scholarly journals Climate change, habitat connectivity, and conservation gaps: a case study of four ungulate species endemic to the Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1087
Author(s):  
Jianchao Liang ◽  
Zhifeng Ding ◽  
Zhigang Jiang ◽  
Xiaojun Yang ◽  
Rongbo Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Habitat Connectivity ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ecological Niche Models ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Focal Species ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Change Impact

Abstract Context Habitat connectivity is essential for the long-term persistence of species, but is commonly disregarded in climate change impact studies. The Tibetan Plateau contains a biome rich in endemic ungulates, which are highly sensitive to climatic variations and deserve particular attention in conservation planning against climate change. Objectives We evaluated the response and vulnerability of habitat connectivity to climate change for four ungulate species endemic to the Tibetan Plateau, and examined the robustness of protected areas (PAs) for the conservation of these species under climate change. Methods For each focal species, we developed ecological niche models to predict the spatial variations in habitat under climate change and conducted a network-theoretical analysis to estimate the consequent changes in habitat connectivity. Moreover, we used the circuit theory to characterize dispersal patterns of these species and conducted gap analyses to estimate the contribution of existing PAs to the conservation of these species. Results The four focal species will experience a remarkable connectivity loss that outpaced their habitat loss in response to climate change. Currently, 53.39 and 46.64% of the areas that could contribute to the habitat suitability and connectivity, respectively, of these species are unprotected. These values could further increase under future climate conditions. Conclusions Climate-driven habitat variations may lead to the loss of key connectivity areas between the habitats of ungulates, causing disproportionate decrease in habitat connectivity. The existing PAs on the Tibetan Plateau are not robust for the conservation of the four ungulates. Adjustment of certain key PAs may help to address the conservation gaps.

scholarly journals Past the climate optimum: Recruitment is declining at the world’s highest juniper shrublines on the Tibetan Plateau

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eryuan Liang ◽  
Xiaoming Lu ◽  
Yafeng Wang ◽  
Flurin Babst ◽  
Steven W. Leavitt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
South Central ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The World ◽  
Negative Impacts

<p>Alpine biomes are climate change hotspots, and treeline dynamics in particular have received much attention as visible evidence of climate-induced shifts in species distributions. Comparatively little is known, however, about the effects of climate change on alpine shrubline dynamics. Here, we reconstruct decadally resolved shrub recruitment history (age structure) through the combination of field surveys and dendroecology methods at the world’s highest juniper (Juniperus pingii var. wilsonii) shrublines on the south-central Tibetan Plateau. A total of 1,899 shrubs were surveyed at 12 plots located in four regions along an east-to-west declining precipitation gradient. We detected synchronous recruitment with 9 out of 12 plots showing a gradual increase from 1600 to 1900, a peak at 1900–1940, and a subsequent decrease from the 1930s onward. Shrub recruitment was significantly and positively correlated with reconstructed summer temperature from 1600 to 1940, whereas it was negatively associated with temperature in recent decades (1930–2000). Recruitment was also positively correlated with precipitation, except in the 1780–1830 period, when a trend toward wetter climate conditions began. This apparent tipping point in recruitment success coincides with a switch from positive to negative impacts of rising temperatures.  Warming-induced drought limitation has likely reduced the recruitment potential of alpine juniper shrubs in recent decades. Continued warming is thus expected to further alter the dynamics of alpine shrublines on the Tibetan Plateau and elsewhere.</p>

scholarly journals Contrasting Evolution Patterns of Endorheic and Exorheic Lakes on the Central Tibetan Plateau and Climate Cause Analysis during 1988–2017

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1962
Author(s):  
Zhilong Zhao ◽  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Zengzeng Hu ◽  
Xuanhua Nie
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Mean Temperature

The alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are indicators of climate change. The assessment of lake dynamics on the TP is an important component of global climate change research. With a focus on lakes in the 33° N zone of the central TP, this study investigates the temporal evolution patterns of the lake areas of different types of lakes, i.e., non-glacier-fed endorheic lakes and non-glacier-fed exorheic lakes, during 1988–2017, and examines their relationship with changes in climatic factors. From 1988 to 2017, two endorheic lakes (Lake Yagenco and Lake Zhamcomaqiong) in the study area expanded significantly, i.e., by more than 50%. Over the same period, two exorheic lakes within the study area also exhibited spatio-temporal variability: Lake Gaeencuonama increased by 5.48%, and the change in Lake Zhamuco was not significant. The 2000s was a period of rapid expansion of both the closed lakes (endorheic lakes) and open lakes (exorheic lakes) in the study area. However, the endorheic lakes maintained the increase in lake area after the period of rapid expansion, while the exorheic lakes decreased after significant expansion. During 1988–2017, the annual mean temperature significantly increased at a rate of 0.04 °C/a, while the annual precipitation slightly increased at a rate of 2.23 mm/a. Furthermore, the annual precipitation significantly increased at a rate of 14.28 mm/a during 1995–2008. The results of this study demonstrate that the change in precipitation was responsible for the observed changes in the lake areas of the two exorheic lakes within the study area, while the changes in the lake areas of the two endorheic lakes were more sensitive to the annual mean temperature between 1988 and 2017. Given the importance of lakes to the TP, these are not trivial issues, and we now need accelerated research based on long-term and continuous remote sensing data.

Spring phenology outweighed climate change in determining autumn phenology on the Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 3725-3742
Author(s):  
Jie Peng ◽  
Chaoyang Wu ◽  
Xiaoyue Wang ◽  
Linlin Lu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Spring Phenology

scholarly journals Seasonal Response of Grasslands to Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau

PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. e49230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiying Yu ◽  
Jianchu Xu ◽  
Erick Okuto ◽  
Eike Luedeling
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau

Paleolake salinity evolution in the Qaidam Basin (NE Tibetan Plateau) between ~42 and 29 Ma: Links to global cooling and Paratethys sea incursions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengcheng Ye ◽  
Yibo Yang ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
Weilin Zhang ◽  
Chunhui Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Global Cooling

<p>Global cooling, the early uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, and the retreat of the Paratethys are three main factors that regulate long-term climate change in the Asian interior during the Cenozoic. However, the debated elevation history of the Tibetan Plateau and the overlapping climate effects of the Tibetan Plateau uplift and Paratethys retreat makes it difficult to assess the driving mechanism on regional climate change in a particular period. Some recent progress suggests that precisely dated Paratethys transgression/regression cycles appear to have fluctuated over broad regions with low relief in the northern Tibetan Plateau in the middle Eocene–early Oligocene, when the global climate was characterized by generally continuous cooling followed by the rapid Eocene–Oligocene climate transition (EOT). Therefore, a middle Eocene–early Oligocene record from the Asian interior with unambiguous paleoclimatic implications offers an opportunity to distinguish between the climatic effects of the Paratethys retreat and those of global cooling.</p><p>Here, we present a complete paleolake salinity record from middle Eocene to early Miocene (~42-29 Ma) in the Qaidam Basin using detailed clay boron content and clay mineralogical investigations. Two independent paleosalimeters, equivalent boron and Couch’s salinity, collectively present a three-staged salinity evolution, from an oligohaline–mesohaline environment in the middle Eocene (42-~34 Ma) to a mesosaline environment in late Eocene-early Oligocene (~34-~29 Ma). This clay boron-derived salinity evolution is further supported by the published chloride-based and ostracod-based paleosalinity estimates in the Qaidam Basin. Our quantitative paleolake reconstruction between ~42 and 29 Ma in the Qaidam Basin resembles the hydroclimate change in the neighboring Xining Basin, of which both present good agreement with changes of marine benthic oxygen isotope compositions. We thus speculated that the secular trend of clay boron-derived paleolake salinity in ~42-29 Ma is primarily controlled by global cooling, which regulates regional climate change by influencing the evaporation capacity in the moisture source of Qaidam Basin. Superimposed on this trend, the Paratethys transgression/regression cycles served as an important factor regulating wet/dry fluctuations in the Asian interior between ~42 and ~34 Ma.</p>

scholarly journals Investigation of Climate and Land Use Change Impacts on Stream Flow of Guder Catchment, Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bekam Bekele Gulti ◽  
Boja Mokonnen Manyazew ◽  
Abdulkerim Bedewi Serur
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Stream Flow ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Smart Growth ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Change Impact ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Climate change (CC) and land use/cover change (LUCC) are the main drivers of streamflow change. In this paper, we investigate the impact of climate and LULC change impact on stream flow of Guder catchment by using Soil and Water Assessment model (SWAT). The scenarios were designed in a way that LULC was changed while climate conditions remain constant; LULC was then held constant under a changing climate and combined effect of both. The result shows that, the combined impacts of climate change and LULC dynamics can be rather different from the effects that follow-on from LULC or climate change alone. Streamflow would be more sensitive to climate change than to the LULC changes scenario, even though changes in LULC have far-reaching influences on streamflow in the study region. A comprehensive strategy of low impact developments, smart growth, and open space is critical to handle future changes to streamflow systems.

scholarly journals Potential Production of Carbon Gases and Their Responses to Paleoclimate Conditions: An Example From Xiaolongtan Basin, Southeast Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gen Wang ◽  
Yongli Wang ◽  
Zhifu Wei ◽  
Zepeng Sun ◽  
Wei He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Higher Plants ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Burial Flux ◽  
Carbon Gases

Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau plays a significant and lasting role in the variations of climate conditions and global carbon cycle. However, our knowledge is limited due to the lack of long-sequence records revealing rates of CO2 and CH4 production, hampering our understanding of the relationship between paleoclimatic conditions, carbon cycling and greenhouse gas flux. Here, we present a combination of paleoclimate records and low-temperature thermal simulation results from sediments of the Xiaolongtan Basin at the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, spanning the late Miocene (14.1 ∼ 11.6 Ma). The n-alkane-derived proxies suggested that the sources of organic matter were obviously different: a mixed source including lower organisms and terrestrial higher plants for the Dongshengqiao Formation from 14.1 to 12.6 Ma, and a predominant contribution from terrestrial higher plants for Xiaolongtan Formation between 12.6 and 11.6 Ma. The paleoclimate was generally warm and humid as reflected by the lipid biomarkers, consistent with previous studies. In addition, the carbon gases (including CO2 and hydrocarbon gases) generated by the low-temperature thermal simulation experiments indicated a production rate of CO2 and CH4 were as high as 88,000 ml/kg rock and 4,000 ml/kg rock, respectively, implying there were certain amounts of carbon gases generated and released into the atmosphere during their shallow burial stage. Besides, the calculated production rate of carbon gases and the estimated burial flux of organic carbon varied in response to the variations of paleoclimate conditions. Based on these observations, we propose that the climate conditions predominantly controlled the formation and accumulation of organic matter, which consequently affected the production of carbon gases and burial flux of organic carbon. The results presented here may provide a significant insight into the carbon cycle in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau.

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