Impact of a retrogressive thaw slump on surrounding vegetation communities in the Fenghuoshan mountains, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

Under global warming, permafrost around the world is experiencing degradation which is especially so on the Third Pole, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), China. Retrogressive thaw slump (RTS) is one of the thermokarst features caused by rapid degradation of ice rich permafrost, which transforms landforms and threatens infrastructures, and even affects the terrestrial carbon cycle. In this work, vegetation communities surrounding a RTS in the Fenghuoshan Mountains of the interior portion of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have been investigated to examine the impact from RTS. This investigation indicates that the occurrence of RTS influences the vegetation community by altering their habitats, especially the soil water content, which forces the vegetation community to evolve in order to adapt to the alterations. In the interior part of RTS where it has been disturbed tremendously, alterations have produced a wider niche and richer plant species. This favors species of a wet environment in a habitat where it was a relatively dry environment of alpine steppe prior to the occurrence of RTS. This study adds to limited observations regarding the impact of RTS to vegetation community on the QTP and helps us to reach a broader understanding of the effects of permafrost degradation as well as global warming.