Pattern of plant communities’ influence to grasshopper abundance distribution in heterogeneous landscapes at the upper reaches of Heihe River, Qilian Mountains, China

Abstract. Vegetation plays a key role in water conservation in the southern Qilian Mountains (northwestern China), located in the upper reaches of the Heihe River. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are crucial for the protection of the nitrogen supply for vegetation in the region. In the present study, nifH gene clone libraries were established to determine differences between the nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities of the Potentilla parvifolia shrubland and the Carex alrofusca meadow in the southern Qilian Mountains. All of the identified nitrogen-fixing bacterial clones belonged to the Proteobacteria. At the genus level, Azospirillum was only detected in the shrubland soil, while Thiocapsa, Derxia, Ectothiorhodospira, Mesorhizobium, Klebsiella, Ensifer, Methylocella and Pseudomonas were only detected in the meadow soil. The phylogenetic tree was divided into five lineages: lineages I, II and III mainly contained nifH sequences obtained from the meadow soils, while lineage IV was mainly composed of nifH sequences obtained from the shrubland soils. The Shannon–Wiener index of the nifH genes ranged from 1.5 to 2.8 and was higher in the meadow soils than in the shrubland soils. Based on these analyses of diversity and phylogeny, the plant species were hypothesised to influence N cycling by enhancing the fitness of certain nitrogen-fixing taxa. The number of nifH gene copies and colony-forming units (CFUs) of the cultured nitrogen-fixing bacteria were lower in the meadow soils than in the shrubland soils, ranging from 0.4 × 107 to 6.9 × 107 copies g−1 soil and 0.97 × 106 to 12.78 × 106 g−1 soil, respectively. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the diversity and number of the nifH gene copies were primarily correlated with aboveground biomass in the shrubland soil. In the meadow soil, nifH gene diversity was most affected by altitude, while copy number was most impacted by soil-available K. These results suggest that the nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities beneath Potentilla were different from those beneath Carex.

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Modelling the impacts of spatial heterogeneity in soil hydraulic properties on hydrological process in the upper reach of the Heihe River in the Qilian Mountains, Northwest China

Hydrological Processes ◽

10.1002/hyp.10437 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (15) ◽

pp. 3318-3327 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Xin Jin ◽

Lanhui Zhang ◽

Juan Gu ◽

Chen Zhao ◽

Jie Tian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Heterogeneity ◽

Hydraulic Properties ◽

Northwest China ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Heihe River ◽

Hydrological Process ◽

Soil Hydraulic Properties ◽

Soil Hydraulic ◽

The Qilian Mountains

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Species diversity of plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the middle section of northern slopes of Qilian Mountains, Zhangye, Gansu, China

Biodiversity Science ◽

10.17520/biods.2002002 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 7-14

Author(s):

Guohong Wang ◽

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Altitudinal Gradient ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Middle Section

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Satellite Snow-Cover Monitoring in the Qilian Mountains and an Analysis for Characteristics of Stream Snow-Melt Run-Off in the Hexi Region, Gansu, China

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/s0260305500000677 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 225-228

Author(s):

Zeng Qunzhi ◽

Zhang Shunying ◽

Chen Xianzhang ◽

Wang Jian

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

River Basin ◽

Prediction Models ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Heihe River Basin ◽

Heihe River ◽

Snow Melt ◽

Run Off ◽

Hexi Region ◽

The Heihe River Basin

The images of NOAA/TIROS-N APT, AVHRR and a few Landsat MSS obtained from 1980 to 1985 are analysed in this paper. It is found that the snow-cover distribution in Qilian Mountains is above 3700 m a.s.l. during winter to spring every year. There are two concentrations of snow cover. One is on Mount Leng Longling in the upper reaches of the Shiyang River and the other is located between Hala Lake and Mount Danghe Nanshan.Based on preliminary investigations, it is known that the surface water resource in the Hexi region is 68 8 × 108 m3, of which about 24.8% is from glaciers and melting, and the snow-melt run-off is 7.63 × 108 m3, equal to 62.6% of the total amount of spring run-off.The average value of Cv for spring run-off in the Shiyang River, Heihe River, and Shule River is 0 32 and the Cv value of snow-melt run-off in spring is 0.41, about three times as much as that of the annual run-off in the Hexi, region. A prediction model of spring snow-melt run-off at the Ying Louxia Hydrometric station in the Heihe River area can be constructed by using hydrometeorological data and snow-cover percentage for the Heihe River basin obtained from NOAA/TIROS-N APT, and AVHRR images. The prediction models (2) and (3) have been tested by the Water Resources Management Office of the Heihe River basin in the Zhangye and Flood Prevention Office of Gansu Province. The prediction accuracy is suitable for demands.

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Retrieval of snow reflectance from Landsat data in rugged terrain

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756402781817635 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 31-37 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Li Xin ◽

Toshio Koike ◽

Cheng Guodong

Keyword(s):

Shape Factor ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Heihe River ◽

View Factor ◽

Landsat Data ◽

Atmospheric Effect ◽

Rugged Terrain ◽

Data Saturation ◽

Shadowing Effect ◽

The Heihe River Basin

AbstractWe developed a model to calculate the spectral reflectance of snow by normalizing the topographic effect and correcting the atmospheric effect simultaneously. This model considers the shadowing effect of the surrounding terrain on both direct and diffuse irradiance by using the obstruction coefficient in sun-ray direction and introducing the isotropic view factor. In addition, a new method to calculate the surrounding-reflected irradiance by introducing the shape factor which can account for the radiation reflected from the surrounding pixels was developed. The model was tested in the upper stream of the Heihe river basin, Qilian mountains, China, using a subscene of a Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) image acquired on 20 April 2000. The result showed that the model could eliminate most of the shadowing effect of rugged terrain and could estimate snow reflectance correctly. The problem of data saturation when retrieving snow reflectance is also discussed.

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Potential distribution of Qinghai spruce and assessment of its growth status in the upper reaches of the Heihe River in the Qilian Mountains of China

Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1258.2011.00605 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 605-614 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shou-Zhang PENG ◽

Chuan-Yan ZHAO ◽

Zhong-Lin XU ◽

Chao WANG ◽

Yi-Yue LIU

Keyword(s):

Potential Distribution ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Heihe River ◽

Growth Status ◽

The Qilian Mountains ◽

Qinghai Spruce

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The Impact of Mountain Range Geographic Orientation on the Altitude Effect of Precipitation δ18O in the Upper Reaches of the Heihe River Basin in the Qilian Mountains

Water ◽

10.3390/w10121797 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1797 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jianqiao He ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Yuwei Wu

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

River Basin ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Heihe River Basin ◽

Heihe River ◽

Mountain Range ◽

The Qilian Mountains ◽

The Impact ◽

The Heihe River Basin ◽

Precipitation Δ18o

The precipitation δ18O-elevation gradients are important for paleoclimate, hydrology, and paleoelevation studies. The field setting for this research was the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin within the Qilian Mountains in the Northern Tibetan Plateau. Three study sites were established along the Heihe main river. These sites were the Yingluoxia and Qilian hydrological stations and the Yeniugou meteorological station. The Yingluoxia hydrological station was the dividing point between the upper and middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin. The altitudes of these sites range from 1600 m to 3300 m. Summer precipitation is predominant with regard to the annual precipitation amount. By analysis of variance (ANOVA), the precipitation δ18O data collected from the three sites were analyzed, spanning a year of precipitation data from 2007.10 to 2008.9. The results showed that the δ18O-elevation gradient was not significant (α = 0.05) at a seasonal or annual scale in this region and the precipitation-weighted annual mean δ18O was −7.1‰. Mechanisms that have been proposed to explain this result consider the role of two processes, including (1) mixing of moisture sources, a process common in an arid and semiarid region, and (2) the absence of a mechanism for water vapor to climb along slopes in the precipitation system. Atmospheric water vapor mainly travels along the trend of the Qilian Mountains range rather than climbing it because this region is dominated by the westerlies and the trend of the Qilian mountains is geographically aligned to the NWW (north-west-west) direction. We demonstrated that, aside from the water vapor source, the spatial relationship between the water vapor transport pathway and the trend of the mountain range are the main driving factors associated with the stable isotope trends in precipitation. As a result, it is important to re-recognize the timing and location of groundwater recharge in the Heihe River Basin.

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Satellite Snow-Cover Monitoring in the Qilian Mountains and an Analysis for Characteristics of Stream Snow-Melt Run-Off in the Hexi Region, Gansu, China

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.1017/s0260305500000677 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 225-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zeng Qunzhi ◽

Zhang Shunying ◽

Chen Xianzhang ◽

Wang Jian

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

River Basin ◽

Prediction Models ◽

Qilian Mountains ◽

Heihe River Basin ◽

Heihe River ◽

Snow Melt ◽

Run Off ◽

Hexi Region ◽

The Heihe River Basin

The images of NOAA/TIROS-N APT, AVHRR and a few Landsat MSS obtained from 1980 to 1985 are analysed in this paper. It is found that the snow-cover distribution in Qilian Mountains is above 3700 m a.s.l. during winter to spring every year. There are two concentrations of snow cover. One is on Mount Leng Longling in the upper reaches of the Shiyang River and the other is located between Hala Lake and Mount Danghe Nanshan.Based on preliminary investigations, it is known that the surface water resource in the Hexi region is 68 8 × 108m3, of which about 24.8% is from glaciers and melting, and the snow-melt run-off is 7.63 × 108m3, equal to 62.6% of the total amount of spring run-off.The average value of Cv for spring run-off in the Shiyang River, Heihe River, and Shule River is 0 32 and the Cv value of snow-melt run-off in spring is 0.41, about three times as much as that of the annual run-off in the Hexi, region. A prediction model of spring snow-melt run-off at the Ying Louxia Hydrometric station in the Heihe River area can be constructed by using hydrometeorological data and snow-cover percentage for the Heihe River basin obtained from NOAA/TIROS-N APT, and AVHRR images. The prediction models (2) and (3) have been tested by the Water Resources Management Office of the Heihe River basin in the Zhangye and Flood Prevention Office of Gansu Province. The prediction accuracy is suitable for demands.

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