Spatial distribution pattern in mammal and bird richness and their relationship with ecosystem services in Sanjiangyuan National Park, China

Species diversity exhibit a close relationship with ecosystem services, and making clear the relationship can help us understand the service value and functional mechanism of ecosystems and take measures to promote human well-being. Here, we used species survey data and multi-source habitat factors to simulate the spatial distribution of species richness and four types of ecosystem services(water production, net primary productivity, carbon storage, and habitat quality) in Sanjiangyuan National Park located in Qinghai Province, China. We also analyzed the spatial distribution pattern and explored the spatial relationship between species richness and ecosystem services through Geo Detector analyses. We found that high species richness in Sanjiangyuan National Park was shown to be mainly distributed in areas with high vegetation growth on both sides of rivers. The effect of climate on the spatial distribution of species richness in the park is the highest among all the selected environmental variables. For the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem services, the relative correlation strength of single ecosystem service varied among the three main ecosystems(grassland, meadow, and wetland) and all relations are positive.

Scrutinise the variations of glaciers and their climatic attributions in the Sanjiangyuan National Park during 1969-2018

Since 2020,the first national park of China,the Sanjiangyuan National Park(Park)has been put into operation in China.This Park is one of the most vulnerable regions to the rapid climate change in the Tibetan Plateau.There have not been any investigations into the current status of the glacier resources in the Park so far.This study reported the first summary of the glaciers in the Park at present and their variations since the 1960s.The data used here come from the two Chinese Glacier Inventories finished during 1969-1970 and 2006-2010,respectively,and the remote-sensing images during 1985-1990,1995-2000 and 2018.The total glacier area in the Park is 772 km^(2)to our best estimate,much less than 2342 km^(2)reported in the first Chinese Glacier Inventory published in 2009.The shrinkage rate of the glaciers in the Yangtze River Park(a sub-park)had slowed from-0.37%per year during the 1970s to-0.09%per year during 2002-2012 in area,while that in the Lancang River Park had sped up from-0.34%per year during 1968-2000 to-0.67%per year during 2000-2018.There are no glaciers in the Yellow River Park(a sub-park).The change in the glaciers was related to the regional relatively rapidly warming and insufficient mass supply from precipitation.The geographic features of the glaciers in the Yangtze and Lancang Parks also lead to their different change extents,most of which happened at 5500 m a.s.l.and below.

Rewilding the wildlife in Sangjiangyuan National Park,Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The targets of China’s national park construction are to protect the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystems,and to achieve the harmonious development between humans and nature.Because of the high intensity of human activities,the authenticity of ecosystems has deviated over the past few decades.It is time to rewild the wildlife and restore the authenticity of these ecosystems.The status of rewilding wildlife in Sanjiangyuan National Park,indicating that the wildlife population,diversity and wildness have increased within the National Park.The wildlife population in the national park has been restored,with about 60,000 Tibetan antelope,60,000 Tibetan gazelle,36,000 Tibetan wild ass,10,000 wild yak,and 10,000 white-lipped deer up to 2017.However,overgrazing existed on the alpine grassland with population increasing both of ungulates and livestock.