Spatiotemporal changes of gross primary productivity and its response to drought in the Mongolian Plateau under climate change

Gross primary productivity(GPP)of vegetation is an important constituent of the terrestrial carbon sinks and is significantly influenced by drought.Understanding the impact of droughts on different types of vegetation GPP provides insight into the spatiotemporal variation of terrestrial carbon sinks,aiding efforts to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change.In this study,we utilized the precipitation and temperature data from the Climatic Research Unit,the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index(SPEI),the standardized precipitation index(SPI),and the simulated vegetation GPP using the eddy covariance-light use efficiency(EC-LUE)model to analyze the spatiotemporal change of GPP and its response to different drought indices in the Mongolian Plateau during 1982-2018.The main findings indicated that vegetation GPP decreased in 50.53% of the plateau,mainly in its northern and northeastern parts,while it increased in the remaining 49.47%area.Specifically,meadow steppe(78.92%)and deciduous forest(79.46%)witnessed a significant decrease in vegetation GPP,while alpine steppe(75.08%),cropland(76.27%),and sandy vegetation(87.88%)recovered well.Warming aridification areas accounted for 71.39% of the affected areas,while 28.53% of the areas underwent severe aridification,mainly located in the south and central regions.Notably,the warming aridification areas of desert steppe(92.68%)and sandy vegetation(90.24%)were significant.Climate warming was found to amplify the sensitivity of coniferous forest,deciduous forest,meadow steppe,and alpine steppe GPP to drought.Additionally,the drought sensitivity of vegetation GPP in the Mongolian Plateau gradually decreased as altitude increased.The cumulative effect of drought on vegetation GPP persisted for 3.00-8.00 months.The findings of this study will improve the understanding of how drought influences vegetation in arid and semi-arid areas.

Impacts of climate change and human activities on vegetation dynamics on the Mongolian Plateau, East Asia from 2000 to 2023

The Mongolian Plateau in East Asia is one of the largest contingent arid and semi-arid areas of the world.Under the impacts of climate change and human activities,desertification is becoming increasingly severe on the Mongolian Plateau.Understanding the vegetation dynamics in this region can better characterize its ecological changes.In this study,based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)images,we calculated the kernel normalized difference vegetation index(kNDVI)on the Mongolian Plateau from 2000 to 2023,and analyzed the changes in kNDVI using the Theil-Sen median trend analysis and Mann-Kendall significance test.We further investigated the impact of climate change on kNDVI change using partial correlation analysis and composite correlation analysis,and quantified the effects of climate change and human activities on kNDVI change by residual analysis.The results showed that kNDVI on the Mongolian Plateau was increasing overall,and the vegetation recovery area in the southern region was significantly larger than that in the northern region.About 50.99%of the plateau showed dominant climate-driven effects of temperature,precipitation,and wind speed on kNDVI change.Residual analysis showed that climate change and human activities together contributed to 94.79%of the areas with vegetation improvement.Appropriate human activities promoted the recovery of local vegetation,and climate change inhibited vegetation growth in the northern part of the Mongolian Plateau.This study provides scientific data for understanding the regional ecological environment status and future changes and developing effective ecological protection measures on the Mongolian Plateau.

A review of geophysical studies on the Mongolian Plateau

The Mongolian Plateau in Central Asia is an intracontinental tectonic system far from active plate boundaries.Despite its distance from these boundaries,the plateau is characterized by intense crustal deformation accompanied by voluminous Cenozoic volcanism and active modern seismicity.However,the intraplate deformation mechanism has long been debated owing to the scarcity of observations and contradictions between different results.In recent years,growing geophysical studies have been conducted on the Mongolian Plateau,providing constraints on its lithospheric structure and dynamics.Here,we review the geophysical research on the Mongolian Plateau over the last decade,including seismological,geodetic,gravity,magnetotelluric,and geodynamic aspects.This review aims to(a)describe crustal and mantle structures based on multiscale seismic images;(b)describe deformation patterns based on seismic anisotropy,focal mechanisms,and global positioning system(GPS)observations;and(c)discuss the mechanisms behind intraplate deformation,volcanism,and seismic activity across the Mongolian Plateau.Seismic images show that the crustal structure of the plateau has significant east-west differences.Several blocks in the western Mongolian Plateau have thick crusts,including the Altai Mountains,Hovsgol Rift,and Hangay Dome.The lithospheric deformation across the Mongolian Plateau has strong lateral variation,with NE-SW shortening in the Altai Mountains and W-E or NW-SE shear deformation in the Hangay Dome region and the eastern part.The varied deformation may result from the superposition of multiple mechanisms,including far-field stress in the Altai Mountains,mantle upwelling,and mantle flow in the Hangay Dome region.However,it is difficult to identify the geodynamics of the formation of the entire Mongolian Plateau because the deformation is too complicated,and the present models are not sufficient and are always partial.Overall,this review encompasses recent advances in seismic observations of the Mongolian Plateau,illuminates the heterogeneities in the crust and mantle structure and deformation of the plateau,and discusses the mechanisms behind the deformation,magmatism,and seismicity.

Abrupt change of winter temperature over the Mongolian Plateau during 1961-2017

Studying the abrupt change of winter temperature(ACWT)over the Mongolian Plateau(MP,including Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and State of Mongolia)is of great significance for understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of temperature and the mechanism of global climate change.Monthly temperature data during 1961–2017was collected,and the abrupt change point was determined by the Mann–Kendall test and sliding ttest,to analyze the characteristics and causes of ACWT.The results showed that(a)The winter temperature has rapidly increased with a trend of 0.41℃/10a,which was significantly higher than that of the rest area of Chinese mainland,indicating that climate change in the MP was more sensitive to global warming.(b)The abrupt change point occurred in 1988,with temperature of-15.5℃and-14.1℃before and after abrupt change,respectively.The ACWT in 50°N was 1–3 years later than that in 40°N,and the isotherms of different temperatures moved northward by 10–200 km,especially-16℃isotherms moved approximately 200 km northward after 1988.(c)The Arctic Oscillation(AO)and Mongolian High(MH)anomaly affects winter temperature over the MP.When the AO is unusually strong,the MH and East Asian winter monsoon are weak,and southerly winds prevail in most regions,which is not conducive to the cold air developing southward,leading to higher winter temperature in the MP.Overwise,abnormally northerly winds prevail and temperature is low.Meanwhile,the abrupt change time of AO occurred in 1987 before winter temperature.It shows that the AO indirectly causes winter temperatures to rise by influencing the MH and is also the main driving factor of ACWT.

NDVI spatial pattern and its differentiation on the Mongolian Plateau

GIMMS NDVI database and geo-statistics were used to depict the spatial distribution and temporal stability of NDVI on the Mongolian Plateau.The results demonstrated that:(1) Regions of interest with high NDVI indices were distributed primarily in forested mountainous regions of the east and the north,areas with low NDVI indices were primarily distributed in the Gobi desert regions of the west and the southwest,and areas with moderate NDVI values were mainly distributed in a middle steppe strap from northwest to southeast.(2) The maximum NDVI values maintained for the past 22 years showed little variation.The average NDVI variance coefficient for the 22-year period was 15.2%.(3) NDVI distribution and vegetation cover showed spatial autocorrelations on a global scale.NDVI patterns from the vegetation cover also demonstrated anisotropy;a higher positive spatial correlation was indicated in a NW-SE direction,which suggested that vegetation cover in a NW-SE direction maintained increased integrity,and vegetation assemblage was mainly distributed in the same specific direction.(4) The NDVI spatial distribution was mainly controlled by structural factors,88.7% of the total spatial variation was influenced by structural and 11.3% by random factors.And the global autocorrelation distance was 1178 km,and the average vegetation patch length(NW-SE) to width(NE-SW) ratio was approximately 2.4:1.0.

Spatiotemporal variation in snow cover and its effects on grassland phenology on the Mongolian Plateau

Snow cover is an important water source for vegetation growth in arid and semi-arid areas,and grassland phenology provides valuable information on the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change.The Mongolian Plateau features both abundant snow cover resources and typical grassland ecosystems.In recent years,with the intensification of global climate change,the snow cover on the Mongolian Plateau has changed correspondingly,with resulting effects on vegetation growth.In this study,using MOD10A1 snow cover data and MOD13A1 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)data combined with remote sensing(RS)and geographic information system(GIS)techniques,we analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in snow cover and grassland phenology on the Mongolian Plateau from 2001 to 2018.The correlation analysis and grey relation analysis were used to determine the influence of snow cover parameters(snow cover fraction(SCF),snow cover duration(SCD),snow cover onset date(SCOD),and snow cover end date(SCED))on different types of grassland vegetation.The results showed wide snow cover areas,an early start time,a late end time,and a long duration of snow cover over the northern Mongolian Plateau.Additionally,a late start,an early end,and a short duration were observed for grassland phenology,but the southern area showed the opposite trend.The SCF decreased at an annual rate of 0.33%.The SCD was shortened at an annual rate of 0.57 d.The SCOD and SCED in more than half of the study area advanced at annual rates of 5.33 and 5.74 DOY(day of year),respectively.For grassland phenology,the start of the growing season(SOS)advanced at an annual rate of 0.03 DOY,the end of the growing season(EOS)was delayed at an annual rate of 0.14 DOY,and the length of the growing season(LOS)was prolonged at an annual rate of 0.17 d.The SCF,SCD,and SCED in the snow season were significantly positively correlated with the SOS and negatively correlated with the EOS and LOS.The SCOD was significantly negatively correlated with the SOS and positively correlated with the EOS and LOS.The SCD and SCF can directly affect the SOS of grassland vegetation,while the EOS and LOS were obviously influenced by the SCOD and SCED.This study provides a scientific basis for exploring the response trends of alpine vegetation to global climate change.

Monitoring desertification processes in Mongolian Plateau using MODIS tasseled cap transformation and TGSI time series

Most remote sensing studies assess the desertification using vegetation monitoring method. But it has the insufficient precision of vegetation monitoring for the limited vegetation cover of the desertification region. Therefore, it offers an alternative approach for the desertificafon research to assess sand dune and sandy land change using remote sensing in the desertification region. In this study, the indices derived from the well-known tasseled cap transformation （TCT）, tasseled cap angle （TCA）, disturbance index （DI）, process indicator （PI）, and topsoil grain size index （TGSI） were integrated to monitor and assess the desertification at the thirteen study sites including sand dunes and sandy lands distributed in the Mongolian Plateau （MP） from 2000 to 2015. A decision tree was used to classify the desertification on a regional scale. The average overall accuracy of 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 desertification classification was higher than 90%. Results from this study indicated that integration of the advantages of TCA, DI and TGSI could better assess the desertification. During the last 16 years, Badain Jaran Desert, Tengger Desert, and Ulan Buh Desert showed a relative stabilization. Otindag Sandy Land and the deserts of Khar Nuur, Ereen Nuur, Tsagan Nuur, Khongoryn Els, Hobq, and Mu Us showed a slow increasing of desertification, whereas Bayan Gobi, Horqin and Hulun Buir sandy lands showed a slow decreasing of desertification. Compared with the other 11 sites, the fine sand dunes occupied the majority of the Tengger Desert, and the coarse sandy land occupied the majority of the Horqin Sandy Land. Our findings on a three or four years＇ periodical fluctuated changes in the desertification may possibly reflect changing precipitation and soil moisture in the MR Further work to link the TCA, DI, TGSI, and PI values with the desertification characteristics is recommended to set the thresholds and improve the assessment accuracy with field investigation.

Spatio-temporal Variations in Drought with Remote Sensing from the Mongolian Plateau During 1982–2018

The Mongolian Plateau is one of the regions most sensitive to climate change,the more obvious increase of temperature in 21 st century here has been considered as one of the important causes of drought and desertification.It is very important to understand the multi-year variation and occurrence characteristics of drought in the Mongolian Plateau to explore the ecological environment and the response mechanism of surface materials to climate change.This study examines the spatio-temporal variations in drought and its frequency of occurrence in the Mongolian Plateau based on the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer(AVHRR)Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)(1982–1999)and the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)(2000–2018)datasets;the Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index(TVDI)was used as a drought evaluation index.The results indicate that drought was widespread across the Mongolian Plateau between1982 and 2018,and aridification incremented in the 21 st century.Between 1982 and 2018,an area of 164.38×10^4 km^2/yr suffered from drought,accounting for approximately 55.28%of the total study area.An area of approximately 150.06×10^4 km^2(51.43%)was subject to more than 160 droughts during 259 months of the growing seasons between 1982 and 2018.We observed variable frequencies of drought occurrence depending on land cover/land use types.Drought predominantly occurred in bare land and grassland,both of which accounting for approximately 79.47%of the total study area.These terrains were characterized by low vegetation and scarce precipitation,which led to frequent and extreme drought events.We also noted significant differences between the areal distribution of drought,drought frequency,and degree of drought depending on the seasons.In spring,droughts were widespread,occurred with a high frequency,and were severe;in autumn,they were localized,frequent,and severe;whereas,in summer,droughts were the most widespread and frequent,but less severe.The increase in temperature,decrease in precipitation,continuous depletion of snow cover,and intensification of human activities have resulted in a water deficit.More severe droughts and aridification have affected the distribution and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems,causing changes in the composition and distribution of plants,animals,microorganisms,conversion between carbon sinks and carbon sources,and biodiversity.We conclude that regional drought events have to be accurately monitored,whereas their occurrence mechanisms need further exploration,taking into account nature,climate,society and other influencing factors.

Remote sensing-based dynamic monitoring and environmental change of wetlands in southern Mongolian Plateau in 2000‒2018

The environmental change in the wetlands in the southern Mongolian Plateau has important impacts on the environment of North China and even the entire Northeast Asia,from which the global climate change can be understood on a large scale,especially the climate change in the Mongolian Plateau.This study extracted the information on the wetlands from three stages of remote sensing images(also referred to as RS images)of the study area,including Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus(ETM+)images of 2000,TM images of 2010,and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager(OLI)images of 2018.As indicated by the extraction results,the area of wetlands decreased from 796.90 km^(2) of 2000 to 666.24 km^(2) of 2018 at a rate of 7.26 km^(2)/a.The reduced area is 130.66 km^(2),which is about 16.4%reduction.And the patch number of wetlands decreased from 731 of 2000 to 316 of 2018 in the study area,approximately 56.8%reduction(415 patches),and the decrease in the area of the wetlands mainly occurred in the northwest endorheic region.In terms of wetland types,the change of the wetlands was dominated by the decrease of lacustrine wetlands,of which the area and patch number decreased by 106.2 km^(2) and 242,respectively.Furthermore,the area of the lacustrine wetlands decreased at the highest rate of 8.70 km^(2)/a in 2010‒2018.From the perspective of spatial distribution,the wetlands in the western part shrunk more notably than those in the eastern part as a whole in the study area.According to local meteorological data,the precipitation gently decreased and the temperature increased(about 1.7℃)from 1975-2018.Overall,the decrease in the area of the wetlands and the temperature rises in the study area were mainly driven by the Mongolian monsoon climate,reduction in precipitation,and human activities.

Groundwater characteristics and climate and ecological evolution in the Badain Jaran Desert in the southwest Mongolian Plateau

The Badain Jaran Desert is the third largest desert in China,covering an area of 50000 km2.It lies in Northwest China,where the arid and rainless natural environment has a great impact on the climate,environment,and human living conditions.Based on the results of 1∶250000 regional hydrogeological surveys and previous researches,this study systematically investigates the circulation characteristics and resource properties of the groundwater as well as the evolution of the climate and ecological environment since the Quaternary in the Badain Jaran Desert by means of geophysical exploration,hydrogeological drilling,hydrogeochemistry,and isotopic tracing.The results are as follows.(1)The groundwater in the Badain Jaran Desert is mainly recharged through the infiltration of local precipitation and has poor renewability.The groundwater recharge in the desert was calculated to be 1.8684×10^(8)m^(3)/a using the water balance method.(2)The Badain Jaran Desert has experienced four humid stages since the Quaternary,namely MIS 13-15,MIS 5,MIS 3,and the Early‒Middle Holocene,but the climate in the desert has shown a trend towards aridity overall.The average annual temperature in the Badain Jaran Desert has significantly increased in the past 50 years.In detail,it has increased by about 2.5℃,with a higher rate in the south than in the north.Meanwhile,the precipitation amount has shown high spatial variability and the climate has shown a warming-drying trend in the past 50 years.(3)The lakes in the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert continuously shrank during 1973‒2015.However,the vegetation communities maintained a highly natural distribution during 2000‒2016,with the vegetation cover has increased overall.Accordingly,the Badain Jaran Desert did not show any notable expansion in that period.This study deepens the understanding of groundwater circulation and the climate and ecological evolution in the Badain Jaran Desert.It will provide a scientific basis for the rational exploitation of the groundwater resources and the ecological protection and restoration in the Badain Jaran Desert.

Determining the groundwater basin and surface watershed boundary of Dalinuoer Lake in the middle of Inner Mongolian Plateau,China and its impacts on the ecological environment

The surface watershed and groundwater basin have fixed recharge scale,which are not only the basic unit for hydrologic cycle research but also control the water resources formation and evolution and its corresponding eco-geological environment pattern.To accurately identify the boundary of the surface watershed and groundwater basin is the basis for properly understanding hydrologic cycle and conducting the water balance analysis at watershed scale in complicated geologic structure area,especially when the boundary are inconsistent.In this study,the Dalinuoer Lake located in the middle of the Inner Mongolian Plateau which has complicated geologic structure was selected as the representative case.Based on the multidisciplinary comprehensive analysis of topography,tectonics,hydrogeology,groundwater dynamics and stable isotopes,the results suggest the following:(1)The surface watershed ridge and groundwater basin divide of Dalinuoer Lake are inconsistent.The surface watershed was divided into two separate groundwater systems almost having no groundwater exchange by the SW-NE Haoluku Anticlinorium Fault which has obvious water-blocking effect.The surface drainage area of Dalinuoer Lake is 6139 km^(2).The northern regional A is the Dalinuoer Lake groundwater system with an area of 4838 km^(2),and the southern regional B is the Xilamulun Riverhead groundwater system with an area of 1301 km^(2).(2)The groundwater in the southern of regional A and the spring-feeding river are the important recharge sources for the Dalinuoer Lake,and it has greater recharge effects than the northern Gonggeer River system.(3)It is speculated that the trend of Haoluku Anticlinorium Fault is the boundary of the westerlies and the East Asian summer Monsoon(EASM)climate systems,which further pinpoints the predecessor’s understanding of this boundary line.At present,the Dalinuoer Lake watershed is proved to have gone through a prominent warming-drying trend periods,which leads to the precipitation reduction,temperature rise,human activities water usage increasement.So the hydrological cycle and lake eco-environment at watershed scale will still bound to be change,which may pose the potential deterioration risk on the suitability of fish habitat.The results can provide basic support for better understanding water balance evolution and lake area shrinkage cause as well as the ecological protection and restoration implementation of Dalinuoer Lake watershed.

Microbial processes and factors controlling their activities in alkaline lakes of the Mongolian plateau

A striking feature of the Mongolian plateau is the wide range of air temperatures during a year, -30 to 30~C. High summer temperatures, atmospheric weathering and the arid climate lead to formation of numerous alkaline soda lakes that are covered by ice during 6-7 months per year. During the study period, the lakes had pH values between 8.1 to 10.4 and salinity between 1.8 and 360 g/L. According to chemical composition, the lakes belong to sodium carbonate, sodium chloride-carbonate and sodium sulfate-carbonate types. This paper presents the data on the water chemical composition, results of the determination of the rates of microbial processes in microbial mats and sediments in the lakes studied, and the results of a Principal Component Analysis of environmental variables and microbial activity data. Temperature was the most important factor that influenced both chemical composition and microbial activity, pH and salinity are also important factors for the microbial processes. Dark CO2 fixation is impacted mostly by salinity and the chemical composition of the lake water. Total photosynthesis and sulfate-reduction are impacted mostly by pH. Photosynthesis is the dominant process of primary production, but the highest rate （386 mg C/（L.d）） determined in the lakes studied were 2-3 times lower than in microbial mats of lakes located in tropical zones. This can be explained by the relatively short warm period that lasts only 3-4 months per year. The highest measured rate of dark CO2 assimilation （59.8 mg C/（L·d）） was much lower than photosynthesis. The highest rate of sulfate reduction was 60 mg S/（L·d）, while that of methanogenesis was 75.6 μL CH4/（L·d） in the alkaline lakes of Mongolian plateau. The rate of organic matter consumption during sulfate reduction was 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than that associated with methanogenesis.

Climate characteristics of the eastern Mongolian Plateau,China during the early Early Cretaceous(145-132 Ma):Palynological evidence from the Tongbomiao Formation in Well Hong-6,Hailar Basin

This study identified two palynological assemblages,namely Bayanhuasporites-Cycadopites-Protoconiferus and Cicatricosisporites-Cedripites-Perinopollenites,in the Tongbomiao Formation in the Hongqi Sag in the Hailar Basin,Inner Mongolia,China for the first time.The former is distributed in the lower part of the Tongbomiao Formation and is characterized by abundant gymnosperm pollen and diverse fern spores.Among them,the gymnosperm pollen is dominated by Paleoconifer(4.98%-31.62%)and Cycadopite(8.55%-25.23%)pollen grains and also includes other pollen grains such as Classopollis,Parcisporites,Erlianpollis,Callialasporites,and Jiaohepollis.The fern spores in the former palynological assemblage contain Bayanhuasporite(0-8.96%),Granulatisporites(0.93%-6.97%),and some important Cretaceous genera,such as Cicatricosisporites,Concavissimisporites,Densoisporites,Hsuisporites,Foraminisporis,and Leptolepidites.The Cicatricosisporites-Cedripites-Perinopollenites palynological assemblage is distributed in the upper part of the Tongbomiao Formation.Gymnosperm(77.30%),Pinaceae(31.9%),and Paleoconiferus(19.02%)pollen predominate this palynological assemblage,and Quadraeculina,Erlianpollis,and Jiaohepollis pollen are also common in this assemblage.The fern spores in this palynological assemblage include abundant Cicatricosisporites(4.29%).Besides,Concavissimisporites,Aequitriradites,and Leptolepidites are also common in this palynological assemblage.No angiosperm pollen has been found in both palynological assemblages.The identification of both palynological assemblages provides important evidence for the biostratigraphic correlation between the Hailar Basin and its adjacent areas.It also enables the reconstructions of the Berriasian-Valanginian(Early Cretaceous)vegetation and the paleoclimate on the eastern Mongolian Plateau during 141-132 Ma.The vegetation reconstructed on the palynological data of the represented by Hailar Basin in eastern Mongolian Plateau(141.6-141.4 Ma),form conifer forest or conifer broad-leaved mixed forest to conifer forest with shrubs and grassland,the climate belongs to warm temperate and warm-subtropicalt,the highest temperature is estimated to reach 35-38℃.Form 132.3 Ma,the vegetation type is conifer forest,and its paleoclimate is sub-humid warm temperate,the highest temperature is estimated to reach 24-29℃.

Spatiotemporal variability of precipitation during 1961-2014 across the Mongolian Plateau

Precipitation is the dominant factor that controls vegetation growth and land-use practices in the arid and semiarid Mongolian Plateau(MP), so the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of precipitation change has been an important scientific question in the region. This study investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of annual and seasonal precipitation across the entire MP based on monthly precipitation data from 136 meteorological stations during 1961–2014 by using a modified Mann–Kendall test, Sen's slope, Morlet Wavelet Transform, and geostatistical methods. Results show the following: 1) Annual precipitation decreased slightly from 1961 to 2014.Stations with positive and negative trends were 41.9%and 58.1%, respectively. Significant positive trends were mainly in the southwestern and northeastern regions of the plateau, whereas significant negative trends were in the northern and southeastern regions.2) Precipitation decreased at rates of-5.65 and-0.41 mm/decade in summer and autumn, respectively, but increased at 1.91 and 0.51 mm/decade in spring and winter. The contribution of spring and winter precipitation to the annual amount increased significantly, but that of summer precipitation decreased significantly. 3) A large majority of stations(80.2%) showed decreasing trends in summer,whereas 89.7% and 83.1% of stations showed increasing trends in spring and winter. The spatial distribution of trend magnitude in seasonal precipitation amount was strongly heterogeneous. 4)By climatic zones, precipitation increased in humid and arid zones, but decreased in a semiarid zone. On the whole, the MP experienced a drying trend, with significant regional differentiation and seasonal variations.

Community phylogenetic structure of grasslands and its relationship with environmental factors on the Mongolian Plateau

The community assembly rules and species coexistence have always been interested by ecologists. The community phylogenetic structure is the consequence of the interaction process between the organisms and the abiotic environment and has been used to explain the relative impact of abiotic and biotic factors on species co-existence. In recent years, grassland degradation and biodiversity loss have become increasingly severe on the Mongolian Plateau, while the drivers for these changes are not clearly explored, especially whether climate change is a main factor is debated in academia. In this study, we examined the phylogenetic structure of grassland communities along five transects of climate aridity on the Mongolian Plateau, and analyzed their relations with environmental factors, with the aims to understand the formation mechanism of the grassland communities and the role of climatic factors. We surveyed grassland communities at 81 sites along the five transects, and calculated their net relatedness index(NRI) at two different quadrat scales(small scale of 1 m2 and large scale of 5 m2) to characterize the community phylogenetic structure and analyze its relationship with the key 11 environmental factors. We also calculated the generalized UniFrac distance(GUniFrac) among the grassland communities to quantify the influence of spatial distance and environmental distance on the phylogenetic β diversity. The results indicated that plant community survey using the large scale quadrat contained sufficient species to represent community compositions. The community phylogenetic structure of grasslands was significantly overdispersed at both the small and large scales, and the degree of overdispersion was greater at the large scale than at the small scale, suggesting that competitive exclusion instead of habitat filtering played a major role in determination of community composition. Altitude was the main factor affecting the community phylogenetic structure, whereas climatic factors, such as precipitation and temperature, had limited influence. The principal component analysis of the 11 environmental factors revealed that 94.04% of their variation was accounted by the first four principal components. Moreover only 14.29% and 23.26% of the variation in community phylogenetic structure were explained by the first four principal components at the small and large scales, respectively. Phylogenetic β diversity was slightly significantly correlated with both spatial distance and environmental distance, however, environmental distance had a less explanatory power than spatial distance, indicating a limited environmental effect on the community phylogenetic structure of grasslands on the Mongolian Plateau. In view of the limited effect of climatic factors on the community phylogenetic structure of grasslands, climate change may have a smaller impact on grassland degradation than previously thought.

SALT LAKES ON THE INNER MONGOLIAN PLATEAU OF CHINA

Salt lakes,the main source of trona resources in China, are widely distributed on the Inner Mongolian Plateau. Their characteristics are large in number, various in type, and short in salt-forming stage, especially their considerable number is well-known at home and abroad. The paper discusses the physical constituents, hydrochemical features, classification, formation, evolution, and salt-forming regularities of salt lakes through analyzing their distribution, lacustrine deposits and salt-forming conditions.

Ensemble projections of climate and streamflow in a typical basin of semi-arid steppes in Mongolian Plateau of 2021-2100

The Kherlen River is the main water source for Hulun Lake,the largest lake in northern China.Due to reduced inflow from the Kherlen River,Hulun Lake experienced rapid shrinkage at the beginning of the 21st century,posing a serious threat to the ecological security of northern China.However,there is still a significant lack of projections regarding future climate change and its hydrological response in the Kherlen River basin.This study analyzed the projected climate and streamflow changes in the Kherlen River basin,a vital yet vulnerable international semi-arid steppes type basin.A combination of multi-model ensemble projection techniques,and the soil and water assessment tool(SWAT)model was employed to examine the spatio-temporal changes in precipitation,temperature,streamflow,and the associated uncertainties in the basin.The temperature(an increase of 1.84-6.42℃)and the precipitation(an increase of 15.0-46.0 mm)of Kherlen River basin are projected to increase by 2100,leading to a rise in streamflow(1.08-4.78 m^(3) s^(-1)).The upstream of the Kherlen River exhibits remarkable increasing trends in precipitation,which has a dominant influence on streamflow of Kherlen River.Noteworthy increases in streamflow are observed in April,August,September,and October compared to the reference period(1971-2000).These findings suggest a partial alleviation of water scarcity in the Kherlen River,but also an increased likelihood of hydrological extreme events.The projected temperature increase in the Kherlen River basin exhibits the smallest uncertainty,while more pronounced uncertainties are found in precipitation and streamflow.The spread among the results of CMIP6 models is greater than that of CMIP5 models,with lower signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)values for temperature,precipitation,and streamflow.

Dynamic evolution of spring sand and dust storms and cross-border response in Mongolian plateau from 2000 to 2021

According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDG 15.3),frequent sand and dust storms(SDSs)in the spring are a long-term challenge to the prevention and control of land degradation on the Mongolian plateau.In this study,MODIS remote sensing data are used to monitor and analyse SDS events on the Mongolian Plateau.The annual distribution of spring SDSs(March to May)from 2000 to 2021 are obtained based on the dust storm detection index.The overall classification accuracy is 85.24%and the kappa coefficient is 0.7636.Results show a decrease in the overall frequency of SDS events,where storm events in 2000–2010 are significantly higher than those in the second decade.The cross-border regions between China and Mongolia appear to be SDS intensity centers,particularly those in southern Mongolia.Precipitation exhibits a strong negative correlation with the area affected by SDS,and the correlation coefficient is–0.72.The increase in barren and sand contributes primarily to the increase in SDS,whereas wind prevention and sand control projects undertaken by the Mongolian and Chinese governments promote regional restoration.Policies pertaining to cross-board sandstorm responses on the Mongolian Plateau are recommended.

Analyzing vegetation dynamic trend on the Mongolian Plateau based on the Hurst exponent and influencing factors from 1982–2013

This study analyzed the spatial and temporal variations in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) on the Mongolian Plateau from 1982–2013 using Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies(GIMMS) NDVI3 g data and explored the effects of climate factors and human activities on vegetation. The results indicate that NDVI has slight upward trend in the Mongolian Plateau over the last 32 years. The area in which NDVI increased was much larger than that in which it decreased. Increased NDVI was primarily distributed in the southern part of the plateau, especially in the agro-pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia. Improvement in the vegetative cover is predicted for a larger area compared to that in which degradation is predicted based on Hurst exponent analysis. The NDVI-indicated vegetation growth in the Mongolian Plateau is a combined result of climate variations and human activities. Specifically, the precipitation has been the dominant factor and the recent human effort in protecting the ecological environments has left readily detectable imprints in the NDVI data series.

Origin of the spatial consistency of summer precipitation variability between the Mongolian Plateau and the mid-latitude East Asian summer monsoon region

The Mongolian Plateau(MP) is located in the eastern part of arid Central Asia(ACA). Climatically, much of the MP is dominated by the westerly circulation and has an arid and semi-arid climate;however, the eastern part of the MP is also influenced by the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM) and has a humid and semi-humid climate. Several studies have shown that precipitation variability in the MP differs from that in western ACA but is consistent with that in the EASM region. Here we use monthly precipitation data for 1979–2016 to characterize and determine the origin of the summer precipitation variability of the MP and the EASM region. The results show that the MP and the mid-latitude EASM region exhibit a consistent pattern of precipitation variability on interannual and decadal timescales;specifically, the consistent regions are the MP and North and Northeast China. We further investigated the physical mechanisms responsible for the consistent interdecadal precipitation variability between the MP and the mid-latitude EASM region, and found that the mid-latitude wave train over Eurasia, with positive(negative) geopotential height anomalies over the North Atlantic and ACA and negative(positive) geopotential height anomalies over Europe and the MP, is the key factor responsible for the consistency of precipitation variability in the MP and the mid-latitude EASM region. The positive anomalies over the North Atlantic and ACA and negative anomalies over Europe and the MP would enhance the transport of westerly and monsoon moisture to the MP and North and Northeast China. They could also strengthen the Northeast Asian low, enhance the EASM, and trigger the anomalous ascending motion over the MP which promotes precipitation in the MP and in the mid-latitude EASM region. Overall, our results help explain the spatial variations of paleo-precipitation/humidity reconstructions in East Asia and clarify the reasons for the consistency of the regional climate.