Altitudinal trends in δ^13C value,stomatal density and nitrogen content of Pinus tabuliformis needles on the southern slope of the middle Qinling Mountains,China

In this study,a coniferous tree species(Pinus tabuliformis Carr.) was investigated at a moderate-altitude mountainous terrain on the southern slope of the middle Qinling Mountains(QLM) to detect the trends in carbon isotope ratio( δ^(13)C),leaf nitrogen content(LNC) and stomatal density(SD) with altitude variation in northsubtropical humid mountain climate zone of China.The results showed that LNC and SD both significantly increased linearly along the altitudinal gradient ranging from 1000 to 2200 m,whereas leafδ^(13)C exhibited a significantly negative correlation with the altitude.Such a correlation pattern differs obviously from that obtained in offshore low-altitude humid environment or inland high-altitude semi-arid environment,suggesting that the pattern of increasing δ^(13)C with the altitude cannot be generalized.The negative correlation between δ ^(13)C and altitude might be attributed mainly to the strengthening of carbon isotope fractionation in plants caused by increasing precipitation with altitude.Furthermore,there was a remarkable negative correlation between leaf δ ^(13)C and LNC.One possible reason was that increasing precipitation that operates to increase isotopic discrimination with altitude overtook the LNC in determining the sign of leaf δ ^(13)C.The significant negative correlation between leaf δ ^(13)C and SD over altitudes was also found in the present study,indicating that increases in SD with altitude would reduce,rather than enhance plant δ^(13)C values.

Leaf stable carbon isotope composition in Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica in relation to leaf physiological and morphological characteristics along an altitudinal gradient

To understand the effects of leaf physiological and morphological characteristics on δ13C of alpine trees, we examined leaf δ13C value, LA, SD, LNC, LPC, LKC, Chla+b, LDMC, LMA and Narea in one-year-old needles of Picea schrenkiana var. tianschanica at ten points along an altitudinal gradient from 1420 m to 2300 m a.s.l. on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China. Our results indicated that all the leaf traits differed significantly among sampling sites along the altitudinal gradient(P<0.001). LA, SD, LPC, LKC increased linearly with increasing elevation, whereas leaf δ13C, LNC, Chla+b, LDMC, LMA and Narea varied non-linearly with changes in altitude. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that four controlled physiological and morphological characteristics influenced the variation of δ13C. Among these four controlled factors, LKC was the most profound physiological factor that affected δ13C values, LA was the secondary morphological factor, SD was the third morphological factor, LNC was the last physiological factor. This suggested that leaf δ13C was directly controlled by physiological and morphological adjustments with changing environmental conditions due to the elevation.

Spatiotemporal changes in agricultural land cover in Nepal over the last 100 years

In order to advance land use and land cover change（LUCC） research in Nepal, it is essential to reconstruct both the spatiotemporal distribution of agricultural land cover as well as scenarios that can explain these changes at the national and regional levels. Because of rapid population growth, the status of agricultural land in Nepal has changed markedly over the last 100 years. Historical data is used in this study, encompassing soils, populations, climatic variables, and topography. Data were revised to a series of 30 m grid cells utilized for agricultural land suitability and allocation models and were analyzed using a suite of advanced geographical tools. Our reconstructions for the spatiotemporal distribution of agricultural land in Nepal reveal an increasing trend between 1910 and 2010（from 151.2 × 10^2 km^2 to 438.8 × 10^2 km^2）. This expanded rate of increase in agricultural land has varied between different eco, physiographic, and altitudinal regions of the country, significantly driven by population changes and policies over the period of this investigation. The historical dataset presented in this paper fills an existing gap in studies of agricultural land change and can be applied to other carbon cycle and climate modeling studies, as well as to impact assessments of agricultural land change in Nepal.