Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41667474›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Enhanced forest carbon gains from stronger protection in China's protected areas.

Yuwen Fu, Wang Li, Zheng Niu, Fang Chen, Bing Zhang, Hailang Qiao, Li Wang, Jens-Christian Svenning

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Yuwen Fu *State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Wang Li *State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. liwang@aircas.ac.cn.ORCID 0000-0003-1330-2019
Zheng NiuState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Fang ChenUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. chenfang@radi.ac.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-4410-7040
Bing ZhangState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0003-0319-7753
Hailang QiaoBureau of Major R&D Programs Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Li WangState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-2929-4255
Jens-Christian SvenningCenter for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0002-3415-0862

Funding

Danish National Research FoundationHumboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced ResearchersInnovation Cooperation Program Under National Key Research and Development PlanNational Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42522106; 42171369Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) are central to China's forest conservation strategy, yet their effectiveness for carbon storage across governance and management contexts remains unclear. A clearer understanding of their current and future carbon benefits is essential for informing conservation and climate policy. Here, using 1-km GEDI satellite data, we show that forests within China's PAs store on average 68.29 ± 0.17 Mg C ha⁻¹ - about 13% more than matched unprotected forests. Carbon gains are highest in national parks (18.19 ± 0.69 Mg C ha⁻¹) and in managed naturally regenerating forests (9.85 ± 0.36 Mg C ha⁻¹), although some PA categories underperform. To assess future potential, we integrate GEDI observations with CMIP6 climate projections and find that under the high-emission SSP5-8.5 climate scenario, strongly protected areas could retain an additional ~600 ± 36.39 Tg C by 2100. These results show that strong protection and optimized management substantially enhance China's carbon sink, offering major opportunities for climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation.

Indexed as

CarbonCarbon SequestrationConservation of Natural ResourcesForestsBiodiversityChinaClimate ChangeTreesCarbon

Identifiers

PMID41667474
PMCPMC13003152

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.