Diverse Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts on Desertification in the Middle Reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau

The unique desertification processes occurring under the Alpine climate and ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau could provide critical clues to the natural and anthropogenic impacts on desertification.This study used the Landsat data to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of desertification from 1990 to 2020 in two areas(Shannan and Mainling),within the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin.The results show not only distinct spatial patterns but also various temporal changes of desertification.In Shannan,aeolian sand was distributed over wide areas from valley floor to mountain slope,while in Mainling,it is distributed sporadically at the footslope.The aeolian sandy land initially expanded before undergoing long-term shrinkage in Shannan.While in Mainling,it steadily expanded followed by a rapid decrease.These changes are attributed to both climate change and human activites.The increase in temperature causes desertification expansion in Shannan,while favorable climate conditions coupled with decreasing human activity promoted desertification reversal.However,both the expansion and shrinkage of desertification were sensitive to human activity in Mainling.This highlights the diverse responses of desertification to natural and anthropogenic impacts on different backgrounds of climatic and vegetation coverage.A threshold of climatic conditions may control the dominance factors in desertification,shifting from natural to anthropogenic elements.

Novel insights into the spatial genetic patterns of the finless porpoise from East to Southeast Asia

Several cetacean species are endemically distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific.Due to disproportionate sampling and research efforts across the Indo-Pacific region,the spatial genetic structure of these species remains poorly understood.This has led to poor phylogeographic knowledge and ambiguous taxonomic classification of many Indo-Pacific cetacean species.Of these,the finless porpoise(genus Neophocaena)is a small cetacean obligatory to the inshore waters from East Asia to the Persian Gulf of the Indian Ocean.To date,two species are generally recognized:the narrow-ridged finless porpoise inhabiting temperate and subtropical waters,and wideridged finless porpoises inhabiting subtropical and tropical waters.Early research efforts focused on the temperate waters off the northern China.However,recent studies have proposed that the primary divergence within the genus may lie between the Indian Ocean and Pacific region,which remains to be tested with more samples from tropical and subtropical regions.Here,we examined the genetic relationship among the finless porpoises from the Gulf of Thailand to the Taiwan Strait using both mitochondrial and autosomal markers.Bayesian assignment analysis suggested a minimum of four genetic populations within the study areas,corresponding to the narrowridged finless porpoise from the Taiwan Strait(TWSn),and the three wide-ridged finless porpoise populations from the Taiwan Strait(TWSw),Pearl River Delta region(PRDw),and the Gulf of Thailand(Thaiw),respectively.The minimum spanning network of the mtDNA control region found shared haplotypes among finless porpoises in Chinese waters,but those from the Gulf of Thailand formed a unique matriline lineage.Consistently,the genetic differentiation or divergence within the South China Sea(Thaiw vs.PRDw)appears to be higher than that of most finless porpoise populations examined to date,and meets the threshold values of species or sub-species level proposed for the cetacean species.The Mantel test detected a strong correlation between the geographic and genetic matrices within the South China Sea(r>0.99,p<0.001),indicating that the divergence associated with isolation-by-distance(IBD)has been accumulating in recent history.Our results imply that the formation and maintenance of the spatial genetic pattern of the finless porpoise is more complex than previously thought.However,this cannot be addressed by the current taxonomic classification of the genus.

Drainage evolution in intermontane basins at the Qinling-Daba Mountains

River capture is of great significance to landform evolution and hominine migration.In the Qinling-Daba Mountains,there is a viewpoint that Jialing River captured Hanjiang River,but this is still controversial.In this paper,we discuss the drainage evolution processes in intermountain basins at the Qinling-Daba Mountains based on a combination of detrital zircon UPb geochronology and geomorphic indexes.We suggest that the Hanjiang River gradually captured the Jialing River from east to west,accompanied by the evolution of the ancient Yangtze River.In terms of geomorphic evidences,wide valleys did not match with discharge,and a series of wind gaps developed in the Shiquan-Ankang basin.In addition,the valley shapes and width-toheight ratios(Vf)indicate two possible rapid incisions.The hypsometric integrals(HI)reflect that the landform gradually changes from the old stage to the youth stage from west to east.Theχvalues show that the drainage divide is moving to the side of the Yuehe River,and the Yuehe River is gradually shrinking.According to the sedimentary records,the zircon U-Pb age distributions indicate the provenance change.The high-altitude terraces show three age peaks(200–250,400–505,and 700–900 Ma),with the dominant Indosinian age peak(200–250 Ma),while the modern fluvial sediments only show a single peak of Jinning(700–900 Ma).These data show that there are two major river captures:(1)The ancient Hanjiang River cut through the regional compression ridge,and then captured the Hanzhong Basin river system(a part of the ancient Jialing river system)from east to west,and(2)The southern tributary captured the trunk with the uplift of the divide in the Shiquan-Ankang Basin,forming the modern drainage pattern in the upper Hanjiang River.The activities of the regional strike-slip fault,and the associated compression uplift played a key role in the river captures,the drainage evolution,and related landforms in the Shiquan-Ankang basin.In addition,it is shown that the evolution of the upper tributary basins lagged behind the response of the trunk channel to the tectonic activities and river captures.The interconnected wide valleys caused by river capture may have provided convenient geomorphological conditions for human migration into the Qinling-Daba Mountains along those river valleys.

The impacts of base level and lithology on fluvial geomorphic evolution at the tectonically active Laohu and Hasi Mountains,northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Previous researches had emphasized tectonic impacts on the fluvial system at the tectonically active areas,while the effects of lithology and local base level change have received relatively rare attention.Here we investigated fluvial landforms at different spatial scales,focusing on knickpoints and channel network reorganization from an area affected by the Haiyuan Fault in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.The geomorphic indices,i.e.,drainage pattern andχanomalies,were calculated and investigated.The results show that two regional radial drainages formed around the Laohu and Hasi Mountains.Within the interior of the radial drainage,tributaries from the southeast side of the Laohu Mountain experienced near 180°direction change.We interpret this as the gradual drainage capture originating from the height difference(~190 m)of the local base level between the two catchments.Some tributaries from the Hasi Mountain show alternating gorges and broad valleys controlled by lithology.Besides,tectonic uplift and the lowering of base level(from the incision of the Yellow River)triggered an autogenic positivefeedback transition from parallel to dendritic drainage patterns.These observations suggest that base level change and lithology play a crucial role in landscape evolution,even in a tectonically active region.

Early divergence and differential population histories of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in the Pacific and Indian Oceans

The currently recognized Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin occurs in estuaries and surrounding shallow waters from the South China Sea to the Asian coast of the Indian Ocean.However,a recent study suggested that the humpback dolphin from the Bay of Bengal may represent a distinct phylogenetic species.In this study,we sequenced 915-bp mtDNA segments from five geographic populations in both Chinese and Thai waters;together with previously published sequences,these data revealed that the ancestral Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin might have split during the transition from the Oligocene to Miocene(23.45 Mya,95%HPD:16.65–26.55 Mya),and then dispersed along the Pacific and Indian Ocean coasts of Asia.Genetic differentiation was detected between most of the examined populations,except for only a few pairwise populations in the northern South China Sea.Genetic differentiation/distance between the humpback dolphins from the northern and southern South China Sea met the sub-species threshold value proposed for marine mammals,whereas that between the humpback dolphins in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean was above the species threshold.Bayesian inference of historic gene flow indicated low but constant northward gene flow along the Indian Ocean coast;however,there was a recent abrupt increase in gene flow in the Pacific region,likely due to the shortening coastline at the low stand of sea level.Our results revealed that the current taxonomic classification of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins may not reflect their phylogeography.

Ultrasound beam shift induced by short-beaked common dolphin’s(Delphinus delphis) tissues as an attenuating gradient material

To understand sound propagation and beam formation, the physical properties of soft tissues from the biosonar system of odontocetes should be explored. Based on the acoustic impedance distributions of biosonar systems, these processes have been examined via numerical simulations. In this study, the images of a short-beaked common dolphin(Delphinus delphis) were obtained via computed tomography. Then, the dolphin was dissected to extract tissue samples for additional examination. In addition to the speed of sound and density measurements, the acoustic attenuation coefficients of the biosonar system in the forehead were tested. The results revealed that the inner layer of the forehead was characterized using low sound speed, low density, and high attenuation. Acoustic fields and beam patterns were then evaluated by setting acoustic attenuation coefficients at different levels. Sounds propagating along the low-attenuation path had a lesser reduction in amplitude. Beam directivities in near and far fields suggested that changes in attenuation distribution would cause beam patterns to shift. These results indicated the complexity of a dolphin’s sonar emission system and helped improve our understanding of sound energy attenuation via studies on the forehead of odontocetes.