Environmental research is increasingly relying on big data to uncover patterns and provide actionable insights across multiple scales. Recently, a team led by Prof. SU Fenzhen at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences has made significant progress in understanding environmental dynamics at coastal, and oceanic levels.

The team’s findings showcase how big data can support knowledge discovery. At the coastal level, reviewing China’s efforts in coastline restoration, the team emphasized the need for flexible, data-driven approaches to balance national goals with local ecosystem requirements.

In addition, they analyzed global mangrove coastal protection capacities, highlighting a worrying decline in protective functions, primarily driven by reductions in canopy height and biomass, with important implications for sustainable development.

At the oceanic level, their work on mid-depth ocean currents identified critical inaccuracies in existing models, stressing the need for better data integration to enhance predictions of climate-related processes.

These studies have been published in Science, Science Advances, and Nature Communications.

“Big data is a powerful tool for discovering new knowledge, and we have been working hard to explore its potential in environmental research,” said Prof. SU.

These studies showed the importance of integrating innovative methods and large-scale datasets to shape policies and address global environmental challenges.

References:

Xu, X., Fu, D., Su, F., Lyne, V., Yu, H., Tang, J., Hong, X., & Wang, J. (2024). Global distribution and decline of mangrove coastal protection extends far beyond area loss. Nature Communications, 15, 10267.

Su, F., Fan, R., Yan, F., Meadows, M., Lyne, V., Hu, P., Song, X., Zhang, T., Liu, Z., Zhou, C., Pei, T., Yang, X., Du, Y., Wei, Z., Wang, F., Qi, Y., & Chai, F. (2023). Widespread global disparities between modelled and observed mid-depth ocean currents. Nature Communications, 14, 2089.

Wang, X., Yan, F., Lyne, V., & Su, F. (2022). Restore China’s coastline from the ground up. Science, 377, 1164-1164.

Spatial variations in Mangrove Coastal Protection Index (MCPI) changes from 2007 and 2019