Precipitation regimes primarily drive the carbon uptake in the Tibetan Plateau

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a reliable proxy for vegetative photosynthesis and is commonly used to characterize responses to drought. However, there is limited research regarding the use of multiple high-resolution SIF datasets to analyze reactions to atmospheric drought and soil drought, especially within mountain grassland ecosystems. In this study, we used three types of high-spatial-resolution SIF datasets (0.05°), coupled with meteorological and soil moisture datasets, to investigate the characteristics of atmospheric, soil, and compound drought types. We centered this investigation on the years spanning 2001–2020 in the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR). Our findings indicate that the TRHR experienced a combination of atmospheric drying and soil wetting due to increases in the standardized saturation vapor pressure deficit index (SVPDI) and standardized soil moisture index (SSMI). In the growing season, atmospheric drought was mainly distributed in the southern and eastern parts of the TRHR (reaching 1.7 months/year), while soil drought mainly occurred in the eastern parts of the TRHR (reaching 2 months/year). Compound drought tended to occur in the southern and eastern parts of the TRHR and trended upward during 2001–2020. All three SIF datasets consistently revealed robust photosynthetic activity in the southern and eastern parts of the TRHR, with SIF values generally exceeding 0.2 mW· m−2·nm−1·sr−1. Overall, the rise in SIF between 2001 and 2020 corresponds to enhanced greening of TRHR vegetation. Vegetation photosynthesis was found to be limited in July, attributable to a high vapor pressure deficit and low soil moisture. In the response of CSIF data to a drought event, compound drought (SVPDI ≥ 1 and SSMI ≤ −1) caused a decline of up to 14.52% in SIF across the source region of the Yellow River (eastern TRHR), while individual atmospheric drought and soil drought events caused decreases of only 5.06% and 8.88%, respectively. The additional effect of SIF produced by compound drought outweighed that of atmospheric drought as opposed to soil drought, suggesting that soil moisture predominantly governs vegetation growth in the TRHR. The reduction in vegetation photosynthesis capacity commonly occurring in July, characterized by a simultaneously high vapor pressure deficit and low soil moisture, was more pronounced in Yellow River’s source region as well. Compound drought conditions more significantly reduce SIF compared to singular drought events. Soil drought evidently played a greater role in vegetation growth stress than atmospheric drought in the TRHR via the additional effects of compound drought.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substantial Reduction in Vegetation Photosynthesis Capacity during Compound Droughts in the Three-River Headwaters Region, China

Miao,

An,

Zhang

et al. 2023

Spatio-Temporal Characteristics and Differences in Snow Density between the Tibet Plateau and the Arctic

Zhao

et al. 2023

The Tibet Plateau (TP) and the Arctic are typically cold regions with abundant snow cover, which plays a key role in land surface processes. Knowledge of variations in snow density is essential for understanding hydrology, ecology, and snow cover feedback. Here, we utilized extensive measurements recorded by 697 ground-based snow sites during 1950–2019 to identify the spatio-temporal characteristics of snow density in these two regions. We examined the spatial heterogeneity of snow density for different snow classes, which are from a global seasonal snow cover classification system, with each class determined from air temperature, precipitation, and wind speed climatologies. We also investigated possible mechanisms driving observed snow density differences. The long-term mean snow density in the Arctic was 1.6 times that of the TP. Slight differences were noted in the monthly TP snow densities, with values ranging from 122 ± 29 to 158 ± 52 kg/m3. In the Arctic, however, a clear increasing trend was shown from October to June, particularly with a rate of 30.3 kg/m3 per month from March to June. For the same snow class, the average snow density in the Arctic was higher than that in the TP. The Arctic was characterized mainly by a longer snowfall duration and deeper snow cover, with some areas showing perennial snow cover. In contrast, the TP was dominated by seasonal snow cover that was shallower and warmer, with less (more) snowfall in winter (spring). The results will be helpful for future simulations of snow cover changes and land interactions at high latitudes and altitudes.

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Vegetation and Its Driving Mechanisms on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 2000 to 2020

Ma,

Duan,

Qin

et al. 2024

Revealing the response of vegetation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) to climate change and human activities is crucial for ensuring East Asian ecological security and regulating the global climate. However, the current research rarely explores the time-lag effects of climate on vegetation growth, leading to considerable uncertainty in analyzing the driving mechanisms of vegetation changes. This study identified the main driving factors of vegetation greenness (vegetation index, EVI) changes after investigating the lag effects of climate. By analyzing the trends of interannual variation in vegetation and climate, the study explored the driving mechanisms behind vegetation changes on the QTP from 2000 to 2020. The results indicate that temperature and precipitation have significant time-lag effects on vegetation growth. When considering the lag effects, the explanatory power of climate on vegetation changes is significantly enhanced for 29% of the vegetated areas. About 31% of the vegetation on the QTP exhibited significant “greening”, primarily in the northern plateau. This greening was attributed not only to improvements in climate-induced hydrothermal conditions but also to the effective implementation of ecological projects, which account for roughly half of the significant greening. Only 2% of the vegetation on the QTP showed significant “browning”, sporadically distributed in the southern plateau and the Sanjiangyuan region. In these areas, besides climate-induced drought intensification, approximately 78% of the significant browning was due to unreasonable grassland utilization and intense human activities. The area where precipitation dominates vegetation improvement was larger than the area dominated by temperature, whereas the area where precipitation dominates vegetation degradation is smaller than that where temperature dominates degradation. The implementation of a series of ecological projects has resulted in a much larger area where human activities positively promoted vegetation compared to the area where they negatively inhibited it.