Comparison of ecosystem characteristics between degraded and intact alpine meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

You, Qinglong; Xue, Xian; Peng, Fei; Xu, Manhou; Duan, Hanchen; Dong, Siyang

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.07.022

Cited by 49 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Alpine meadow ecosystem degradation studies conducted in an alpine region (You et al. ) and in a northern higher latitude region (Bonfils et al. ) have already demonstrated this phenomenon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Xue

Peng

You

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent studies found that the largest uncertainties in the response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to climate change might come from changes in soil moisture under the elevation of temperature. Warming‐induced change in soil moisture and its level of influence on terrestrial ecosystems are mostly determined by climate, soil, and vegetation type and their sensitivity to temperature and moisture. Here, we present the results from a warming experiment of an alpine ecosystem conducted in the permafrost region of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau using infrared heaters. Our results show that 3 years of warming treatments significantly elevated soil temperature at 0–100 cm depth, decreased soil moisture at 10 cm depth, and increased soil moisture at 40–100 cm depth. In contrast to the findings of previous research, experimental warming did not significantly affect NH 4 +‐N, NO 3 −‐N, and heterotrophic respiration, but stimulated the growth of plants and significantly increased root biomass at 30–50 cm depth. This led to increased soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and liable carbon at 30–50 cm depth, and increased autotrophic respiration of plants. Analysis shows that experimental warming influenced deeper root production via redistributed soil moisture, which favors the accumulation of belowground carbon, but did not significantly affected the decomposition of soil organic carbon. Our findings suggest that future climate change studies need to take greater consideration of changes in the hydrological cycle and the local ecosystem characteristics. The results of our study will aid in understanding the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change and provide the regional case for global ecosystem models.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Xue

Peng

You

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Without plant protection, the soil gradually coarsens under the action of erosion. The physical and chemical features of the degraded soil will favour thermal conduction, which allows more heat energy from the atmosphere to be transferred downward and influences the bottom of the active layer (You et al ., ). The results of our research show that the effects of warming on the thickness of the active layer and the length of the warming period enlarged by 2–3 times after land degradation (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The study area lies in the borderland between alpine meadow and alpine steppe (Figure a). Sedges in the genus Kobresia dominate the alpine meadow grassland type at the experimental site (Huang, ; You et al , ). The average vegetation cover exceeds 85% in the undegraded alpine meadow where the dominant species include Kobresia capillifolia , Kobresia humilis , Kobresia pygmaea , Carex atrofusca , and Oxytropis pusilla .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Warming Aggravates Degradation‐Induced Topsoil Drought in Alpine Meadows of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climatic warming is presumed to cause topsoil drought by increasing evapotranspiration and water infiltration, and by progressively inducing land degradation in alpine meadows of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. However, how soil moisture and temperature patterns of degraded alpine meadows respond to climate warming remains unclear. A 6‐year continuous warming experiment was carried out in both degraded and undegraded alpine meadows in the source region of the Yangtze River. The goal was to identify the effects of climatic warming and land degradation on soil moisture (θ), soil surface temperature (Tsfc), and soil temperature (Ts). In the present study, land degradation significantly reduced θ by 4·5–6·1% at a depth of 0–100 cm (p < 0·001) and increased the annual mean Tsfc by 0·8 °C. Warming with an infrared heater (radiation output of 150 W m−2) significantly increased the annual mean Tsfc by 2·5 °C (p < 0·001) and significantly increased θ by 4·7% at a depth of 40–60 cm. Experimental warming in degraded land reversed the positive effects of the infrared heater and caused the yearly average θ to decrease significantly by 3·7–8·1% at a depth of 0–100 cm. Our research reveals that land degradation caused a significant water deficit near the soil surface. Experimental warming aggravated topsoil drought caused by land degradation, intensified the magnitude of degradation, and caused a positive feedback in the degraded alpine meadow ecosystem. Therefore, an immediate need exists to restore degraded alpine meadow grasslands in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau in anticipation of a warmer future. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

show abstract

“…As a huge heat source for the midtroposphere across the Northern Hemisphere (Yang et al, ), the QTP is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, resulting in dramatic variations in surface water‐heat budgets, regional ecological environments, and the water security for population centers, agriculture, and industry (Immerzeel et al, ; Xue et al, ; You et al, ). Owing to the continuous climate warming, the intensity of surface heat source increased at an average of 0.45 W · m −2 · year −1 during the past five decades (Wang, Bai, et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Water‐Heat Exchanges and Inconsistent Surface Temperature Changes at an Elevational Permafrost Site on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Luo

Jin

et al. 2018

JGR Atmospheres

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Increase of surface temperatures has long been recognized as an unequivocal response to radiative forcing and one of the most important implications for global warming. However, it remains unclear whether the variation of ground surface temperature (GST) and soil temperatures is consistent with simultaneous changes of the near‐surface air and land (or skin) surface temperatures (Ta and LST). In this study, a seven‐year continuous observation of GST, Ta, and surface water and heat exchange was carried out at an elevational permafrost site at Chalaping, northeastern Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. Results showed a distinct retarding of warming on the ground surface and subsurface under the presence of dense vegetation and moist peat substrates. Mean annual Ta and LST increased at noteworthy rates of 0.22 and 0.32 °C/a, respectively, while mean annual GST increased only at a rate of 0.057 °C/a. No obvious trends were detected for the four radiation budgets except the soil heat flux (G), which significantly increased at a rate of 0.29 W · m−2 · a−1, presumably inducing the melting of ground ice and resulted in much higher moisture content through the summers of 2015 and 2016 than preceding years and subsequent 2017 at the depths between 80 and 120 cm. However, no noticeable immediate variations of soil temperatures occurred owing to the large latent heat effect (thermal inertia) and the extending zero‐curtain period. We suggest that a better protected eco‐environment, particularly the surface vegetation, helps preserving the underlying permafrost, and thus to mitigates the potential degradation of elevational permafrost on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau.

show abstract

Comparison of ecosystem characteristics between degraded and intact alpine meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

Cited by 49 publications

References 38 publications

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Belowground carbon responses to experimental warming regulated by soil moisture change in an alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Experimental Warming Aggravates Degradation‐Induced Topsoil Drought in Alpine Meadows of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Characteristics of Water‐Heat Exchanges and Inconsistent Surface Temperature Changes at an Elevational Permafrost Site on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About