Drastic reduction in the potential habitats for alpine and subalpine vegetation in the Pyrenees due to twenty-first-century climate change

Recent climate change is already affecting both ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit them, with mountains and their associated biota being particularly vulnerable. Due to the high conservation value of mountain ecosystems, reliable science-based information is needed to implement additional conservation efforts in order to ensure their future. This paper examines how climate change might impact on the distribution of the main alpine and subalpine vegetation in terms of losses of suitable area in the Oriental Pyrenees. The algorithm of maximum entropy (Maxent) was used to relate current environmental conditions (climate, topography, geological properties) to present data for the studied vegetation units, and time and space projections were subsequently carried out considering climate change predictions for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080. All models predicted rising altitude trends for all studied vegetation units. Moreover, the analysis of future trends under different climate scenarios for 2080 suggests an average loss in potential ranges of 92.3–99.9 % for alpine grasslands, 76.8–98.4 % for subalpine (and alpine) scrublands and 68.8–96.1 % for subalpine forest. The drastic reduction in the potential distribution areas for alpine grasslands, subalpine scrublands and Pinus uncinata forests highlights the potential severity of the effects of climate change on vegetation in the highest regions of the Pyrenees. Thus, alpine grasslands can be expected to become relegated to refuge areas (summit areas), with their current range being taken over by subalpine scrublands. Furthermore, subalpine forest units will probably become displaced and will occupy areas that currently present subalpine scrub vegetation.     

21世纪长江黄河源区径流量变化情势分析

以长江、黄河源区为研究对象，应用大尺度半分布式水文模型(VIC)，结合江河源区气象站多年实测温度、降水数据，检验了VIC模型的适用性。模型能较好模拟江河源区地表径流，其Nash系数和相关系数分别达到了0.853 3和0.930 2（长江源区），0.889 2和0.924 8（黄河源区）。基于率定后的VIC模型，运用高分辨率的动力降尺度气象强迫资料，分析了未来气候变化情景下，江河源区径流量可能变化趋势。结果表明，未来30~50 a，长江、黄河源区年均径流量将分别增加858%、919%；未来80~100 a，长江、黄河源区年均径流量将分别增加1716%、721%。相对于2030~2049年而言，尽管年均降水增加006 mm/d，但是黄河源区2080~2099年径流量却将减少1.98%。运用植被情景假设及2030~2049年动力降尺度气象资料，模拟分析了植被变化对江河源区地表径流的影响。从4种地表覆被情景假设可以看出，林地地表覆被产生径流量最小，裸地最大。
     

Impacts of climate change on Chinese ecosystems: key vulnerable regions and potential thresholds

China is a key vulnerable region of climate change in the world. Climate warming and general increase in precipitation with strong temporal and spatial variations have happened in China during the past century. Such changes in climate associated with the human disturbances have influenced natural ecosystems of China, leading to the advanced plant phenology in spring, lengthened growing season of vegetation, modified composition and geographical pattern of vegetation, especially in ecotone and tree-lines, and the increases in vegetation cover, vegetation activity and net primary productivity. Increases in temperature, changes in precipitation regime and CO₂ concentration enrichment will happen in the future in China according to climate model simulations. The projected climate scenarios (associated with land use changes again) will significantly influence Chinese ecosystems, resulting in a northward shift of all forests, disappearance of boreal forest from northeastern China, new tropical forests and woodlands move into the tropics, an eastward shift of grasslands (expansion) and deserts (shrinkage), a reduction in alpine vegetation and an increase in net primary productivity of most vegetation types. Ecosystems in northern and western parts of China are more vulnerable to climate changes than those in eastern China, while ecosystems in the east are more vulnerable to land use changes other than climate changes. Such assessment could be helpful to address the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC Article 2).     

气候变化对长江源地区高寒草甸生态系统的影响

近十几年来,长江源区气候暖干化趋势明显,冰川退缩、湖泊萎缩、草场退化、土地沙漠化、水土流失等环境问题日益严重。高寒草甸是长江源地区主要的植被类型之一,在全球变化影响下,以耐低温寒冷的嵩草属（Kobresia）植物为建群种的高寒草甸将面临更严重的生态胁迫。以长江源地区高寒草甸生态系统为研究对象,采用国际通用的生物地球化学模型模拟高寒草甸生物量、生产力和土壤有机质等的动态变化,并综合考虑人类活动对生态系统生产力和营养元素生物地球化学循环的影响,探讨了全球气候变化对高寒草甸生态系统可能造成的影响。     

Landowner perceptions of the value of natural forest and natural grassland in a mosaic ecosystem in southern Brazil

The forest–grassland mosaics of southern Brazil have been subject to many land use and policy changes over the decades. Like many grasslands around the world, the Campos grasslands are declining with few conservation efforts underway. In contrast, forests receive much attention and many incentives. It is hypothesized that perception of land cover has the potential to shape ecosystems. Here we conduct a questionnaire to further our understanding of decision-making practices that alter landscapes (Campos grassland, Araucaria forest, agriculture and plantation) and direct land policies in the region. Our analysis reveals that plantations are significantly less desirable than the other landscape types. However, plantation land use has increased by 87 % over the past few decades, as a result of industry and government incentives. The proportions of other landscape types have remained consistent over the past two decades. Restoration of native vegetation is not a priority of landowners and restoration would require a financial incentive.     

Heading for the hills: climate-driven community relocations in the Solomon Islands and Alaska provide insight for a 1.5 °C future

Whilst future air temperature thresholds have become the centrepiece of international climate negotiations, even the most ambitious target of 1.5 °C will result in significant sea-level rise and associated impacts on human populations globally. Of additional concern in Arctic regions is declining sea ice and warming permafrost which can increasingly expose coastal areas to erosion particularly through exposure to wave action due to storm activity. Regional variability over the past two decades provides insight into the coastal and human responses to anticipated future rates of sea-level rise under 1.5 °C scenarios. Exceeding 1.5 °C will generate sea-level rise scenarios beyond that currently experienced and substantially increase the proportion of the global population impacted. Despite these dire challenges, there has been limited analysis of how, where and why communities will relocate inland in response. Here, we present case studies of local responses to coastal erosion driven by sea-level rise and warming in remote indigenous communities of the Solomon Islands and Alaska, USA, respectively. In both the Solomon Islands and the USA, there is no national government agency that has the organisational and technical capacity and resources to facilitate a community-wide relocation. In the Solomon Islands, communities have been able to draw on flexible land tenure regimes to rapidly adapt to coastal erosion through relocations. These relocations have led to ad hoc fragmentation of communities into smaller hamlets. Government-supported relocation initiatives in both countries have been less successful in the short term due to limitations of land tenure, lacking relocation governance framework, financial support and complex planning processes. These experiences from the Solomon Islands and USA demonstrate the urgent need to create a relocation governance framework that protects people’s human rights.     

Land cover composition determinants in the Uckermark (NE Germany) over a 220-year period

There is broad consensus that land use/cover has changed in central Europe over millennia. However, few studies have addressed the roles of the anthropogenic (socio-economic) and natural (biophysical) factors driving these changes over shorter periods (e.g., 100 years). In this study, we analyse the determinants of land cover composition at three discrete time periods (c. 1780, 1890, and 2000). We hypothesise that different anthropogenic and natural factors are the determinants of the main land cover types (arable fields, grasslands, and forests) and that the effects of natural and anthropogenic factors on the main land cover types differ among landscapes with highly dynamic and more stable forest-open land distributions. The study was carried out in the Uckermark region located in northeastern Germany. We compiled data on natural and anthropogenic factors (e.g. forest cover and number of inhabitants) of 65 municipalities in four landscape sections of equal size (10 × 10 km). Landscape sections were selected to reflect different dynamics (high/low) in conversion from forest to arable fields or grasslands and vice versa from 1780 to 2000. Averaged linear mixed-effect models explained between 7.5 and 81.2 % of the variance. The unique effect of anthropogenic factors varied from 2.1 to 18.7 % and that of natural factors varied from 0.2 to 43.4 %. In four of six models that included both types of factors, the natural factors were more influential than the anthropogenic factors. Except in three cases, anthropogenic and natural factors showed opposite effects on land cover types in more dynamic and more stable windows. Though the Uckermark region has been influenced by human activity for thousands of years, natural factors were a major determinant of land cover composition during all time periods, whereas anthropogenic factors became more important only during the latest time period under investigation.     

Risk Assessment of Carbon Sequestration for Terrestrial Ecosystems in China

Climate change will alter the capacity of carbon sequestration,and the risk assessment of carbon sequestration for terrestrial ecosystems will be helpful to the decision-making for climate change countermeasures and international climate negotiations.Based on the net ecosystem productivity of terrestrial ecosystems simulated by Atmosphere Vegetation Integrated Model,each grid of the risk criterion was set by time series trend analysis.Then the risks of carbon sequestration of terrestrial ecosystems were investigated.The results show that,in the IPCCSRES-B2 climate scenario,climate change will bring risks of carbon sequestration,and the high-risk level will dominate terrestrial ecosystems.The risk would expand with the increase of warming degree.By the end of the long-term of this century,about 60% of the whole country will face the risk;Northwest China,mountainous areas in Northeast China,middle and lower reaches plain of Yangtze River areas,Southwest China and Southeast China tend to be extremely vulnerable.Risk levels in most regions are likely to grow with the increase of warming degree,and this increase will mainly occur during the near-term to mid-term.Northwest China will become an area of high risks,and deciduous coniferous forests,temperate mixed forests and desert grassland tend to be extremely vulnerable.     

三江源高寒草甸下溪流溶解性有机碳的季节性输移特征

溶解性有机碳（DOC）在生态系统中起着重要作用，但河流DOC输移动态及其对气候变化和多年冻土退化的响应还不清楚。对青藏高原三江源地区高寒草甸下8条小流域河流于2016年8月至2017年7月进行逐月采集水样，同步测定流量，在室内对DOC浓度进行分析，研究河流DOC浓度和输移通量的逐月变化规律以及对降雨和温度逐月变化的响应。结果表明：（1）DOC的年平均浓度介于4.05±1.20~6.55±2.86 mg·L-1之间，均值为5.30 mg·L-1；DOC平均浓度与流域内高寒沼泽草甸（ASM）覆盖面积比例呈显著线性负相关，而与高寒草甸（AM）呈显著线性正相关；此外，有多年冻土发育的流域内河流平均DOC浓度明显高于无多年冻土发育的流域。（2）DOC浓度随季节性气温的变化呈现较大的变异性，在-8~2℃气温回升的过程中，DOC平均浓度随气温的升高呈急剧上升的趋势，在随后2~13℃气温继续升高到最高的过程中，DOC平均浓度又急速降低，而在之后13~-8℃气温下降的过程中，DOC平均浓度呈一个缓慢降低的趋势，并在12月达到最低。（3）DOC平均输移通量也显示出较大的季节差异，其范围为0.006±0.000 5~3.01±0.74 kg·km-2·d-1，均值为1.12±0.81 kg·km-2·d-1；DOC输移通量与流域内平均径流量显著线性正相关，DOC的输移主要集中在春季融雪期和夏季丰雨期。气候变暖会导致多年冻土活动层厚度增加，因此，温度增加导致DOC输移增加的结果提示，气候变暖可能会增加青藏高原高寒草甸区河流对有机碳输移和释放。     

Risk Assessment of Carbon Sequestration for Terrestrial Ecosystems in China

Abstract

Climate change will alter the capacity of carbon sequestration, and the risk assessment of carbon sequestration for terrestrial ecosystems will be helpful to the decision-making for climate change countermeasures and international climate negotiations. Based on the net ecosystem productivity of terrestrial ecosystems simulated by Atmosphere Vegetation Integrated Model, each grid of the risk criterion was set by time series trend analysis. Then the risks of carbon sequestration of terrestrial ecosystems were investigated. The results show that, in the IPCCSRES-B2 climate scenario, climate change will bring risks of carbon sequestration, and the high-risk level will dominate terrestrial ecosystems. The risk would expand with the increase of warming degree. By the end of the long-term of this century, about 60% of the whole country will face the risk; Northwest China, mountainous areas in Northeast China, middle and lower reaches plain of Yangtze River areas, Southwest China and Southeast China tend to be extremely vulnerable. Risk levels in most regions are likely to grow with the increase of warming degree, and this increase will mainly occur during the near-term to mid-term. Northwest China will become an area of high risks, and deciduous coniferous forests, temperate mixed forests and desert grassland tend to be extremely vulnerable.     

Land use history of a floodplain area during the last 200 years in the Upper-Tisza region (Hungary)

Research into landscape history makes it possible to follow landscape changes in the past and support landscape management, conservation and restoration programs. Floodplain habitats are lost, isolated and fragmented on account of land use. Nowadays, these habitats are threatened by modifications in the natural water regime, as well as agricultural and forestry practices. Floodplains have great importance because they provide a transition between aquatic habitats and terrestrial biotopes. Our analysis of aerial photographs and topographical maps revealed that the major predicted changes in the study area are related to agricultural abandonment and afforestation. The comparison of land cover maps from 1784 to 2005 showed intensification of agriculture with land cover conversions from arable land and orchards to grasslands, marshes and woodlands. The land use types that are mostly responsible for the fragmentation of the landscape are arable land, economic plantations and orchards. We found that fragmentation was greater after 1956. This was caused by socioeconomic changes and showed that the habitats of floodplains have changed intensively during the last 200 years. Knowledge of this last 200 years of history contributes to a more careful and wiser management of the region through biodiversity protection and environmental development.     

长江源区沙化现象初步探讨

长江源区存在不同程度的沙化现象，沙地种类多样，分布广泛。沙化过程在高寒干旱的气候条件，丰富的物源条件，独特的冻土条件和为因素等综合影响下，从晚更新世末期开始，经过几次旋回一直持续到现在，对该区冻土环境、人类活动存在明显影响。     

近15年来长江源区土地利用变化及其生态环境效应

长江源区是我国重要的水源涵养区,也是高海拔地区生物多样性最集中的地区和生态变化最为敏感的地区。基于1986年TM和2000年ETM+卫星遥感数据和野外实地调查,采用GIS软件和景观生态空间分布格局分析方法,对长江源区近15年来土地利用类型的时空变化进行了研究。结果表明：1986～2000年,源区林地和湿地面积减少54.2 %和42.69 %,建设用地、耕地和未利用土地面积分别增加120 %、43.83 %和21.1 %。全区土地利用的空间位置转换面积大于其数量变化,土地利用类型总变化的面积大小依次是草地＞未利用土地＞湿地＞水域＞林地＞耕地＞建设用地。土地利用动态转化过程以草地转化为未利用土地、湿地转化为草地和未利用地逆转为草地为主要特征。15年里景观破碎化程度加剧,分维数和多样性指数增加,优势度降低,景观异质性增强。长江源区脆弱的生态体系对土地利用变化响应强烈,造成水土流失与沙漠化程度加剧,导致大范围高寒草甸、草原植被退化,湿地萎缩。气候变化和人类经济活动是导致研究区土地利用变化的主要因素。     

长江水问题基本态势及其形成原因与防控策略

不断增强的人类活动与气候变化等自然因素叠加，导致长江水环境、水灾害和水生态问题日益突出。从宏观层面系统剖析了长江面临的干流局部水质下降、湖泊富营养化、三峡库湾和支流水质恶化等水环境问题，小水大灾和平原湖区季节性缺水等水灾害问题以及长江与湖泊生物资源衰退等水生态问题的基本态势，揭示了流域工业化城市化进程加快、土地利用/覆被快速变化、重大水利工程建设和湖泊资源过度利用等人为因素和气候变化等自然因素对长江水问题形成发展的影响，提出了规范空间开发秩序、推进流域综合管理、优化重大水利工程调度等长江水问题防控策略     

Latitudinal pattern in species diversity and its response to global warming in permafrost wetlands in the Great Hing’an Mountains, China

Permafrost wetlands are one of the most sensitive plant communities in response to global warming. Global warming could induce natural plant communities to shift into cooler climate zones, or extirpate. To understand how plant communities in permafrost wetlands are affected by global warming, we examined the patterns of plant species diversity in the 24 permafrost wetlands in the Great Hing’an Mountains along a latitudinal gradient. This gradient was characterized by a northward decline in mean annual temperature (Δ = 3.5°C) and mean annual precipitation (Δ = 38.7 mm). Our results indicated that latitudinal patterns in species diversity existed in the permafrost wetlands. The numbers of family, genus and species, the Gleason index and Shannon-Wiener index for shrubs decreased linearly with decreasing latitude, but increased for herbaceous plants. The latitudinal patterns in species diversity had influenced strongly by temperature. Simple linear regression yielded about 2 decreases in shrub number and 9 increases in herbaceous species number with an increase of mean annual temperature by 1°C, with 0.33 decreases in shrub diversity and 0.29 increases in herbaceous species diversity. If temperature warms 3.7°C by 2100, herbaceous plants might increase in the permafrost wetlands, with species number increasing 48% or 6 times and species diversity increasing 40% or 2 times; and some shrub species might decrease and even disappear in part of the areas with lower latitude, with species number decreasing 50–100% and species diversity decreasing 69–100%. The permafrost wetlands in the Great Hing’an Mountains might continue degenerating and shift northward with global warming over the next century.     

Assessment of climate change simulations over climate zones of Turkey

Projected climate change over Turkey has been analyzed by using the reference (1961–1990) and future (2071–2100) climate simulations produced by ICTP-RegCM3. Since examining Turkey as a single region could be misleading due to the existence of complex topography and different climatic regions, Turkey has been separated into seven climatic regions to evaluate the surface temperature and precipitation changes. Comparison of the reference simulation with observations was made spatially by using a monthly gridded data set and area-averaged surface data compiled from 114 meteorological stations for each climatic region of Turkey. In the future simulation, warming over Turkey’s climatic regions is in the range of 2–5 °C. Summer warming over western regions of Turkey is 3 °C higher than the winter warming. During winter, in the future simulation, precipitation decreases very significantly over southeastern Turkey (24 %), which covers most of the upstream of Euphrates and Tigris river basin. This projected decrease could be a major source of concern for Turkey and the neighboring countries. Our results indicate that a significant increase (48 %) in the autumn season precipitation is simulated over southeastern Turkey, which may help to offset the winter deficit and therefore reduce the net change during the annual cycle.     

江河源区主要自然生物资源概述

广袤的草地、特有的高寒湿地以及丰富而有又独特的生物多样性是江河源区重要的自然生物资源。草地占江河源区总土地面积的84.53%,是源区畜牧业经济发展的基础,同时也是长江、黄河和澜沧江三大江河的源头区域,为江河中、下游地区生态环境稳定和经济持续发展提供无可替代的服务。江河源区是世界上海拔最高的高寒湿地主要分布区,湿地总面积达8 000 km2。江河源区独特的生态环境孕育了种类繁多的特有动、植物种类,源区约有哺乳动物、鸟类和鱼类133、249和219种,牧草植物、药用植物、食用植物和观赏植物约800、808、80和400种,是世界海拔最高的生物多样性集中分布区。然而,由于超载放牧、盲目采挖、盗猎等不合理的开发和利用以及气候变化等诸多因素的综合影响,江河源区草地生态系统退化、高寒湿地萎缩、生物多样性锐减等生态环境危机不断加剧。正确权衡江河源区自然生物资源的短期经济价值及其所拥有的巨大生态公益和潜在开发价值,科学决策,保护江河源区自然生物资源迫在眉睫。     

长三角地区能源消费与区域发展相互关系及其影响因素

以长三角地区上海、江苏和浙江3省市为研究对象，运用Johansen协整检验、向量误差修正模型（VEC）和Granger因果检验等方法分析能源消费与经济发展的相互关系，并利用LMDI方法对3省市1995~2007年的能源强度进行分解分析，得到能源消费与区域发展关系的影响因素。结果表明：近年来长三角能源消费形势严峻，并较多地受到产业结构调整的影响。上海和江苏的能源消费在一定程度上拉动了经济发展，但是随着产业结构的调整，上海工业结构的调整促进了能源强度降低，而江苏却正好相反。近年来，浙江省的经济发展对能源消费的影响比较显著，随着该省工业规模扩大，能源强度有所升高，但是其产业结构的调整有利于降低能源强度。     

Water Environmental Degradation of the Source Area of the Yellow River on Northeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

The issue on water environmental degradation in the source area of the Yellow River has been one of very serious ecological and socially economic problems. The temporal-spatial changes of water environment led to the decreasing of land capacity and river disconnecting. The status of water environmental degradation in this paper was analyzed based on the data and field investigation. The results indicated that the surface water area in the region has obviously decreased owing to the climate changes and human irrational use of water resources and the continuous lowering of the regional groundwater table and the steadily decreasing tendency of the flow rate in the source areas of the Yellow River.     

Assessing the implications of a 1.5 °C temperature limit for the Jamaican agriculture sector

Despite recent calls to limit future increases in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C, little is known about how different climatic thresholds will impact human society. Future warming trends have significant global food security implications, particularly for small island developing states (SIDS) that are recognized as being among the most vulnerable to global climate change. In the case of the Caribbean, any significant change in the region’s climate is likely to have significant adverse effects on the agriculture sector. This paper explores the potential biophysical impacts of a +?1.5 °C warming scenario on several economically important crops grown in the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Also, it explores differences to a >?2.0 °C warming scenario, which is more likely, if the current policy agreements cannot be complied with by the international community. We use the ECOCROP niche model to estimate how predicted changes in future climate could affect the growing conditions of several commonly cultivated crops from both future scenarios. We then discuss some key policy considerations for Jamaica’s agriculture sector, specifically related to the challenges posed to future adaptation pathways amidst growing climate uncertainty and complexity. Our model results show that even an increase less than +?1.5 °C is expected to have an overall negative impact on crop suitability and a general reduction in the range of crops available to Jamaican farmers. This observation is instructive as increases above the +?1.5 °C threshold would likely lead to even more irreversible and potentially catastrophic changes to the sustainability of Jamaica’s agriculture sector. The paper concludes by outlining some key considerations for future action, paying keen attention to the policy relevance of a +?1.5 °C temperature limit. Given little room for optimism with respect to the imminent changes that SIDS will need to confront in the near future, broad-based policy engagement by stakeholders in these geographies is paramount, irrespective of the climate warming scenario.