Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. The Yellow River source region is located in the transition region between permafrost and seasonally frozen ground on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The region has experienced severe climate change, especially air temperature increases, in past decades. In this study, w...
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ftcdlib:qt2fs616t6 2023-05-15T17:57:08+02:00 Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China Qin, Y Yang, D Gao, B Wang, T Chen, J Chen, Y Wang, Y Zheng, G 830 - 841 2017-12-15 application/pdf http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2fs616t6 english eng eScholarship, University of California qt2fs616t6 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2fs616t6 public Qin, Y; Yang, D; Gao, B; Wang, T; Chen, J; Chen, Y; et al.(2017). Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China. Science of the Total Environment, 605-606, 830 - 841. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.188. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2fs616t6 article 2017 ftcdlib https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.188 2018-09-28T22:52:51Z © 2016 Elsevier B.V. The Yellow River source region is located in the transition region between permafrost and seasonally frozen ground on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The region has experienced severe climate change, especially air temperature increases, in past decades. In this study, we employed a geomorphology-based eco-hydrological model (GBEHM) to assess the impacts of climate change on the frozen ground and eco-hydrological processes in the region. Based on a long-term simulation from 1981 to 2015, we found that the areal mean maximum thickness of seasonally frozen ground ranged from 1.1–1.8 m and decreased by 1.2 cm per year. Additionally, the ratio of the permafrost area to the total area decreased by 1.1% per year. These decreasing trends are faster than the average in China because the study area is on the sensitive margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The annual runoff exhibited variations similar to those of the annual precipitation (R2 = 0.85), although the annual evapotranspiration (ET) exhibited an increasing trend (14.3 mm/10 a) similar to that of the annual mean air temperature (0.66 °C/10 a). The runoff coefficient (annual runoff divided by annual precipitation) displayed a decreasing trend because of the increasing ET, and the vegetation responses to climate warming and permafrost degradation were manifested as increases in the leaf area index (LAI) and ET at the start of the growing season. Furthermore, the results showed that changes to the frozen ground depth affected vegetation growth. Notably, a rapid decrease in the frozen ground depth (< − 3.0 cm/a) decreased the topsoil moisture and then decreased the LAI. This study showed that the eco-hydrological processes in the headwater area of the Yellow River have changed because of permafrost degradation, and these changes could further influence the water resources availability in the middle and lower reaches of the basin. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost University of California: eScholarship Science of The Total Environment 605-606 830 841 |
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Open Polar |
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University of California: eScholarship |
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language |
English |
description |
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. The Yellow River source region is located in the transition region between permafrost and seasonally frozen ground on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The region has experienced severe climate change, especially air temperature increases, in past decades. In this study, we employed a geomorphology-based eco-hydrological model (GBEHM) to assess the impacts of climate change on the frozen ground and eco-hydrological processes in the region. Based on a long-term simulation from 1981 to 2015, we found that the areal mean maximum thickness of seasonally frozen ground ranged from 1.1–1.8 m and decreased by 1.2 cm per year. Additionally, the ratio of the permafrost area to the total area decreased by 1.1% per year. These decreasing trends are faster than the average in China because the study area is on the sensitive margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The annual runoff exhibited variations similar to those of the annual precipitation (R2 = 0.85), although the annual evapotranspiration (ET) exhibited an increasing trend (14.3 mm/10 a) similar to that of the annual mean air temperature (0.66 °C/10 a). The runoff coefficient (annual runoff divided by annual precipitation) displayed a decreasing trend because of the increasing ET, and the vegetation responses to climate warming and permafrost degradation were manifested as increases in the leaf area index (LAI) and ET at the start of the growing season. Furthermore, the results showed that changes to the frozen ground depth affected vegetation growth. Notably, a rapid decrease in the frozen ground depth (< − 3.0 cm/a) decreased the topsoil moisture and then decreased the LAI. This study showed that the eco-hydrological processes in the headwater area of the Yellow River have changed because of permafrost degradation, and these changes could further influence the water resources availability in the middle and lower reaches of the basin. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Qin, Y Yang, D Gao, B Wang, T Chen, J Chen, Y Wang, Y Zheng, G |
spellingShingle |
Qin, Y Yang, D Gao, B Wang, T Chen, J Chen, Y Wang, Y Zheng, G Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China |
author_facet |
Qin, Y Yang, D Gao, B Wang, T Chen, J Chen, Y Wang, Y Zheng, G |
author_sort |
Qin, Y |
title |
Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China |
title_short |
Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China |
title_full |
Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China |
title_fullStr |
Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China |
title_sort |
impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the yellow river source region, china |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2fs616t6 |
op_coverage |
830 - 841 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Qin, Y; Yang, D; Gao, B; Wang, T; Chen, J; Chen, Y; et al.(2017). Impacts of climate warming on the frozen ground and eco-hydrology in the Yellow River source region, China. Science of the Total Environment, 605-606, 830 - 841. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.188. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Retrieved from: http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2fs616t6 |
op_relation |
qt2fs616t6 http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2fs616t6 |
op_rights |
public |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.188 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
605-606 |
container_start_page |
830 |
op_container_end_page |
841 |
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1766165510425149440 |