Dominant Effect of Climate Change and Human Activities to the Alpine Marsh Meadow in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Yuan ◽  
Quanzhi Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Eastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Dominant Effect

Fluvial sediment fluxes response to modern climate change and human activities in the Tibetan Plateau and its margins

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongfeng Li ◽  
Xixi Lu ◽  
Ting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Sediment Flux ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Fluvial Sediment ◽  
Sediment Fluxes ◽  
Cold Environments

<p>Sediment flux in cold environments is a crucial proxy to link glacial, periglacial, and fluvial systems and highly relevant to hydropower operation, water quality, and the riverine carbon cycle. However, the long-term impacts of climate change and multiple human activities on sediment flux changes in cold environments remain insufficiently investigated due to the lack of monitoring and the complexity of the sediment cascade. Here we examine the multi-decadal changes in the in-situ observed fluvial sediment fluxes from two types of basins, namely, pristine basins and disturbed basins, in the Tibetan Plateau and its margins. The results show that the fluvial sediment fluxes in the pristine Tuotuohe headwater have substantially increased over the past three decades (i.e., a net increase of 135% from 1985–1997 to 1998–2017) due to the warming and wetting climate. We also quantify the relative impacts of air temperature and precipitation on the increases in the sediment fluxes with a novel attribution approach and finds that climate warming and intensified glacier-snow-permafrost melting is the primary cause of the increased sediment fluxes in the pristine cold environment (Tuotuohe headwater), with precipitation increase and its associated pluvial processes being the secondary driver. By contrast, the sediment fluxes in the downstream disturbed Jinsha River (southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau) exhibit a net increase of 42% from 1966-1984 to 1985-2010 mainly due to human activities such as deforestation and mineral extraction (contribution of 82%) and secondly because of climate change (contribution of 18%). Then the sediment fluxes dropped by 76% during the period of 2011-2015 because of the operations of six cascade reservoirs since 2010. In an expected warming and wetting climate for the region, we predict that the sediment fluxes in the pristine headwaters of the Tibetan Plateau will continue to increase throughout the 21st century, but the rising sediment fluxes from the Tibetan Plateau would be mostly trapped in its marginal reservoirs.</p><p>Overall, this work has provided the sedimentary evidence of modern climate change through robust observational sediment flux data over multiple decades. It demonstrates that sediment fluxes in pristine cold environments are more sensitive to air temperature and thermal-driven geomorphic processes than to precipitation and pluvial-driven processes. It also provides a guide to assess the relative impacts of human activities and climate change on fluvial sediment flux changes and has significant implications for water resources stakeholders to better design and manage the hydropower dams in a changing climate. Such findings may also have implications for other cold environments such as the Arctic, Antarctic, and other high mountainous basins.</p><p>Furthermore, this research is under the project of "Water and Sediment Fluxes Response to Climate Change in the Headwater Rivers of Asian Highlands" (supported by the IPCC and the Cuomo Foundation) and the project of "Sediment Load Responses to Climate Change in High Mountain Asia" (supported by the Ministry of Education of Singapore). Part of the results are also published in Li et al., 2018 Geomorphology, Li et al., 2020 Geophysical Research Letters, and Li et al., 2021 Water Resources Research.</p>

scholarly journals Accelerated climate change and its potential impact on Yak herding livelihoods in the eastern Tibetan plateau

2014 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle A. Haynes ◽  
King-Jau Samuel Kung ◽  
Jodi S. Brandt ◽  
Yang Yongping ◽  
Donald M. Waller
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Potential Impact

scholarly journals Comparative Assessment of Vegetation Dynamics under the Influence of Climate Change and Human Activities in Five Ecologically Vulnerable Regions of China from 2000 to 2015

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Wang ◽  
Guohua Liu ◽  
Zongshan Li ◽  
Pengtao Wang ◽  
Zhuangzhuang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Karst Region ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Arid Desert

Ongoing climate change and human activities have a great effect on vegetation dynamics. Understanding the impact of climate change and human activities on vegetation dynamics in different ecologically vulnerable regions has great significance in ecosystem management. In this study, the predicted NPP (Net Primary Productivity) and the actual NPP based on different ecological process data and models were combined to estimate the vegetation dynamics and their driving forces in the Northern Wind-sand, Loess Plateau, Arid Desert, Tibetan Plateau, and Karst regions from 2000 to 2015. The results indicated that the NPP in all ecologically vulnerable regions showed a restoration trend, except for that in the Karst region, and the percentage of areas in which NPP increased were, in order, 78% for the Loess Plateau, 71% for the Northern Wind-sand, 69% for the Arid Desert, 54% for the Tibetan Plateau, and 31% for the Karst regions. Vegetation restorations in the Northern Wind-sand and Arid Desert regions were primarily attributable to human activities (86% and 61% of the restoration area, respectively), indicating the success of ecological restoration programs. The Loess Plateau had the largest proportion of vegetation restoration area (44%), which was driven by combined effects of climate and human factors. In the Tibetan Plateau, the vegetation changes due to climate factors were primarily distributed in the west, while those due to human factors were primarily distributed in the east. Human activities caused nearly 60% of the vegetation degradation in the Karst region. Based on these results, it is recognizable that regional climate conditions are the key factor that limits ecological restoration. Therefore, future policy-making should pay more attention to the local characteristics of different ecological vulnerable regions in regional ecosystem management to select reasonable restoration measures, improve restoration efficiency, and maximize the benefits of ecological restoration programs.

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