Alpine ecosystems are quite sensitive to global climatic changes. Drawing from two sets of remote sensing data (1986 and 2000) and field investigations, the ecological index method was used to document ecosystem changes in the Yangtze and Yellow River source regions of central Qinghai–Tibet. Although crucial to understanding alpine ecosystem responses to global climatic changes, and in assessing the potential for their rehabilitation, the impact of such changes on alpine soil characteristics, including structure, composition, water retention, as well as chemical and nutrient contents, is poorly understood. Over a 15-year period (1986–2000), climatic changes led to considerable degradation of alpine meadows and steppes. In the meadows, the surface layers of the soil became coarser, bulk density, porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity rose, while water-holding capacity decreased. In comparison, steppe soils showed little changes in soil physical properties. Degradation of alpine ecosystems led to large losses in soil available Fe, Mn and Zn. Important losses in soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN) occurred in badly degraded ecosystems. Climate warming in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, caused by the impact of greenhouse gas, has resulted in changes of cold alpine ecosystem such as the significant alteration of the soil C and N cycles.

Influences of alpine ecosystem responses to climatic change on soil

The role of renewable energy consumption and health expenditures in improving load capacity factor in ASEAN countries: Exploring new paradigm using advance panel models

Vegetation is essential in maintaining terrestrial ecosystem functions, and understanding why and how vegetation evolves is necessary for regional ecological management. On the Tibetan Plateau, the effects of various factors and their interactions in directing vegetation change remain unclear. Supported by the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, we quantified spatiotemporal vegetation variation in Gannan Prefecture on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau for 2000–2018 using trend analysis and spatial autocorrelation and explored its driving factors with a geographic detector method. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) illustrated fluctuating growth from 2000 to 2018, and the overall growth rate was 0.002/year. The spatial distributions of NDVI were variable, and areas with NDVI greater than 0.8 accounted for more than 69% of Gannan Prefecture area. From 2000 to 2018, the global Moran’s index of vegetation NDVI was greater than 0.52 and showed a fluctuating upward trend, indicating that the vegetation NDVI tended to be distributed with a high spatial concentration. The local Moran’s index of NDVI was mainly characterized by “High-High” and “Low-Low” clustering types, and the former increased significantly, but the latter decreased. The annual mean temperature, soil type, and elevation were the dominant factors driving vegetation NDVI change in Gannan Prefecture, explaining more than 15% of the variability. Furthermore, the influence of the interaction between any two factors on NDVI was an almost nonlinear enhancement. These results could help us improve our understanding of the underlying mechanism of NDVI changes and provide a scientific basis for ecological protection in alpine regions.

Quantitative spatial analysis of vegetation dynamics and potential driving factors in a typical alpine region on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau using the Google Earth Engine

A bibliometric review of ecological research on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, 1990–2019

Intense grazing may lead to grassland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, but it is difficult to predict where this will occur and to quantify it. Based on a process-based ecosystem model, we define a productivity-based stocking rate threshold that induces extreme grassland degradation to assess whether and where the current grazing activity in the region is sustainable. We find that the current stocking rate is below the threshold in ~80% of grassland areas, but in 55% of these grasslands the stocking rate exceeds half the threshold. According to our model projections, positive effects of climate change including elevated CO2 can partly offset negative effects of grazing across nearly 70% of grasslands on the Plateau, but only in areas below the stocking rate threshold. Our analysis suggests that stocking rate that does not exceed 60% (within 50% to 70%) of the threshold may balance human demands with grassland protection in the face of climate change. 

An early warning signal for grassland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Soil nutrients and stoichiometry are two important fertility indicators for grassland ecosystems, and are essential to maintain ecosystem function and protect land from degradation. Although many case studies have been conducted, the effect of grazing management on soil nutrients of alpine grassland is still poorly understood because of the complex nature of grassland soil. In this study, we synthesized the results of 53 peer-reviewed publications and conducted a meta-analysis to explore the effects of grazing on soil nutrient levels. Our results indicated that grazing significantly decreased soil organic carbon (SOC, -13.7 %), soil total nitrogen (TN, -12.7 %), soil total phosphorus (TP, -11.6 %), soil available phosphorus (-7.7 %), soil moisture (SM, -21.1 %) and soil C:N ratio (-3.4 %). In contrast, grazing significantly increased soil bulk density (+16.7 %) and soil temperature (+8.5 %), while it had no effect on soil available nitrogen, or the ratios of C:P and N:P in soil. Specifically, grazing effects on SOC, TN and TP decrease with increasing grazing intensity, but light grazing had no significant effect on them. The response ratio of SOC was significantly positively correlated with the response ratio of TN, SM, C:N and C:P ratios (p

Response of soil nutrients and stoichiometry to grazing management in alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is experiencing rapid urbanization and ecological degradation, which have led to unsustainable development. It is urgent to conduct a scientifically rigorous study to evaluate its sustainability. Emergy ecological footprint (EEF) is a new modification of ecological footprint based on ecological thermodynamics. This study applied a modified EEF model and three indicators to analyze the sustainability using data collected from Tibet and Qinghai Province during 1995 to 2014. The grey model (GM) was applied to simulate and predict the ecological status of Qinghai and Tibet. Results showed that: (1) the emergy ecological footprint and ecological deficit of Qinghai province increased in general from 1995 to 2014, while Tibet was still sustainable during this period despite the fact that its ecological surplus decreased; (2) the three sustainability indicators indicate that Qinghai and Tibet are moving away from sustainability; (3) the ecological deficit of Qinghai will keep increasing and the ecological surplus of Tibet will keep decreasing from 2015 to 2024. Finally, several suggestions were proposed to protect the local environment and restore ecological functions in these regions.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5587/pdf

The Dynamic Analysis and Comparison of Emergy Ecological Footprint for the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: A Case Study of Qinghai Province and Tibet

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Response of soil nutrients and stoichiometry to grazing management in alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Dynamic Analysis and Comparison of Emergy Ecological Footprint for the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau: A Case Study of Qinghai Province and Tibet