Journal of Environmental Management最新文献

{"title":"Impacts of inter-basin water transfer on reservoir storage and regional drought characteristics","authors":"Ruixuan Zhao,&nbsp;Yanping Qu,&nbsp;Tianliang Jiang,&nbsp;Xiaojing Yang,&nbsp;Hao Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.130947","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.130947","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Middle Route Project of the South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD-MRP) is an important measure for alleviating water scarcity in central and northern China. To clarify the regulatory effects of inter-basin water transfer on reservoir droughts in both water intake and receiving regions, this study reconstructs a daily reservoir storage dataset for 1990-2024 using multi-source remote sensing data. A Remote Sensing-based High-Resolution Reservoir Drought Index (RS-HRDI) is developed to identify drought events, and copula functions are applied to examine drought characteristics, spatial heterogeneity, and the evolution of joint drought probabilities before and after project commissioning across the water intake (Danjiangkou Reservoir) and receiving sub-regions (a, b, and c). The results show that, after project commissioning, drought responses in the receiving regions are weaker than those in the water intake, and the frequency of drought events lasting longer than 15 days decreases. In addition, the joint drought probability declines from 2.83%-6.12% to 0.18%-0.51%, while the regional drought dependence structure shifts from the Clayton copula to the Gumbel copula. These changes suggest that the spatial propagation of drought signals is weakened after project commissioning and are consistent with a reduced risk of drought events lasting longer than 15 days in the receiving regions. Overall, these findings provide scientific support for drought risk management and the coordinated operation of inter-basin water transfer systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 130947"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydroclimatic associations with vegetation resilience in China's Loess Plateau","authors":"Yiqian Sun,&nbsp;Xiaoming Feng,&nbsp;Xutong Wu,&nbsp;Zhuangzhuang Wang,&nbsp;Bojie Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131054","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding how recovery-related vegetation resilience varies along hydroclimatic gradients is important for evaluating vegetation sustainability in water-limited regions. Here, using satellite-derived vegetation indices and resilience metrics derived from critical slowing down theory, we assessed the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of recovery-related vegetation resilience across China's Loess Plateau (LP) from 2000 to 2023 and examined how these patterns and dynamics relate to hydroclimatic conditions. Regional mean resilience shows vegetation-type-specific non-monotonic dynamics: forest resilience fluctuates after an initial increase and declines after 2014–2015, whereas grassland resilience peaks around 2010 before declining. Despite these regional-mean phase shifts, pixel-level resilience remains generally stable. Spatially, areas of relatively high resilience within each vegetation type occur mainly in forest interiors and in grasslands of the east-central LP and western highlands. Although resilience and vegetation greenness are positively associated in space, their temporal changes are only weakly synchronized. Soil moisture is the highest-ranked individual predictor of resilience for both forests and grasslands, although its importance may reflect integrated hydroclimatic conditions. Higher resilience generally occurs in regions characterized by greater water availability, lower temperatures, or weaker intra-annual temperature variability. These findings support a context-dependent interpretation of large-scale resilience metrics and provide a basis for adaptive management aimed at sustaining stable forest and grassland ecosystems in climate transition zones and water-limited regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131054"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Land-use history shapes microbial phosphorus acquisition and use strategies in the Zoige alpine wetland","authors":"Yajie Sun,&nbsp;Roland Bol,&nbsp;Chao Wang,&nbsp;Hui Wang,&nbsp;Yanhong Lou,&nbsp;Hong Pan,&nbsp;Quangang Yang,&nbsp;Zhongchen Yang,&nbsp;Hao Tang,&nbsp;Lei Du,&nbsp;Yuping Zhuge,&nbsp;Benjamin L. Turner","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.130940","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.130940","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alpine wetland conservation and restoration are reshaping wetland use and soil conditions on the Zoige Plateau, but how these changes influence phosphorus (P) cycling remains poorly understood, even though cold, waterlogged soils can constrain P availability and make P cycling critical for ecosystem functioning. Here, we compared soil P fractions and microbial P-use strategies among persistent meadow, natural peatland and meadow-to-peatland transition sites identified from land survey records. Meadow soils contained the smallest P pools across most fractions but supported the greatest abundance of P-acquisition genes, including P-starvation regulators (e.g., <em>phoR</em>, <em>SenX3</em>), phosphate transporters (<em>pstA</em>, <em>pit</em>, <em>ugpC</em>), and P-mobilizing genes (<em>phoD</em>, <em>gcd</em>), indicating an acquisition-oriented P-use strategy. In contrast, natural peatland soils contained higher P concentrations but lower overall P-cycling gene abundance, a more cohesive and modular co-occurrence network, and enrichment of genes for phosphonate/phosphite utilization (<em>phnX</em>, <em>phnC</em>, <em>phnW</em>, <em>ptxC</em>), reflecting a specialized P-use strategy under organic-rich and wetter conditions. Restored peatland displayed intermediate P concentrations and gene composition but the weakest network connectivity, suggesting incomplete reassembly of coordinated P-cycling pathways. Across the land-use histories, soil pH and total N were the strongest environmental correlates of P-cycling gene configuration, while physicochemical conditions structured P pools more strongly than microbial functional potential alone. These findings demonstrate that contrasting land-use histories in alpine wetlands are associated with coordinated shifts in microbial P-use and acquisition strategies, with implications for understanding the long-term biogeochemical cycling in these sensitive ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 130940"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing post-wildfire soil recovery in northern Arizona using biochar from waste forest biomass","authors":"Dipita Ghosh,&nbsp;Nathaniel Anderson,&nbsp;Han-Sup Han,&nbsp;Deborah S. Page-Dumroese,&nbsp;Alexis Aguiar","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131077","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131077","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing wildfire severity in the southwestern United States degrades the soil and hinders forest recovery in these ecosystems. The current study evaluates the efficacy of biochar produced from local ponderosa pine (<em>Pinus ponderosa</em> Lawson &amp; C. Lawson: var. <em>arizonica</em> (Engelm.) Shaw) slash using a mobile CharBoss® system for post-wildfire soil restoration. We installed 3 replicates of 3 treatments: (1) Biochar applied and mixed in the soil at 10 t ha⁻¹ (BC10), (2) biochar applied at 20 t ha⁻¹ (BC20), and (3) a wildfire-burned control (negative control (NC)) to soils burned in the 2022 Pipeline Fire, near Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. In addition, we installed plots in an unburned positive control (PC). Ponderosa pine seedlings were planted across all treatments, and soil physico-chemical properties, water retention, and seedling survival were monitored for one year. The CharBoss® biochar from pine slash exhibited favorable characteristics for soil amendment, including high fixed carbon (66.17%), low volatile matter (5.48%), and a well-developed porous structure (surface area 185.1 m² g⁻¹). The application of biochar, especially at 20 t ha⁻¹, significantly increased soil moisture retention (p &lt; 0.05 at 12 months), with BC20 having the highest gravimetric soil moisture content at the end of the study, exceeding both NC and PC. Biochar also provided some pH buffering, improved the retention of available phosphorus and base cations, and added more stable soil organic carbon. Overall, seedling survival after one year was low due to harsh post-fire conditions, but it was highest in the BC20 treatment (17.8%) compared to the burned control (6.7%) (p = 0.011). These results show that producing and applying biochar from slash and other woody biomass on-site can enhance important soil water and chemical properties and help establish young trees in wildfire-affected semi-arid soils of northern Arizona. Biochar offers a promising, climate-friendly alternative to burning slash piles that helps soil recovery, carbon storage, and reforestation efforts. However, we need longer-term studies to evaluate lasting ecological benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131077"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Government exposure and corporate ESG greenwashing: Evidence from Chinese listed firms","authors":"Jingrui Yan,&nbsp;Xiaoyi Huang,&nbsp;Yonggang Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131089","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131089","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In government-led economies, ESG metrics increasingly serve as key criteria for allocating fiscal subsidies and green finance, yet whether deeper government–firm administrative interactions curb or foster corporate greenwashing remains unresolved. Using a panel of 12,854 firm–year observations from Chinese A-share listed firms over 2010–2023, this study constructs a continuous, dynamic government exposure index by identifying the sentence-level co-occurrence of government agency names and administrative action verbs in annual reports, thereby capturing the intensity of firms’ interactions with the administrative apparatus and examining its effect on ESG greenwashing. The results show that government exposure significantly exacerbates ESG greenwashing: a one-standard-deviation increase corresponds to a 7.9% standard-deviation rise in greenwashing. This finding holds across extensive measurement-validity, robustness, and endogeneity tests. Mechanism analyses indicate that defensive impression management, triggered by heightened media attention, constitutes the primary channel, while the positive association with government subsidies provides suggestive evidence for a resource-acquisition channel. Heterogeneity analyses with formal between-group tests show that these effects are significantly stronger among financially constrained firms and in regions under high fiscal pressure, while state ownership and marketization display only weaker moderating patterns. These findings provide policy implications for strengthening linked verification mechanisms between ESG disclosure and performance and for optimizing green subsidy allocation criteria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131089"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of nitrogen deposition and litter dynamics on soil respiration in a semiarid sandy grassland","authors":"Jin Zhan,&nbsp;Yulin Li,&nbsp;Yongfu Ji,&nbsp;Jinnian Tang,&nbsp;Xiangwen Fang,&nbsp;Ruiqi Liang,&nbsp;Ya Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131024","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131024","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil respiration (Rs) is the second-largest carbon dioxide flux from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere, and increasing atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition affects terrestrial carbon fluxes by altering plant productivity and litter input. However, few studies have examined the effects of N deposition and litter management on Rs and its components in sandy grassland ecosystems of semiarid regions, or the associated drivers. After 9 years of continuous field treatments combining N addition [non-N addition (N0) and N addition (N1)] with litter manipulation [litter left on the soil (L1, control), litter removal (L0) and litter doubled (L2)], we investigated the seasonal dynamics of Rs, microbial respiration (Rm), and root respiration (Rt) in the Horqin Sandy Land in 2022. Four key findings emerged: (1) Seasonal patterns of Rs components remained consistent across treatments, and litter removal significantly reduced Rm by 25.34% through substrate limitation. (2) Compared with our earlier work (after 3 consecutive years of field treatments), after 9-year continuous nitrogen addition in the current study weakened the stimulation of Rt via soil acidification in 2022. Similarly, while litter doubled after 3 years previously stimulated Rs and its components in our previous study, litter doubled after 9 years shifted this effect to inhibition. (3) Temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) analysis revealed differential responses, with N addition reducing the Q₁₀ of Rt and litter manipulation lowering the Q₁₀ values across components. (4) The random forest analysis indicated that, under N addition and litter manipulation, soil moisture is the primary driver of the seasonal dynamics of Rs, Rm, and Rt. These results highlight the critical role of treatment duration in evaluating the impacts of litter manipulation on soil C dynamics in wind-eroded grasslands under chronic N deposition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131024"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How to synergize natural resource supply-demand mismatching to allocate the most suitable NbS measures?","authors":"Yifei Zhao,&nbsp;Shiliang Liu,&nbsp;Wanting Wang,&nbsp;Yetong Li,&nbsp;Jingyang Fan,&nbsp;Yuhong Dong,&nbsp;Gang Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131052","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The application of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) measures can enhance the supply capacity of natural resources and provide essential support for sustainable development. However, NbS planning often lacks a scientific basis that integrates local ecological conditions with socio-economic needs. In response to the ability of different types of NbS to provide a variety of natural resource supply remedies, this study proposed a methodology which is applied to the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China, considering four major NbS types (climate-oriented, food-oriented, recreation-oriented, and water-oriented) and five natural resource elements (water, food, climate regulation, recreation, and habitat quality). The methodology follows a structured “where–what–how” framework, in which intervention locations are identified based on supply–demand mismatches, suitable NbS types are selected through functional matching using AHP scoring, and future NbS allocations are predicted via a Dynamic Bayesian Network model that integrates environmental and socio-economic drivers. The results showed that the indicative sites for NbS implementation distributed in a three parallel stripes pattern across the study area, among them, water and food were the two most needed NbS types in the study area, covering up to 80% area of the study area. Combined with the estimated results for 2030, different socio-climatic development pathways lead to changes in the prioritized types of NbS exported by the sites. Our approach can be used to plan decisions for multiple NbS types to provide natural resource supply compensation capacity where it is most needed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131052"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149079268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Valorization of pumpkin-derived residues and waste: An analysis","authors":"Mehmet Melikoglu","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global agricultural sector faces increasing pressure to manage the substantial volumes of waste generated throughout pumpkin production, processing, and utilization, which traditionally represents both an economic burden and an environmental liability. This paper explores the valorization of pumpkin waste within a circular bioeconomy framework, evaluating the conversion of heterogeneous pumpkin-derived biomass into value-added food, nutraceutical, environmental, material, and energy products. Through a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary research, this paper demonstrates that pumpkin residues contain diverse recoverable compounds and structural fractions that can serve as feedstock for multiple valorization pathways, including nutraceuticals, advanced environmental remediation media, and industrial composite materials. Quantitative evidence from recent studies reveals a range of reported performance metrics, including polysaccharide extraction yields, improvements in protein solubility, and recovery or enrichment of phenolic compounds. In the realm of environmental engineering, pumpkin-derived adsorbents have been reported to achieve substantial contaminant removal efficiencies and adsorption capacities, while the incorporation of pumpkin-based fillers has been shown to modify and, in some formulations, improve the mechanical properties of composite and construction materials. Furthermore, energy conversion pathways for biogas and biodiesel production have demonstrated variable reported conversion and yield values depending on feedstock characteristics and process conditions. Despite these reported technical advances, the transition from laboratory-scale demonstrations to technically, economically, and environmentally viable larger-scale implementation remains a primary hurdle. Key future research imperatives include the standardization of feedstock characterization, harmonization of performance metrics and experimental protocols, rigorous long-term ecological safety assessments, and the adoption of predictive digital frameworks to address the challenges posed by inherent biomass heterogeneity. The integration of hierarchical and cascaded biorefinery architectures could facilitate the sequential recovery and utilization of multiple pumpkin waste fractions, thereby providing opportunities to improve overall resource utilization relative to isolated valorization routes, where supported by integrated technical, economic, and environmental assessments. This systemic approach provides a basis for advancing pumpkin waste valorization from individual laboratory-scale applications toward integrated and scalable biorefinery systems, with potential contributions to resource efficiency, reduced reliance on fossil-derived materials, and the development of more sustainable agro-industrial value chains.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131097"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Toward low-carbon management of Spartina alterniflora ecological restoration project in China: A multi-objective spatial optimization balancing carbon footprint and economic cost","authors":"Changkun Lin,&nbsp;Yilin Zhang,&nbsp;Bin Xie,&nbsp;Qiaoguo Tan,&nbsp;Yinru Lei,&nbsp;Hui Wu,&nbsp;Weiye Li,&nbsp;Luzhen Chen,&nbsp;Nengwang Chen,&nbsp;Gengyuan Liu,&nbsp;Shaobin Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Spartina alterniflora</em> is a highly invasive plant species in China's coastal wetlands, posing severe threats to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity while generating substantial environmental and economic burdens during large-scale control efforts. However, the carbon footprint and cost trade-offs of alternative restoration projects remain poorly understood at the national scale, limiting the design of sustainable management strategies. Moreover, no spatially explicit decision-support framework currently exists to jointly optimize restoration methods and biomass treatment pathways under heterogeneous regional contexts. Here, we integrate life cycle assessment with multi-objective spatial optimization to evaluate the carbon footprint and engineering cost of four widely applied <em>S. alterniflora</em> restoration methods, including mowing–plowing, mowing–shading, mowing–flooding, and mowing–plowing–planting, in combination with four straw treatment methods. Carbon emissions and costs were quantified per hectare and spatially optimized. Results show that mowing–plowing exhibits the lowest carbon footprint (4.64 t CO₂-eq ha⁻¹), whereas mowing–flooding produces the highest emissions (9.82 t CO₂-eq ha⁻¹) due to intensive electricity consumption. Straw management substantially reshapes project-level emissions, with biogas production providing net carbon offsets and landfill disposal causing high emissions (100.73 t CO₂-eq ha⁻¹). Spatial optimization identifies province-specific restoration portfolios that balance national carbon emissions (0.41 Mt CO₂-eq) and economic cost (3.68 × 10⁹ CNY), with mowing–flooding dominating in Shanghai and Jiangsu and mowing–plowing prevailing in most other provinces. This study provides a spatially explicit decision-support framework for low-carbon and cost-effective coastal restoration, offering advances in spatial planning for sustainable invasive species management under China's dual-carbon goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131084"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of public space recreational service configurations on psychophysiological restoration: A virtual experiment","authors":"Danli Zhu,&nbsp;Ziluo Huang,&nbsp;Jiahui Ding,&nbsp;Shiqi Wang,&nbsp;Ruoyu Wang,&nbsp;Shuyuan Li,&nbsp;Xiaomin Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.131025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban public spaces are increasingly recognized as important settings for psychophysiological restoration, which refers to recovery from stress as reflected in changes in psychological states and physiological responses. However, existing research has focused mainly on individual dimensions of recreational environment, recreational facilities, or management services, whereas multidimensional configurations of public space recreational service (PSRS) remain insufficiently examined. Using a typical community park recreational zone in Shanghai as the prototype, 28 PSRS configuration scenarios were constructed. A total of 210 participants were included, and physiological measures of cardiac activity, skin conductance, and brain activity were collected, together with self-reported positive and negative affect and ratings of how restorative each scenario was. Linear mixed models showed that psychophysiological restoration responses differed across PSRS configuration scenarios. Within the tested range, greater water coverage was consistently associated with brain activity indicative of greater relaxation, greater improvement in positive affect, and higher ratings of how restorative the scenarios were. The proportion of greenery visible at eye level and the proportion of activity space showed different directions of association across restoration outcomes. Correlation analysis identified weak but statistically significant correlations between greater improvements in positive affect and more favorable heart rate variability responses, and between greater reductions in negative affect and greater reductions in skin conductance. These findings indicate that PSRS configurations are associated with different psychophysiological restoration outcomes, providing preliminary empirical evidence to inform restoration-oriented design and management of community park recreational zones.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"418 ","pages":"Article 131025"},"PeriodicalIF":9.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149102270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}