Half of all of China’s lakes are on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau(QTP),which are mainly distributed at altitudes above 4000 m asl.Being under conditions of progressively intensifying anthropogenic activities and climate...Half of all of China’s lakes are on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau(QTP),which are mainly distributed at altitudes above 4000 m asl.Being under conditions of progressively intensifying anthropogenic activities and climate change,the debate on whether QTP lakes act as carbon(C)sinks or sources remains unresolved.This study explores QTP lake C exchange processes and characteristics over the past two decades through field monitoring and data integration.Results reveal high lake carbon dioxide(CO_(2))exchange flux distribution patterns in its western and southern regions and correspondingly low values in its eastern and northern regions.Lake CO_(2)exchange flux rates also show significant temporal differences where those in the 2000s and 2010s were significantly higher compared to the 2020s.Annual total CO_(2)emission flux from QTP lakes has increased from 1.60 Tg Ca^(-1)in the 2000s to 6.87 Tg Ca^(-1)in the 2010s before decreasing to 1.16 Tg Ca^(-1)in the 2020s.However,QTP lakes have generally acted as C sinks when annual ice-cover periods are included in the estimation of annual C budgets.Consequently,QTP lakes are gradually evolving towards C sinks.Some small-sized freshwater lakes on the QTP exhibit C sequestration characteristics while low-mid altitude saltwater lakes also act as C sinks.Therefore,owing to the high uncertainties in the estimation of C exchange flux,the QTP lake C sink capacity has been largely underestimated.展开更多
基金supported by the CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research (YSBR037)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42225103 and 42141015)
文摘Half of all of China’s lakes are on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau(QTP),which are mainly distributed at altitudes above 4000 m asl.Being under conditions of progressively intensifying anthropogenic activities and climate change,the debate on whether QTP lakes act as carbon(C)sinks or sources remains unresolved.This study explores QTP lake C exchange processes and characteristics over the past two decades through field monitoring and data integration.Results reveal high lake carbon dioxide(CO_(2))exchange flux distribution patterns in its western and southern regions and correspondingly low values in its eastern and northern regions.Lake CO_(2)exchange flux rates also show significant temporal differences where those in the 2000s and 2010s were significantly higher compared to the 2020s.Annual total CO_(2)emission flux from QTP lakes has increased from 1.60 Tg Ca^(-1)in the 2000s to 6.87 Tg Ca^(-1)in the 2010s before decreasing to 1.16 Tg Ca^(-1)in the 2020s.However,QTP lakes have generally acted as C sinks when annual ice-cover periods are included in the estimation of annual C budgets.Consequently,QTP lakes are gradually evolving towards C sinks.Some small-sized freshwater lakes on the QTP exhibit C sequestration characteristics while low-mid altitude saltwater lakes also act as C sinks.Therefore,owing to the high uncertainties in the estimation of C exchange flux,the QTP lake C sink capacity has been largely underestimated.
