Hydrological Services by Mountain Ecosystems in Qilian Mountain of China: A Review

Hydrological service is a hot issue in the current researches of ecosystem service, particularly in the upper reaches of mountain rivers in dry land areas, where the Qilian Mountain is a representative one. The Qilian Mountain, where forest, shrubland and grassland consist of its main ecosystems, can provide fresh water and many other ecosystem services, through a series of eco-hydrological process such as precipitation interception, soil water storage, and fresh water provision. Thus, monitoring water regulation and assessing the hydrological service of the Qilian Mountain are meaningful and helpful for the healthy development of the lower reaches of arid and semi-arid areas. In recent 10 years, hydrological services have been widely researched in terms of scale and landscape pattern, including water conservation, hydrological responses to afforestation and their ecological effects. This study, after analyzing lots of current models and applications of geographical information system（GIS） in hydrological services, gave a scientific and reasonable evaluation of mountain ecosystem in eco-hydrological services, by employing the combination of international forefronts and contentious issues into the Qilian Mountain. Assessments of hydrological services at regional or larger scales are limited compared with studies within watershed scale in the Qilian Mountain. In our evaluation results of forest ecosystems, it is concluded that long-term observation and dynamic monitoring of different types of ecosystem are indispensable, and the hydrological services and the potential variation in water supplement on regional and large scales should be central issues in the future research.v

Analysis on the Observation Data of Three Profiles across the Qilian Mountain-Haiyuan Fault Zone

By analyzing GPS, leveling and gravity observation data from the Minle, Huazangsi and Shagouhe profiles across the Qilian Mountain-Haiyuan fault during 2005 - 2009, the changes of these data and activity characteristics of the main faults in different time are obtained. The results show that the Changma-Erbo, Maomaoshan, Zhunglanghe and Haiyuan faults have been active in recent years. The relationship between the vertical displacement and mobile gravity data is analyzed, and the results reveal the gravity changes are mainly due to mass transfer. The results of GPS observation show that the direction of the horizontal movement velocity was almost along the fault strike in 2006 - 2007, while the horizontal velocity deviated from the fault direction in 2007 - 2008, characterized by increased eastward displacement. Further analysis upon removal of the linear trend on the time series of the N and E coordinate values of the continuous observation stations of the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China near the three profiles reveals that the Wenchuan earthquake had an effect on the observations in 2007 - 2008. Comparing the gravitational changes in 2008 - 2009 with the Bouguer gravity anomaly background, we find that the area near Minle profile is in the stage of adjustment and recovery, while the anomaly is not completely recovered around Huazangsi and Shagouhe profiles.