Journal of Geographical Sciences ›› 2023, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (8): 1614-1630.doi: 10.1007/s11442-023-2145-3

• Special Issue: Human-environment interactions and Ecosystems • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal patterns of human and wild boar conflicts in rural China and its implications for social-ecological systems coevolution

WANG Yahui1,2(), YANG Aoxi1,2, YANG Qingyuan1,2, KONG Xiangbin3,4, FAN Hui5,*()   

  1. 1. School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
    2. New Liberal Arts Laboratory for Sustainable Development in Rural Western China, Chongqing 400715, China
    3. College of Land Sciences and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    4. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Land Quality and Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100193, China
    5. Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
  • Received:2023-05-29 Accepted:2023-06-30 Online:2023-08-25 Published:2023-08-29
  • Contact: * Fan Hui (1972-), PhD and Professor, E-mail: fanhui@ynu.edu.cn
  • About author:Wang Yahui (1989-), PhD and Associate Professor, specialized in land use change. E-mail: wangyh1210@swu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(42271263);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41901232);National Natural Science Foundation of China(42071234);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41971239);Major Project of National Social Science Foundation of China(19ZDA096);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(SWU-KT22008);Innovation Research 2035 Pilot Plan of Southwest University(SWUPilotPlan031)

Abstract:

In the context of social and economic transformation in rural China, ecosystem disservices have emerged frequently. This study reveals the spatiotemporal patterns, hazards and driving factors of wild boar damage from 2000 to 2021 by using the meta-analysis and collecting 733 typical human and wild boar conflicts. In this period, the number, spatial scope and hazard degree of wild boar damage incidents showed an increasing trend, and the number of provincial-level regions, prefecture-level cities and districts (counties) involved increased from 18, 41 and 67 to 25, 147 and 399, respectively. Wild boar damage incidents were concentrated in Chongqing municipality and central and western Hubei province before 2005, and then expanded to the Sichuan Basin, Loess Plateau, middle-lower reaches of Yangtze River and mountainous areas such as Changbai Mountains after 2015. The main manifestations were destroying crops, infringing poultry and causing casualties, especially the destruction of crops and farmland abandonment, accompanied by a rapid increase in casualties, accounting for 23.66% of the damage incidents. Meanwhile, the spreading trend and harmfulness of wild boar damage is a typical phenomenon of ecosystem disservices. The aggravation of this phenomenon is the result of ecological restoration, hunting ban policy, unclear boundary between agricultural land and ecological land, strong viability of wild boar and lack of natural enemies. This has posed an obvious threat to the use of abandoned farmland, the improvement of farmers’ livelihood and the maintenance of regional ecological security. It is urgent to formulate a policy of controlling the number of wild boars and establish a compensation mechanism for the loss by wild boars.

Key words: human and wild boar conflicts, spatiotemporal patterns, meta-analysis method, ecosystem disservices, social-ecological systems, China