Beijing - A group of Chinese ecologists has recently quantified the overall biodiversity outcomes of China's forest restoration efforts, finding that the efforts have led to the habitat expansion of 73.6 percent of bird species in the forests, the China Science Daily reported on Friday.

As a global leader in forest restoration, China has managed to reverse the trend of forest degradation over the past two decades through major ecological projects such as a natural forest protection project and the Grain for Green Program, achieving a net increase of about 21,800 square kilometers in forest area. However, whether forest restoration benefits biodiversity has remained a focus of the research community.

Wang Bin from China West Normal University worked with researchers from other institutions on a study to assess the positive impacts of forest restoration on biodiversity at the national scale from 2000 to 2020.

Using 402 species of non-migratory forest birds as indicator species, and integrating remote sensing data with observation records from residents, they employed an ecological niche modeling method to control for the coupled effects of climate change. This approach precisely revealed the beneficial effects of forest restoration on bird habitats, according to the study, which was published in Nature Communications.

The study found that forest restoration is reflected not only in the expansion of area, but more crucially in the comprehensive improvement of quality indicators such as canopy coverage, height, connectivity and structural complexity. These structural enhancements provide birds with more suitable habitats.

Nearly three-quarters of bird species experienced significant habitat expansion during the period studied, with notable benefits for species with broader ecological niches. Furthermore, forest restoration has, to some extent, mitigated habitat loss caused by climate change.

The study also found that both natural and planted forests have demonstrated comparable effectiveness in biodiversity restoration, with tree cover and canopy structural complexity identified as the key driving factors.