Recreational value of glacier tourism resources：A travel cost analysis for Yulong Snow Mountain

Glaciers, with their unique and spectacular appearances and rich and varied terrain, have received widespread attention and become important tourist attractions. This paper uses the travel cost method to estimate the recreational value of the glacier tourism resources of Yulong Snow Mountain(also called Jade Dragon Snow Mountain), which is the most developed glacier tourist attraction in China. First-hand information was obtained through field surveys, and the travel costs of visitors visiting the Yulong Snow Mountain glacier were calculated before the method was applied to evaluate the recreational value of the focal glacier resource. The results show that the Yulong Snow Mountain consumer surplus associated with its glacier resources in 2016 ranged from 645.59-3439.10 million CNY, and the total recreational value ranged from 1.97-8.17 billion CNY. Approaches allocating travel costs across multiple recreational sites, however, can vary, and there is large difference in estimated results depending on used approaches. Nevertheless, the results of the analysis can help understand the socio-economic value of glacier resources and provide a reference for their development and protection.

Impacts of Yulong Mountain Glacier on Tourism in Lijiang

The glacier on the Yulong Mountain is one of the most important attractions in Lijiang, Yunnan, China. But it keeps retreating these years due to global warming, which is bound to influence regional tourism significantly in Lijiang. This study estimates the effects of the glacier retreat of the Yulong Mountains on tourism there. Primary data were collected through a visitor survey including demographics, motives, lengths of stay, and opinions about each tourism resource from tourists to Lijiang, as well as questions about which scenic spot（s） they had visited or would visit, how much they expended per day during their visit and how their visiting behavior would be changed upon the hypothesis that the glacier would disappear. These data were used to analyze the proportion of the contribution of glacier to the tourism in Lijiang and estimate the impact of glacier on the regional tourism quantitatively. According to the survey, it could be concluded that three quarters of the tourists to Lijiang were interested in the Yulong Mountain glacier, indicating that the glacier possesses notable appeal for sightseeing tourists. The results of our analysis showed that about 689,013-1,508,247 tourists, accounting for 19.63-42.97 % of the total 3,510,000 domestic tourists to Lijiang in 2004, would not come to Lijiang in the absence of the glacier, resulting in a possible direct economic loss of 84,382,508-184,713,011 USD （viz. 700,374,824-1,533,117,993 RMB） and a markedly decrease in the attraction radius.

Comparisons of stable isotopic fractionation in winter and summer at Baishui Glacier No.1,Mt.Yulong,China

Based on the data of δ^18O in surface snow, snow pits, meltwater and the glacier-fed fiver water at Baishui Glacier No. 1, Mt. Yulong, the isotopic fractionation behaviors in the typical monsoonal temperate glacier system in winter and summer were compared. The results indicate that the isotopic fractionation degree in summer is greater than that in winter, suggesting that the snow/ice melting is more intense in summer. Moreover, whenever it is in winter or summer, from surface snow to meltwater, and to glacier-fed fiver water, the gradient of δ^18O with altitude gradually increases. This shows that the degree of isotopic fractionation gradually strengthens when surface snow is being converted into meltwater and finally into glacial fiver water, which suggests that the influence of post-depositional processes on δ^18O gradient in the monsoonal temperate glacier region differs spatially.

Distribution features of stable oxygen isotopes in the typical monsoon temperate-glacier region, Mountain Yulong in China

During the summers of 1999 and 2000, sampling was carried out in Mt. Yulong, for the investigation of the spatial distribution of oxygen stable isotope in the atmospheric glacial hydro system and similar results obtained in the two years have confirmed our conclusion. There is an evident negative correlation between stable isotopic composition and air temperature precipitation amount, suggesting that there exits a strong 'precipitation amount effect' in this typical monsoon temperate glacier region. There are marked differences between the δ 18 O values in winter accumulated snow, glacial meltwater, summer precipitation and glacier feeding stream. Under the control of varied climatic conditions, spatial and temporal variations of above glacial hydro mediums are apparent. Isotopic depletion or fractionation and ionic changes had occurred during the phase change and transformation processes of snow ice, ice meltwater, flowing of runoff and contact with bedrock. The variation of stable isotope in a runoff can reflect not only its own flowing process but also its different feeding sources.

Characteristics and Environmental Significance of pH and EC in Summer Rainfall and Shallow Firn Profile at Yulong Snow Mountain,Lijiang City,China

The seasonal and inter-annual variations of pH and EC （electrical conductivity） at Yulong （玉龙） Snow Mountain, Lijiang （丽江） City, are sensitive to precipitation variations and are important indicators of the atmospheric environment. The pH of summer rainfall at Lijiang City ranges from 6.7 to 7.4, and alkaline mineral salts dominate the variations of rainfall acidity, pH values in the shallow firn profile at Baishui （白水） Glacier No. 1 range from 5.6 to 6.3, and EC values from 2.4 to 7.3 μs/cm. The ranges are lower than those in other firn cores from China because of stronger elution and the influence of marine aerosols. This indicates that environmental records from a monsoonal temperate glacier differ from those at continental glaciers.

Biotic and abiotic factors determine species diversity-productivity relationships in mountain meadows

Aims Species diversity–productivity relationships in natural ecosystems have been well documented in the literature.However,biotic and abiotic factors that determine their relationships are still poorly understood,especially under future climate change scenarios.Methods Randomized block factorial experiments were performed in three meadows along an elevational gradient on Yulong Mountain,China,where open-top chambers and urea fertilizer manipulations were used to simulate warming and nitrogen addition,respectively.Besides species diversity,we measured functional diversity based on five traits:plant height,specific leaf area and leaf carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus contents.Several abiotic factors relating to climate(air temperature and precipitation)and soil chemistry(pH,organic carbon concentration,total nitrogen concentration and phosphorus concentration)were also measured.Generalized linear mixed-effect models were used to investigate the responses of species diversity and productivity to elevation,warming,nitrogen addition and their interactions.The effects of biotic and abiotic factors on the direction and magnitude of their relationship were also assessed.Important Findings Species diversity decreased with increasing elevation and declined under warming at mid-elevation,while productivity decreased with increasing elevation.Functional richness,maximum air temperature,soil pH and their interactions showed strong but negative influences on the species diversity–productivity relationship;the relationship shifted from positive to neutral and then to slightly negative as these sources of variation increased.Our study highlights the negative effects of short-term warming on species diversity and emphasizes the importance of both biotic and abiotic drivers of species diversity–productivity relationships in mountain meadow communities.