Dataset Information

Seasonal response of grasslands to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Monitoring vegetation dynamics and their responses to climate change has been the subject of considerable research. This paper aims to detect change trends in grassland activity on the Tibetan Plateau between 1982 and 2006 and relate these to changes in climate.

Methodology/principal findings

Grassland activity was analyzed by evaluating remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data collected at 15-day intervals between 1982 and 2006. The timings of vegetation stages (start of green-up, beginning of the growing season, plant maturity, start of senescence and end of the growing season) were assessed using the NDVI ratio method. Mean NDVI values were determined for major vegetation stages (green-up, fast growth, maturity and senescence). All vegetation variables were linked with datasets of monthly temperature and precipitation, and correlations between variables were established using Partial Least Squares regression. Most parts of the Tibetan Plateau showed significantly increasing temperatures, as well as clear advances in late season phenological stages by several weeks. Rainfall trends and significant long-term changes in early season phenology occurred on small parts of the plateau. Vegetation activity increased significantly for all vegetation stages. Most of these changes were related to increasing temperatures during the growing season and in some cases during the previous winter. Precipitation effects appeared less pronounced. Warming thus appears to have shortened the growing season, while increasing vegetation activity.

Conclusions/significance

Shortening of the growing season despite a longer thermally favorable period implies that vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau is unable to exploit additional thermal resources availed by climate change. Ecosystem composition may no longer be well attuned to the local temperature regime, which has changed rapidly over the past three decades. This apparent lag of the vegetation assemblage behind changes in climate should be taken into account when projecting the impacts of climate change on ecosystem processes.

SUBMITTER: Yu H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3500274 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Seasonal response of grasslands to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau.

Yu Haiying H Xu Jianchu J Okuto Erick E Luedeling Eike E

PloS one 20121116 11

<h4>Background</h4>Monitoring vegetation dynamics and their responses to climate change has been the subject of considerable research. This paper aims to detect change trends in grassland activity on the Tibetan Plateau between 1982 and 2006 and relate these to changes in climate.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>Grassland activity was analyzed by evaluating remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data collected at 15-day intervals between 1982 and 2006. The timings of ...[more]

PMID: 23173048

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Project description:Assessing ecosystem vulnerability to climate change is critical for sustainable and adaptive ecosystem management. Alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are considered to be vulnerable to climate change, yet the ecosystem tends to maintain stability by increasing resilience and decreasing sensitivity. To date, the spatial pattern of grassland vulnerability to climate change and the mechanisms that vegetation applies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on grasslands by altering relevant ecosystem characteristics, especially sensitivity and resilience, remain unknown. In this study, we first assessed the spatial pattern of grassland vulnerability to climate change by integrating exposure, sensitivity, and resilience simultaneously, and then identified its driving forces. The results show that grasslands with high vulnerability were mainly located on the edges of the plateau, whereas alpine grasslands in the hinterlands of the plateau showed a low vulnerability. This spatial pattern of alpine grassland vulnerability was controlled by climatic exposure, and grassland sensitivity and resilience to climate change might also exacerbate or alleviate the degree of vulnerability. Climate change had variable impacts on different grassland types. Desert steppes were more vulnerable to climate change than alpine meadows and alpine steppes because of the high variability in environmental factors and their low ability to recover from perturbations. Our findings also confirm that grazing intensity, a quantitative index of the most important human disturbance on alpine grasslands in this plateau, was significantly correlated with ecosystem vulnerability. Moderate grazing intensity was of benefit for increasing grassland resilience and then subsequently reducing grassland vulnerability. Thus, this study suggests that future assessments of ecosystem vulnerability should not ignore anthropogenic disturbances, which might benefit environmental protection and sustainable management of grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Dataset Information

Seasonal response of grasslands to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau.

Background

Methodology/principal findings

Conclusions/significance

Publications

Seasonal response of grasslands to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau.

Similar Datasets

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