Data for: Transboundary conservation hotspots in China and potential impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative

Aim: Biodiversity hotspots often span international borders, thus conservation efforts must as well. China is one of the most biodiverse countries and the length of its international land borders is the longest in the world; thus, there is a strong need for transboundary conservation. We identify China's transboundary conservation hotspots and analyze the potential effects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on them to provide recommendations for conservation actions. Location: China, Asia Methods: We compiled a species list of terrestrial vertebrates that span China's borders. Using their distribution, we extracted the top 30% of the area with the highest richness value weighted by Red List category and considered these transboundary hotspots for conservation priority. Then we analyzed protected area (PA) coverage and connectivity to identify conservation gaps. To measure the potential impact of the BRI, we counted the species whose distribution range is traversed by the BRI and calculated the aggregation index, proportion of natural land, and night light index along its routes. Results: We identified 1,964 terrestrial vertebrate species living in the border region. We identified four transboundary hotspots and found insufficient PA coverage and low connectivity in three of them. The BRI routes intersected all four hotspots and traversed 82.4% (1,619/1,964) of the transboundary species, half of which (918) are sensitive to the potential risks brought by the BRI. Night light index increased generally along the BRI. However, the proportion of natural land and the aggregation index near the BRI showed different trends in hotspots. Main conclusions: There is an urgent need for conservation action in China's transboundary region. The BRI should put biodiversity conservation at the core of its development strategy. Furthermore, we suggest using the planned BRI as a platform for dialogue and consultation, knowledge and data sharing, and joint planning to promote transboundary conservation.研究目的：生物多样性热点区域往往跨越国境，因此保护工作也需跨越国界。中国是全球生物多样性最丰富的国家之一，其陆地国境线长度位居世界第一，因此跨境保护需求极为迫切。本研究旨在识别中国的跨境保护热点区域，并分析“一带一路”倡议（Belt and Road Initiative, BRI）对这些区域的潜在影响，以期为保护行动提供建议。 研究区域：中国，亚洲 研究方法：本研究首先整理了跨越中国国境的陆生脊椎动物物种名录。基于这些物种的分布数据，提取以濒危物种红色名录（Red List）等级加权后的物种丰富度最高的前30%区域，将其作为跨境保护优先热点区域。随后分析保护地（protected area, PA）覆盖情况与连通性，以识别保护空缺。为量化“一带一路”倡议的潜在影响，本研究统计了分布范围途经“一带一路”倡议线路的物种，并计算沿线的聚集指数、自然土地占比与夜间灯光指数。 研究结果：本研究共识别出1964种栖息于边境区域的陆生脊椎动物，确定了4处跨境保护热点区域，其中3处区域的保护地覆盖不足且连通性较低。“一带一路”倡议线路覆盖全部4处热点区域，途经82.4%（1619/1964）的跨境物种，其中半数（918种）对“一带一路”倡议带来的潜在风险较为敏感。沿线夜间灯光指数整体呈上升趋势，但热点区域内“一带一路”沿线的自然土地占比与聚集指数呈现出不同的变化趋势。 主要结论：中国边境区域亟需开展保护行动。“一带一路”倡议应将生物多样性保护纳入其发展战略的核心位置。此外，本研究建议以规划中的“一带一路”倡议为平台，开展对话协商、知识与数据共享以及联合规划，以推动跨境保护工作。