of four herds of white-lipped peccaries in a landscape mosaic along the southern border of Emas National Park in the Cerrado biome of Brazil. Our findings reveal that white-lipped peccaries prefer both corn plantations and gallery forests as habitats. Through high-frequency GPS telemetry, we observed a strong tendency to turn when herds were in agricultural areas and gallery forests, indicating feeding behavior. On the other hand, they typically move in straight lines for long distances when traversing bare soil fields and native Cerrado vegetation, suggesting they are merely passing through these habitats. The extensive feeding on corn crops in agricultural fields has resulted in significant financial losses for producers, leading to a conflict between white-lipped peccaries and landowners. Understanding the movement dynamics of the species and their intensive use of both private and public lands can aid in the development of management strategies that minimize or eliminate crop losses while ensuring the survival of this vulnerable species in landscapes comprising agricultural fields and native habitats.

Since 2020, the first national park of China, the Sanjiangyuan National Park (Park) has been put into operation in China. This Park is one of the most vulnerable regions to the rapid climate change in the Tibetan Plateau. There have not been any investigations into the current status of the glacier resources in the Park so far. This study reported the first summary of the glaciers in the Park at present and their variations since the 1960s. The data used here come from the two Chinese Glacier Inventories finished during 1969-1970 and 2006-2010, respectively, and the remote-sensing images during 1985-1990, 1995-2000 and 2018. The total glacier area in the Park is 772 km2 to our best estimate, much less than 2342 km2 reported in the first Chinese Glacier Inventory published in 2009. The shrinkage rate of the glaciers in the Yangtze River Park (a sub-park) had slowed from -0.37% per year during the 1970s to -0.09% per year during 2002-2012 in area, while that in the Lancang River Park had sped up from -0.34% per year during 1968-2000 to -0.67% per year during 2000-2018. There are no glaciers in the Yellow River Park (a sub-park). The change in the glaciers was related to the regional relatively rapidly warming and insufficient mass supply from precipitation. The geographic features of the glaciers in the Yangtze and Lancang Parks also lead to their different change extents, most of which happened at 5500 m a.s.l. and below.

Trails created by off-road vehicles (ORV) in boreal lowlands are known to cause local impacts, such as denuded vegetation, soil erosion, and permafrost thaw, but impacts on stream and watershed processes are less certain. In Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST), Alaska, ORV trails have caused local resource damage in intermountain lowlands with permafrost soils and abundant wetlands and there is a need to know whether these impacts are more extensive. Comparison of aerial photography from 1957, 1981, and 2004 coupled with ground surveys in 2009 reveal an increase in trail length and number and show an upslope expansion of a trail system around points of stream channel initiation. We hypothesized that these impacts could also cause premature initiation and headward expansion of channels because of lowered soil resistance and greater runoff accumulation as trails migrate upslope. Soil monitoring showed earlier and deeper thaw of the active layer in and adjacent to trails compared to reference sites. Several rainfall-runoff events during the summer of 2009 showed increased and sustained flow accumulation below trail crossings and channel shear forces sufficient to cause headward erosion of silt and peat soils. These observations of trail evolution relative to stream and wetland crossings together with process studies suggest that ORV trails are altering watershed processes. These changes in watershed processes appear to result in increasing drainage density and may also alter downstream flow regimes, water quality, and aquatic habitat. Addressing local land-use disturbances in boreal and arctic parklands with permafrost soils, such as WRST, where responses to climate change may be causing concurrent shifts in watershed processes, represents an important challenge facing resource managers.