Plant production, and carbon and nitrogen source pools, are strongly intensified by experimental warming in alpine ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 942-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Na ◽  
Wang Genxu ◽  
Yang Yan ◽  
Gao Yongheng ◽  
Liu Guangsheng
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Source ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Experimental Warming ◽  
Alpine Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Qinghai Tibet Plateau

scholarly journals The burying and grazing effects of plateau pika on alpine grassland are small: a pilot study in a semiarid basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 6273-6284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhua Yi ◽  
Jianjun Chen ◽  
Yu Qin ◽  
Gaowei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Alpine Grassland ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Plateau Pika ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Grazing Effects ◽  
Considerable Controversy ◽  
The One ◽  
Qinghai Tibet Plateau

Abstract. There is considerable controversy about the effects of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae, hereafter pika) on alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). On the one hand, pika is considered a keystone species. On the other hand, it is being poisoned. Although significant efforts have been made to study the effects of pika at a quadrat scale ( ∼  m2), our knowledge about its distribution and effects at a larger scale is very limited. In this study, we investigated the direct effects, i.e., burying and grazing, of pika by upscaling field sampling at a quadrat scale to a plot scale ( ∼  1000 m2) by aerial photographing. Altogether 168 plots were set on four different types of alpine grassland in a semiarid basin on the QTP. Results showed that (1) the effects of pika pile burying on the reduction of vegetation cover, biomass, soil carbon, and nitrogen were less than 10 %, which was much smaller than the effects of bald patches; and (2) pika consumed 8–21 % of annual net primary production of grassland. We concluded that the direct burying and grazing effects of pika on alpine grassland were minor in this region. The quadcopter is an efficient and economic tool for long-term repeated monitoring over large regions for further understanding the role of pika.

scholarly journals Quantifying Trends of Land Change in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during 2001–2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 2435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Wang ◽  
Qiong Gao ◽  
Mei Yu
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Alpine Ecosystems ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Qinghai Tibet Plateau ◽  
Land Changes

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is among the most sensitive ecosystems to changes in global climate and human activities, and quantifying its consequent change in land-cover land-use (LCLU) is vital for assessing the responses and feedbacks of alpine ecosystems to global climate changes. In this study, we first classified annual LCLU maps from 2001–2015 in QTP from MODIS satellite images, then analyzed the patterns of regional hotspots with significant land changes across QTP, and finally, associated these trends in land change with climate forcing and human activities. The pattern of land changes suggested that forests and closed shrublands experienced substantial expansions in the southeastern mountainous region during 2001–2015 with the expansion of massive meadow loss. Agricultural land abandonment and the conversion by conservation policies existed in QTP, and the newly-reclaimed agricultural land partially offset the loss with the resulting net change of −5.1%. Although the urban area only expanded 586 km2, mainly at the expense of agricultural land, its rate of change was the largest (41.2%). Surface water exhibited a large expansion of 5866 km2 (10.2%) in the endorheic basins, while mountain glaciers retreated 8894 km2 (−3.4%) mainly in the southern and southeastern QTP. Warming and the implementation of conservation policies might promote the shrub encroachment into grasslands and forest recovery in the southeastern plateau. While increased precipitation might contribute to the expansion of surface water in the endorheic basins, warming melts the glaciers in the south and southeast and complicates the hydrological service in the region. The substantial changes in land-cover reveal the high sensitivity of QTP to changes in climate and human activities. Rational policies for conservation might mitigate the adverse impacts to maintain essential services provided by the important alpine ecosystems.

scholarly journals Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Experimental Warming in Alpine Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e103859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Shengyun Chen ◽  
Xingyuan He ◽  
Wenjie Liu ◽  
Qian Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Experimental Warming ◽  
Alpine Grasslands ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Qinghai Tibet Plateau
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