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Publications

Journal Articles

Strengthening Protected Areas for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in China

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PNAS, 2017

Significance
Following severe environmental degradation from rapid economic development, China is now advancing policies to secure biodiversity and ecosystem services. We report the first nationwide assessment, showing that protected areas (PAs) are not well delineated to protect either biodiversity or key ecosystem services. This serious deficiency exists in many countries. We propose creating a national park system in China to help guide development along a path of green growth, improving the well-being of both people and nature. This involves establishing new, strictly protected PAs for biodiversity and ecosystem services that are highly sensitive to human impacts, as well as a new PA category—in China and ideally worldwide—for integrating biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human activities to achieve sustainable development goals.

Abstract
Recent expansion of the scale of human activities poses severe threats to Earth’s life-support systems. Increasingly, protected areas (PAs) are expected to serve dual goals: protect biodiversity and secure ecosystem services. We report a nationwide assessment for China, quantifying the provision of threatened species habitat and four key regulating services—water retention, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, and carbon sequestration—in nature reserves (the primary category of PAs in China). We find that China’s nature reserves serve moderately well for mammals and birds, but not for other major taxa, nor for these key regulating ecosystem services. China’s nature reserves encompass 15.1% of the country’s land surface. They capture 17.9% and 16.4% of the entire habitat area for threatened mammals and birds, but only 13.1% for plants, 10.0% for amphibians, and 8.5% for reptiles. Nature reserves encompass only 10.2–12.5% of the source areas for the four key regulating services. They are concentrated in western China, whereas much threatened species’ habitat and regulating service source areas occur in eastern provinces. Our analysis illuminates a strategy for greatly strengthening PAs, through creating the first comprehensive national park system of China. This would encompass both nature reserves, in which human activities are highly restricted, and a new category of PAs for ecosystem services, in which human activities not impacting key services are permitted. This could close the gap in a politically feasible way. We also propose a new category of PAs globally, for sustaining the provision of ecosystems services and achieving sustainable development goals.

Journal Articles

Improvements in Ecosystem Services From Investments in Natural Capital

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PNAS, 2017

Journal Articles

The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on the Matriculation of Junior High School Students to Rural China’s High Schools

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Journal of Development Effectiveness, 2017

Journal Articles

Formulating a List of Sites of Waterbird Conservation Significance to Contribute to China’s Ecological Protection Red Line

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Bird Conservation International, 2017

Working Papers

The Effect of Maternal Migration on Early Childhood Development in Rural China

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Working Paper, 2016

Working Papers

Parental Behavior and Social-Emotional Development among Infants in Rural Shaanxi Province, China

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Working Paper, 2016

Journal Articles

The Gender Gap Among School Children in Poor Rural Areas of Western China: Evidence From a Multi-Province Dataset

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International Journal of Equity in Health, 2016

Journal Articles

More is not always better: evidence from a randomised experiment of computer-assisted learning in rural minority schools in Qinghai

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Journal of Development Effectiveness, 2016

Journal Articles

Trends and determinants of rural residential solid waste collection services in China

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China Economic Agricultural Review, 2016

Journal Articles

Inequities in the Allocation of Medical Resources in China's Township Health Centers

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China Agricultural Economic Review , 2016

Journal Articles

陕南农村地区6~12 月龄婴儿贫血的风险因素分析

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中国当代儿科杂志 (Chinese Contemporary Pediatrics Journal), 2016

Journal Articles

The New Rural Social Pension Program in Rural China: Participation and its Correlates

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China Agricultural Economic Review, 2016

Journal Articles

The Retirement Consumption Puzzle Revisited: Evidence from the Mandatory Retirement Policy in China

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Journal of Comparative Economics, 2016

Journal Articles

Impact of Text Message Reminders on Caregivers’ Adherence to a Home Fortification Program Against Child Anemia in Rural Western China: a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

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AJPH Research, 2016

Journal Articles

Gender and Off-farm Employment: Evidence from Rural China

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China and World Economy, 2016

Journal Articles

Who are China's Rural Clinicians?

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China Agricultural Economic Review, 2016

Journal Articles

Adult child migration and elderly parental health in rural China

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China Economic Agricultural Review, 2016

Journal Articles

Implementation of Teacher Training in China and Its Policy Implications

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China & World Economy, 2016

Journal Articles

Educational Expectations and Dropout Behavior among Junior High Students in Rural China

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China & World Economy, 2016

Journal Articles

Can Social–Emotional Learning Reduce School Dropout in Developing Countries?

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Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2016

Journal Articles

To Board or Not to Board: Evidence from Nutrition, Health and Education Outcomes of Students in Rural China

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China & World Economy, 2016

Journal Articles

Maternal Health Services in China’s Western Rural Areas: Uptake and Correlates

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China Agricultural Economic Review, 2016

Journal Articles

Effects of Parental Migration on Mental Health of Left-Behind Children: Evidence from Northwestern China

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China & World Economy, 2016

Journal Articles

Habitat Conservation Redlines for the Giant Pandas in China

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Biological Conservation, 2016

Journal Articles

Impact of a Teacher Incentive on Children’s Use of Eyeglasses: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

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American Journal of Ophthalmology, 2016