Alpine Wetland Evolution and Their Response to Climate Change in the Yellow-River-Source National Park from 2000 to 2020

Abstract

Clarifying the response of wetland changes to climate change can improve the scientific conservation and utilization capabilities of wetland ecosystems, which is vital for their sustainable development. In this study, the spatial distribution and area changes of the different types of wetlands in the Yellow-River-Source National Park (YRSNP) were obtained using the object-based classification method for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020. The relationship between wetland change and climate factors was investigated by combining grey relation analysis and correlation analysis. The response of wetland change to different climatic factors was consequently clarified. The results showed that the river wetlands and lake wetlands increased significantly from the year 2000 to 2010 (4.04% and 4.21%, respectively). However, the total wetland area demonstrated a decreasing trend (7.08%), primarily due to the significant decrease in the marsh wetlands (6.81%). The total wetland area demonstrated a slightly increasing trend from the year 2010 to 2020 (0.14%), in which river wetlands and lake wetlands increased by 3.25% and 2.09%, respectively, while the marsh wetlands demonstrated a tendency to be stable. From the year 2000 to 2010, 75.53% of precipitation and 27.68% of temperature demonstrated a significant increase and an obvious warm–humid climate trend. However, from the year 2010 to 2020, the trend of increasing precipitation weakened, the temperature decreased slightly, and the warm–humid climate trend was not significant. From the year 2000 to 2020, the YRSNP river wetlands and lake wetlands were significantly and positively correlated with temperature and precipitation, while the marsh wetlands were most affected by climate warming, especially the warm-season temperatures. The spatial–temporal difference was not obvious in the correlation coefficient between marsh wetlands area change and the precipitation and temperature. The results of the study can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for the conservation of wetland ecosystems in the Three-River-Source National Park.

A study of the effects of climate change and human activities on NPP of marsh wetland vegetation in the Yellow River source region between 2000 and 2020

“…In some regions of the Zoige Plateau in the southeast of the YRSR, NPPa exhibited a decreasing trend, and NPPh exhibited a negative effect, indicating that the NPPa of marsh wetland vegetation in this region was primarily reduced by human activities. The results obtained were consistent with those of similar studies (Guo et al, 2020;Ma et al, 2022;Yan et al, 2022), proving the accuracy and reliability of the NPP estimation result of this study.…”

“…In each marsh wetland pixel in the study area, slope trend analysis was employed to determine the changing trend of vegetation NPP and climate factors between 2000 and 2020. The calculation formula is as follows (Ma et al, 2022;Yan et al, 2022):…”

“…Since 1950, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has experienced significantly warming, which has led to the accelerated degradation of permafrost, reduced solid water reserves, and increased precipitation (Zhao et al, 2020;Zhang Q. et al, 2022), which makes the stability of the marsh wetland ecosystem in the YRSR worse; simultaneously, human activities, such as overgrazing, expansion of construction land, and peat mining have intensified (Liu et al, 2019;Pan et al, 2020); the marsh wetland in the YRSR have been degraded to varying degrees, with serious landscape fragmentation and decreased species diversity, posing a serious threat to the aquatic ecological function, frozen soil, and ecological environment in this area (Xiang et al, 2009;Li et al, 2018). With the strengthening of ecological environment protection and the regulation of relevant policies, the Chinese government has implemented a series of ecological protection and restoration projects since 2000, including turning grazing land back to green and establishing the Sanjiangyuan National Ecological Protection Area, especially the construction of the Yellow River Source National Park, which has improved the ecological environment in the YRSR (Du et al, 2015;Shao et al, 2017;Ma et al, 2022). However, the exact mechanism of the change in marsh wetland in the YRSR is still unknown because of the mutual interference and interaction between climate change and human activities.…”

Spatio-Temporal Characteristics and Driving Mechanism of Alpine Peatland InSAR Surface Deformation—A Case Study of Maduo County, China

“…Peatland ecosystems in alpine regions not only have ecological functions. Peatland such as water containment, biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, and carbon storage [4], but are also among the wetlands with the highest biodiversity per unit area of any ecosystem [5]. However, due to environmental changes and external disturbances, peatlands located in alpine regions are highly susceptible to shrinkage and degradation [6].…”

Identifying the Driving Forces of Alpine Wetland Dynamic Changes in the Yellow River Source National Park from 2000 to 2020

“…This is because of the influence of hydrological recharge brought by precipitation and the melting glaciers in the upper reaches due to the increase in temperature during the warm season [20]. Ma et al discovered that the warm season mean temperature and mean annual temperature had the greatest influence on the changes of the YRSNP wetland [21]. However, some research has indicated that the impacts of natural factors such as climate change on alpine wetlands can be amplified by human activities.…”