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Terrestrial transect study on driving mechanism of vegetation changes

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Abstract

In terms of Chinese climate-vegetation model based on the classification of plant functional types, together with climatic data from 1951 to 1980 and two future climatic scenarios (SRES-A2 and SRES-B2) in China from the highest and the lowest emission scenarios of greenhouse gases, the distribution patterns of vegetation types and their changes along the Northeast China Transect (NECT) and the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) were simulated in order to understand the driving mechanisms of vegetation changes under climatic change. The results indicated that the vegetation distribution patterns would change significantly under future climate, and the major factors driving the vegetation changes were water and heat. However, the responses of various vegetation types to the changes in water and heat factors were obviously different. The vegetation changes were more sensitive to heat factors than to water factors. Thus, in the future climate warming will significantly affect vegetation distribution patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    YuJin Zhang & GuangSheng Zhou

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    YuJin Zhang

Authors
  1. YuJin Zhang
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  2. GuangSheng Zhou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to GuangSheng Zhou.

Additional information

Supported by the Knowledge Innovative Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.KZCX2-SW-133) and National Key Basic Research Specific Foundation (Grant No. 2006CB400502)

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Zhang, Y., Zhou, G. Terrestrial transect study on driving mechanism of vegetation changes. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 51, 984–991 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0065-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0065-9

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