Mismatch in elevational shifts between satellite observed vegetation greenness and temperature isolines during 2000–2016 on the Tibetan Plateau

An, Shuai; Zhu, Xiaolin; Shen, Miaogen; Wang, Yafeng; Cao, Ruyin; Chen, Xuehong; Yang, Wei; Chen, Jin; Tang, Yanhong

doi:10.1111/gcb.14432

Cited by 71 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Burgeoning evidence confirms the warming trend of the Tibetan Plateau, for example, an increase in vegetation greenness (An et al, ) and the warming of large lake systems (Huang et al, ; Zhang et al, ), which has subsequently impacted the glacier mass balance. Such changes to glaciers affect the timing and the amount of water flowing downstream and play a key role in providing water for downstream irrigation, hydropower, and general consumption in major river basins in this arid climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Mass Balance Variation and Associative Climate Drivers for the Dongkemadi Glacier in the Central Tibetan Plateau

2019

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Glacier mass balance is a critical parameter in assessing glacial changes and meltwater runoff associated with climate change. This study used a modified distributed surface energy balance model at 3 hr temporal and 100‐ × 100‐m spatial resolutions to reconstruct a 1960–2009 mass balance time series of the alpine Dongkemadi Glacier in the central region of the Tibetan Plateau. The modified distributed surface energy balance model was able to reasonably simulate glacier mass balance estimations. The average annual mass balance of the reconstructed long‐term time series was −0.125 m w.e. (meter water equivalent), and the cumulative mass balance was −6.245 m w.e. throughout 1960–2009. Simulation results revealed that the glacier mass balance was more readily influenced by changes in air temperature (−362 mm w.e. [millimeter water equivalent]) than changes in precipitation (+138 mm w.e.). Therefore, a decreasing trend in the annual mass balance mainly derived from increasing air temperature throughout the simulated study period, although increasing precipitation inhibited the glacier ablation trend to some extent. Throughout 1960–2009, the glacial ablation zone expanded as shown by an increase in the equilibrium line altitude. This study offers comprehensive information on an important glacier monitored under harsh environmental conditions while aiding in our understanding of glacial response to climate change, using a method that can be applied to other glaciers to which mass balance observations are limited.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Mass Balance Variation and Associative Climate Drivers for the Dongkemadi Glacier in the Central Tibetan Plateau

2019

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“…Simulation and field experiments show that elevation affect the VFC of alpine vegetation, and with the change of elevation, the relationship between the VFC and temperature has different characteristics [66,67,68]. In the higher elevation areas in the northwest, the degree of human disturbance was relatively low, and climate was the main factors controlling of vegetation growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation Change and Its Relationship with Climate Factors and Elevation on the Tibetan Plateau

Zhang

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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As the “roof of the world”, the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a unique geographical unit on Earth. In recent years, vegetation has gradually become a key factor reflecting the ecosystem since it is sensitive to ecological changes especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset of TP from 2000 to 2015, this study analyzed the characteristics of vegetation variation and the correlation between vegetation change and climatic factors at different time scales, based on a Mann–Kendall trend analyses, the Hurst exponent, and the Pettitt change-point test. The results showed that the vegetation fractional coverage (VFC) generally increased in the past 16 years, with 60.3% of the TP experiencing an increase, of which significant (p < 0.05) increases accounted for 28.79% and were mainly distributed in the north of the TP. Temperature had the largest response with the VFC on the seasonal scale. During the growing season, the correlation between precipitation and sunshine duration with VFC was high (p < 0.05). The change-points of the VFC were mainly distributed in the north of the TP during 2007–2009. Slope and elevation had an impact on the VFC; the areas with large vegetation change are mainly distributed in slopes <20° and elevation of 3000–5000 m. For elevation above 3000–4000 m, the response of the VFC to precipitation and temperature was the strongest. This study provided important information for ecological environment protection and ecosystem degradation on the Tibetan Plateau.

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“…Pixels with mean annual NDVIs less than 0.10 were considered to contain sparse vegetation and were excluded in this study (Cong et al, 2017). The NDVI GS was then calculated as the mean of the maximum NDVI for each month from May to September (An et al, 2018).…”

Section: Normalized Difference Vegetation Indexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Climatic Factors Mediated Impacts of Large-Scale Climate Oscillations on the Growth of Vegetation Across the Tibetan Plateau

Zhang

Shen

Shi

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Large-scale climate oscillations, particularly the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), have widespread influences on climate systems across the Tibetan Plateau (TP). It is understudied how the temporal changes in AMO and PDO affected growth of vegetation through modifying the local climatic factors in different areas across the TP. We used the AMO and PDO indices, gridded growing season mean temperature (TGS), cumulative precipitation (PGS), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIGS) data from 1982 to 2015 to investigate the temporal trends of these variables and the correlations of the TGS and PGS with each of the AMO and PDO indices as well as their correlations with the NDVIGS. The results showed that the warming of the TGS over the TP and the increases of the PGS in western, central, and northeastern areas of the TP may have been related to an increase of the AMO index and a decrease of the PDO index. Combining those relationships with the spatial patterns of the TGS-NDVIGS and PGS-NDVIGS correlations suggested that the changes of the AMO and PDO may have indirectly increased the NDVIGS in the central and northeastern areas of the TP by increasing TGS and PGS, in most parts of the southwestern TP by increasing PGS, and in the eastern and south-central regions of the TP by increasing TGS. In contrast, the decrease of the NDVIGS in some areas of the southeastern and southwestern TP may have been associated with a negative effect of warming as a result of changes in the AMO and PDO. These results highlight the indirect impacts of changes in large-scale climate oscillations on the growth of vegetation through modification of local climatic factors across the TP, and they suggest the substantial spatial heterogeneity of these impacts largely depends on the responses of vegetation to local climatic factors.

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Mismatch in elevational shifts between satellite observed vegetation greenness and temperature isolines during 2000–2016 on the Tibetan Plateau

Cited by 71 publications

References 70 publications

Mass Balance Variation and Associative Climate Drivers for the Dongkemadi Glacier in the Central Tibetan Plateau

Mass Balance Variation and Associative Climate Drivers for the Dongkemadi Glacier in the Central Tibetan Plateau

Vegetation Change and Its Relationship with Climate Factors and Elevation on the Tibetan Plateau

Local Climatic Factors Mediated Impacts of Large-Scale Climate Oscillations on the Growth of Vegetation Across the Tibetan Plateau

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