Modern pollen samples from alpine vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau

• 1 A set of 316 modern surface pollen samples, sampling all the alpine vegetation types that occur on the Tibetan Plateau, has been compiled and analysed. Between 82 and 92% of the pollen present in these samples is derived from only 28 major taxa. These 28 taxa include examples of both tree (AP) and herb (NAP) pollen types.
• 2 Most of the modern surface pollen samples accurately reflect the composition of the modern vegetation in the sampling region. However, airborne dust‐trap pollen samples do not provide a reliable assessment of the modern vegetation. Dust‐trap samples contain much higher percentages of tree pollen than non‐dust‐trap samples, and many of the taxa present are exotic. In the extremely windy environments of the Tibetan Plateau, contamination of dust‐trap samples by long‐distance transport of exotic pollen is a serious problem.
• 3 The most characteristic vegetation types present on the Tibetan Plateau are alpine meadows, steppe and desert. Non‐arboreal pollen (NAP) therefore dominates the pollen samples in most regions. Percentages of arboreal pollen (AP) are high in samples from the southern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, where alpine forests are an important component of the vegetation. The relative importance of forest and non‐forest vegetation across the Plateau clearly follows climatic gradients: forests occur on the southern and eastern margins of the Plateau, supported by the penetration of moisture‐bearing airmasses associated with the Indian and Pacific summer monsoons; open, treeless vegetation is dominant in the interior and northern margins of the Plateau, far from these moisture sources.
• 4 The different types of non‐forest vegetation are characterized by different modern pollen assemblages. Thus, alpine deserts are characterized by high percentages of Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia, with Ephedra and Nitraria. Alpine meadows are characterized by high percentages of Cyperaceae and Artemisia, with Ranunculaceae and Polygonaceae. Alpine steppe is characterized by high abundances of Artemisia, with Compositae, Cruciferae and Chenopodiaceae. Although Artemisia is a common component of all non‐forest vegetation types on the Tibetan Plateau, the presence of other taxa makes it possible to discriminate between the different vegetation types.
• 5 The good agreement between modern vegetation and modern surface pollen samples across the Tibetan Plateau provides a measure of the reliability of using pollen data to reconstruct past vegetation patterns in non‐forested areas.

     

青藏高原气候变化与高寒草地

综述了近五十年来青藏高原气候和高寒草地的变化趋势,阐述了气候变化对高寒草地的可能影响。气候变化主要通过水、热过程及其诱导的环境变化对青藏高原高寒草地产生显著的影响。主要过程包括：气候变化对气候带、植被带、植物、植物群落、农业生产以及生态系统固碳潜力等的影响。从目前的观测和研究结果来看,有关青藏高原气候变化及其对高寒草地的可能影响都还很难得出一致的结论。因此,如何科学评价气候变化及其预测和评价对高寒草地结构和功能的潜在影响,以及如何将已经发生的变化纳入到全球变化模型或评价体系中,以便更加精确地评估气候变化的长期影响,将成为必须要回答的关键科学问题。     

Soil seed bank dynamics in alpine wetland succession on the Tibetan Plateau

The primary goal was to address several questions with regard to how soil seed banks change in a successional series. How does the composition of the viable seed bank change, and how does the relationship of the soil seed bank and vegetation change with succession? Can the seed bank be regarded as a potential as a source of seeds for wetland restoration? We collected soil seed bank samples and sampled the vegetation in four different successional stages and used the NMDS (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) to evaluate the relationship of species composition between the seed banks and vegetation. The difference of seed density and species richness in different habitats and soil depths also was compared. Viable seeds of half (37) the species in the early-successional stage were found in all the successional stages. Similarity between seed bank and vegetation increased with succession. Both seed density and species richness in the seed bank increased with successional age and decreased with soil depth. The majority of species from the early-successional stage produced long-lived seeds. Seed density and species richness increased with succession, mainly as a result of increasing seed production, and hypotheses predicting decreasing density of buried seeds and species richness were not confirmed. Seed banks play a minor role in contributing to the regeneration of vegetation, and managers cannot rely on soil-stored seed banks for restoration of wetlands.     

Belowground biomass of alpine shrublands across the northeast Tibetan Plateau

Although belowground biomass (BGB) plays an important role in global cycling, the storage of BGB and climatic effects on it are remaining unclear. With data from 49 sites, we aimed to investigate BGB and its climatic controls in alpine shrublands in the Tibetan Plateau. Our study showed that the BGB (both grass‐layer and shrub‐layer biomass) storage in the alpine shrublands was 67.24 Tg, and the mean BGB density and shrublands area were 1,567.38 g/m² and 4.29 × 10⁴ km², respectively. Shrub layer had a larger BGB stock and accounted for 66% of total BGB this area, while only 34% was accumulated in the grass layer. BGB of the grass layer in the Tibetan Plateau shrublands was larger than that of Tibetan alpine grasslands, indicating that shrubland ecosystem played a critical importance role in carbon cycle on the Tibetan Plateau. The BGB in the grass layer and shrub layer demonstrated different correlations with climatic factors. Specifically, the effects from mean annual temperature on shrub‐layer BGB were not significant, similarly to the relationship between mean annual precipitation and grass‐layer BGB. But shrub‐layer BGB had a significantly positive relationship with mean annual precipitation (p < .05), while grass‐layer BGB showed a trend of decrease with increasing mean annual temperature (p < .05). Consequently, the actual and potential increases of BGB varied due to different increases of mean annual precipitation and temperature among different areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Therefore, in the warmer and wetter scenario, due to contrary relationships from mean annual precipitation and temperature on shrub‐layer BGB and grass‐layer BGB, it is necessary to conduct a long‐term monitoring about dynamic changes to increase the precision of assessment of BGB carbon sequestration in the Tibetan Plateau alpine shrublands.     

增温对高寒草甸群落凋落物质量动态变化的影响

为了解未来增温条件下,青藏高原高寒草甸凋落物质量如何变化,将有助于增强对高寒草甸生态系统碳源/汇效应的认识.该文通过定位可控的增温试验平台,动态监测了凋落物生物量及其质量的变化.结果表明:增温显著地促进了凋落物的分解速率(F=35.757,P＜0.001),降低了凋落物中的C、N含量及其C/N比,但提高了凋落物中的P含...     

Stochastic processes regulate belowground community assembly in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau

Understanding biogeographical patterns and underlying processes of belowground community assembly is crucial for predicting soil functions and their responses to global environmental change. However, little is known about potential differences of belowground community assembly among bacteria, fungi, protists and soil animals, particularly for alpine ecosystems. Based on the combination of large-scale field sampling, high-throughput marker-gene sequencing and multiple statistical analyses, we explored patterns and drivers of belowground community assembly in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results revealed that the distance–decay rates varied among trophic levels, with organisms of higher trophic level having weaker distance–decay pattern. The spatial and environmental variables explained limited variations of belowground communities. By contrast, the stochastic processes, mainly consisting of dispersal limitation and drift, played a primary role in regulating belowground community assembly. Moreover, the relative importance of stochastic processes varied among trophic levels, with the role of dispersal limitation weakening whereas that of drift enhancing in the order of bacteria, fungi, protists and soil animals. These findings advance our understanding of patterns and mechanisms driving belowground community assembly in alpine ecosystems and provide a reference basis for predicting the dynamics of ecosystem functions under changing environment.     

增温对青藏高原高寒草原生态系统碳交换的影响

碳交换是影响草地生态系统碳汇功能的关键过程,对气候变暖极为敏感。青藏高原分布着大面积的高寒草原,其碳汇功能对气候变暖的响应对区域碳循环过程具有重要的影响。为探究高寒草原生态系统碳交换过程对增温的响应,2012—2014年,在青藏高原班戈县进行了模拟增温对高寒草原生态系统碳交换过程影响的研究。结果表明,增温对高寒草原碳交换各组分的影响存在年际差异,但总体上对碳交换存在负面影响。3年平均结果显示,增温显著降低了高寒草原地上生物量、总生态系统生产力(GEP)、生态系统呼吸(ER)和净生态系统碳交换量(NEE)(P0.05),平均降幅分别为15.1%、36.8%、19.2%和51.5%。增温条件下3年平均土壤呼吸(SR)较对照无显著变化(P0.05),但2013年增温显著降低了SR(P0.05),降幅达18.1%。增温对SR与ER的比值具有一定的促进作用,最高增幅达到40.0%。GEP、ER、SR和NEE与土壤温度和土壤水分无显著相关(P0.05),而GEP、ER和NEE与空气温度呈显著的负相关关系(P0.05)。增温引起的干旱胁迫以及地上生物量降低是导致高寒草原NEE降低的主要原因。研究表明,全球变暖会一定程度降低青藏高原高寒草原的碳汇功能。     

Dendrochronological potential of the alpine shrub Rhododendron nivale on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau

Background and Aims

Shrubs and dwarf shrubs are wider spread on the Tibetan Plateau than trees and hence offer a unique opportunity to expand the present dendrochronological network into extreme environments beyond the survival limit of trees. Alpine shrublands on the Tibetan Plateau are characterized by rhododendron species. The dendrochronological potential of one alpine rhododendron species and its growth response to the extreme environment on the south-east Tibetan Plateau were investigated.

Methods

Twenty stem discs of the alpine snowy rhododendron (Rhododendron nivale) were collected close to the tongue of the Zuoqiupu Glacier in south-east Tibet, China. The skeleton plot technique was used for inter-comparison between samples to detect the growth pattern of each stem section. The ring-width chronology was developed by fitting a negative exponential function or a straight line of any slope. Bootstrapping correlations were calculated between the standard chronology and monthly climate data.

Key Results

The wood of snowy rhododendron is diffuse-porous with evenly distributed small-diameter vessels. It has well-defined growth rings. Most stem sections can be visually and statistically cross-dated. The resulting 75-year-long standard ring-width chronology is highly correlated with a timberline fir chronology about 200 km apart, providing a high degree of confidence in the cross-dating. The climate/growth association of alpine snowy rhododendron and of this timberline fir is similar, reflecting an impact of monthly mean minimum temperatures in November of the previous year and in July during the year of ring formation.

Conclusions

The alpine snowy rhododendron offers new research directions to investigate the environmental history of the Tibetan Plateau in those regions where up to now there was no chance of applying dendrochronology.Key words: South-east Tibetan Plateau, Rhododendron nivale, alpine shrub, growth ring, cross-dating, dendroclimatological potential, climate/growth association     

光辐射对青藏高原高寒草甸凋落物分解的影响

光照对干旱半干旱生态系统凋落物分解有显著作用。然而,在太阳辐射强度大、高寒湿润的青藏高原东部高寒草甸,光辐射在凋落物分解中的作用尚不明确。本试验采用凋落物袋法,研究自然光照和遮光2种处理下10种高寒草甸常见物种(披针叶黄华Thermopsis lanceolata、珠芽蓼Polygonum viviparum、线叶嵩草Kobresia capillifolia、小花草玉梅Anemone rivularis、黄帚橐吾Ligularia virgaurea、麻花艽Gentiana straminea、大籽蒿Artemisia sieversiana、瑞苓草Saussurea nigrescens、垂穗披碱草Elymus nutans和矮藨草Scirpus pumilus)叶片凋落物分解特点。结果表明:(1)不同物种凋落物的木质素含量存在显著差异,其中珠芽蓼木质素含量最高(达29.44%),黄帚橐吾木质素含量最低(为4.91%);(2)整体上,遮光显著降低了凋落物质量损失率,而光照的影响程度也因物种而异;(3)无论在自然光照还是在遮光处理下,凋落物质量损失率与初始木质素含量均呈显著负相关关系;遮光明显降低木质素质量损失率,其降低程度也因物种而异。     

青藏高原高寒草甸生态系统碳增汇潜力

为了揭示青藏高原高寒草甸生态系统植被变化对碳储量的影响,以原生矮嵩草草甸、退化草甸、人工草地以及农田为研究对象,对比分析了该4种不同土地格局下生态系统的有机碳现状.以原生矮嵩草草甸土壤碳储量为基准对不同类型高寒生态系统的碳增汇潜力进行了估算.结果表明:不同类型生态系统的碳储量和碳增汇潜力有很大差异,在0-40cm土层中,(1)原生草甸碳储量最高,达到17098 g C/m2,退化草甸、人工草地和农田的有机碳汇增加潜力分别为:5637、3823、1567 g C/m2.(2)对于退化草甸和人工草地,土壤有机碳含量和密度明显低于原生草甸和农田.(3)地下生物量碳储量主要集中在0-20cm,且原生草甸地下生物量的碳储量比其他3个植被类型高3.6-5倍.总体上,青藏高原草地生态系统存在巨大的碳增汇潜力.     

Temperature controls ecosystem CO2 exchange of an alpine meadow on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Alpine ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to climate change. To address the potential variability of the responses of alpine ecosystems to climate change, we examined daily CO₂ exchange in relation to major environmental variables. A dataset was obtained from an alpine meadow on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau from eddy covariance measurements taken over 3 years (2002–2004). Path analysis showed that soil temperature at 5 cm depth (T_s5) had the greatest effect on daily variation in ecosystem CO₂ exchange all year around, whereas photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) had a high direct effect on daily variation in CO₂ flux during the growing season. The combined effects of temperature and light regimes on net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) could be clearly categorized into three areas depending on the change in T_s5: (1) almost no NEE change irrespective of variations in light and temperature when T_s5 was below 0 °C; (2) an NEE increase (i.e. CO₂ released from the ecosystem) with increasing T_s5, but little response to variation in light regime when 0 °C≤T_s5≤8 °C; and (3) an NEE decrease with increase in T_s5 and PPFD when T_s5 was approximately >8 °C. The highest daily net ecosystem CO₂ uptake was observed under the conditions of daily mean T_s5 of about 15 °C and daily mean PPFD of about 50 mol m⁻² day⁻¹. The results suggested that temperature is the most critical determinant of CO₂ exchange in this alpine meadow ecosystem and may play an important role in the ecosystem carbon budget under future global warming conditions.     

青藏高原高寒草原碳排放及其迁移过程研究

采用箱式法通过对青海省五道梁地区高寒草原生态系统表层土壤含碳温室气体的研究发现 ,该地区高寒草原系统表层土壤 CO2 和 CH4 在 7～ 8月份的平均排放通量分别为 0 .46μmol· m- 2 · s- 1和 - 0 .43× 1 0 - 3μmol·m- 2 ·s- 1,此两种气体的排放通量随时间都有明显的变化特征 ,它们的日变化均为明显的单峰型 ,而且其中 CO2 排放通量的变化明显受大气温度变化的影响。地下土壤中 CO2 和 CH4 气体浓度随深度的增加呈递减趋势 ,进一步的分析表明这两种气体浓度在土壤中与相邻层次的气体浓度有很明显的相关关系 ,尤以永久冻土上层边界附近最为显著。     

藏北高原牧区人工草地建设布局的适宜性分析

人工草地是缓解天然草地退化和提升草地生产力的一种有效途径,但人工草地建设发展需注重区域布局、种植区划、经营管理等战略问题,尤其是在高寒牧区建立人工草地,目前还存在诸多值得探讨的科学问题。为此,选取藏北高原高寒牧区为研究区,基于遥感数据,土壤数据,气象数据,地形和土地利用数据,结合野外实地调查,从可利用土地资源角度考虑,通过分析藏北现有人工草地建设的立地条件,识别出区域适宜人工草地建设的潜在分布区,并与现有人工草地分布位置及其面积进行对比分析和验证,以期为区域未来人工草地建设布局提供科学指导。研究结果表明:在各种约束因子的限制下,藏北满足人工草地建设条件的适宜区域极其有限,难以发展大面积的人工草地建设工程。水热条件和海拔是限制区域人工草地建设的主要地理因素,尤其是那曲地区,绝大部分区域无法满足人工牧草生长活动的积温需求。因此,区域牧草种植规划中需重点考虑牧草品种的生物学特性。另一方面,在藏北高寒牧区建立人工草地必须慎重,今后人工草地种植规划还需要加强牧草的抗寒性和抗旱性研究,在人工草地的管理方面要特别关注已建人工草地的可持续性和稳定性,防止出现草地退化和沙化等问题。     

Relative pollen productivity estimates for alpine meadow vegetation,northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany - A promising method of reconstructing past vegetation from pollen records uses mathematical models of the relationship between pollen and vegetation. These can...     

青藏高原高寒灌丛生态系统草本层生物量分配格局

青藏高原高寒灌丛生态系统生物量分配的研究相对较少,尤其是其草本层。为了探究高寒灌丛生态系统草本层生物量分配特征及其影响因素,分析了青藏高原东北部灌丛生态系统的49个高寒灌丛样地的草本层地上与地下生物量特征及其气候因子之间的关系。结果表明1)草本层地上生物量与地下生物量分别为121.1,342.8 g/m2均大于高寒草地的地上生物量与地下生物量。2)草本层的根冠比为3.6低于高寒草地的根冠比。3)地上生物量与地下生物量之间呈现幂函数的关系y=8.0x0.83(R2=0.48,P0.001)。4)根冠比与年均温度、年均降雨量之间没有显著的相关关系。     

增温对青藏高原高寒草甸生态系统固碳通量影响的模拟研究

低温被广泛认为是高寒草甸生态系统首要限制性因子,因此增温可能会在某种程度上促进初级生产力,但是也可能由于土壤水分、N素营养状况的改变形成新胁迫而抑制生产力提高。此外,生态系统呼吸由于增温而提高的幅度也可能高于初级生产力提高的幅度,造成总碳库平衡的改变。利用青藏高原海北高寒草甸实测数据对生态系统过程模型Biome-BGC(V.4.2)进行了参数化,并利用研究区实测土壤水分(0-40 cm)和其它观测数据对模型进行了检验,证明模型模拟结果较为可靠。模型使用2005-2008年的海北气象站实测气象数据包括气温、降水等作为驱动数据,模拟了增温1.2-1.7℃下青藏高原海北定位站高寒草甸生态系统碳通量的变化,并整合分析增温试验平台上已发表的试验,与模拟结果进行对比,探讨增温对海北高寒草甸生态系统碳收支的可能影响。结果表明:2005-2008年青藏高原高寒草甸生态系统为弱的碳汇,短期增温导致系统净碳固定增加。增温直接影响系统碳通量,也通过土壤水分和土壤矿化氮变化间接影响碳通量,相比土壤水分和氮素,增温对影响碳通量变化过程中的效应更大;研究也揭示,在增温条件下,植物对土壤矿化氮的吸收量小于有机质分解产生的土壤矿化氮量,土壤矿化氮含量增加。     

Water sources of dominant species in three alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau, China

Plant water sources were estimated by two or three compartment linear mixing models using hydrogen and oxygen isotope （δD and δ^18O） values of different components such as plant xylem water, precipitation and river water as well as soil water on the Tibetan Plateau in the summer of 2005. Four dominant species （Quercus aquifolioides, Pinus tabulaeformis, Salix rehderiana and Nitraria tangutorum） in three typical ecosystems （forest, shrub and desert） were investigated in this study. Stable isotope ratios of the summer precipitations and the soil water presented variations in spatial and temporal scales. δ^18O values of N. tangutorum xylem water were constant in the whole growth season and very similar to those of deep soil water. Water sources for all of the plants came from both precipitations and soil water. Plants switched rapidly among different water sources when environmental water conditions changed. Rainwater had different contributions to the plants, which was influenced by amounts of precipitation. The percentage of plant xylem water derived from rainwater rose with an increase in precipitation. Water sources for broad-leaved and coniferous species were different although they grew in the same environmental conditions. For example, the broad-leaved species Q. aquifolioides used mainly the water from deep soil, while 92.5% of xylem water of the coniferous species P. tabulaeformis was derived from rainwater during the growth season. The study will be helpful for us to fully understand responses of species on the Tibetan Plateau to changes in precipitation patterns, and to assess accurately changes of vegetation distribution in the future.     

Seasonal patterns of root and shoot interactions in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

Aims Numerous studies have showed that the balance between negative and positive plant–plant interactions shifted along environmental gradients. But little is known how the positive or negative plant–plant interactions varied with temporal fluctuating habitat conditions and plant ontogenetic phases.Methods In a 2-year experiment, the four perennial grasses (Kobresia humilis, Stipa aliena, Elymus nutans and Saussurea superba) were grown under four interaction treatments (no root or shoot interaction, only shoot interaction, only root interaction, root and shoot interaction). Intensity of above- and belowground interactions is proposed to vary with the fluctuation of seasonal climatic conditions and soil available nutrients. Here we report measurements of above- and belowground interactions during entire growing season. Correlation between plant interaction intensity and seasonal soil available N as well as habitat climate conditions was also performed.Important findings Our experiment found that root interactions had negative effect on plant growth for the four species during growing season. However, both negative and positive shoot interactions occurred among the four species. Despite there being shoot facilitative effect for E. nutans and S. superba, the full interaction was negative, suggested that root interaction take more important role on plant growth than that of shoot interaction. The interaction between root and shoot effect varied as a function of species identity and growth phases. The weak correlation of plant interaction intensity to habitat environmental factors suggested that plant ontogenetic characteristics may be primary factors causing temporal variation in plant interaction.