TITLE:
Global Warming Impacts on Alpine Vegetation Dynamic in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China
AUTHORS:
Yan Qing Zhang, Jeffery M. Welker
KEYWORDS:
Global Warming, Alpine Vegetaion, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.2 No.3,
June
13,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study is to illustrate alpine
vegetation dynamics in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China from simulated filed
experimental climate change, vegetation community dynamic simulation integrated
with scenarios of global temperature increase of 1 to 3°C, and simulated
regional alpine vegetation distribution changes in responses to global
warming. Our warming treatment increased air temperatures by 5°C on average and
soil temperatures were elevated by 3°C at 5 cm depth. Above- ground biomass of
grasses responded rapidly to the warmer conditions whereby biomass was 25%
greater than that of controls after only 5 wk of experimental warming. This
increase was accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in forb biomass, resulting
in almost no net change in community biomass after 5 wk. Under warmed conditions,
peak community bio-mass was extended into October due in part to continued
growth of grasses and the postponement of senescence. The Vegetation Dynamic
Simulation Model calculates a probability surface for each vegetation type, and
then combines all vegetation types into a composite map, determined by the maximum
likelihood that each vegetation type should distribute to each raster unit.
With scenarios of global temperature increase of 1°C to 3°C, the vegetation
types such as Dry Kobresia Meadow and Dry Potentilla Shrub that are adapted to
warm and dry conditions tend to become more dominant in the study area.