Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County
Alpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is known to be sensitive to climate change. To quantify the impacts of climate change on alpine ecosystems at small scale, Wulan County in Qinghai Province was taken as the research object, and the relationships between vegetation dynamics and climate ch...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-02-01
|
| Series: | Atmosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/2/324 |
| _version_ | 1797482784202162176 |
|---|---|
| author | Hui Liu Xiaoyu Song Wang Wen Qiong Jia Deming Zhu |
| author_facet | Hui Liu Xiaoyu Song Wang Wen Qiong Jia Deming Zhu |
| author_sort | Hui Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Alpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is known to be sensitive to climate change. To quantify the impacts of climate change on alpine ecosystems at small scale, Wulan County in Qinghai Province was taken as the research object, and the relationships between vegetation dynamics and climate changes and the direct and indirect effects of climate factors on vegetation dynamics were analyzed using the methods of ordinary least squares, Pearson correlation analysis and path analysis, on the basis of MOD13A3 data and meteorological data from 2001 to 2020. The results showed that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the growing season of the county and 5 vegetation types showed similar fluctuation processes and relationships with climate factors during the study period. The growing season NDVI (GSN) of shrubland and desert steppe respectively were the highest and lowest. The yearly mean values of GSN over the county ranged from 0.151 to 0.264, and increased extremely significantly with years at a rate of 0.0035 yr<sup>−1</sup>. Spatially, GSN gradually decreased from northeast to southwest, and 97.2% of the county area showed an increasing trend in GSN. With years, growing season evaporation (GSE) decreased extremely significantly at a rate of 29.6 mm yr<sup>−1</sup>, while growing season average relative humidity (GSARH) showed a significant increasing trend at a rate of 0.16% yr<sup>−1</sup>. The correlations and effects of GSE, GSARH, and growing season precipitation (GSP) on vegetation dynamics were weakened in turn. GSE was the main direct effect factor, and the latter two were the indirect effect factors through GSE. The total contribution rates of GSE, GSARH and GSP to vegetation dynamics was about 78.0%. However, growing season average temperature (GSAT) had little effect on vegetation dynamics. This study provides information for understanding the characteristics of vegetation dynamics of alpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at a small scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:37:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e0869a1dab246e3bbcd387c02e974f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:37:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e0869a1dab246e3bbcd387c02e974f02023-11-23T18:45:51ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-02-0113232410.3390/atmos13020324Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a CountyHui Liu0Xiaoyu Song1Wang Wen2Qiong Jia3Deming Zhu4State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, ChinaAlpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is known to be sensitive to climate change. To quantify the impacts of climate change on alpine ecosystems at small scale, Wulan County in Qinghai Province was taken as the research object, and the relationships between vegetation dynamics and climate changes and the direct and indirect effects of climate factors on vegetation dynamics were analyzed using the methods of ordinary least squares, Pearson correlation analysis and path analysis, on the basis of MOD13A3 data and meteorological data from 2001 to 2020. The results showed that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the growing season of the county and 5 vegetation types showed similar fluctuation processes and relationships with climate factors during the study period. The growing season NDVI (GSN) of shrubland and desert steppe respectively were the highest and lowest. The yearly mean values of GSN over the county ranged from 0.151 to 0.264, and increased extremely significantly with years at a rate of 0.0035 yr<sup>−1</sup>. Spatially, GSN gradually decreased from northeast to southwest, and 97.2% of the county area showed an increasing trend in GSN. With years, growing season evaporation (GSE) decreased extremely significantly at a rate of 29.6 mm yr<sup>−1</sup>, while growing season average relative humidity (GSARH) showed a significant increasing trend at a rate of 0.16% yr<sup>−1</sup>. The correlations and effects of GSE, GSARH, and growing season precipitation (GSP) on vegetation dynamics were weakened in turn. GSE was the main direct effect factor, and the latter two were the indirect effect factors through GSE. The total contribution rates of GSE, GSARH and GSP to vegetation dynamics was about 78.0%. However, growing season average temperature (GSAT) had little effect on vegetation dynamics. This study provides information for understanding the characteristics of vegetation dynamics of alpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at a small scale.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/2/324alpine grasslandNDVIclimate changegrowing seasonpath analysisQinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Hui Liu Xiaoyu Song Wang Wen Qiong Jia Deming Zhu Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County Atmosphere alpine grassland NDVI climate change growing season path analysis Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| title | Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County |
| title_full | Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County |
| title_fullStr | Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County |
| title_short | Quantitative Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Dynamics in Alpine Grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in a County |
| title_sort | quantitative effects of climate change on vegetation dynamics in alpine grassland of qinghai tibet plateau in a county |
| topic | alpine grassland NDVI climate change growing season path analysis Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/2/324 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT huiliu quantitativeeffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinalpinegrasslandofqinghaitibetplateauinacounty AT xiaoyusong quantitativeeffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinalpinegrasslandofqinghaitibetplateauinacounty AT wangwen quantitativeeffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinalpinegrasslandofqinghaitibetplateauinacounty AT qiongjia quantitativeeffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinalpinegrasslandofqinghaitibetplateauinacounty AT demingzhu quantitativeeffectsofclimatechangeonvegetationdynamicsinalpinegrasslandofqinghaitibetplateauinacounty |