The possible response of life zones in China under global climate change

Chen, Xiongwen; Zhang, Xinshi; Li, Bai-Lian

doi:10.1016/s0921-8181(03)00115-2

Cited by 64 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…For example, at the national scale, comparisons between biome simulations using BIOME3 and MAPSS (Zhao et al 2002) both under the HadCM2 scenario, and vegetation predictions using the Holdridge Life Zone Systems under the CSIRO GCM ) and the HadCM2/HadCM3 scenarios (Yue et al 2006), showed that the former captures well the current biome distribution and their future changes but the later did not do this well. Chen et al (2003b) predicted the long-distance shifts of subtropical/tropical forests (northeastward) and temperate forests (southward), and the dramatic changes of temperate deserts and alpine vegetation. Yue et al (2006) also predicted the large shift ranges of boreal wet forest, subtropical moist forest, tropical dry forest, warm-temperate moist forest and subtropical wet forest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of climate change on Chinese ecosystems: key vulnerable regions and potential thresholds

2010

Reg Environ Change

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China is a key vulnerable region of climate change in the world. Climate warming and general increase in precipitation with strong temporal and spatial variations have happened in China during the past century. Such changes in climate associated with the human disturbances have influenced natural ecosystems of China, leading to the advanced plant phenology in spring, lengthened growing season of vegetation, modified composition and geographical pattern of vegetation, especially in ecotone and tree-lines, and the increases in vegetation cover, vegetation activity and net primary productivity. Increases in temperature, changes in precipitation regime and CO 2 concentration enrichment will happen in the future in China according to climate model simulations. The projected climate scenarios (associated with land use changes again) will significantly influence Chinese ecosystems, resulting in a northward shift of all forests, disappearance of boreal forest from northeastern China, new tropical forests and woodlands move into the tropics, an eastward shift of grasslands (expansion) and deserts (shrinkage), a reduction in alpine vegetation and an increase in net primary productivity of most vegetation types. Ecosystems in northern and western parts of China are more vulnerable to climate changes than those in eastern China, while ecosystems in the east are more vulnerable to land use changes other than climate changes. Such assessment could be helpful to address the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC Article 2).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of climate change on Chinese ecosystems: key vulnerable regions and potential thresholds

2010

Reg Environ Change

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“…Dynamic models require more data or physiological parameters than static models and are not easy to obtain and execute. Furthermore, many of the mechanisms of vegetation/ecosystem dynamics are still not clear [12,13]. Consequently, the static models are still widely used in different studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating the Effect of Climate Change on Vegetation Zone Distribution on the Loess Plateau, Northwest China

Wen

Guo

et al. 2015

Forests

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A risk assessment of vegetation zone responses to climate change was conducted using the classical Holdridge life zone model on the Loess Plateau of Northwest China. The results show that there are currently ten vegetation zones occurring on the Loess Plateau , including alvar desert, alpine wet tundra, alpine rain tundra, boreal moist forest, boreal wet forest, cool temperate desert, cool temperate desert scrub, cool temperate steppe, cool temperate moist forest, warm temperate desert scrub, warm temperate thorn steppe, and warm temperate dry forest. Seventy years later (2070S), the alvar desert, the alpine wet tundra and the cool temperate desert will disappear, while warm temperate desert scrub and warm temperate thorn steppe will emerge. The area proportion of warm temperate dry forest will expand from 12.2% to 22.8%-37.2%, while that of cool temperate moist forest will decrease from 18.5% to 6.9%-9.5%. The area proportion of cool temperate steppe will decrease from 51.8% to 34.5%-51.6%. Our results suggest that future climate change will be conducive to the growth and expansion of forest zones on the Loess Plateau, which can provide valuable reference information for regional vegetation restoration planning and adaptive strategies in this region. OPEN ACCESSForests 2015, 6 2093

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“…Zhang used the Holdrige's life-zone scheme, which simulated the potential vegetation distribution and NPP pattern in China, as well as analyzed the responses to climate change (Zhang et al 1993). However, the Holdrige scheme as a statistical approach has not been appreciated on the global scale (Prentice et al 1993;Chen et al 2003;Yue et al 2005). Ni and Zhao used the BIOME3 and MAPSS models to simulate the potential vegetation distribution and responses to climate change in China, respectively (Ni et al 2000;Zhao et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐induced changes in the vegetation pattern of China in the 21st century

Li¹,

Cao²,

Li³

2006

Ecological Research

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Quantifying climate-induced changes in vegetation patterns is essential to understanding land-climate interactions and ecosystem changes. In the present study, we estimated various distributional changes of vegetation under different climate-change scenarios in the 21st century. Both hypothetical scenarios and Hedley RCM scenarios show that the transitional vegetation types, such as shrubland and grassland, have higher sensitivity to climatic change compared to vegetation under extreme climatic conditions, such as the evergreen broadleaf forest or desert, barren lands. Mainly, the sensitive areas in China lie in the Tibetan Plateau, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, northeastern plain of China and eco-zones between different vegetations. As the temperature increases, mixed forests and deciduous broadleaf forests will shift towards northern China. Grassland, shrubland and wooded grassland will extend to southeastern China. The RCM-project climate changes generally have caused positive vegetation changes; vegetation cover will probably improve 19% relative to baseline, and the forest will expand to 8% relative to baseline, while the desert and bare ground will reduce by about 13%.

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The possible response of life zones in China under global climate change

Cited by 64 publications

References 33 publications

Impacts of climate change on Chinese ecosystems: key vulnerable regions and potential thresholds

Impacts of climate change on Chinese ecosystems: key vulnerable regions and potential thresholds

Simulating the Effect of Climate Change on Vegetation Zone Distribution on the Loess Plateau, Northwest China

Climate‐induced changes in the vegetation pattern of China in the 21st century

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