Estimation of Regional Evapotranspiration in Alpine Area and Its Response to Land Use Change:A Case Study in Three-River Headwaters Region of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Three-River Headwaters （TRH） region involved in this paper refers to the source region of the Changjiang （Yangtze） River, the Huanghe （Yellow） River and the Lancang River in China. Taking the TRH region of the Qing- hai-Tibet Plateau as a case, the annual evapotranspiration （ET） model developed by Zhang et al. （2001） was applied to evaluate mean annual ET in the alpine area, and the response of annual ET to land use change was analyzed. The plant-available water coefficient （w） of Zhang＇s model was revised by using vegetation-temperature condition index （VTCI） before annual ET was calculated in alpine area. The future land use scenario, an input of ET model, was spa- tially simulated by using the conversion of land use and its effects at small regional extent （CLUE-S） to study the re- sponse of ET to land use change. Results show that the relative errors between the simulated ET and that calculated by using water balance equation were 3.81% and the index of agreement was 0.69. This indicates that Zhang＇s ET model based on revised plant-available water coefficient is a scientific and practical tool to estimate the annual ET in the al- pine area. The annual ET in 2000 in the study area was 221.2 ram, 11.6 mm more than that in 1980. Average annual ET decreased from southeast to northwest, but the change of annual ET between 1980 and 2000 increased from southeast to northwest. As a vast and sparsely populated area, the population in the TRH region was extremely unbalanced and land use change was concentrated in very small regions. Thus, land use change had little effect on total annual ET in the study area but a great impact on its spatial distribution, and the effect of land use change on ET decreased with in- creasing precipitation. ET was most sensitive to the interconversion between forest and unused land, and was least sen- sitive to the interconversion between cropland and low-covered grassland.

Characteristics of root pullout resistance of Caragana korshinskii Kom.in the loess area of northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Roots exert pullout resistance under pullout force,allowing plants to resist uprooting.However,the pullout resistance characteristics of taproot-type shrub species of different ages remain unclear.In this study,in order to improve our knowledge of pullout resistance characteristics of taproot systems of shrub species,we selected the shrub species Caragana korshinskii Kom.in different growth periods as the research plant and conducted in situ root pullout test.The relationships among the maximum pullout resistance,peak root displacement,shrub growth period,and aboveground growth indices(plant height and plant crown breadth)were analyzed,as well as the mechanical process of uprooting.Pullout resistance of 4-15 year-old C.korshinskii ranged from 2.49(±0.25)to 14.71(±4.96)kN,and the peak displacement ranged from 11.77(±8.61)to 26.50(±16.09)cm.The maximum pullout resistance and the peak displacement of roots increased as a power function(R^(2)=0.9038)and a linear function(R^(2)=0.8242)with increasing age,respectively.The maximum pullout resistance and the peak displacement increased with increasing plant height;however,this relationship was not significant.The maximum pullout resistance increased exponentially(R^(2)=0.5522)as the crown breadth increased.There was no significant relationship between the peak displacement and crown breadth.The pullout resistance and displacement curve were divided into three stages:the initial nonlinear growth,linear growth,and nonlinear stages.Two modes of failure of a single root occurred when the roots were subjected to vertical loading forces:the synchronous breakage mode and the periderm preferential breakage mode.These findings provide a foundation for further investigation of the soil reinforcement and slope protection mechanisms of this shrub species in the loess area of northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China.

Biological soil crusts and their potential applications in the sand land over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is now experiencing ecological degradation risks as a result of climate change and human activities.The alpine grassland ecology in permafrost zones is fragile and susceptible to deterioration due to its high altitude,low temperature,and limited oxygen,which complicates the repair of damaged land.Biological soil crusts(BSCs)are crucial for land restoration in plateau regions because they can thrive in harsh conditions and have environmentally beneficial traits.Inoculated biological soil crust(IBSC)has shown success in low-altitude desert regions,but may not be easily duplicated to the plateau environment.Therefore,it is essential to do a comprehensive and multifaceted analysis of the basic theoretical comprehension and practical application of BSCs on the Tibetan Plateau.This review article aims to provide a brief summary of the ecological significance and the mechanisms related to the creation,growth,and progression of BSCs.It discusses the techniques used for cultivating BSCs in laboratories and using them in the field,focusing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau circumstance.We thoroughly discussed the potential and the required paths for further studies.This study may be used as a basis for selecting suitable microbial strains and accompanying supplemental actions for implementing IBSCs in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Growth behavior and resource potential evaluation of gas hydrate in core fractures in Qilian Mountain permafrost area, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Qilian Mountain permafrost area located in the northern of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a favorable place for natural gas hydrate formation and enrichment,due to its well-developed fractures and abundant gas sources.Understanding the formation and distribution of multi-component gas hydrates in fractures is crucial in accurately evaluating the hydrate reservoir resources in this area.The hydrate formation experiments were carried out using the core samples drilled from hydrate-bearing sediments in Qilian Mountain permafrost area and the multi-component gas with similar composition to natural gas hydrates in Qilian Mountain permafrost area.The formation and distribution characteristics of multi-component gas hydrates in core samples were observed in situ by X-ray Computed Tomography(X-CT)under high pressure and low temperature conditions.Results show that hydrates are mainly formed and distributed in the fractures with good connectivity.The ratios of volume of hydrates formed in fractures to the volume of fractures are about 96.8%and 60.67%in two different core samples.This indicates that the fracture surface may act as a favorable reaction site for hydrate formation in core samples.Based on the field geological data and the experimental results,it is preliminarily estimated that the inventory of methane stored in the fractured gas hydrate in Qilian Mountain permafrost area is about 8.67×1013 m3,with a resource abundance of 8.67×108 m3/km2.This study demonstrates the great resource potential of fractured gas hydrate and also provides a new way to further understand the prospect of natural gas hydrate and other oil and gas resources in Qilian Mountain permafrost area.

Anomaly feature of seasonal frozen soil variationson the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The seasonal frozen soil on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has strong response to climate change, and its freezing-thawing process also affects East Asia climate. In this paper, the freezing soil maximum depth of 46 stations covering 1961–1999 on the plateau is analyzed by rotated experience orthogonal function (REOF). The results show that there are four main frozen anomaly regions on the plateau, i.e., the northeastern, southeastern and southern parts of the plateau and Qaidam Basin. The freezing soil depths of the annual anomaly regions in the above representative stations show that there are different changing trends. The main trend, except for the Qaidam Basin, has been decreasing since the 1980s, a sign of the climate warming. Compared with the 1980s, on the average, the maximum soil depth decreased by about 0.02 m, 0.05 m and 0.14 m in the northeastern, southeastern and southern parts of the plateau, but increased by about 0.57 m in the Qaidam Basin during the 1990s. It means there are different responses to climate system in the above areas. The spectrum analysis reveals different change cycles: in higher frequency there is an about 2-year long cycle in Qaidam Basin and southern part of the plateau in the four representative areas whereas in lower frequency there is an about 14-year long cycle in all the four representative areas due to the combined influence of different soil textures and solutes in four areas.

An Estimation of Ground Ice Volumes in Permafrost Layers in North- eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

The ground ice content in permafrost serves as one of the dominant properties of permafrost for the study of global climate change, ecology, hydrology and engineering construction in cold regions. This paper initially attempts to assess the ground ice volume in permafrost layers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by considering landform types, the corresponding lithological composition, and the measured water content in various regions. An approximation demonstrating the existence of many similarities in lithological composition and water content within a unified landform was established during the calculations. Considerable knowledge of the case study area, here called the Source Area of the Yellow(Huanghe) River(SAYR) in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has been accumulated related to permafrost and fresh water resources during the past 40 years. Considering the permafrost distribution, extent, spatial distribution of landform types, the ground ice volume at the depths of 3.0–10.0 m below the ground surface was estimated based on the data of 101 boreholes from field observations and geological surveys in different types of landforms in the permafrost region of the SAYR. The total ground ice volume in permafrost layers at the depths of 3.0–10.0 m was approximately(51.68 ± 18.81) km^3, and the ground ice volume per unit volume was(0.31 ± 0.11) m^3/m^3. In the horizontal direction, the ground ice content was higher in the landforms of lacustrine-marshland plains and alluvial-lacustrine plains, and the lower ground ice content was distributed in the erosional platforms and alluvial-proluvial plains. In the vertical direction, the volume of ground ice was relatively high in the top layers(especially near the permafrost table) and at the depths of 7.0–8.0 m. This calculation method will be used in the other areas when the necessary information is available, including landform type, borehole data, and measured water content.

Monitoring rock desert formation caused by two different origins(ice-snow melting and drying)in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China by considering topographic and meteorological elements

Monitoring rock desert formation caused by two different origins(ice-snow melting and drying)through remote sensing is crucial to our understanding of the interaction between the underlying surface of different rock desert and land-atmosphere types,as well as the relationship between bare land and soil erosion.A number of achievements have been made in remote sensing monitoring of desert areas,but there is a lack of accurate classification and remote sensing identification of rock desert types based on formation mechanism.In this study,the north and south sides of the eastern Kunlun Mountains in the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China were taken as the study areas.Landsat operational landscape imager,digital elevation model,and precipitation and temperature grid data were used as data sources.By identifying the bare areas based on the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI),we used the multi-element fusion method of contours,isotherms,and isohyets to identify the rock desert types in the ice-snow melting and dry areas.The results showed that:(1)the rock desert areas identified by remote sensing based on topographic and meteorological elements were highly accurate,with an overall accuracy of 88.45%and kappa coefficient of 0.77.The multi-element fusion method of contours,isotherms,and isohyets could effectively identify the rock desert types in the ice-snow melting and dry areas;(2)the optimal segmentation range of the ice-snow melting and dry areas was 3600 m contour,-2°C-2°C isotherms,and 100-130 mm isohyets.The areas with elevation less than 3600 m,annual average temperature higher than 2°C,and average annual precipitation less than 100 mm were rock desert in the dry areas.The range of-2°C-2°C isotherms and 100-130 mm isohyets was the transition area between the ice-snow melting and dry areas.The areas with elevation higher than 3600 m,annual average temperature less than-2°C,and average annual precipitation higher than 130 mm were rock desert in the ice-snow melting areas;and(3)the identification accuracy of the bare areas based on the NDVI method was better,specifically,the identification accuracy of plain bare areas was generally better than that of mountain bare areas.The remote sensing identification method considers not only the topographic factors that have great influence on the spatial distribution of the two types of rock desert areas,but also the meteorological factors,which can provide a scientific reference for the effective identification of the two types of rock desert areas.

Hydrochemical characteristics and controlling factors of natural water in the border areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The special geography and human environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has created the unique hydrochemical characteristics of the region’s natural water,which has been preserved in a largely natural state.However,as the intensity of anthropogenic activities in the region has continued to increase,the water environment and hydrochemical characteristics of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have altered.In this study,water samples from the western,southern,and northeastern border areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,where human activities are ongoing,were collected,analyzed,and measured.The regional differences and factors controlling them were also investigated.The key results were obtained as follows.(1) Differences in the physical properties and hydrochemical characteristics,and their controlling factors,occurred in the different boundary areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.These differences were mainly the consequence of the geographical environment and geological conditions.(2) The water quality was good and suitable for drinking,with most samples meeting GB (Chinese national) and WHO (World Health Organization) drinking water standards.(3) The chemical properties of water were mainly controlled by the weathering of carbonates and the dissolution of evaporative rocks,with the former the most influential.(4) The biological quality indicators of natural water in the border areas were far superior to GB and WHO drinking water standards.

Post-earthquake economic resilience and recovery efficiency in the border areas of the Tibetan Plateau: A case study of areas affected by the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 Earthquake in Sichuan, China in 2008

The border areas of the Tibetan Plateau and the neighboring mountainous areas have a high incidence of earthquakes with a magnitude greater than Ms 5.0, as well as having a dense distribution of geological disasters such as collapses, landslides, and debris flows. Revealing the post-disaster economic development and recovery process is very important for enhancing disaster prevention and response capacity in order to formulate control policies and recovery methods for post-disaster economic reconstruction based on economic resilience. Using long-term socioeconomic data and the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, this paper calculated the economic resilience index of the areas most severely affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008 and adopted the improved variable returns to scale (VRS) date envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the Malmquist productivity index to analyze the efficiency and effect of annual post-disaster recovery. The results show that: (1) the economic resilience index of the areas most severely affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake was 0.877. The earthquake resulted in a short-term economic recession in the affected areas, but the economy returned to pre-quake levels within two years. In addition, the industrial economy was less resilient than agriculture and the service industry. (2) The comprehensive economic recovery efficiency of the disaster-stricken area in the year following the disaster was 0.603. The comprehensive efficiency, the pure technical efficiency, and the scale efficiency of the plain and hilly areas were significantly greater than those of the plateau and mountain areas. (3) The annual fluctuation in total factor productivity (TFP) following the disaster was considerable, and the economic recovery efficiency decreased significantly, resulting in a short-term economic recession. The TFP index returned to steady state following decreases of 33.7% and 15.2%, respectively, in the two years following the disaster. (4) The significant decrease in the post-disaster recovery efficiency was caused mainly by technological changes, and the renewal of the production system was the leading factor in determining the economic resilience following the disaster. With the decline in the scale of economic recovery following the earthquake, long-term economic recovery in the disaster-stricken areas depended mainly on pure technical efficiency, and the improvement in the latter was the driving force for maintaining the long-term growth of the post-disaster economy. Therefore, according to the local characteristics of natural environment and economic system, the disaster-stricken areas need to actively change and readjust their economic structures. At the same time, attention should be paid to updating the production system to enhance the level of technological progress and give full play to the scale effects of large-scale capital, new facilities, human resources, and other investment factors following the disaster so as to enhance the impact of economic resilience and recovery efficiency in response to the disaster.

Risk analysis of snow disaster in the pastoral areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Snow disaster is one of the top ten natural disasters worldwide, and the most se- vere natural disaster to affect the pastoral areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Based on the hazard harmfulness data collected from historical records and data collected from entities affected by this hazard in 2010, a comprehensive analysis of the 18 indexes of snow disaster on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was conducted, encompassing the hazard harmfulness, the amount of physical exposure the hazard-bearing entities face, the sensitivity to the hazard, and the capacity to respond to the disaster. The analysis indicates that： （1） areas at high-risk of snow disaster on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are located in certain areas of the counties of Yecheng and Pishan in the Xinjiang region; （2） areas at medium-risk of snow disaster are found between the Gangdise Mountains and the Himalayas in the central-western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the southeastern part of the southern Qinghai Plateau; （3） the risk of snow disaster is generally low throughout the large area to the south of 30°N and the re- gion on the border of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Overall, the risk of snow disaster in high-altitude areas of the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is higher than that at the edge of the plateau.

青藏高原东北边缘及毗邻地区历史时期的人地关系及其演进

以人地相互作用为主线 ,本文探讨了历史时期青藏高原东北边缘及毗邻地区人地关系演进的时空背景、作用模式和基本特点 ,针对三个阶段人地相互作用的主导因素和动力机制的差异 ,分别建立了“气候波动主导下的人地交互作用模式”、“地缘格局主导下的人地地域互动模式”和“土地承载力限制下的人地关系循环模式”。

青藏高原东北缘及其毗邻地区人地关系地域系统研究

青藏高原东北缘及其毗邻地区人地系统具有国内其他地区无法比拟的多样性、过渡性与不稳定性特征 ,是极富人地关系研究理论与实践意义的地区。本文基于调查和实证分析 ,探讨了该地区人地系统地域分异的成因及其人地系统体系构成 ,重点对研究区内几个主要人地系统类型分别进行了三个方面的详细分析。并以协调论和可持续发展理论为指导 ,阐明了优化研究区人地系统和协调研究区人地关系的合理途径。

高原高寒边境地区装备保障战场建设

加强高原高寒边境地区装备保障战场建设是提高边境地区装备保障能力的一项重要工作。分析加强边境地区装备保障战场建设的必要性,提出装备保障战场建设的4项原则,从保障基地、设施配套、资源储备、信息化等4个方面探讨加强边境地区装备保障战场建设的对策。

青藏高原东北部边坡地带气候变化及对牧草生长的影响

通过利用位于青藏高原东北部边坡地带合作农气观测站的牧草观测资料及降水、气温和积温等地面观测气象资料,分析了气候变化对青藏高原东北部边坡地带牧草生长的影响,发现气候变化导致位于高原边坡地带的合作牧草生长期有明显延长的趋势。合作地区牧草生长期延长的主要原因是返青期提前,趋势提前15.5d/10a。由于秋季降水量增多和初春气温上升导致合作牧草返青期提前,特别在20世纪90年代中期后,合作牧草返青期出现了明显提前的趋势。合作牧草黄枯期也呈提前的趋势,趋势提前5.5d/10a,合作牧草黄枯期提前的主要原因是9月下旬至10月上旬气温升高,夏季降水量减少。

黄土高原、军民生产与“最优合约”——从“井田之谜”切入

陕甘边区的军民大生产运动之所以能够激发出最大活力,"小米加步枪"这一军民合作模式之所以有力量,是因为实现了在外部威胁条件下的生产能力与防御能力的最优均衡。源于西周的井田制实质上就是军事屯田制,这一制度解决的主要不是土地产权问题,而是士与农或牧与农之间的劳动分工和谷物归属问题,其中蕴藏着一种宪制意义上的"最优合约"——"生产交换保护",或"纳税交换/兑现保护"。在黄河中上游一带的黄土高原上生存和发展,缺乏的不是土地,而是最优的制度安排。以黄土高原为锚点,以"军民合作"为主线,便可对大历史视野中的强盛中国及其动力之源提出一个通贯性的解释。

非致命性武器伤高原边境现场医疗救治力量配置仿真研究

背景非致命性武器被广泛用于边境执勤、维稳等任务,合理配置一线救治力量是提高现场救治的关键。目的在高原边境地域,探究非致命性武器致伤下,不同卫勤力配置策略对现场伤员救治和后送的影响。方法利用仿真技术建立基于智能体的现场保障模型,模拟现场卫勤救治过程。从伤员救治和后送2个维度,在不同战伤减员预计下,利用仿真模型推导不同力量配置模式对伤员救治和后送的影响。结果以合成旅为保障基数计算,非致命性武器致伤减员预计≤6%时,现场配置7名救治人员、3个后送运力可满足救治需求;减员预计≤10%时,现场配置8名救治人员、5个后送运力可满足救治需求。结论现场救治人员规模的增加,可提高伤员救治通过速率,但会对后送提出较高要求;后送运力的增加,虽然可以提高伤员后送效率,但容易造成运力闲置率偏高。因此需要充分兼顾伤员救治通过速率与后送运力使用率之间的平衡,合理配置现场卫勤保障力量。

A long way to go:impacts of urbanization on migrants’livelihoods and rural ecology in less industrialized regions

Urbanization,often coupled with industrialization,is generally considered as a boost for improving livelihood as well as alleviating ecological pressures of the rural areas.However,this experience needs to be tested in less industrialized areas,particularly where the urbanization is driven by non-economic factors such as urban public services and relevant government policies rather than employment opportunities.Taking two villages on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as examples,through the field investigation by using semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews,and statistical data analysis,we explored the impacts of urbanization on migrants’livelihoods and the ecological conditions of their original village rangeland.We found that the disposable income and savings of emigrant households were less than the stay households,which might be correlated to the limited employment due to the lagged industrialization in the local township,and the mismatch between their traditional labor skills and the demands of urban services.Their home-village rangeland overuse was not alleviated since the increasing grazing pressure caused by the stay households,though the emigrant households intended to decrease the number of livestock on their home pasture.We concluded that the urbanization misaligned with local industrialization may fail to improve migrant livelihoods and local ecological conditions in less industrialized areas.Our research supplements the previous urbanization theory by highlighting the non-industrialization driven urbanization,and is particularly pertinent for the transitional countries worldwide.

Changes in lake area and water level in response to hydroclimate variations in the source area of the Yellow River:a case study from Lake Ngoring

In the north-eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP),the source area of the Yellow River(SAYR)has been experiencing significant changes in climatic and environmental conditions in recent decades.To date,few studies have combined modern hydrological conditions with paleoclimate records to explore the mechanism(s)of these changes.This study seeks to improve understanding of hydrological variability on decadal and centennial timescales in the SAYR and to identify its general cause.We first determined annual fluctuations in the surface area of Lake Ngoring from 1985 to 2020 using multi-temporal Landsat images.The results show that lake surface area changes were generally consistent with variations in precipitation,streamflow and the regional dry-wet index in the SAYR,suggesting that the water balance of the Lake Ngoring area is closely associated with regional hydroclimate changes.These records are also comparable to the stalagmite δ^(18)O monsoon record,as well fluctuations in the Southern Oscillation Index(SOI).Moreover,an association of high TSI(total solar insolation)anomalies and sunspot numbers with the expansion of Lake Ngoring surface area is observed,implying that solar activity is the key driving factor for hydrologic variability in the SAYR on a decadal timescale.Following this line of reasoning,we compared the δ^(13)C org-based lake level fluctuations of Lake Ngoring for the last millennium,as previously reported,with the hydroclimatic history and the reconstructed TSI record.We conclude that the hydrological regime of Lake Ngoring has been mainly controlled by centennial fluctuations in precipitation for the last millennium,which is also dominated by solar activity.In general,it appears that solar activity has exerted a dominant influence on the hydrological regime of the SAYR on both decadal and centennial timescales,which is clearly manifested in the variations of lake area and water level of Lake Ngoring.

青藏高原西部、南部和东北部边界地区天然水的水化学性质及其成因

特殊的地理和人文环境致使青藏高原天然水拥有独特的水化学性质并保存着较完整的原生状态,但随着人类活动强度的持续增大,可能导致当地水环境及水化学性质发生改变。通过对青藏高原存在人类活动的西部、南部和东北部边界地区进行水样采集、分析与测定,并探讨了当地天然水水化学性质的区域差异及其成因规律。结果表明:青藏高原不同边界地区天然水的物理性质、水化学性质和成因均存在差异,这些差异主要是地理环境、地质条件等综合作用的结果;水样pH的平均值为7.75,总溶解固体(TDS)的均值为171 mg/L,总硬度(TH)的均值为168 mg/L,总体来看水质较好,大部分能够满足国家和世界卫生组织(WHO)生活饮用水卫生标准,适宜饮用;水样中Ca^(2+)和Mg^(2+)为主要阳离子,HCO_3^-和SO_4^(2-)为主要的阴离子,主要由碳酸盐的风化和蒸发岩的溶解共同控制且碳酸盐岩风化的过程更为强烈;各边界地区天然水中的生物源物质均远低于国家和WHO标准,表明目前这些地区受人类活动的影响仍较小。

青藏高原形变对中国西部边界的影响

基于青藏高原GPS形变1991-1999年间的测量成果,通过对中尼(中国与尼泊尔)、中印(中国与印度)边界及中不(中国与不丹)边界附近GPS测站地壳水平运动速率的统计分析,运用平均速度法估算了近10a西部边境地区的形变面积。初步计算结果表明,青藏高原形变对我国西部边界存在影响,在1991-1999年之间西部边界的不均匀形变导致国土面积缩小0.37km2。