Search Results (109)

In recent years, large-scale linear infrastructure developments have been developed across hundreds of kilometers of permafrost regions on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The implementation of major engineering projects, including the Qinghai–Tibet Highway, oil pipelines, communication cables, and the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, has spurred intensified research into permafrost dynamics. Climate warming has accelerated permafrost degradation, leading to a range of geological hazards, most notably widespread thermokarst landslides. This study investigates the spatiotemporal distribution patterns and influencing factors of thermokarst landslides in Qinghai Province through an integrated approach combining field surveys, remote sensing interpretation, and statistical analysis. The study utilized multi-source datasets, including Landsat-8 imagery, Google Earth, GF-1, and ZY-3 satellite data, supplemented by meteorological records and geospatial information. The remote sensing interpretation identified 1208 cryogenic hazards in Qinghai’s permafrost regions, comprising 273 coarse-grained soil landslides, 346 fine-grained soil landslides, 146 thermokarst slope failures, 440 gelifluction flows, and 3 frost mounds. Spatial analysis revealed clusters of hazards in Zhiduo, Qilian, and Qumalai counties, with the Yangtze River Basin and Qilian Mountains showing the highest hazard density. Most hazards occur in seasonally frozen ground areas (3500–3900 m and 4300–4900 m elevation ranges), predominantly on north and northwest-facing slopes with gradients of 10–20°. Notably, hazard frequency decreases with increasing permafrost stability. These findings provide critical insights for the sustainable development of cold-region infrastructure, environmental protection, and hazard mitigation strategies in alpine engineering projects. Full article

Ecological restoration in the cold and high-altitude mining areas of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is faced with dual challenges of extreme environments and insufficient microbial adaptability. This study aimed to screen local microbial resources with both extreme environmental adaptability and plant-growth-promoting functions. Local fungi (DK; F18-3) and commercially available bacteria (B0) were used as materials to explore their regulatory mechanisms for plant growth, soil physicochemical factors, microbial communities, and metabolic profiles in the field. Compared to bacterial treatments, local fungi treatments exhibited stronger ecological restoration efficacy. In addition, the DK and F18-3 strains, respectively, increased shoot and root biomass by 23.43% and 195.58% and significantly enhanced soil nutrient content and enzyme activity. Microbiome analysis further implied that, compared with the CK, DK treatment could significantly improve the α-diversity of fungi in the rhizosphere soil (the Shannon index increased by 14.27%) and increased the amount of unique bacterial genera in the rhizosphere soil of plants, totaling fourteen genera. Meanwhile, this aggregated the most biomarkers and beneficial microorganisms and strengthened the interactions among beneficial microorganisms. After DK treatment, twenty of the positively accumulated differential metabolites (DMs) in the plant rhizosphere were highly positively associated with six plant traits such as shoot length and root length, as well as beneficial microorganisms (e.g., Apodus and Pseudogymnoascus), but two DMs were highly negatively related to plant pathogenic fungi (including Cistella and Alternaria). Specifically, DK mainly inhibited the growth of pathogenic fungi through regulating the accumulation of D-(+)-Malic acid and Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (Cistella and Alternaria decreased by 84.20% and 58.53%, respectively). In contrast, the F18-3 strain mainly exerted its antibacterial effect by enriching Acidovorax genus microorganisms. This study verified the core role of local fungi in the restoration of mining areas in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and provided a new direction for the development of microbial agents for ecological restoration in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Full article

Soil salinization limits global agricultural sustainability, and extensive areas of saline–alkaline soils on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau remain underutilized. Against this backdrop, this study evaluated the effects and ecological regulatory mechanisms of potassium fulvate (PF) application on oat (Avena sativa L.) growth, soil properties, and rhizosphere microbial communities in the saline–alkali soils of the Qaidam Basin. The results showed that PF significantly enhanced both aboveground and belowground biomass and improved root morphological traits, with the higher application rate (150 kg·hm⁻²) showing superior performance. PF also effectively improved soil nutrient conditions (organic matter, ammonium nitrogen, and potassium), reduced the integrated salinity–alkalinity index, significantly optimized the composition of rhizosphere soil cations (increased K⁺ and Ca²⁺; decreased Na⁺ and Mg²⁺), and induced a marked reshaping of the composition and structure of rhizosphere microbial communities. Notably, microbial β-diversity exhibited a significant regulatory effect on the comprehensive growth of oats. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that PF primarily promoted oat growth indirectly by improving soil physicochemical properties (direct effect = 0.94), while the microbial community structure served as a synergistic ecological mediator. This study clarifies the regulatory mechanisms of PF in oat cultivation under alpine saline–alkali conditions, providing both theoretical and practical support for improving soil quality, enhancing forage productivity, and promoting sustainable agriculture in cold regions. Full article

Rural tourism plays a crucial role in promoting industrial revitalization in mountainous regions. Drawing inspiration from the site selection mechanisms of nature reserves, this study constructs a gap analysis framework tailored to rural tourism destinations, aiming to provide technical support for their spatial layout and systematic planning. By integrating a potential evaluation system based on tourism resources, market demand, and synergistic factors, the study identifies rural tourism priority zones and proposes a development typology and spatial optimization strategy across five provinces in Southwest China. The findings reveal: (1) First- and second-priority zones are primarily located in the core and periphery of provincial capitals and prefecture-level cities, while third-priority zones are concentrated in resource-rich areas of Yunnan and Guizhou and market-oriented areas of Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guangxi. (2) The Chengdu Plain emerges as the core region for rural tourism development, with hotspots clustered around Chengdu, northern and western Guizhou, central Chongqing, eastern Guangxi, and northwestern Yunnan, whereas cold spots are mainly situated in the western Sichuan Plateau and the Leshan–Liangshan–Zhaotong–Panzhihua–Chuxiong–Pu’er belt. (3) The alignment between tourism resources and rural tourism destinations is highest in Yunnan and Guizhou, while Chongqing exhibits the strongest match between destinations and tourism market potential and synergistic development conditions. Overall, 79.35% of rural tourism destinations in the region are situated within identified priority zones, with Chongqing, Guizhou, and Sichuan exhibiting the highest proportions. Based on the spatial mismatch between potential and existing destinations, the study delineates four development types—maintenance and enhancement, supplementation and upgrading, expansion, and reserve development—and offers regionally tailored planning recommendations. The proposed framework provides a replicable approach for spatial planning of rural tourism destinations in complex mountainous settings. Full article

Permafrost is one of the crucial components of the cryosphere, covering about 25% of the global continental area. The active layer thickness (ALT), as the main site for heat and water exchange between permafrost and the external atmosphere, its changes significantly impact the carbon cycle, hydrological processes, ecosystems, and the safety of engineering structures in cold regions. This study constructs a Stefan CatBoost-ET (SCE) model through machine learning and Blending integration, leveraging multi-source remote sensing data, the Stefan equation, and measured ALT data to focus on the ALT in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Additionally, the SCE model was verified via ten-fold cross-validation (MAE: 20.713 cm, RMSE: 32.680 cm, R²: 0.873, and MAPE: 0.104), and its inversion of QTP’s ALT data from 1958 to 2022 revealed 1998 as a key turning point with a slow growth rate of 0.25 cm/a before 1998 and a significantly increased rate of 1.26 cm/a afterward. Finally, based on multiple model input factor analysis methods (SHAP, Pearson correlation, and Random Forest Importance), the study analyzed the ranking of key factors influencing ALT changes. Meanwhile, the importance of Stefan equation results in SCE model is verified. The research results of this paper have positive implications for eco-hydrology in the QTP region, and also provide valuable references for simulating the ALT of permafrost. Full article

This study focuses on the alpine meadow ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, which plays a vital role in carbon sequestration and water resource protection. However, mining activities have severely damaged the ecosystem, posing challenges for ecological restoration. The study selected the Jiangcang mining area and analyzed the physical, chemical, and carbon characteristics and heavy metal content of soil samples from the slag platforms and slopes (0–20 cm), which were restored in 2015 and 2020 to explore the effects of different soil reconstruction methods on soil function and ecological resilience. The results show that the minimum data set (MDS) can effectively replace the total data set (TDS) in assessing soil quality. The assessment indicates good restoration effects in 2020, with some areas rated high in soil quality. Although issues such as high bulk density, high electrical conductivity, low moisture content, nitrogen deficiency, and low organic matter limit ecological restoration, the carbon sequestration capacity of the restored soil is strong. This study provides scientific evidence for ecological restoration in cold mining areas, indicating that capping measures can enhance soil resistance to erosion, nutrient retention, and carbon sink functions. Full article

As high-quality sheep germplasm resources in China, Hu sheep are characterized by fast growth and development, high fecundity, and tolerance to drought and cold. Tibetan sheep, adapted to high-altitude environments, have developed strong environmental adaptability. To explore the differences in the interaction among rumen microbial flora, hepatic gluconeogenesis, and mitochondrial function between Tibetan sheep and Hu sheep in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, this study systematically compared and analyzed the rumen flora density, key enzyme activities related to hepatic gluconeogenesis and mitochondrial function, and the expression levels of related genes in Tibetan sheep and Hu sheep under identical feeding management conditions, followed by correlation analysis. The results showed that Hu sheep had significantly higher densities of Ruminobacteramylophilus (Ram) and Fibrobacter succinogenes (Fs) associated with starch and protein degradation (p < 0.01). The expression levels of Forkhead box O1 (FOXO1), pyruvate carboxylase (PC) activity, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content were also significantly higher than those in Tibetan sheep (p < 0.01). In contrast, Tibetan sheep had higher densities of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens (Bf), Ruminococcus albus (Ra), Ruminococcus flavefaciens (Rf), etc., related to cellulose degradation (p < 0.01). The gluconeogenesis-related genes, Glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit 1 (G6PC1) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase1 (PCK1), and the activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) were significantly higher in Tibetan sheep than in Hu sheep (p < 0.01). Mitochondrial function-related genes Mitofusin-1 (Mfn1), Mitofusin-2 (Mfn2), subunit 6 of ATP synthase (ATP6), cytochrome b (Cytb), etc., also showed significantly higher expression in Tibetan sheep (p < 0.01). While no significant differences were observed in the contents of citric acid (CA), pyruvic acid (PA), glucose (Glu), etc. (p > 0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that rumen flora was associated with the key enzyme activities and gene expressions of hepatic gluconeogenesis and mitochondrial function to varying degrees. In summary, Tibetan sheep exhibit strong fiber degradation capacity, the efficient utilization of gluconeogenic intermediates, and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) ability, forming adaptive strategies for high-altitude environments. By contrast, Hu sheep show efficient protein and starch degradation capacity, thereby enhancing the supply of gluconeogenic precursors. It is indicated that when introducing Hu sheep to high-altitude areas, dietary intervention can be used to regulate rumen microorganisms, such as increasing fiber-decomposing bacteria or enhancing mitochondrial oxidative capacity, to counteract metabolic limitations induced by hypoxia. Full article

Against the background of climate change, grazing accelerates the warming and drying processes in grasslands. There is a relatively clear temperature and humidity difference between grassland used for grazing and grassland that has been excluded from grazing practices. This paper asks whether temperature and humidity differences affect plant roots and cold resistance. Representative plants from an alpine meadow on the eastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau were selected under grazing exclusion and grazing conditions. Dominant plants within and outside of an alpine meadow enclosed for 10 years in the study area were selected as the research objects to study the root morphology and physiological indices of the cold resistance of these plants. The results showed that (1) grazing exclusion (GE) was beneficial for soil temperature and water retention, reduced soil pH, and increased soil nutrient content. Under grazing exclusion conditions, all plant root morphological traits, except root tissue density, increased compared with those under grazing grassland (FG) conditions. Grazed plants adopted resource acquisition strategies, while grazing exclusion plants adopted resource conservation strategies. (2) The changes in the physiological indices of cold resistance in different years and grazing treatments were different. In 2023, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and soluble protein content in GE conditions were significantly lower than those in FG conditions, while the peroxidase (POD) activity was significantly higher than that under FG conditions. The activity of catalase (CAT) in the GE plot was significantly lower than that in the FG plot in 2024. The cold resistance of Gramineae species was lower than that of non-Gramineae plants. A redundancy analysis (RDA) of plant root morphological traits, soil properties, and cold resistance showed that root length and soil pH were the most important factors affecting plant cold resistance. We concluded that grazing exclusion is conducive to plant root growth, but also acidifies the soil and reduces plant cold resistance. Full article

Quantifying extreme weather events (EWEs) and understanding their impacts on vegetation phenology is crucial for assessing ecosystem stability under climate change. This study systematically investigated the ecosystem growing season length (GL) response to four types of EWEs—extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme wetness (surplus precipitation), and extreme drought (lack of precipitation). The EWE extremity thresholds were found statistically using detrended long time series (2000–2022) ERA5 meteorological data through z-score transformation. The analysis was based on a grassland ecosystem in the Mongolian Plateau (MP) from 2000 to 2022. Using solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence data and event coincidence analysis, we evaluated the probability of GL anomalies coinciding with EWEs and assessed the vegetation sensitivity to climate variability. The analysis showed that 83.7% of negative and 87.4% of positive GL anomalies were associated with one or more EWEs, with extreme wetness (27.0%) and extreme heat (25.4%) contributing the most. These findings highlight the dominant role of EWEs in shaping phenological shifts. Negative GL anomalies were more strongly linked to EWEs, particularly in arid and cold regions where extreme drought and cold shortened the growing season. Conversely, extreme heat and wetness had a greater influence in warmer and wetter areas, driving both the lengthening and shortening of GL. Furthermore, background hydrothermal conditions modulated the vegetation sensitivity, with warmer regions being more susceptible to heat stress and drier regions more vulnerable to drought. These findings emphasize the importance of regional weather variability and climate characteristics in shaping vegetation phenology and provide new insights into how weather extremes impact ecosystem stability in semi-arid and arid regions. Future research should explore extreme weather events and the role of human activities to enhance predictions of vegetation–climate interactions in grassland ecosystems of the MP. Full article

Multiple monsoon systems impact autumn precipitation in West China; however, their synergistic influence is unknown. Here, we employed statistical analysis of Global Precipitation Climatology Project Version 3.2 precipitation data, European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ERA5 reanalysis data, and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project model data, and calculated four monsoon indices to analyze the features of the East Asian Monsoon, South Asian Monsoon, Asia Zonal Circulation, and Tibetan Plateau Monsoon, as well as their synergistic impacts on autumn precipitation in West China. The East Asian Monsoon negatively influences autumn precipitation in West China through closed high pressure over Northeast China. The South Asian Monsoon encloses West China between two areas of closed high pressure; strong high pressure to the north guides the abnormal transport of cold air in Northwest China, whereas strong western Pacific subtropical high pressure guides the transport of warm and wet air to West China, which is conducive to the formation of autumn precipitation in West China. During years of strong Asia Zonal Circulation, West China is controlled by an anomalous sinking airflow, which is not conducive to the occurrence of autumn rain. During strong Tibetan Plateau Monsoon, western and southwestern China are affected by plateau subsidence flow, resulting in less precipitation. Based on the CMIP6 model data, the study found that under the SSP5-8.5 emission scenario, the future trends of the four monsoon systems will show significant differences, and the amplitude of autumn and interannual precipitation oscillations in west China will increase. Full article

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are increasingly detected in remote environments. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the types and concentrations of PFAS found in the air, water, soil, sediments, ice, and precipitation across different remote environments globally. Most of the recent studies on PFAS remote occurrence have been conducted for the Arctic, the Antarctica, and the remote regions of China. Elevated perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in Meretta and Resolute Lakes reflects the impact of local sources like airports, while PFAS in lakes located in remote regions such as East Antarctica and the Canadian High Arctic suggest atmospheric deposition as a primary PFAS input. Long-chain PFAS (≥C7) accumulate in sediments, while short-chain PFAS remain in water, as shown in Hulun Lake. Oceanic PFAS are concentrated in surface waters, driven by atmospheric deposition, with PFOA and PFOS dominating across oceans due to current emissions and legacy contamination. Coastal areas display higher PFAS levels from local sources. Arctic sediment analysis highlights atmospheric deposition and ocean transport as significant PFAS contributors. PFAS in Antarctic coastal areas suggest local biological input, notably from penguins. The Tibetan Plateau and Arctic atmospheric data confirm long-range transport, with linear PFAS favoring gaseous states, while branched PFAS are more likely to associate with particulates. Climatic factors like the Indian monsoon and temperature fluctuations affect PFAS deposition. Short-chain PFAS are prevalent in snowpacks, serving as temporary reservoirs. Mountainous regions, such as the Tibetan Plateau, act as cold traps, accumulating PFAS from atmospheric precursors. Future studies should focus on identifying and quantifying primary sources of PFAS. Full article

The Lhasa River, as one of the major rivers on the Tibetan Plateau, is of great value for the study of climate and environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau. In this paper, the grain size and the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the sediments from the Lhasa River were investigated. The results show the following: (1) The average grain size of the Lhasa River sediments is coarse (65.5% sand, 23.6% silt), and the sorting is overall poor; the skewness is mostly positive, and the kurtosis is wide, which reflects the obvious characteristics of river sand deposition. (2) The mineral composition of the Lhasa River sediments is dominated by quartz (38.4%), feldspar, and plagioclase feldspar, followed by clay minerals, and the content of carbonate minerals is relatively low; the content of clay minerals in the illite content is as high as 83.3%, while the chlorite content is slightly higher than kaolinite, and smectite content is very low. The chemical index of illite is less than 0.4, indicating that illite is mainly iron-rich magnesium illite. (3) The value of the chemical weathering index (CIA) of the sediments is low, implying that the sediments are in a weak–moderate chemical weathering state and dominated by physical weathering. Comprehensive analyses further revealed that the weathering process of the sediments in the Lhasa River was influenced by both climate and lithology, i.e., sediment composition is influenced not only by chemical weathering in a dry, cold climate but also by physical weathering of granites exposed over large areas. The results of this study can provide scientific references for further in-depth research on the environmental and climatic effects of the Tibetan Plateau. Full article

In Antarctica, SAR interferometry has largely been used in coastal glacial areas, while in rare cases this method has been used on the Antarctic plateau. In this paper, the authors present a digital elevation and ice flow map based on SAR interferometry for an area encompassing Talos Dome (TD) and the Frontier Mountain (FM) meteorite site in North Victoria Land/Antarctica. A digital elevation model (DEM) was calculated using a double SAR interferometry method. The DEM of the region was calculated by extracting approximately 100 control points from the Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA). The two DEMs differ slightly in some areas, probably due to the penetration of the SAR-C band signal into the cold firn. The largest differences are found in the western area of TD, where the radar penetration is more pronounced and fits well with the layer structures calculated by the georadar and the snow accumulation observations. By differentiating a 70-day interferogram with the calculated DEM, a displacement interferogram was calculated that represents the ice dynamics. The resulting ice flow pattern clearly shows the catchment areas of the Priestley and Rennick Glaciers as well as the ice flow from the west towards Wilkes Basin. The ice velocity field was analysed in the area of FM. This area has become well known due to the search for meteorites. The velocity field in combination with the calculated DEM confirms the generally accepted theories about the accumulation of meteorites over the Antarctic Plateau. Full article

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, with a wide variety of grasshopper species, including several endemic to the region, which play significant roles in both agricultural and forestry ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to analyze the species diversity and distribution pattern of grasshoppers on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. A comprehensive database comprising 390 grasshopper species was established through specimen collection, a literature review, and a geographical distribution data analysis. Diversity analysis showed that the diversity of species under the five vegetation types was relatively average. However, the alpine cold vegetation of Qinghai–Tibet and subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest still showed a relatively high Shannon index and Simpson index. Grasshopper species are mainly concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The richness pattern showed that grasshopper species diversity was particularly high in certain mountain areas, with Bayankala Mountain and Hengduan Mountain being endemic hotspots. The MaxEnt models were used to assess the potential habitats for four dominant genera of grasshoppers under projected climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2070. Altitude was the factor affecting the distribution of Locusta, Chorthippus, and Kingdonella, while precipitation and temperature were the factors affecting the distribution of Leuconemacris. These findings improve our understanding of the distribution patterns of different grasshopper species across various habitat types on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and provide valuable insights for developing targeted ecological protection strategies in response to environmental changes. Full article

Apis cerana, a native type of honey bee in China, adapts well to the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) environments with high altitude, cold, low oxygen, and strong radiation. In this study, we detected 40 morphological characteristics from 100 colonies in 49 regions. We not only evaluated the morphometric characteristics of honey bee populations in the QTP but also found that the pigmentation of labrum and tergite 2 in A. cerana is significantly different from that in Apis mellifera. Moreover, most morphological characteristics were correlated with environmental factors. Tibet and Qinghai could be distinctly separated. The cluster analysis indicated that Xunhua and Danba were far apart and formed a single cluster. Honey bees from Danba and Linzhichayu were correctly judged into corresponding populations. There was large morphometric diversity within the selected sampling areas of the Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu populations. Overall, our findings offer insights into the conservation and sustainable utilization of A. cerana in the QTP. Full article