Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years
Alpine scree, a distinctive plateau ecosystem, serves as habitat for numerous rare and endangered species. However, current research does not differentiate it from desert in terms of spatial boundary, hindering biodiversity conservation and ecological monitoring efforts. Using the Tibetan Plateau as...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/15/2611 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849406445491060736 |
|---|---|
| author | Guanshi Zhang Bingfang Wu Lingxiao Ying Yu Zhao Li Zhang Mengru Cheng Liang Zhu Lu Zhang Zhiyun Ouyang |
| author_facet | Guanshi Zhang Bingfang Wu Lingxiao Ying Yu Zhao Li Zhang Mengru Cheng Liang Zhu Lu Zhang Zhiyun Ouyang |
| author_sort | Guanshi Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Alpine scree, a distinctive plateau ecosystem, serves as habitat for numerous rare and endangered species. However, current research does not differentiate it from desert in terms of spatial boundary, hindering biodiversity conservation and ecological monitoring efforts. Using the Tibetan Plateau as a case study, we defined the spatial boundary of alpine scree based on its surface formation process and examined its distribution and long-term evolution. The results show that in 2020, alpine scree on the Tibetan Plateau covered 73,735.34 km<sup>2</sup>, 1.5 times the area of glaciers. Alpine scree is mostly distributed at elevations between 4000 and 6000 m, with a slope of approximately 30–40 degrees. Characterized by low temperature and sparse rainfall, the regions are located in the humid zone. From 1975 to 2020, the area of alpine scree initially increased before declining, with an overall decrease of 560.68 km<sup>2</sup>. Climate warming was the primary driver of these changes, leading to an increase in scree from 1975 to 1995 and a decrease in scree from 1995 to 2020. Additionally, between 1975 and 2020, the Tibetan Plateau’s grasslands shifted upward by 16.47 km<sup>2</sup>. This study enhances our understanding of the spatial distribution and dynamics of this unique ecosystem, alpine scree, offering new insights into climate change impacts on alpine ecosystems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-acb09b105f8a484ba976b579f5824209 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-acb09b105f8a484ba976b579f58242092025-08-20T03:36:22ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-07-011715261110.3390/rs17152611Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 YearsGuanshi Zhang0Bingfang Wu1Lingxiao Ying2Yu Zhao3Li Zhang4Mengru Cheng5Liang Zhu6Lu Zhang7Zhiyun Ouyang8State Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaAerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaState Key Laboratory for Regional and Urban Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaAlpine scree, a distinctive plateau ecosystem, serves as habitat for numerous rare and endangered species. However, current research does not differentiate it from desert in terms of spatial boundary, hindering biodiversity conservation and ecological monitoring efforts. Using the Tibetan Plateau as a case study, we defined the spatial boundary of alpine scree based on its surface formation process and examined its distribution and long-term evolution. The results show that in 2020, alpine scree on the Tibetan Plateau covered 73,735.34 km<sup>2</sup>, 1.5 times the area of glaciers. Alpine scree is mostly distributed at elevations between 4000 and 6000 m, with a slope of approximately 30–40 degrees. Characterized by low temperature and sparse rainfall, the regions are located in the humid zone. From 1975 to 2020, the area of alpine scree initially increased before declining, with an overall decrease of 560.68 km<sup>2</sup>. Climate warming was the primary driver of these changes, leading to an increase in scree from 1975 to 1995 and a decrease in scree from 1995 to 2020. Additionally, between 1975 and 2020, the Tibetan Plateau’s grasslands shifted upward by 16.47 km<sup>2</sup>. This study enhances our understanding of the spatial distribution and dynamics of this unique ecosystem, alpine scree, offering new insights into climate change impacts on alpine ecosystems.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/15/2611alpine screescree surface formation processspatial boundaryspatial patternclimate changethe Tibetan Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Guanshi Zhang Bingfang Wu Lingxiao Ying Yu Zhao Li Zhang Mengru Cheng Liang Zhu Lu Zhang Zhiyun Ouyang Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years Remote Sensing alpine scree scree surface formation process spatial boundary spatial pattern climate change the Tibetan Plateau |
| title | Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years |
| title_full | Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years |
| title_fullStr | Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years |
| title_short | Climate Warming-Driven Expansion and Retreat of Alpine Scree in the Third Pole over the Past 45 Years |
| title_sort | climate warming driven expansion and retreat of alpine scree in the third pole over the past 45 years |
| topic | alpine scree scree surface formation process spatial boundary spatial pattern climate change the Tibetan Plateau |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/15/2611 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT guanshizhang climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT bingfangwu climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT lingxiaoying climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT yuzhao climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT lizhang climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT mengrucheng climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT liangzhu climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT luzhang climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years AT zhiyunouyang climatewarmingdrivenexpansionandretreatofalpinescreeinthethirdpoleoverthepast45years |