Spatial patterns of ecosystem vulnerability changes during 2001–2011 in the three-river source region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

The three-river source region (TRSR, including Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers), located in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, is a typical alpine zone with apparent ecosystem vulnerability and sensitivity. In this paper, we introduced many interdisciplinary factors, such as landscape pattern indices (Shannon diversity index and Shannon evenness index) and extreme climate factors (number of extreme high temperature days, number of extreme low temperature days, and number of extreme precipitation days), to establish a new model for evaluating the spatial patterns of ecosystem vulnerability changes in the TRSR. The change intensity (CI) of ecosystem vulnerability was also analyzed. The results showed that the established evaluation model was effective and the ecosystem vulnerability in the whole study area was intensive. During the study period of 2001–2011, there was a slight degradation in the eco-environmental quality. The Yellow River source region had the best eco-environmental quality, while the Yangtze River source region had the worst one. In addition, the zones dominated by deserts were the most severely deteriorated areas and the eco-environmental quality of the zones occupied by evergreen coniferous forests showed a better change. Furthermore, the larger the change rates of the climate factors (accumulative temperature of ≥10°C and annual average precipitation) are, the more intensive the CI of ecosystem vulnerability is. This study would provide a scientific basis for the eco-environmental protection and restoration in the TRSR.

Climate Change and Ecological Projects Jointly Promote Vegetation Restoration in Three-River Source Region of China

As the source of the Yellow River,Yangtze River,and Lancang River,the Three-River Source Region(TRSR)in China is very important to China’s ecological security.In recent decades,TRSR’s ecosystem has degraded because of climate change and human disturbances.Therefore,a range of ecological projects were initiated by Chinese government around 2000 to curb further degradation.Current research shows that the vegetation of the TRSR has been initially restored over the past two decades,but the respective contribution of ecological projects and climate change in vegetation restoration has not been clarified.Here,we used the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)Enhanced Vegetation Index(EVI)to assess the spatial-temporal variations in vegetation and explore the impact of climate and human actions on vegetation in TRSR during 2001–2018.The results showed that about 26.02%of the TRSR had a significant increase in EVI over the 18 yr,with an increasing rate of 0.010/10 yr(P<0.05),and EVI significantly decreased in only 3.23%of the TRSR.Residual trend analysis indicated vegetation restoration was jointly promoted by climate and human actions,and the promotion of human actions was greater compared with that of climate,with relative contributions of 59.07%and40.93%,respectively.However,the degradation of vegetation was mainly caused by human actions,with a relative contribution of71.19%.Partial correlation analysis showed that vegetation was greatly affected by temperature(r=0.62,P<0.05)due to the relatively sufficient moisture but lower temperature in TRSR.Furthermore,the establishment of nature reserves and the implementation of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Program(EPRP)improved vegetation,and the first stage EPRP had a better effect on vegetation restoration than the second stage.Our findings identify the driving factors of vegetation change and lay the foundation for subsequent effective management.

Aboveground biomass of the alpine shrub ecosystems in Three-River Source Region of the Tibetan Plateau

Though aboveground biomass(AGB) has an important contribution to the global carbon cycle,the information about storage and climatic effects of AGB is scare in Three-River Source Region(TRSR)shrub ecosystems. This study investigated AGB storage and its climatic controls in the TRSR alpine shrub ecosystems using data collected from 23 sites on the Tibetan Plateau from 2011 to 2013. We estimated the AGB storage(both shrub layer biomass and grass layer biomass) in the alpine shrubs as 37.49 Tg, with an average density of 1447.31 g m^(-2). Biomass was primarily accumulated in the shrub layer, which accounted for 92% of AGB, while the grass layer accounted for only 8%. AGB significantly increased with the mean annual temperature(P < 0.05). The effects of the mean annual precipitation on AGB were not significant. These results suggest that temperature,rather than precipitation, has significantly effects on of aboveground vegetation growth in the TRSR alpine shrub ecosystems. The actual and potential increase in AGB density was different due to global warming varies among different regions of the TRSR. We conclude that long-term monitoring of dynamic changes is necessary to improve the accuracy estimations of potential AGB carbon sequestration across the TRSR alpine shrub ecosystems.

Decadal expansion and contraction of permafrost in the Three-River Source Region,Qinghaie-Tibet Plateau(1901-2020)

Permafrost and its spatiotemporal variation considerably influence the surface and sub-surface hydrological processes,biogeochemical cycles,fauna and flora growth and cold region engineering projects in the Three-River Source Region(TRSR),Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.However,the dynamics of permafrost over a relatively long term duration(e.g.>100 years)in the TRSR is not well quantified.Thus,the spatial and temporal variations of the temperature at the top of the perennially frozen/unfrozen ground(TTOP),active layer thickness(ALT)in permafrost regions and the maximum depth of frost penetration(MDFP)in the seasonally frozen ground of the TRSR during 1901–2020 were simulated using the TTOP model and Stefan equation driven by the widely used reanalysis Climatic Research Unit 4.05 dataset.Results revealed that the permafrost in the TRSR over the past 120 years did not degrade monotonically but experienced considerable fluctuations in area with the decadal oscillations of climate warming and cooling:shrinking from 263.9×10^(3)km^(2)in the 1900s to 233.3×10^(3)km^(2)in the 1930s,expanding from 232.3×10^(3)km^(2)in the 1940s to 260.9×10^(3)km^(2)in the 1970s and shrinking again from 254.1×10^(3)km^(2)in the 1980s to 228.9×10^(3)km^(2)in the 2010s.The regional average TTOP increased from−1.34±2.74℃in the 1910s to−0.48±2.69℃in the 2010s,demonstrating the most noticeable change for the extremely stable permafrost(TTOP<−5℃)from 8%to 1%.The regional average ALT increased from 2.68±0.52 m to 2.87±0.46 m,with the area proportion of ALT>3.0 m by 12%from 1901 to 2020.Notably,minor changes were observed for the regional average MDFP,probably due to the increase in the area proportion of MDFP<3.0 m(caused by climate warming)and MDFP>3.5 m(owing to the transformation of permafrost to seasonally frozen ground)by 7.39%and 4.77%,respectively.These findings can facilitate an in-depth understanding of permafrost dynamics and thus provide a scientific reference for eco-environment protection and sustainable development under climate change in the TRSR.

Climate change tendency and grassland vegetation response during the growth season in Three-River Source Region

Climate change,climate suitablity change for grassland vegetation,and grassland response to climate change during the growth season are studied systematically by using meteorological data of temperature,precipitation,and length of sunlight from 1961 to 2007,NOAA/AVHRR NDVI from 1982 to 2006,and observations of grass height,biomass,and coverage in enclosed grassland from 1994 to 2006.Two models are developed to evaluate climate change and the climatic suitability of grassland vegetation growth.Average temperature,accumulative precipitation,and length of sunlight during the growth season increased from 1961 to 2007 at rates of 0.24°C/10 yr,2.32 mm/10 yr,and 2.81 h/10 yr,respectively.The increase rates of ave-rage temperature between April and May,and between June and August are 0.17 and 0.30°C/10 yr;accumulative rainfall between April and May increased at a rate of 2.80 mm/10 yr,and accumulative rainfall between June and August decreased at a rate of 0.38 mm/10 yr;the increase rates of accumulative length of sunlight between April and May,and between June and August are 2.15 and 1.2 h/10 yr.The climatic suitability of grassland vegetation growth showed an increasing trend,and the increase rate between April and May is greater than that between June and August.Both NDVI observations from 1982 to 2006 and measurements of grass height,dry biomass,and coverage from 1994 to 2006 show that the climate change has resulted in an increase in plant productivity of the grassland in Three-River Source Region.If some protection measures are taken as soon as possible,the deteriorated grassland in Three-River Source Region can recover.

Effects of an ecological conservation and restoration project in the Three-River Source Region, China

The first-stage of an ecological conservation and restoration project in the Three-River Source Region（TRSR）, China, has been in progress for eight years. However, because the ecological effects of this project remain unknown, decision making for future project implementation is hindered. Thus, in this study, we developed an index system to evaluate the effects of the ecological restoration project, by integrating field observations, remote sensing, and process-based models. Effects were assessed using trend analyses of ecosystem structures and services. Results showed positive trends in the TRSR since the beginning of the project, but not yet a return to the optima of the 1970 s. Specifically, while continued degradation in grassland has been initially contained, results are still far from the desired objective, ‘grassland coverage increasing by an average of 20%–40%＇. In contrast, wetlands and water bodies have generally been restored, while the water conservation and water supply capacity of watersheds have increased. Indeed, the volume of water conservation achieved in the project meets the objective of a 1.32 billion m^3 increase. The effects of ecological restoration inside project regions was more significant than outside, and, in addition to climate change projects, we concluded that the implementation of ecological conservation and restoration projects has substantially contributed to vegetation restoration. Nevertheless, the degradation of grasslands has not been fundamentally reversed, and to date the project has not prevented increasing soil erosion. In sum, the effects and challenges of this first-stage project highlight the necessity of continuous and long-term ecosystem conservation efforts in this region.

Parameter Sensitivities of the Community Land Model at Two Alpine Sites in the Three-River Source Region

The three-river source region plays an important role on China’s ecological security and Asia’s water supply. Historically, the region has experienced severe ecological degradation due to climate change and human activities. Reasonable simulations of the energy and water cycles are essential to predict the responses of land surface processes to future climate change. Current land surface models involve empirical functions that are associated with many parameters. These parameter uncertainties will largely affect the simulation when applied to a new domain. The Community Land Model(CLM) is a widely used land surface model, and version 5.0 is the newest version. Compared to the prior version CLM4.5, CLM5.0 has largely updated plant hydraulic and stomatal conductance schemes. How these changes affect parameter sensitivities is unknown. In our work, we tested 17 key parameters in CLM4.5 and 19 parameters in CLM5.0 at two eddy flux sites in the three-river source region: the Maqu and Maduo sites. We adopted the simplest one-at-a-time changes on each parameter and quantified their sensitivities by the parameter effect(PE).We found that the Maqu site was more sensitive to vegetation parameters, while the Maduo site was more sensitive to the initial soil water content in both CLM4.5 and CLM5.0. This is because Maduo grid cell has wetland that does not respond to vegetation parameters in CLM, which may not reflect the reality. Further model development on wetland vegetation parameterization is important. Our validation on the default simulation showed CLM5.0 did not always improve the simulations. The largest difference between CLM5.0 and CLM4.5 was that soil moisture(SM) showed a much stronger decrease in response to a higher leaf area index(LAI) in CLM5.0 than in CLM4.5, suggesting that SM is more sensitive to vegetation changes in CLM5.0.

河流断面演变关键影响因子遥感统计分析与识别

选取人类活动影响较小的三江源地区,利用多源遥感数据,结合最小二乘法与模糊聚类法开展大数据统计分析,探索自然因素对河流断面形状空间变异的影响.结果表明:在所有影响因素中,流域面积是驱动河流断面形状变化最主要的影响因素,随着断面控制流域面积的增加,上游"窄-深"型河道渐变为下游"宽-浅"型河道;土壤孔隙高、粉粒含量大、断面位置坡度高、植被盖度低的地理环境更利于抛物线型河流断面的形成;断面形状拟合参数(a)、控制流域面积(S)与宽深比(RWD)的关系函数均为指数型函数(a=c_(1)e^(d1S),R_(WD)=c_(2)e^(d2S)).以上结论适用于受人类活动影响小、资料缺乏的山区自然河道,可准确、高效、安全地获取河流断面形状,为河流水质评价、生态流量计算、河流健康保护、水土保持措施配置研究等奠定坚实的方法和数据基础,助力我国生态文明重大方略的实施.

2011-2012年青海省杂多县当曲湿地黑颈鹤及其他鸟类观察

广阔的当曲湿地(N32°54’,E94°08’)位于青海省杂多县境内,海拔4700 m。该湿地为一狭长区域,最大长度150 km、最大宽度60 km,由散布在蒿草和苔草草甸中的数千个池潭组成,池潭下为永久冻土层。湿地与当曲河上游交叉,该河流为黄河提供了最大的水源供给。由于地域偏僻,当曲湿地鲜有研究,虽然有关黑颈鹤(Grus nigricollis)的文献不断涌出,但并无关于该地黑颈鹤的记录。作者于2011年7月、2012年4月和2012年7月,对当曲湿地东部的局部进行了调查,3次分别记录到黑颈鹤4只、45只和14只。值得注意的是,2012年7月的调查中观察到3对繁殖黑颈鹤,并且分别带有出壳不久的2只幼鹤。尽管黑颈鹤在当曲湿地分布非常分散,该湿地仍是一个重要的黑颈鹤分布点和繁殖区。每年11月初至次年的5月初,当曲湿地都处于冰冻状态。随着区域温度的上升,每年的冰冻期将缩短,将可能导致黑颈鹤喜好的生境的扩增和黑颈鹤种群数量的增长。在该湿地还记录到5种哺乳动物和其他21种鸟类。基于当曲湿地黑颈鹤的种群数量,该湿地已具备认定为国际重要湿地的第二条标准。

三江源地区融雪径流时间变化特征与趋势分析

融雪径流是三江源地区水资源重要的组成部分。随着全球气候变化的加剧,融雪径流时间在发生变化,对于该区年径流量及其季节分配将产生重要影响。本文通过计算流量质心时间(Timing of the Center of Massfor Flow)来表示融雪径流的开始时间,利用时间序列的趋势分析方法,发现在1957年～2000年间,三江源地区主要水文站的融雪径流时间都有提前的趋势,其中澜沧江源的香达站、黄河源唐乃亥站以及长江源的直门达站融雪径流时间的提前趋势在95%的置信水平上表现显著,从变化幅度来讲,香达站融雪径流时间提前最大,大约有10天左右,而沱沱河提前最少,约为4天左右。通过相关性分析,认为三江源地区融雪径流时间与年径流量存在正相关关系,即融雪径流时间越晚年径流量越大,这种关系在直门达、吉迈以及唐乃亥站都表现显著。融雪径流时间的提前同时也会影响径流的季节分布,即会伴随着春季径流增加、夏秋季径流的减少,而与冬季径流的关系在各站不一。最后,对三江源地区融雪径流时间与大尺度气候信号的关系进行了探讨,分析了三江源地区融雪径流时间的可预测性。该研究的开展将会为三江源地区水资源的管理和预测提供科学借鉴。

Variations of Vegetation Phenology Extracted from Remote Sensing Data over the Tibetan Plateau Hinterland during 2000–2014

How vegetation phenology responds to climate change is a key to the understanding of the mechanisms driving historic and future changes in regional terrestrial ecosystem productivity. Based on the 250-m and 8-day moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer(MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) data for 2000-2014 in the Three-River Source Region(TRSR) of Qinghai Province, China, i.e., the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, we extracted relevant vegetation phenological information(e.g., start, end, and length of growing season) and analyzed the changes in the TRSR vegetation in response to climate change. The results reveal that, under the increasingly warm and humid climate, the start of vegetation growing season(SOS) advanced 1.03 day yr-1 while the end of vegetation growing season(EOS) exhibited no significant changes, which led to extended growing season length. It is found that the SOS was greatly affected by the preceding winter precipitation, with progressively enhanced precipitation facilitating an earlier SOS. Moreover, as the variations of SOS and its trend depended strongly on topography, we estimated the elevation break-points for SOS. The lower the elevations were, the earlier the SOS started. In the areas below 3095-m elevation, the SOS delay changed rapidly with increasing elevation;whereas above that, the SOS changes were relatively minor. The SOS trend had three elevation break-points at 2660, 3880, and 5240 m.