Eco-Environmental Degradation in the Source Region of the Yellow River, Northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Feng, Juan; Wang, Tao; Xie, Changwei

doi:10.1007/s10661-005-9169-2

Cited by 47 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…4, 5). It also validated by other researches that the surface area of lake decreased at a rate of 0.54% from 1970s to 1980s and 9.25% from 1980s to 1990s, and the water height descended and lakeshore line retrograded in the origin of the Yellow River (Cheng and Wang 1998;Wang and Cheng 2000;Feng et al 2006). Some lakes shrank to sizes and disappeared altogether, or some vanished completely before and are now revegetated in the northwestern origin of the Yellow River.…”

Section: Changing Inland Lakes Compared In 1970s With 1990s and 2004supporting

confidence: 75%

“…The global average surface temperature has increased by 0.76 ± 0.19 • C over the last 100 years especially since about 1950, accompanied by increased average atmospheric water vapour content, wide spread reduced sunshine duration, and increased global land precipitation by about 2% (Jones and Hulme 1996;Hulme et al 1998;Stanhill and Cohen 2001;IPCC 2007). The main portion of Tibetan Plateau especially the River Source Region has experienced statistically significant warming since the mid-1950s especially in cold seasons (Chen et al 1991;Kang 1996;Liu and Chen 2000;Wang and Cheng 2000;Zhao et al 2004;Feng et al 2006), driving an array of complex physical, chemical and ecological changes in this region. Ice cores or tree-ring reconstructed climate of the Tibetan Plateau reflected this significant warming trend and drought stress (Thompson et al 1993;Yao et al 1994), which also related to retreats of most mountain glaciers (Oerlemans 1994;Ding 1996;Ding and Bing 1996;Pu et al 1998;Su et al 1999;Yang et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An orderly succession of hydrologic changes associated with climate warming are through changes in ground temperatures, precipitation, evaporation and runoffs in cold and arid regions Lai and Ye 1991;Hinzman et al 1991;Lai 1996;Cheng et al 1997;Wang and Cheng 1999;Jin et al 2000;Morison et al 2000;Zhao et al 2004), which includes drying up of wetlands (Ji 1996;Wang and Cheng 2000;Feng et al 2006), increasing annual snow cover (Zwally et al 1989;Robinson and Dewey 1990;Morgan et al 1991;Ke et al 1997;Li 1996Li , 1999Ke and Li 1998;Gao et al 2003), thawing of permafrost (Haeberli et al 1993;Wang 1998;Li and Cheng 1999;Jin et al 2000;Zhang et al 2004a, b;Li et al 2005), earlier spring river and lake ice break-up (Zhao et al 2004;IPCC 2007), lowering of the regional groundwater table (Feng et al 2006;Peng et al 2006), disconnecting river (Tian 1990;Liu 1996;Xi 1997;Yang 1997) and shrinking lakes (Shi 1990;Wang et al 1995;Qin 1999;Wu et al 2001Wu et al , 2008Guo et al 2003;Yoshikawa and Hinzman 2003;…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Ji 1996;Cheng and Wang 1998;Wang 1998;Wang and Cheng 2000;Yoshikawa and Hinzman 2003;Zhang et al 2004a, b;Peng et al 2006). Numerous observations have shown that the ground temperature in the upper layer (0∼20 m) of the frozen soil on the Tibetan Plateau risen by 0.2∼0.3 • C on average especially since the 1970s (Zhao 1996;Cheng et al 1997;Li and Cheng 1999;Jin et al 2000;Feng et al 2006). Sallow soil temperature in permafrost area of River Source Region increased remarkably from 1980s to 1990s, with about 0.3∼0.7 • C in the patchy permafrost zone of the southeastern origin of the Yangtze River and 0.4∼0.6 • C in the seasonally frozen area of the northern origin of the Yellow River .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Changing inland lakes responding to climate warming in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main portion of Tibetan Plateau has experienced statistically significant warming over the past 50 years, especially in cold seasons. This paper aims to identify and characterize the dynamics of inland lakes that located in the hinterland of Tibetan Plateau responding to climate change. We compared satellite imageries in late 1970s and early 1990s with recent to inventory and track changes in lakes after three decades of rising temperatures in the region. It showed warm and dry trend in climate with significant accelerated increasing annual mean temperature over the last 30 years, however, decreasing periodically annual precipitation and no obvious trend in potential evapotranspiration during the same period. Our analysis indicated widespread declines in inland lake's abundance and area in the whole origin of the Yellow River and southeastern origin of the Yangtze River. In contrast, the western and northern origin of the Yangtze River revealed completely reverse change. The regional lake surface area decreased by 11,499 ha or 1.72% from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, and increased by 6,866 ha or 1.04% from the early 1990s to 2004. Shrinking inland lakes may become a common feature in the discontinuous permafrost regions as a consequence of warming climate and thawing permafrost. Furthermore, obvious expanding were found in continuous permafrost regions due to climate warming and glacier retreating. The results may provide information for the scientific recognition of the responding events to the climate change recorded by the inland lakes.

show abstract

Section: Changing Inland Lakes Compared In 1970s With 1990s and 2004supporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Changing inland lakes responding to climate warming in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, this even leads to the weakening or loss of the restoration function of ecosystem (Chen and Jiang, 2003;Feng et al, 2006;.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wang

Xia

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-the "Three-River Headwaters" region (TRHR) rangeland ecosystem is extremely sensitive and fragile, and in recent years has undergone continuous degradation. The vast area and severe nature conditions inhibit data acquisition and field experiments, resulting in different understandings about the spatial characteristics and dynamics of rangeland degradation in the region. Therefore, reliable monitoring method of rangeland degradation is urgently needed for the rangeland protection and management. In this paper, a novel rangeland degradation monitoring scheme based on Local NPP Scaling (LNS) was suggested;A suitable partition program of rangeland productivity unit was set up by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (

show abstract

Rangeland Degradation on the Qinghai‐tibet Plateau: Implications for Rehabilitation

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With ever intensifying land use, land degradation is becoming an increasingly important issue around the world, especially in China. This paper evaluates the extent and underlying causes of rangeland degradation on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau in China through a comprehensive review of the literature. Diverse forms and differing intensities of rangeland degradation have been reported in several regions of the Plateau. Rangeland degradation is particularly severe in South Qinghai, North Tibet and the Qaidam Basin. Anthropogenic activities, especially changing land use practices, are identified as the primary force driving rangeland degradation. Dissimilar to climate change‐induced degradation, such anthropogenic degradation is a rather short‐term process altering the abiotic properties of the underlying soil. On the basis of these findings, we assessed the prospects of rehabilitating degraded rangeland to productive uses. Different measures are proposed to rehabilitate rangelands that have been degraded by different mechanisms. Reduction in grazing intensity is prescribed to rehabilitate reversibly degraded rangelands. Targeted human intervention in the forms of selective planting of grasses and artificial seeding, in conjunction with ecological and biological control of the plateau rodent population, is recommended to rehabilitate ‘irreversibly’ degraded rangelands. Our studies suggest it is very difficult or even impossible to rehabilitate new assemblage of species which appear as a result of climate change. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

show abstract

Eco-Environmental Degradation in the Source Region of the Yellow River, Northeast Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Cited by 47 publications

References 12 publications

Changing inland lakes responding to climate warming in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Changing inland lakes responding to climate warming in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Monitoring rangeland degradation using a novel local NPP scaling based scheme over the “Three-River Headwaters” region, hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Rangeland Degradation on the Qinghai‐tibet Plateau: Implications for Rehabilitation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About