Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009

The Tibetan Plateau is regarded as one of the most climatic-sensitive regions all over the world. Long-term remote sensing data enable us to monitor spatial-temporal change in this area. The vegetation changes of the western Nyainqentanglha region were detected by using RS and GIS techniques. And th...

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Main Authors: Xu Wang, Ziyong Sun, Ai-Guo Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/514736
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author Xu Wang
Ziyong Sun
Ai-Guo Zhou
author_facet Xu Wang
Ziyong Sun
Ai-Guo Zhou
author_sort Xu Wang
collection DOAJ
description The Tibetan Plateau is regarded as one of the most climatic-sensitive regions all over the world. Long-term remote sensing data enable us to monitor spatial-temporal change in this area. The vegetation changes of the western Nyainqentanglha region were detected by using RS and GIS techniques. And the vegetation coverage was derived by the NDVI-SMA (spectral mixture analysis) methods. An incensement of vegetation was observed in the mountain areas during 1972–2009 with a mean vegetation coverage of 24.87%, 35.89%, and 42.88% in 30/09/1972, 14/09/1991, and 30/08/2009, respectively. The vegetation fraction increased by 18% in the period of 1972–2009. The bin with the elevation between 4400 and 5200 m had the highest vegetation coverage. This may be the result of the mountain effect. Alpine vegetation had a trend to increase and expand to higher altitudes with the climate change in the past 40 years. The variation appears to be associated with an increase in mean temperature of 0.05°C per year and an increase in precipitation of 1.83 mm per year in the growing season of the past four decades. The results provide further evidence of alpine ecosystem change due to climate change in the central Tibetan Plateau.
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spelling doaj-art-37af50c5b2164cafa120f0c88bb6597e2025-02-03T06:01:53ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/514736514736Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009Xu Wang0Ziyong Sun1Ai-Guo Zhou2School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, ChinaSchool of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, ChinaSchool of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, ChinaThe Tibetan Plateau is regarded as one of the most climatic-sensitive regions all over the world. Long-term remote sensing data enable us to monitor spatial-temporal change in this area. The vegetation changes of the western Nyainqentanglha region were detected by using RS and GIS techniques. And the vegetation coverage was derived by the NDVI-SMA (spectral mixture analysis) methods. An incensement of vegetation was observed in the mountain areas during 1972–2009 with a mean vegetation coverage of 24.87%, 35.89%, and 42.88% in 30/09/1972, 14/09/1991, and 30/08/2009, respectively. The vegetation fraction increased by 18% in the period of 1972–2009. The bin with the elevation between 4400 and 5200 m had the highest vegetation coverage. This may be the result of the mountain effect. Alpine vegetation had a trend to increase and expand to higher altitudes with the climate change in the past 40 years. The variation appears to be associated with an increase in mean temperature of 0.05°C per year and an increase in precipitation of 1.83 mm per year in the growing season of the past four decades. The results provide further evidence of alpine ecosystem change due to climate change in the central Tibetan Plateau.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/514736
spellingShingle Xu Wang
Ziyong Sun
Ai-Guo Zhou
Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009
The Scientific World Journal
title Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009
title_full Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009
title_fullStr Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009
title_full_unstemmed Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009
title_short Alpine Cold Vegetation Response to Climate Change in the Western Nyainqentanglha Range in 1972–2009
title_sort alpine cold vegetation response to climate change in the western nyainqentanglha range in 1972 2009
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/514736
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AT aiguozhou alpinecoldvegetationresponsetoclimatechangeinthewesternnyainqentanglharangein19722009