Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qingha...Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. To assess the effect of snow cover on plant species diversity of alpine meadows, we used ten parallel transects of 60 m × 1 m for this study and described the changes in species diversity and composition associated with snow depth. With the division of snow depth into six classes, the highest species richness (S) and species diversity (H′) occurred with an intermediate snow depth, i.e., class Ⅲ and class Ⅳ, showing a unimodal curve with the increase in snow depth. The relationship between snow depth and plant diversity (both richness and Shannon index) could be depicted by quadratic equations. There was no evident relationship between diversity (both S and H′) and soil water content, which implied that other more important factors influenced species diversity. The patterns of diversity found in our study were largely attributed to freeze-thaw alteration, length of growing season and disturbances of livestock grazing. Furthermore, snow depth affected species composition, as evaluated by the Sorensen's index of similarity. In addition, almost all species limited to one snow depth class were found only in class Ⅲand class Ⅳ, indicating that intermediate snow depth was suitable for the survival and growth of many alpine species.展开更多
On April 14,2010,an earthquake reaching Richter scale 7.1 struck Jiegu Town of Yushu,a mountain rescue operation promptly launched. All injurers had a direct assess to take medical care,and were immediately rescued an...On April 14,2010,an earthquake reaching Richter scale 7.1 struck Jiegu Town of Yushu,a mountain rescue operation promptly launched. All injurers had a direct assess to take medical care,and were immediately rescued and rapidly evacuated by air to Xining and Golmud at lower altitudes and admitted to advanced hospitals. Almost all of the injurers have been completely recovered. Yushu Earthquake was one of the highest earthquakes in the world,with a high incidence of acute altitude illness,which was observed in about 80 % of the lowland rescuers at an altitude of 4 000 m."Rescue the rescuers"became the major task of Qinghai-Tibetan rescue teams,all the severe patients were rapidly descended to Xining and treated promptly and effectively. The outcome was excellent,all patients survived. After the earthquake,it is a long and arduous task to reconstruct what has been destroyed. Medical teams continue to work in the Yushu Earthquake area because about 30 000 workers and carders are now here for rebuilding the earthquake center. Thus the prevention and treatment of altitude illness are still critical tasks for medical teams. Although all the fights are successful,there are more experiences and lessons we have learned from the medical mountain rescue during the earthquake and the reconstruction,and reports here are to sum up our experiences from the medical mountain rescue operation in Yushu Earthquake and draw the lessons that we should learn. With the increasing of earthquake probability occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,we also should prepare against earthquake disasters and for further rescue training in the high mountains.展开更多
Abstract Sisorid catfishes are primarily limited in distribution to rivers of the Himalayan region and Tibetan Plateau. These species have external morphologies that are adapted for extremely fast-flowing riverine sys...Abstract Sisorid catfishes are primarily limited in distribution to rivers of the Himalayan region and Tibetan Plateau. These species have external morphologies that are adapted for extremely fast-flowing riverine systems. Given the diversity of the group and the above qualities of these catfishes, this lineage serves as an ideal group for inferring the geological history of this region based on their phylogenetic relationships reflecting evolu- tionary history. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome and four nuclear genes of representative sisorids distributed across river systems in China. Phylogenetic analyses strongly support the monophyly of the Sisoridae and the glyptosternoids. An analysis of the reconstructed ancestral states derived from inferred genealogical relationships suggests that the evolution of this lineage was accompanied by convergent evolution in morphological traits that were presumably in response to environmental pressure involving the rapid flowing river system that were generated during the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau (UTP). Molecular dating indicates that the Chinese sisorids and the glyptosternoids originated at the later Miocene (~ 10.9-9.8 Mya), and with further biogeographic analyses indicates that the species of Sisoridae likely originated from a widely distributed ancestor. Moreover, the divergence of the Sisoridae in China can be divided into two phases consis- tent with the UTP. All of these results indicate that the diversification and dispersal events in this lineage occurred as a result of drainage systems formed during and after the UTP in the late Miocene and Quaternary periods.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40671181, 30870396)the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-418, KZCX2-XB2-02)+1 种基金the Ministry of Science & Technology of China (2006BAC01A15, 2006BAC01A11)the Science & Technology Bureau of Sichuan, China (03ZQ026-043)
文摘Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. To assess the effect of snow cover on plant species diversity of alpine meadows, we used ten parallel transects of 60 m × 1 m for this study and described the changes in species diversity and composition associated with snow depth. With the division of snow depth into six classes, the highest species richness (S) and species diversity (H′) occurred with an intermediate snow depth, i.e., class Ⅲ and class Ⅳ, showing a unimodal curve with the increase in snow depth. The relationship between snow depth and plant diversity (both richness and Shannon index) could be depicted by quadratic equations. There was no evident relationship between diversity (both S and H′) and soil water content, which implied that other more important factors influenced species diversity. The patterns of diversity found in our study were largely attributed to freeze-thaw alteration, length of growing season and disturbances of livestock grazing. Furthermore, snow depth affected species composition, as evaluated by the Sorensen's index of similarity. In addition, almost all species limited to one snow depth class were found only in class Ⅲand class Ⅳ, indicating that intermediate snow depth was suitable for the survival and growth of many alpine species.
基金"973"National Key Basic Research and Development Program(No.2012CB518202)Project of Qinghai Development of Science and Technology(No.2011-N-150)
文摘On April 14,2010,an earthquake reaching Richter scale 7.1 struck Jiegu Town of Yushu,a mountain rescue operation promptly launched. All injurers had a direct assess to take medical care,and were immediately rescued and rapidly evacuated by air to Xining and Golmud at lower altitudes and admitted to advanced hospitals. Almost all of the injurers have been completely recovered. Yushu Earthquake was one of the highest earthquakes in the world,with a high incidence of acute altitude illness,which was observed in about 80 % of the lowland rescuers at an altitude of 4 000 m."Rescue the rescuers"became the major task of Qinghai-Tibetan rescue teams,all the severe patients were rapidly descended to Xining and treated promptly and effectively. The outcome was excellent,all patients survived. After the earthquake,it is a long and arduous task to reconstruct what has been destroyed. Medical teams continue to work in the Yushu Earthquake area because about 30 000 workers and carders are now here for rebuilding the earthquake center. Thus the prevention and treatment of altitude illness are still critical tasks for medical teams. Although all the fights are successful,there are more experiences and lessons we have learned from the medical mountain rescue during the earthquake and the reconstruction,and reports here are to sum up our experiences from the medical mountain rescue operation in Yushu Earthquake and draw the lessons that we should learn. With the increasing of earthquake probability occurring in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,we also should prepare against earthquake disasters and for further rescue training in the high mountains.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31090254, 30770300 and U1036603)the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-EW-Q-12)the endowment of William S. Barnickle, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
文摘Abstract Sisorid catfishes are primarily limited in distribution to rivers of the Himalayan region and Tibetan Plateau. These species have external morphologies that are adapted for extremely fast-flowing riverine systems. Given the diversity of the group and the above qualities of these catfishes, this lineage serves as an ideal group for inferring the geological history of this region based on their phylogenetic relationships reflecting evolu- tionary history. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome and four nuclear genes of representative sisorids distributed across river systems in China. Phylogenetic analyses strongly support the monophyly of the Sisoridae and the glyptosternoids. An analysis of the reconstructed ancestral states derived from inferred genealogical relationships suggests that the evolution of this lineage was accompanied by convergent evolution in morphological traits that were presumably in response to environmental pressure involving the rapid flowing river system that were generated during the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau (UTP). Molecular dating indicates that the Chinese sisorids and the glyptosternoids originated at the later Miocene (~ 10.9-9.8 Mya), and with further biogeographic analyses indicates that the species of Sisoridae likely originated from a widely distributed ancestor. Moreover, the divergence of the Sisoridae in China can be divided into two phases consis- tent with the UTP. All of these results indicate that the diversification and dispersal events in this lineage occurred as a result of drainage systems formed during and after the UTP in the late Miocene and Quaternary periods.