Altitude-Shifted Climate Variables Dominate the Drought Effects on Alpine Grasslands over the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Xiangtao Wang (), Zhigang Hu, Ziwei Zhang, Jiwang Tang and Ben Niu
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Xiangtao Wang: School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550025, China
Zhigang Hu: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Ziwei Zhang: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jiwang Tang: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Ben Niu: Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: Drought has broad and deep influences on ecosystem dynamics and functions, particularly considering the lagged and cumulative effects of drought. Yet the individual role of climate variables in mediating such drought effects on vegetation remains largely unknown. Based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the standard precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), here, we investigated the patterns and mechanisms of drought effects on alpine grasslands in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) from 1982 to 2015. Drought imposed widespread lagged and cumulative impacts on alpine grasslands with notable spatial heterogeneity, showing that the southwestern and northeastern parts of the plateau were more sensitive and responded quickly to drought. Further, drought effects showed an evident elevation dependence across different grassland types, which could be explained by altitudinal shifts in climatic factors, including temperature and precipitation. Precipitation was the dominant factor in drought effects on alpine meadows, while temperature dominated the drought impacts on the alpine steppes. Such a divergent dominant factor implied that there would be different vegetation responses to future climate change among diverse types of alpine grasslands. To maintain the sustainability of alpine grassland, more effort should be applied to alpine steppes regarding pasture management, particularly in response to extreme drought due to warmer climates in the future.

Keywords: NDVI; drought effects; temperature; precipitation; Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau; grassland sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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