Abstract
The alpine ecosystem is very sensitive to environmental change due to global and local disturbances. The alpine ecosystem degradation, characterized by reducing vegetation coverage or biomass, has been occurring in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, which alters local energy balance, and water and biochemical cycles. However, detailed characterization of the ecosystem degradation effect is lack in literature. In this study, the impact of alpine ecosystem degradation on soil temperature for seasonal frozen soil and permafrost are examined. The vegetation coverage is used to indicate the degree of ecosystems degradation. Daily soil temperature is monitored at different depths for different vegetation coverage, for both permafrost and seasonal frozen soils. Results show that under the insulating effort of the vegetation, the freezing and thawing process become quicker and steeper, and the start of the freezing and thawing process moves up due to the insulating effort of the vegetation. The influence of vegetation coverage on the freezing process is more evident than the thawing process; with the decrease of vegetation coverage, the integral of frozen depth increases for seasonal frozen soil, but is vice versa for permafrost.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Charles T (1999) The effect of climate warming on the carbon balance of cryosols in Canada. Permafrost Periglac Process 10:251–263
Cheng G, Wang S (1982) On the zonation of high-altitude permafrost in China. J Glaciol Geocryol 4(2):1–17 [in Chinese]
Cheng H, Wang G, Hu H, Wang Y (2007) The variation of soil temperature and water content of seasonal frozen soil with different vegetation coverage in the headwater region of the Yellow River, China. Environ Geol doi:10.1007/s00254-007-0953-x
Daniel B, Manfred S, Aurele P, Hannes F (2005) The influence of seasonally frozen soil on the snow melt runoff at two Alpine sites in southern Switzerland. J Hydrol 309:66–84
Gu S, Tang Y, Gui X, Tomomichi K, Du M, Li Y, Zhao X (2005) Energy exchange between the atmosphere and a meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Agric For Meteorol 129:175–185
Jorgenson MT, Racine CH, Walters JC, Osterkamp TE (2001) Permafrost degradation and ecological changes associated with a warming climate in central Alaska. Clim Change 48:551–579
Li S, Cheng G, Guo D (1996) The future thermal regime of numerical simulating permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China, under climate warming. Sci China Ser D Earth Sci 39(4):434–441
Ling F, Zhang T (2003) Impact of the timing and duration of seasonal snow cover on the active layer and permafrost in the Alaskan Arctic. Permafrost Periglac Process 14:141–150
Niu K, Luo Y, Philippe C, Du G (2007) The role of biomass allocation strategy in diversity loss due to fertilization. Basic Appl Ecol doi:10.1016/j.baae.2007.06.015
Osterkamp TE, Romanovsky VE (1999) Evidence for warming and thawing of discontinuous permafrost in Alaska. Permafrost Periglac Process 10:17–37
Shur YL, Jorgenson MT (2007) Patterns of permafrost formation and degradation in relation to climate and ecosystems. Permafrost Periglac Process 18:7–19
Wang G, Cheng G, Shen Y (2001) Study on the eco-environment in headwater regions and their comprehensive protection. Lanzhou University Press, Lanzhou
Wang Y, Wang G, Shen Y, Wang Y (2005) Degradation of the eco-environmental system in alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. J Glaciol Geocryol 27(5):633–640 [in Chinese]
Wang G, Wang Y, Li Y, Cheng H (2007a) Influences of alpine ecosystem responses to climatic change on soil properties on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China. Catena 70:506–514
Wang J, Wang G, Wang Y, Li Y (2007b) Influences of the degradation of swamp and alpine meadows on CO2 emission during growing season on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Chin Sci Bull 52(18):2565–2574
Wang Y, Wang G, Hu H, Cheng H (2008) Erosion rates evaluated by the 137Cs technique in the high altitude area of the Qinghai–Tibet plateau of China. Environ Geol 53(8):1743–1749
Werner KG, Bruno N, Markus F (1998) CO2 and water vapour exchange between an alpine ecosystem and the atmosphere. Environ Model Softw 13:53–360
Wu Q, Liu Y (2004) Ground temperature monitoring and its recent change in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Cold Reg Sci Technol 38:85–92
Wu Q, Shen Y, Shi B (2003) Relationship between frozen soil together with its water-heat process and ecological environment in the Tibetan Plateau. J Glaciol Geocryol 25(3):250–255 [in Chinese]
Wu Q, Lu Z, Liu Y (2006) Permafrost changes in the Tibet Plateau. Adv Clim Change Res 2:77–80
Yang M, Yao T, Gou X, Toshio K, He Y (2003) The soil moisture distribution, thawing–freezing processes and their effects on the seasonal transition on the Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) plateau. J Asian Earth Sci 21:457–465
Zhang T, Osterkamp TE, Stamnes K (1997) Effects of climate on the active layer and permafrost on the north slope of Alaska, U.S.A. Permafrost Periglac Process 8:45–67
Zhang T, Barry RG, Gilichinsky D, Bykhovets SS, Sorokovikov VA, Jingping Y (2001) An amplified signal of climatic change in soil temperatures during the last century at IRKUTSK, Russia. Clim Change 49:41–76
Zhao L, Ping C-L, Yang D, Cheng G, Ding Y, Liu S (2004) Changes of climate and seasonally frozen ground over the past 30 years in Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau, China. Glob Planet Change 43:19–31
Zhou Y, Guo D, Qiu G, Cheng G (2000) Geocryology in China. Science Press, Beijing [in Chinese]
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Allan Grey (English teacher for Ph.D.’s at Lanzhou University) and Dr Huade Guan (a lecturer of School of Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences at Flinders University in Australia), for their help revising the English in this paper. Special thanks owe to editors and anonymous reviewer whose constructive suggestions and detailed comments helped to clarify and improve the paper. The study was funded by The National Basic Research Program (973 project, No. 2007CB411504) and the “Hundred People” Project award of the Chinese Academy of Science to Dr Genxu Wang. The work also supported by the Natural Science foundation of China (No.40730634, No.90511003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hu, H., Wang, G., Liu, G. et al. Influences of alpine ecosystem degradation on soil temperature in the freezing-thawing process on Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Environ Geol 57, 1391–1397 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1417-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1417-7