Grassland covers approximately one-third of the area of China and plays an important role in the global terrestrial carbon(C) cycle.However,little is known about biomass C stocks and dynamics in these grasslands.Durin...Grassland covers approximately one-third of the area of China and plays an important role in the global terrestrial carbon(C) cycle.However,little is known about biomass C stocks and dynamics in these grasslands.During 2001-2005,we conducted five consecutive field sampling campaigns to investigate above-and below-ground biomass for northern China's grasslands.Using measurements obtained from 341 sampling sites,together with a NDVI(normalized difference vegetation index) time series dataset over 1982-2006,we examined changes in biomass C stock during the past 25 years.Our results showed that biomass C stock in northern China's grasslands was estimated at 557.5 Tg C(1 Tg=1012 g),with a mean density of 39.5 g C m-2 for above-ground biomass and 244.6 g C m-2 for below-ground biomass.An increasing rate of 0.2 Tg C yr-1 has been observed over the past 25 years,but grassland biomass has not experienced a significant change since the late 1980s.Seasonal rainfall(January-July) was the dominant factor driving temporal dynamics in biomass C stock;however,the responses of grassland biomass to climate variables differed among various grassland types.Biomass in arid grasslands(i.e.,desert steppe and typical steppe) was significantly associated with precipitation,while biomass in humid grasslands(i.e.,alpine meadow) was positively correlated with mean January-July temperatures.These results suggest that different grassland ecosystems in China may show diverse responses to future climate changes.展开更多
The knowledge of carbon(C) stock and its dynamics is crucial for understanding the role of grassland ecosystems in China's terrestrial C cycle.To date,a comprehensive assessment on C balance in China's grassla...The knowledge of carbon(C) stock and its dynamics is crucial for understanding the role of grassland ecosystems in China's terrestrial C cycle.To date,a comprehensive assessment on C balance in China's grasslands is still lacking.By reviewing published literature,this study aims to evaluate ecosystem C stocks(both vegetation biomass and soil organic C) and their changes in China's grasslands.Our results are summarized as follows:(1) biomass C density(C stock per area) of China's grasslands differed greatly among previous studies,ranging from 215.8 to 348.1 g C m-2 with an average of 300.2 g C m-2.Likewise,soil C density also varied greatly between 8.5 and 15.1 kg C m-2.In total,ecosystem C stock in China's grasslands was estimated at 29.1 Pg C.(2) Both the magnitude and direction of ecosystem C changes in China's grasslands differed greatly among previous studies.According to recent reports,neither biomass nor soil C stock in China's grasslands showed a significant change during the past 20 years,indicating that grassland ecosystems are C neutral.(3) Spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of grassland biomass were closely correlated with precipitation,while changes in soil C stocks exhibited close associations with soil moisture and soil texture.Human activities,such as livestock grazing and fencing could also affect ecosystem C dynamics in China's grasslands.展开更多
Above-and belowground biomass allocation not only influences growth of individual plants,but also influences vegetation structures and functions,and consequently impacts soil carbon input as well as terrestrial ecosys...Above-and belowground biomass allocation not only influences growth of individual plants,but also influences vegetation structures and functions,and consequently impacts soil carbon input as well as terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling.However,due to sampling difficulties,a considerable amount of uncertainty remains about the root:shoot ratio(R/S),a key parameter for models of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling.We investigated biomass allocation patterns across a broad spatial scale.We collected data on individual plant biomass and systematically sampled along a transect across the temperate grasslands in Inner Mongolia as well as in the alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.Our results indicated that the median of R/S for herbaceous species was 0.78 in China's grasslands as a whole.R/S was significantly higher in temperate grasslands than in alpine grasslands(0.84 vs.0.65).The slope of the allometric relationship between above-and belowground biomass was steeper for temperate grasslands than for alpine.Our results did not support the hypothesis that aboveground biomass scales isometrically with belowground biomass.The R/S in China's grasslands was not significantly correlated with mean annual temperature(MAT) or mean annual precipitation(MAP).Moreover,comparisons of our results with previous findings indicated a large difference between R/S data from individual plants and communities.This might be mainly caused by the underestimation of R/S at the individual level as a result of an inevitable loss of fine roots and the overestimation of R/S in community-level surveys due to grazing and difficulties in identifying dead roots.Our findings suggest that root biomass in grasslands tended to have been overestimated in previous reports of R/S.展开更多
Knowledge of seasonal variation of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its biotic and abiotic controllers will further our understanding of carbon cycling process, mechanism and large-scale modelling. Eddy covariance...Knowledge of seasonal variation of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its biotic and abiotic controllers will further our understanding of carbon cycling process, mechanism and large-scale modelling. Eddy covariance technique was used to measure NEE, biotic and abiotic factors for nearly 3 years in the hinterland alpine steppe--Korbresia meadow grassland on the Tibetan Plateau, the present highest fluxnet station in the world. The main objectives are to investigate dynamics of NEE and its components and to determine the major controlling factors. Maximum carbon assimilation took place in August and maximum carbon loss occurred in November. In June, rainfall amount due to monsoon climate played a great role in grass greening and consequently influenced interannual variation of ecosystem carbon gain. From July through September, monthly NEE presented net carbon assimilation. In other months, ecosystem exhibited carbon loss. In growing season, daytime NEE was mainly controlled by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). In addition, leaf area index (LAI) interacted with PAR and together modulated NEE rates. Ecosystem respiration was controlled mainly by soil temperature and simultaneously by soil moisture. Q10 was negatively correlated with soil temperature but positively correlated with soil moisture. Large daily range of air temperature is not necessary to enhance carbon gain. Standard respiration rate at referenced 10℃(R10) was positively correlated with soil moisture, soil temperature, LAI and aboveground biomass. Rainfall patterns in growing season markedly influenced soil moisture and therefore soil moisture controlled seasonal change of ecosystem respiration. Pulse rainfall in the beginning and at the end of growing season induced great ecosystem respiration and consequently a great amount of carbon was lost. Short growing season and relative low temperature restrained alpine grass vegetation development. The results suggested that LAI be usually in a low level and carbon uptake be relatively low. Rainf展开更多
Alpine cold ecosystem with permafrost environment is quite sensitive to climatic changes and the changes in permafrost can significantly affect the alpine ecosystem. The vegetation coverage, grassland biomass and soil...Alpine cold ecosystem with permafrost environment is quite sensitive to climatic changes and the changes in permafrost can significantly affect the alpine ecosystem. The vegetation coverage, grassland biomass and soil nutrient and texture are selected to indicate the regime of alpine cold ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The interactions between alpine ecosystem and permafrost were investigated with the depth of active layer, permafrost thickness and mean annual ground temperature (MAGTs). Based on the statistics model of GPTR for MAGTs and annual air temperatures, an analysis method was developed to analyze the impacts of permafrost changes on the alpine ecosystems. Under the climate change and human engineering activities, the permafrost change and its impacts on alpine ecosystems in the permafrost region between the Kunlun Mountains and the Tanggula Range of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are studied in this paper. The results showed that the per- mafrost changes have a different influence on different alpine ecosystems. With the increase in the thickness of active layer, the vegetation cover and biomass of the alpine cold meadow exhibit a significant conic reduction, the soil organic matter content of the alpine cold meadow ecosystem shows an exponential decrease, and the surface soil materials become coarse and gravelly. The alpine cold steppe ecosystem, however, seems to have a relatively weak relation to the permafrost environment. Those relationships resulted in the fact that the distribution area of alpine cold meadow decreased by 7.98% and alpine cold swamp decreased by 28.11% under the permafrost environment degradation during recent 15 years. In the future 50 years the alpine cold meadow ecosystems in different geomorphologic units may have different responses to the changes of the permafrost under different climate warming conditions, among them the alpine cold meadow and swamp ecosystem located in the low mountain and plateau area will have a relatively serious degradation. Furthermore, from the angl展开更多
The Lhasa River Basin is one of the typical distribution regions of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. It is very important to get a better understanding of the background and characteristics of alpine wetland fo...The Lhasa River Basin is one of the typical distribution regions of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. It is very important to get a better understanding of the background and characteristics of alpine wetland for monitoring, protection and utilization. Wetland construction and distribution in the basin were analyzed based on multi-source data including field investigation data, CBERS remote sensing data and other thematic data provided by 3S technology. The results are （1） the total area of wetlands is 209,322.26 hm^2, accounting for 6.37% of the total land area of the basin. The wetlands are mainly dominated by natural wetland, with artificial wetland occupying only 1.09% of the wetland area; marsh wetland is the principal part of natural wetland, dominated by Kobresia littledalei swampy meadow which is distributed in the river source area and upstream of Chali, Damshung and Medro Gongkar counties. The ratio and type of wetlands in different counties differ significantly, which are widely distributed in Chali and Damshung counties （accounting for 62% of the total wetland area）. （2） The concentrated vertical distribution of wetlands is at an elevation of 3600-5100 m The wetlands are widely distributed throughout the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley from river source to river mouth into the Yarlung Zangbo River. Marsh wetland is dominant in the source area and upstream of the river, with the mosaic distribution of lakes, Kobresia litUedalei and Carex moorcroftii swampy meadow, shrubby swamp and river; as for the middle-down streams, the primary types are river wetland and flooded wetland. The distribution is in a mosaic pattern of river, Kobresia humilis and Carex moorcroftii swampy meadow, Phragmites australis and subordinate grass marsh, flooded wetland and artificial wetland.展开更多
This study investigates the stratification of soil thermal properties induced by soil organic carbon (SOC) and its impacts on the parameterization of the thermal properties. Soil parameters were measured for alpine gr...This study investigates the stratification of soil thermal properties induced by soil organic carbon (SOC) and its impacts on the parameterization of the thermal properties. Soil parameters were measured for alpine grassland stations and North China flux stations, with a total of 34 stations and 77 soil profiles. Measured data indicate that the topsoils of alpine grasslands contain high SOC contents than underlying soil layers, which leads to higher soil porosity values and lower thermal conductivity and bulk density values in the topsoils. However, this stratification is not evident at the lowland stations due to low SOC contents. Evaluations against measured data show that three thermal conductivity schemes used in land surface models severely overestimate the values for soils with high SOC content (i.e. topsoils of alpine grassland), but they are better for soils with low SOC content. A new parameterization is then developed to take the impacts of SOC into account. The new one can well estimate the soil thermal conductivity values in both low and high SOC content cases, and therefore, it is a potential candidate of thermal conductivity scheme to be used in land surface models.展开更多
Alpine Kobresia meadows are major vegetation types on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. There is growing concern over their relationships among biodiversity, productivity and environments. Despite the im-portance of specie...Alpine Kobresia meadows are major vegetation types on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. There is growing concern over their relationships among biodiversity, productivity and environments. Despite the im-portance of species composition, species richness, the type of different growth forms, and plant bio-mass structure for Kobresia meadow ecosystems, few studies have been focused on the relationship between biomass and environmental gradient in the Kobresia meadow plant communities, particularly in relation to soil moisture and edaphic gradients. We measured the plant species composition, her-baceous litter, aboveground and belowground biomass in three Kobresia meadow plant communities in Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station from 2001 to 2004. Community differences in plant species composition were reflected in biomass distribution. The total biomass showed a de-crease from 13196.96±719.69 g/m2 in the sedge-dominated K. tibetica swamp to 2869.58±147.52 g/m2 in the forb and sedge dominated K. pygmaea meadow, and to 2153.08±141.95 g/m2 in the forbs and grasses dominated K. humilis along with the increase of altitude. The vertical distribution of below-ground biomass is distinct in the three meadow communities, and the belowground biomass at the depth of 0-10 cm in K. tibetica swamp meadow was significantly higher than that in K. humilis and K. pygmaea meadows (P<0.01). The herbaceous litter in K. tibetica swamp was significantly higher than those in K. pygnaeca and K. humilis meadows. The effects of plant litter are enhanced when ground water and soil moisture levels are raised. The relative importance of litter and vegetation may vary with soil water availability. In the K. tibetica swamp, total biomass was negatively correlated to species richness (P<0.05); aboveground biomass was positively correlated to soil organic matter, soil moisture, and plant cover (P<0.05); belowground biomass was positively correlated with soil moisture (P<0.05). However, in the K. pygnaeca and K. humilis meadow communities, abo展开更多
Carbon fluxes were measured using a static chamber technique in an alpine steppe in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from July 2000 to July 2001. It was shown that carbon emissions decreased in autumn and increased in spring...Carbon fluxes were measured using a static chamber technique in an alpine steppe in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from July 2000 to July 2001. It was shown that carbon emissions decreased in autumn and increased in spring of the next year, with higher values in growth seasons than in winters. An exponential correlation （Ecarbon = 0.22（exp（0.09T） ＋ In（0.31P ＋ 1））, R^2 = 0.77, P 〈 0.001） was shown between carbon emissions and environmental factors such as temperature （T） and precipitation （P）. Using the daily temperature （T） and total precipitation （R）, annual carbon emission from soil to the atmosphere was estimated to be 79.6 g C/m^2, 46% of which was emitted by microbial respiration. Considering an average net primary production of 92.5 g C/m^2 per year within the 2 year experiment, alpine steppes can take up 55.9 g CO2-C/m^2 per year. This indicates that alpine steppes are a distinct carbon sink, although this carbon reservoir was quite small.展开更多
In this paper, an updated vegetation map of the permafrost zone in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau （QTP） was delineated. The vegetation map model was extracted from vegetation sampling with remote sensing （RS） datasets ...In this paper, an updated vegetation map of the permafrost zone in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau （QTP） was delineated. The vegetation map model was extracted from vegetation sampling with remote sensing （RS） datasets by decision tree method. The spatial resolution of the map is 1 km×1 kin, and in it the alpine swamp meadow is firstly distinguished in the high-altitude areas. The results showed that the total vegetated area in the permafrost zone of the QTP is 1,201,751 km2. In the vegetated region, 50,260 km2 is the areas of alpine swamp meadow, 583,909 km2 for alpine meadow, 332,754 km2 for alpine steppe, and 234,828 km2 for alpine desert. This updated vegetation map in permafrost zone of QTP could provide more details about the distribution of alpine vegetation types for studying the vegetation mechanisms in the land surface processes of highaltitude areas.展开更多
Zoige Plateau wetlands are located in the northeastern corner of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.The landscape pattern evolution processes in the Zoige Plateau and their driving factors were identified by analyzing the dyna...Zoige Plateau wetlands are located in the northeastern corner of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.The landscape pattern evolution processes in the Zoige Plateau and their driving factors were identified by analyzing the dynamic changes in landscape modification and conversion and their dynamic rates of alpine wetlands over the past four decades.The results showed that the landscape conversion between wetlands and non-wetlands mainly occurred during the period from 1966 to 1986.The marsh wetland area converted from lake and river wetlands was larger because of swamping compared to other wetland landscapes.Meanwhile,the larger area of marsh wetlands was also converted to lake wetlands more than other types of wetlands.The modification processes mainly occurred among natural wetland landscapes in the first three periods.Obvious conversions were observed between wetland and nonwetland landscapes(i.e.,forestland,grassland,and other landscapes) in the Zoige Plateau.These natural wetland landscapes such as river,lake and marsh wetlands showed a net loss over the past four decades,whereas artificial wetland landscapes(i.e.,paddy field and reservoir and pond wetlands) showed a net decrease.The annual dynamic rate of the whole wetland landscape was 0.72%,in which the annual dynamic rate of river wetlands was the highest,followed by lake wetlands,while marsh wetlands had the lowest dynamic rate.The integrated landscape dynamic rate showed a decreasing trend in the first three periods.The changes in wetland landscape patterns were comprehensively controlled by natural factors and human activities,especially human activities play an important role in changing wetland landscape patterns.展开更多
Wetland stores substantial amount of carbon and may contribute greatly to global climate change debate. However, few researches have focused on the effects of global climate change on carbon mineralization in Zoige al...Wetland stores substantial amount of carbon and may contribute greatly to global climate change debate. However, few researches have focused on the effects of global climate change on carbon mineralization in Zoige alpine wetland, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is one of the most important peatlands in China. Through incubation experiment, this paper studied the effects of temperature, soil moisture, soil type （marsh soil and peat soil） and their interactions on CO2 and CH4 emission rates in Zoige alpine wetland. Results show that when the temperature rises from 5℃ to 35℃, CO2 emission rates increase by 3.3-3.7 times and 2.4-2.6 times under non-inundation treatment, and by 2.2-2.3 times and 4.1-4.3 times under inundation treatment in marsh soil and peat soil, respectively. Compared with non-inundation treatment, CO2 emission rates decrease by 6%-44%, 20%-60% in marsh soil and peat soil, respectively, under inundation treatment. CO2 emission rate is significantly affected by the combined effects of the temperature and soil type （p 〈 0.001）, and soil moisture and soil type （p 〈 0.001）, and CH4 emission rate was significantly affected by the interaction of the temperature and soil moisture （p 〈 0.001）. Q10 values for CO2 emission rate are higher at the range of 5 ℃-25℃ than 25 ℃-35℃, indicating that carbon mineralization is more sensitive at low temperature in Zoige alpine wetland.展开更多
: In the present study, we used the eddy covariance method to measure CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem (37°36’N, 101°18’E; 3 250 m a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan...: In the present study, we used the eddy covariance method to measure CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem (37°36’N, 101°18’E; 3 250 m a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, during the growing season in 2003, from 20 April to 30 September. This meadow is dominated by formations of Potentilla fruticosa L. The soil is Mol-Cryic Cambisols. During the study period, the meadow was not grazed. The maximum rates of CO2 uptake and release derived from the diurnal course of CO2 flux were -9.38 and 5.02 μmol·m-2·s-1, respectively. The largest daily CO2 uptake was 1.7 g C·m-2·d-1 on 14 July, which is less than half that of an alpine Kobresia meadow ecosystem at similar latitudes. Daily CO2 uptake during the measurement period indicated that the alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem may behave as a sink of atmospheric CO2 during the growing season. The daytime CO2 uptake was correlated exponentially or linearly with the daily photo synthetic photon flux density each month. The daytime average water use efficiency of the ecosystem was 6.47 mg CO2/g H2O. The efficiency of the ecosystem increased with a decrease in vapor pressure deficit.展开更多
The alpine meadow is widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau with an area of about 1.2×106km2. Damxung County, located in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, is the place covered with this typical vegetation...The alpine meadow is widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau with an area of about 1.2×106km2. Damxung County, located in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, is the place covered with this typical vegetation. An open-path eddy covariance system was set up in Damxung rangeland station to measure the carbon flux of alpine meadow from July to October, 2003. The continuous carbon flux data were used to analyze the relationship between net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), as well as the seasonal patterns of apparent quantum yield (α) and maximum ecosystem assimilation (Pmax). Results showed that the daytime NEE fitted fairly well with the PAR in a rectangular hyperbola function, with α declining in the order of peak growth period (0.0244 μmolCO2 · μmol-1PAR) > early growth period > seed maturing period > withering period (0.0098 μmolCO2 · μmol-1PAR). The Pmax did not change greatly during the first three periods, with an average of 0.433 mgCO2 · m-2 · s-1,i.e. 9.829 μmolCO2 · m-2 · s-1. However, during the withering period, Pmax was only 0.35 mgCO2 · m-2 · s-1, i.e. 7.945 μmolCO2 · m-2 · s-1. Compared with other grassland ecosystems, the α of the Tibetan Plateau alpine meadow ecosystem was much lower.展开更多
Grazing exclusion is widely adopted in restoring degraded alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, its effectiveness remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of grazing e...Grazing exclusion is widely adopted in restoring degraded alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, its effectiveness remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of grazing exclusion on plant productivity, species diversity and soil organic carbon （SOC） and soil total nitrogen （STN） storage along a transect spanning from east to west of alpine meadows in northern Tibet, China. After six years of grazing exclusion, plant cover, aboveground biomass （AGB）, belowground biomass （BGB）, SOC and STN were increased, but species diversity indices declined. The enhancement of AGB and SOC caused by grazing exclusion was correlated positively with mean annual precipitation （MAP）. Grazing exclusion led to remarkable biomass increase of sedge species, especially Kobresia pygmaea, whereas decrease of biomass in forbs and no obvious change in grass, leguminous and noxious species. Root biomass was concentrated in the near surface layer （10 cm） after grazing exclusion. The effects of grazing exclusion on SOC storage were confined to shallow soil layer in sites with lower MAP. It is indicated that grazing exclusion is an effective measure to increase forage production and enhance soil carbon sequestration in the studied region. The effect is more efficient in sites with higher precipitation. However, the results revealed a tradeoff between vegetation restoration and ecological biodiversity. Therefore, carbon pools recover more quickly than plant biodiversity in the alpine meadows. We suggest that grazing exclusion should be combined with other measures to reconcile grassland restoration and biodiversitv conservation.展开更多
This paper evaluated the impacts of mounds created by the plateau pika （Ochotona curzoniae） on the vegetation composition, structure, and species diversity of an alpine Kobresia steppe meadow in Nagqu County, Tibet ...This paper evaluated the impacts of mounds created by the plateau pika （Ochotona curzoniae） on the vegetation composition, structure, and species diversity of an alpine Kobresia steppe meadow in Nagqu County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Based on mound height or the depth of erosion pit, we defined five stages of erosion and compared the floristic features of communities at these stages with those in undisturbed sites. In the study area, the mounds and pits covered up to 7% of the total area. Lancea tibetica, Lamiophlomis rotata, and Potentilla biflarca were the dominant species in erosion pits, and Kobresia pygmaea, the dominant species in undisturbed sites, became a companion species in eroded areas. In the process of erosion, the original vegetation was covered by soil ejected by the pika, then the mounds were gradually eroded by wind and rain, and finally erosion pits formed. The vegetation coverage increased with increasing erosion stages but remained significantly lower than that in undisturbed sites. Improved coverage eventually reduced soil erosion, and pit depth eventually stabilized at around 20cm. Aboveground biomass increased with increasing erosion stage, but the proportion of low-quality forage reached more than 94%. The richness index and Shannon-Wiener index increased significantly with increasing erosion stage, but the richness index in mound and pit areas was significantly lower than that in undisturbed sites.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 90711002 and 90211016)
文摘Grassland covers approximately one-third of the area of China and plays an important role in the global terrestrial carbon(C) cycle.However,little is known about biomass C stocks and dynamics in these grasslands.During 2001-2005,we conducted five consecutive field sampling campaigns to investigate above-and below-ground biomass for northern China's grasslands.Using measurements obtained from 341 sampling sites,together with a NDVI(normalized difference vegetation index) time series dataset over 1982-2006,we examined changes in biomass C stock during the past 25 years.Our results showed that biomass C stock in northern China's grasslands was estimated at 557.5 Tg C(1 Tg=1012 g),with a mean density of 39.5 g C m-2 for above-ground biomass and 244.6 g C m-2 for below-ground biomass.An increasing rate of 0.2 Tg C yr-1 has been observed over the past 25 years,but grassland biomass has not experienced a significant change since the late 1980s.Seasonal rainfall(January-July) was the dominant factor driving temporal dynamics in biomass C stock;however,the responses of grassland biomass to climate variables differed among various grassland types.Biomass in arid grasslands(i.e.,desert steppe and typical steppe) was significantly associated with precipitation,while biomass in humid grasslands(i.e.,alpine meadow) was positively correlated with mean January-July temperatures.These results suggest that different grassland ecosystems in China may show diverse responses to future climate changes.
文摘The knowledge of carbon(C) stock and its dynamics is crucial for understanding the role of grassland ecosystems in China's terrestrial C cycle.To date,a comprehensive assessment on C balance in China's grasslands is still lacking.By reviewing published literature,this study aims to evaluate ecosystem C stocks(both vegetation biomass and soil organic C) and their changes in China's grasslands.Our results are summarized as follows:(1) biomass C density(C stock per area) of China's grasslands differed greatly among previous studies,ranging from 215.8 to 348.1 g C m-2 with an average of 300.2 g C m-2.Likewise,soil C density also varied greatly between 8.5 and 15.1 kg C m-2.In total,ecosystem C stock in China's grasslands was estimated at 29.1 Pg C.(2) Both the magnitude and direction of ecosystem C changes in China's grasslands differed greatly among previous studies.According to recent reports,neither biomass nor soil C stock in China's grasslands showed a significant change during the past 20 years,indicating that grassland ecosystems are C neutral.(3) Spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of grassland biomass were closely correlated with precipitation,while changes in soil C stocks exhibited close associations with soil moisture and soil texture.Human activities,such as livestock grazing and fencing could also affect ecosystem C dynamics in China's grasslands.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30870381)the Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs Funded by the Ministry of Science & Technology of China (Grant No. 2007BAC06B01)
文摘Above-and belowground biomass allocation not only influences growth of individual plants,but also influences vegetation structures and functions,and consequently impacts soil carbon input as well as terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling.However,due to sampling difficulties,a considerable amount of uncertainty remains about the root:shoot ratio(R/S),a key parameter for models of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling.We investigated biomass allocation patterns across a broad spatial scale.We collected data on individual plant biomass and systematically sampled along a transect across the temperate grasslands in Inner Mongolia as well as in the alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.Our results indicated that the median of R/S for herbaceous species was 0.78 in China's grasslands as a whole.R/S was significantly higher in temperate grasslands than in alpine grasslands(0.84 vs.0.65).The slope of the allometric relationship between above-and belowground biomass was steeper for temperate grasslands than for alpine.Our results did not support the hypothesis that aboveground biomass scales isometrically with belowground biomass.The R/S in China's grasslands was not significantly correlated with mean annual temperature(MAT) or mean annual precipitation(MAP).Moreover,comparisons of our results with previous findings indicated a large difference between R/S data from individual plants and communities.This might be mainly caused by the underestimation of R/S at the individual level as a result of an inevitable loss of fine roots and the overestimation of R/S in community-level surveys due to grazing and difficulties in identifying dead roots.Our findings suggest that root biomass in grasslands tended to have been overestimated in previous reports of R/S.
基金This study was performed under the auspice of the National Key Project for Basic Research (Grant No. 2002CB412501) the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 30470280)+1 种基金 Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX3-SW-339)Damxung Grassland Station of Tibetan Autonomous Region provided observation site and person-nel. Special thanks are extended to Mr Guo Wanjun, Suo- lang Ciren, Huang Qingyi and Yang Junping for their help in data collecting.
文摘Knowledge of seasonal variation of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its biotic and abiotic controllers will further our understanding of carbon cycling process, mechanism and large-scale modelling. Eddy covariance technique was used to measure NEE, biotic and abiotic factors for nearly 3 years in the hinterland alpine steppe--Korbresia meadow grassland on the Tibetan Plateau, the present highest fluxnet station in the world. The main objectives are to investigate dynamics of NEE and its components and to determine the major controlling factors. Maximum carbon assimilation took place in August and maximum carbon loss occurred in November. In June, rainfall amount due to monsoon climate played a great role in grass greening and consequently influenced interannual variation of ecosystem carbon gain. From July through September, monthly NEE presented net carbon assimilation. In other months, ecosystem exhibited carbon loss. In growing season, daytime NEE was mainly controlled by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). In addition, leaf area index (LAI) interacted with PAR and together modulated NEE rates. Ecosystem respiration was controlled mainly by soil temperature and simultaneously by soil moisture. Q10 was negatively correlated with soil temperature but positively correlated with soil moisture. Large daily range of air temperature is not necessary to enhance carbon gain. Standard respiration rate at referenced 10℃(R10) was positively correlated with soil moisture, soil temperature, LAI and aboveground biomass. Rainfall patterns in growing season markedly influenced soil moisture and therefore soil moisture controlled seasonal change of ecosystem respiration. Pulse rainfall in the beginning and at the end of growing season induced great ecosystem respiration and consequently a great amount of carbon was lost. Short growing season and relative low temperature restrained alpine grass vegetation development. The results suggested that LAI be usually in a low level and carbon uptake be relatively low. Rainf
基金This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.30270255 and No.90511003)the"Hundred Talents"Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Wang Genxuthe State Key Project(973)(Grant No.2003CB415201).
文摘Alpine cold ecosystem with permafrost environment is quite sensitive to climatic changes and the changes in permafrost can significantly affect the alpine ecosystem. The vegetation coverage, grassland biomass and soil nutrient and texture are selected to indicate the regime of alpine cold ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The interactions between alpine ecosystem and permafrost were investigated with the depth of active layer, permafrost thickness and mean annual ground temperature (MAGTs). Based on the statistics model of GPTR for MAGTs and annual air temperatures, an analysis method was developed to analyze the impacts of permafrost changes on the alpine ecosystems. Under the climate change and human engineering activities, the permafrost change and its impacts on alpine ecosystems in the permafrost region between the Kunlun Mountains and the Tanggula Range of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are studied in this paper. The results showed that the per- mafrost changes have a different influence on different alpine ecosystems. With the increase in the thickness of active layer, the vegetation cover and biomass of the alpine cold meadow exhibit a significant conic reduction, the soil organic matter content of the alpine cold meadow ecosystem shows an exponential decrease, and the surface soil materials become coarse and gravelly. The alpine cold steppe ecosystem, however, seems to have a relatively weak relation to the permafrost environment. Those relationships resulted in the fact that the distribution area of alpine cold meadow decreased by 7.98% and alpine cold swamp decreased by 28.11% under the permafrost environment degradation during recent 15 years. In the future 50 years the alpine cold meadow ecosystems in different geomorphologic units may have different responses to the changes of the permafrost under different climate warming conditions, among them the alpine cold meadow and swamp ecosystem located in the low mountain and plateau area will have a relatively serious degradation. Furthermore, from the angl
基金The National Key Technology Research and Development Program,No.2007BAC06B03National Basic Research Program of China,No.2005CB422000
文摘The Lhasa River Basin is one of the typical distribution regions of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. It is very important to get a better understanding of the background and characteristics of alpine wetland for monitoring, protection and utilization. Wetland construction and distribution in the basin were analyzed based on multi-source data including field investigation data, CBERS remote sensing data and other thematic data provided by 3S technology. The results are （1） the total area of wetlands is 209,322.26 hm^2, accounting for 6.37% of the total land area of the basin. The wetlands are mainly dominated by natural wetland, with artificial wetland occupying only 1.09% of the wetland area; marsh wetland is the principal part of natural wetland, dominated by Kobresia littledalei swampy meadow which is distributed in the river source area and upstream of Chali, Damshung and Medro Gongkar counties. The ratio and type of wetlands in different counties differ significantly, which are widely distributed in Chali and Damshung counties （accounting for 62% of the total wetland area）. （2） The concentrated vertical distribution of wetlands is at an elevation of 3600-5100 m The wetlands are widely distributed throughout the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley from river source to river mouth into the Yarlung Zangbo River. Marsh wetland is dominant in the source area and upstream of the river, with the mosaic distribution of lakes, Kobresia litUedalei and Carex moorcroftii swampy meadow, shrubby swamp and river; as for the middle-down streams, the primary types are river wetland and flooded wetland. The distribution is in a mosaic pattern of river, Kobresia humilis and Carex moorcroftii swampy meadow, Phragmites australis and subordinate grass marsh, flooded wetland and artificial wetland.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41105003)Key Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.KZCX2-YW-Q10-2)+1 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91025004)Open Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science (Grant No. OFSLRSS201108) that is cosponsored by the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Normal University
文摘This study investigates the stratification of soil thermal properties induced by soil organic carbon (SOC) and its impacts on the parameterization of the thermal properties. Soil parameters were measured for alpine grassland stations and North China flux stations, with a total of 34 stations and 77 soil profiles. Measured data indicate that the topsoils of alpine grasslands contain high SOC contents than underlying soil layers, which leads to higher soil porosity values and lower thermal conductivity and bulk density values in the topsoils. However, this stratification is not evident at the lowland stations due to low SOC contents. Evaluations against measured data show that three thermal conductivity schemes used in land surface models severely overestimate the values for soils with high SOC content (i.e. topsoils of alpine grassland), but they are better for soils with low SOC content. A new parameterization is then developed to take the impacts of SOC into account. The new one can well estimate the soil thermal conductivity values in both low and high SOC content cases, and therefore, it is a potential candidate of thermal conductivity scheme to be used in land surface models.
基金Supported by the Hundred Talents Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciencesthe National Natural Science Important Foundation of China (Grant No. 30730069)
文摘Alpine Kobresia meadows are major vegetation types on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. There is growing concern over their relationships among biodiversity, productivity and environments. Despite the im-portance of species composition, species richness, the type of different growth forms, and plant bio-mass structure for Kobresia meadow ecosystems, few studies have been focused on the relationship between biomass and environmental gradient in the Kobresia meadow plant communities, particularly in relation to soil moisture and edaphic gradients. We measured the plant species composition, her-baceous litter, aboveground and belowground biomass in three Kobresia meadow plant communities in Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station from 2001 to 2004. Community differences in plant species composition were reflected in biomass distribution. The total biomass showed a de-crease from 13196.96±719.69 g/m2 in the sedge-dominated K. tibetica swamp to 2869.58±147.52 g/m2 in the forb and sedge dominated K. pygmaea meadow, and to 2153.08±141.95 g/m2 in the forbs and grasses dominated K. humilis along with the increase of altitude. The vertical distribution of below-ground biomass is distinct in the three meadow communities, and the belowground biomass at the depth of 0-10 cm in K. tibetica swamp meadow was significantly higher than that in K. humilis and K. pygmaea meadows (P<0.01). The herbaceous litter in K. tibetica swamp was significantly higher than those in K. pygnaeca and K. humilis meadows. The effects of plant litter are enhanced when ground water and soil moisture levels are raised. The relative importance of litter and vegetation may vary with soil water availability. In the K. tibetica swamp, total biomass was negatively correlated to species richness (P<0.05); aboveground biomass was positively correlated to soil organic matter, soil moisture, and plant cover (P<0.05); belowground biomass was positively correlated with soil moisture (P<0.05). However, in the K. pygnaeca and K. humilis meadow communities, abo
基金Supported by the National Basic Research Program (2005CB422005)the Pre-studies Project of National Basic Research Program(2005CCA05500)
文摘Carbon fluxes were measured using a static chamber technique in an alpine steppe in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from July 2000 to July 2001. It was shown that carbon emissions decreased in autumn and increased in spring of the next year, with higher values in growth seasons than in winters. An exponential correlation （Ecarbon = 0.22（exp（0.09T） ＋ In（0.31P ＋ 1））, R^2 = 0.77, P 〈 0.001） was shown between carbon emissions and environmental factors such as temperature （T） and precipitation （P）. Using the daily temperature （T） and total precipitation （R）, annual carbon emission from soil to the atmosphere was estimated to be 79.6 g C/m^2, 46% of which was emitted by microbial respiration. Considering an average net primary production of 92.5 g C/m^2 per year within the 2 year experiment, alpine steppes can take up 55.9 g CO2-C/m^2 per year. This indicates that alpine steppes are a distinct carbon sink, although this carbon reservoir was quite small.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.41101055)the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences granted to Tonghua Wu (Grant No.51Y251571)the “National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program)” (Grant No.2010CB951402)
文摘In this paper, an updated vegetation map of the permafrost zone in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau （QTP） was delineated. The vegetation map model was extracted from vegetation sampling with remote sensing （RS） datasets by decision tree method. The spatial resolution of the map is 1 km×1 kin, and in it the alpine swamp meadow is firstly distinguished in the high-altitude areas. The results showed that the total vegetated area in the permafrost zone of the QTP is 1,201,751 km2. In the vegetated region, 50,260 km2 is the areas of alpine swamp meadow, 583,909 km2 for alpine meadow, 332,754 km2 for alpine steppe, and 234,828 km2 for alpine desert. This updated vegetation map in permafrost zone of QTP could provide more details about the distribution of alpine vegetation types for studying the vegetation mechanisms in the land surface processes of highaltitude areas.
基金financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No. 51179006)China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists (Grant No.51125035)+2 种基金National Science Foundation for Innovative Research Group (Grant No. 51121003)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NECT-10-0235)the Fok Ying Tung Foundation (Grant No. 132009)
文摘Zoige Plateau wetlands are located in the northeastern corner of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.The landscape pattern evolution processes in the Zoige Plateau and their driving factors were identified by analyzing the dynamic changes in landscape modification and conversion and their dynamic rates of alpine wetlands over the past four decades.The results showed that the landscape conversion between wetlands and non-wetlands mainly occurred during the period from 1966 to 1986.The marsh wetland area converted from lake and river wetlands was larger because of swamping compared to other wetland landscapes.Meanwhile,the larger area of marsh wetlands was also converted to lake wetlands more than other types of wetlands.The modification processes mainly occurred among natural wetland landscapes in the first three periods.Obvious conversions were observed between wetland and nonwetland landscapes(i.e.,forestland,grassland,and other landscapes) in the Zoige Plateau.These natural wetland landscapes such as river,lake and marsh wetlands showed a net loss over the past four decades,whereas artificial wetland landscapes(i.e.,paddy field and reservoir and pond wetlands) showed a net decrease.The annual dynamic rate of the whole wetland landscape was 0.72%,in which the annual dynamic rate of river wetlands was the highest,followed by lake wetlands,while marsh wetlands had the lowest dynamic rate.The integrated landscape dynamic rate showed a decreasing trend in the first three periods.The changes in wetland landscape patterns were comprehensively controlled by natural factors and human activities,especially human activities play an important role in changing wetland landscape patterns.
基金Under the auspices of Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. BLYX200932)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30700108, 41071329)Forestry Commonweal Program (No. 200804005)
文摘Wetland stores substantial amount of carbon and may contribute greatly to global climate change debate. However, few researches have focused on the effects of global climate change on carbon mineralization in Zoige alpine wetland, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is one of the most important peatlands in China. Through incubation experiment, this paper studied the effects of temperature, soil moisture, soil type （marsh soil and peat soil） and their interactions on CO2 and CH4 emission rates in Zoige alpine wetland. Results show that when the temperature rises from 5℃ to 35℃, CO2 emission rates increase by 3.3-3.7 times and 2.4-2.6 times under non-inundation treatment, and by 2.2-2.3 times and 4.1-4.3 times under inundation treatment in marsh soil and peat soil, respectively. Compared with non-inundation treatment, CO2 emission rates decrease by 6%-44%, 20%-60% in marsh soil and peat soil, respectively, under inundation treatment. CO2 emission rate is significantly affected by the combined effects of the temperature and soil type （p 〈 0.001）, and soil moisture and soil type （p 〈 0.001）, and CH4 emission rate was significantly affected by the interaction of the temperature and soil moisture （p 〈 0.001）. Q10 values for CO2 emission rate are higher at the range of 5 ℃-25℃ than 25 ℃-35℃, indicating that carbon mineralization is more sensitive at low temperature in Zoige alpine wetland.
文摘: In the present study, we used the eddy covariance method to measure CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem (37°36’N, 101°18’E; 3 250 m a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, during the growing season in 2003, from 20 April to 30 September. This meadow is dominated by formations of Potentilla fruticosa L. The soil is Mol-Cryic Cambisols. During the study period, the meadow was not grazed. The maximum rates of CO2 uptake and release derived from the diurnal course of CO2 flux were -9.38 and 5.02 μmol·m-2·s-1, respectively. The largest daily CO2 uptake was 1.7 g C·m-2·d-1 on 14 July, which is less than half that of an alpine Kobresia meadow ecosystem at similar latitudes. Daily CO2 uptake during the measurement period indicated that the alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem may behave as a sink of atmospheric CO2 during the growing season. The daytime CO2 uptake was correlated exponentially or linearly with the daily photo synthetic photon flux density each month. The daytime average water use efficiency of the ecosystem was 6.47 mg CO2/g H2O. The efficiency of the ecosystem increased with a decrease in vapor pressure deficit.
基金This work was jointly supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China(Grant No.2002CB412501)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.30170153 and 30470280)the Key Innovation Project of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,CAS(Grant No.CXIOG-E01-03-03).
文摘The alpine meadow is widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau with an area of about 1.2×106km2. Damxung County, located in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, is the place covered with this typical vegetation. An open-path eddy covariance system was set up in Damxung rangeland station to measure the carbon flux of alpine meadow from July to October, 2003. The continuous carbon flux data were used to analyze the relationship between net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), as well as the seasonal patterns of apparent quantum yield (α) and maximum ecosystem assimilation (Pmax). Results showed that the daytime NEE fitted fairly well with the PAR in a rectangular hyperbola function, with α declining in the order of peak growth period (0.0244 μmolCO2 · μmol-1PAR) > early growth period > seed maturing period > withering period (0.0098 μmolCO2 · μmol-1PAR). The Pmax did not change greatly during the first three periods, with an average of 0.433 mgCO2 · m-2 · s-1,i.e. 9.829 μmolCO2 · m-2 · s-1. However, during the withering period, Pmax was only 0.35 mgCO2 · m-2 · s-1, i.e. 7.945 μmolCO2 · m-2 · s-1. Compared with other grassland ecosystems, the α of the Tibetan Plateau alpine meadow ecosystem was much lower.
基金Under the auspices of Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.XDA05060700)Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China(No.2013M530716)
文摘Grazing exclusion is widely adopted in restoring degraded alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, its effectiveness remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of grazing exclusion on plant productivity, species diversity and soil organic carbon （SOC） and soil total nitrogen （STN） storage along a transect spanning from east to west of alpine meadows in northern Tibet, China. After six years of grazing exclusion, plant cover, aboveground biomass （AGB）, belowground biomass （BGB）, SOC and STN were increased, but species diversity indices declined. The enhancement of AGB and SOC caused by grazing exclusion was correlated positively with mean annual precipitation （MAP）. Grazing exclusion led to remarkable biomass increase of sedge species, especially Kobresia pygmaea, whereas decrease of biomass in forbs and no obvious change in grass, leguminous and noxious species. Root biomass was concentrated in the near surface layer （10 cm） after grazing exclusion. The effects of grazing exclusion on SOC storage were confined to shallow soil layer in sites with lower MAP. It is indicated that grazing exclusion is an effective measure to increase forage production and enhance soil carbon sequestration in the studied region. The effect is more efficient in sites with higher precipitation. However, the results revealed a tradeoff between vegetation restoration and ecological biodiversity. Therefore, carbon pools recover more quickly than plant biodiversity in the alpine meadows. We suggest that grazing exclusion should be combined with other measures to reconcile grassland restoration and biodiversitv conservation.
基金Under the auspices of the Science and Technology Committee of Tibet Autonomous Region (No. 200101046)
文摘This paper evaluated the impacts of mounds created by the plateau pika （Ochotona curzoniae） on the vegetation composition, structure, and species diversity of an alpine Kobresia steppe meadow in Nagqu County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Based on mound height or the depth of erosion pit, we defined five stages of erosion and compared the floristic features of communities at these stages with those in undisturbed sites. In the study area, the mounds and pits covered up to 7% of the total area. Lancea tibetica, Lamiophlomis rotata, and Potentilla biflarca were the dominant species in erosion pits, and Kobresia pygmaea, the dominant species in undisturbed sites, became a companion species in eroded areas. In the process of erosion, the original vegetation was covered by soil ejected by the pika, then the mounds were gradually eroded by wind and rain, and finally erosion pits formed. The vegetation coverage increased with increasing erosion stages but remained significantly lower than that in undisturbed sites. Improved coverage eventually reduced soil erosion, and pit depth eventually stabilized at around 20cm. Aboveground biomass increased with increasing erosion stage, but the proportion of low-quality forage reached more than 94%. The richness index and Shannon-Wiener index increased significantly with increasing erosion stage, but the richness index in mound and pit areas was significantly lower than that in undisturbed sites.
