Tibetan Meadow Research Articles

Litter application increases soil multinutrient cycling in alpine meadow ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau

In soil, multiple nutrients are cycled simultaneously (multinutrient cycling), rather than a single measurable process. While the impact of litter decomposition on individual soil nutrient cycling in alpine meadow ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau is well-documented, its effects on soil multinutrient cycling remain unclear. We deployed a three-year litter application experiment in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau to examine the responses of soil microclimate, extracellular enzyme activities, and bacterial and fungal communities to litter applications, as well as the correlations between these vital factors with soil multinutrient cycling induced by litter application. We showed that litter application raised the soil multinutrient cycling index, temperature, and moisture content by an average of 190 %, 1.2 °C, and 12 %, respectively. Litter application increased the activities of soil extracellular enzyme β-1,4-glucosidase, β-1,4-xylosidase, β-D-cellobiosidase, L-leucine aminopeptidase, acid phosphatase, and phenol oxidase. Moreover, litter application increased the richness and diversity of both soil bacterial and fungal communities, and altered their community structure, but with larger effects on bacterial communities (R2 = 0.43 for bacterial community and R2 = 0.19 for fungal community). This indicates that bacterial communities are more responsive to litter application than fungal communities in alpine meadow soils on the Tibetan plateau. Partial least-square path modeling indicated that soil bacterial and fungal communities and extracellular enzyme activities were significantly positively correlated with soil multinutrient cycling after litter application. The relative abundances of bacterial phyla of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobiota, and fungal phyla of Basidiomycota were positively related to most of the critical soil nutrients, indicating that those microbial taxa are the main drivers of soil multinutrient cycling. Overall, this study provides explicit evidence that litter application accelerates Tibetan meadow soil multinutrient cycling, which contributes to an enhanced understanding of the role of litter in sustaining the functions and services of alpine meadow ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau.

Summer grazing change fitness in a Tibetan lotus

It is believed that grazing has an effect on the functioning and performance of flowers, as well as their association with pollinator preferences and plant reproduction. However, the effects of grazing time on nectar secretion and pollen removal are still not fully understood. We hypothesized that seasonal grazing influences pollinator visitation and pollen removal by altering above-ground biomass and nectar secretion. In this study, we conducted field experiments to measure above-ground biomass, flower number per capitulum and capitulum number per plant, nectar volume and concentration, pollinator visitation of male- and female-phase flowers, pollen removal (e.g., number of pollens exported and deposition on a pollinator body and stigma), seed set ratio, and seed number between summer and winter grazing pastures of Saussurea stella. Our findings demonstrated that summer grazing reduced the above-ground biomass, nectar secretion, and pollinator visitation of male-phase flowers, thereby decreasing pollen export. There was a positive correlation between nectar secretion and above-ground biomass, as well as between pollinator visitation and nectar secretion, the number of pollens exported, and pollinator visitation of male-phase flowers. Experiments involving the removal of leaves revealed that a decrease in above-ground biomass was associated with a decrease in nectar secretion, pollinator visitation of male-phase flowers, and pollen removal. However, plants growing in summer and winter grazing pastures had comparable nectar secretion, pollinator visitation of female-phase flowers, seed number, and seed set ratio. Our results suggested that seasonal grazing influences nectar rewards, pollinator preferences, pollen removal, and male fitness. These findings would shed new light on the influence of herbivores on plant-pollinator interactions in the Tibetan meadow.

Climate warming alters the relative importance of plant root and microbial community in regulating the accumulation of soil microbial necromass carbon in a Tibetan alpine meadow.

Climate warming is predicted to considerably affect variations in soil organic carbon (SOC), especially in alpine ecosystems. Microbial necromass carbon (MNC) is an important contributor to stable soil organic carbon pools. However, accumulation and persistence of soil MNC across a gradient of warming are still poorly understood. An 8-year field experiment with four levels of warming was conducted in a Tibetan meadow. We found that low-level (+0-1.5°C) warming mostly enhanced bacterial necromass carbon (BNC), fungal necromass carbon (FNC), and total MNC compared with control treatment across soil layers, while no significant effect was caused between high-level (+1.5-2.5°C) treatments and control treatments. The contributions of both MNC and BNC to soil organic carbon were not significantly affected by warming treatments across depths. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the effect of plant root traits on MNC persistence strengthened with warming intensity, while the influence of microbial community characteristics waned along strengthened warming. Overall, our study provides novel evidence that the major determinants of MNC production and stabilization may vary with warming magnitude in alpine meadows. This finding is critical for updating our knowledge on soil carbon storage in response to climate warming.

Simulation of Sentinel-1A observations and constraint of water cloud model at the regional scale using a discrete scattering model

Effective calibration of microwave scattering model and accurate simulation of backscattering coefficient (σo) at the regional scale are essential for improving soil moisture retrieval based on active microwave remote sensing. This study investigates the potential of simulating the Sentinel-1A observations and constraining the coefficients of the water cloud model (WCM) at the regional scale based on a theoretical microwave scattering model named Tor Vergata model. The Tor Vergata discrete scattering model is firstly calibrated at both site- and regional-scale to find a single set of model parameters for capturing the Sentinel-1A observations at the regional scale. Subsequently, the coupled WCM and Oh model is calibrated at the regional scale based on three strategies, i.e., using either the calibrated Tor Vergata simulations or the Sentinel-1A observations, or with the assumption that the σo only comes from the vegetation contribution during the peak growth period. The investigation is conducted in a Tibetan meadow ecosystem configured with a long-term regional-scale soil moisture monitoring network.The results show the optimized parameter values obtained for the Tor Vergata model are consistent with each other based on both calibration methods, leading to comparable performances in simulating well the Sentinel-1A observations and scattering components. These results demonstrate the transferability of model parameters under similar land condition and the feasibility of simulating the regional-scale σo based on a single set of model parameters using the Tor Vergata model. The σo simulated by the coupled WCM and Oh model based on the three calibration strategies are comparable to each other and well agree with the calibrated Tor Vergata simulations as well as Sentinel-1A observations. However, the traditional calibration method using the Sentinel-1A observations tends to produce unreasonable WCM coefficients and thus unrealistic simulation of vegetation transmissivity. Above deficiencies are largely addressed by other two calibration strategies, whereby the first one preserves the physical mechanism of the Tor Vergata model and reduces the computation cost, and the assumption made by the other strategy may provide a new sight to solve the unknown WCM coefficients. These positive results warrant further investigation for developing new parameterization of WCM to improve soil moisture retrieval at the regional scale based on active microwave remote sensing.

Using a Discrete Scattering Model to Constrain Water Cloud Model for Simulating Ground-Based Scatterometer Measurements and Retrieving Soil Moisture

Potential of constraining semiempirical model with physically based scatter model simulations has long been recognized. This study contributes to this topic through the assessment of backscattering coefficient ( σ o) simulations and soil moisture retrieval using the water cloud model (WCM) constrained by a discrete scattering model (i.e., Tor Vergata) under both frozen and thawed soil conditions. The WCM is coupled with Oh (hereafter “WCM+Oh”) and Dubois (WCM+Dubois) surface scattering models, respectively. The soil permittivity is obtained using the four-phase dielectric mixing model. One year of C -band copolarized σ o observations are collected by a ground-based scatterometer deployed in the seasonally frozen Tibetan meadow ecosystem. It is found that: the calibrated Tor Vergata (hereafter “TVG”) model simulates well the seasonal dynamics and magnitudes of scatterometer measurements, and the simulated scattering components and vegetation transmissivity agree well with the seasonal vegetation dynamics; the total scattering simulated by the TVG constrained WCMs shows a good consistency with the scatterometer measurements, and the simulated soil and vegetation scattering components are in line with the TVG simulations; and the retrieved soil moisture based on the constrained WCMs captures well the seasonal variability noted in the in situ measurements. An additional experiment is performed to calibrate the WCMs directly, and the results show that the calibrated WCMs achieve comparable results with the calibrated TVG model and the constrained WCMs in terms of the total σ o and soil moisture retrieved. However, the direct calibration of the WCMs leads to unrealistic characterization of individual soil and vegetation scattering contributions, of which an underestimation of the vegetation contribution at VV polarization is most notable. These findings demonstrate that usage of a physically based scatter model to constrain semiempirical models leads to results that provide a more robust representation of reality, which is needed for developing worldwide soil moisture monitoring from active microwave remote sensing.

The role of vadose zone physics in the ecohydrological response of a Tibetan meadow to freeze–thaw cycles

Abstract. The vadose zone is a zone sensitive to environmental changes and exerts a crucial control in ecosystem functioning and even more so in cold regions considering the rapid change in seasonally frozen ground under climate warming. While the way in representing the underlying physical process of the vadose zone differs among models, the effect of such differences on ecosystem functioning and its ecohydrological response to freeze–thaw cycles are seldom reported. Here, the detailed vadose zone process model STEMMUS (Simultaneous Transfer of Energy, Mass and Momentum in Unsaturated Soil) was coupled with the ecohydrological model Tethys–Chloris (T&C) to investigate the role of influential physical processes during freeze–thaw cycles. The physical representation is increased from using T&C coupling without STEMMUS enabling the simultaneous mass and energy transfer in the soil system (liquid, vapor, ice) – and with explicit consideration of the impact of soil ice content on energy and water transfer properties – to using T&C coupling with it. We tested model performance with the aid of a comprehensive observation dataset collected at a typical meadow ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau. Results indicated that (i) explicitly considering the frozen soil process significantly improved the soil moisture/temperature profile simulations and facilitated our understanding of the water transfer processes within the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum; (ii) the difference among various representations of vadose zone physics have an impact on the vegetation dynamics mainly at the beginning of the growing season; and (iii) models with different vadose zone physics can predict similar interannual vegetation dynamics, as well as energy, water, and carbon exchanges, at the land surface. This research highlights the important role of vadose zone physics for ecosystem functioning in cold regions and can support the development and application of future Earth system models.

Elevated CO2 decreases soil carbon stability in Tibetan Plateau

The lack of ecosystem-scale CO2 enrichment experiments in alpine regions considerably restricts our ability to predict the feedback of the global carbon (C) cycle to climate change. Here we investigate soil C response in an experiment with 5-year CO2 enrichment and nitrogen (N) fertilization in a Tibetan meadow (4585 m above the sea level). We found that despite non-significant increase in bulk soil C pool, elevated CO2 dramatically altered the allocation of C in different soil fractions and soil mineralization potentials. By changing soil microbial composition and enhancing enzyme activities, elevated CO2 significantly accelerated soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization rates and stimulated the microbial utilization of ‘old C’ relative to that of ‘new C’. Furthermore, N fertilization under elevated CO2 altered the decomposition process, increased the fungi to bacteria ratio, and decreased the coarse particulate organic matter pool and enzyme activities, indicating that N fertilization counters the CO2 fertilization effect. Overall, our findings suggest a growing threat of elevated CO2 in reducing SOM stability, and highlight the key role of N availability in driving soil C turnover under elevated CO2.

Impact of Soil Permittivity and Temperature Profile on L-Band Microwave Emission of Frozen Soil

An unexplored aspect of L-band microwave emission is the impact of soil moisture and soil temperature (SMST) profile dynamics on diurnal brightness temperature ( T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> ) signatures of frozen soil. This study investigates this effect by comparing the T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> simulations of layered ( T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,l</sub> ) and uniform ( T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,u</sub> ) soils using a newly developed integrated land emission model. The multilayer Wilheit model and the single-layer Fresnel model are adopted to compute the smooth soil reflectivity for the layered and uniform soils, respectively. A four-phase dielectric mixing model is used to calculate the soil permittivity ( ε <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">s</sub> ). A data set of concurrent ELBARA-III T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> and SMST profile measurements performed in a seasonally frozen Tibetan meadow ecosystem is used for the analysis. The simulated T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,l</sub> considering SMST profile information captures well the ELBARA-III measurements with low biases (≤6 K) and high correlations ( R <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ≥ 0.88). T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,u</sub> produced based on the Fresnel model using the soil moisture of 2.5 cm is more consistent with the T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,l</sub> . The sensitivity test of averaging SMST profile below 2.5 cm leads to maximum differences of 2 K in T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,l</sub> simulations, indicating that the T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> variations are primary dominated by the SMST dynamics at the surface layer. A sensitivity test of the Wilheit model to different ε <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">s</sub> parameterizations shows that the dielectric model of Zhang et al. is comparable to the four-phase dielectric model in simulating T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B,l</sub> , while the Mironov et al. 's model demonstrates larger biases for frozen soil with, on average, 2.2% clay content, 49.7% sand content, and a bulk density of 1 g·cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup> .

Surface Roughness Effect on L-Band Multiangular Brightness Temperature Modeling and Soil Liquid Water Retrieval of Frozen Soil

A less explored aspect of L-band microwave emission is the surface roughness effect on the multiangular brightness temperature (T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> ) modeling and retrieval of liquid water content (θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> ) in frozen soil. This letter investigates this effect based on a data set of multiangular ETH L-band radiometer (ELBARA-III) T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> measurements performed in a seasonally frozen Tibetan meadow ecosystem. The surface roughness effect is first investigated via comparing the performance of the HQN model and Shi's parameterization of the integral equation model in simulating the measured T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> signatures. Overestimations are noted for the two model simulations at the vertical polarization in comparison to the ELBARA-III measurements, and Shi's model with Gaussian autocorrelation function shows better performance especially for the vertical polarization at large incidence angles. The HQN model is then calibrated with the multiangular T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> measurements, which leads to h = 0 and Q > 0 that depends on the polarization. As such, the noncoherent emission contribution to cross-polarization mixing can be accounted for by the HQN model. Furthermore, θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> retrievals are derived from the multiangular T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> measurements using the default and optimized HQN model and Shi's model and compared to the in situ θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> . Unbiased root-mean-square errors of less than 0.025 m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup> are obtained for these retrievals, which are well within the satellite mission requirements. This study demonstrates that the multiangular T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> modeling can be enhanced with site-specific calibration of the HQN model that also leads to the improvement of the θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> retrievals, and consideration of polarization mixing is necessary for L-band emission modeling.

Assessment of Soil Moisture SMAP Retrievals and ELBARA-III Measurements in a Tibetan Meadow Ecosystem

This letter presents the results evaluating retrievals of liquid water content (θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> ) performed with a zero-order radiative transfer (τ-ω) model under frozen and thawed soil conditions from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) and ELBARA-III brightness temperature (T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> ) measurements collected over a Tibetan meadow ecosystem. A good agreement is found between time series of the SMAP and ELBARA-III measured T <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</sup> resulting in a Pearson product-moment coefficient (R) larger than 0.87. Differences noted between the two data sets can be associated with discrepancies in θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> measured in the specific footprints, whereby the SMAP measurements are best explained by the in situ θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> . Furthermore, the in situ θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> has a better agreement with the horizontally polarized SMAP and ELBARA-III measurements (THB ) in the cold season, whereas the vertically polarized measurements (TVB ) are1111better correlated with θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> in the warm season. With the implementation of new vegetation and surface roughness parameterizations for the τ-ω model, the dynamics of in situ θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> is better reproduced by corresponding retrievals for both frozen and thawed soil conditions, leading to the reduction in the unbiased root-mean-square error (ubRMSE) by more than 31% in comparison with these retrievals using SMAP default parameterizations. Notably, the single-channel algorithm configured with the new parameterizations using SMAP TVB measured during the ascending overpass provides the best θ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">liq</sub> retrievals with a ubRMSE of 0.035 m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> ·m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup> that is well within the SMAP mission requirements.

Nitrogen addition shapes soil enzyme activity patterns by changing pH rather than the composition of the plant and microbial communities in an alpine meadow soil

Increasing nitrogen (N) deposition has considerable effects on soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition mediated by soil enzyme activities. Few studies, however, have explored how N addition shapes soil enzyme activity patterns by changing plants, soils and microbes. We conducted a five-year field fertilization experiment (0, 5, 10, and 15 g N m−2 yr.−1) to study how N addition affected soil enzyme activity patterns in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm) in a Tibetan alpine meadow. Enzyme activity patterns were calculated by the percentage of the sum of all measured enzyme activities. The composition of the plant and microbial communities were evaluated through measuring the abundance of plant functional groups and quantifying microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), respectively. Soil pH and available N were also measured. We found that soil N availability primarily controlled plant community composition, but pH controlled the composition of the microbial community, irrespective of soil depth. Soil enzyme activity patterns differed between two soil depths and among N addition rates. Importantly, N addition shaped soil enzyme activity patterns through the changes in soil pH rather than via the composition of the plant and microbial communities. Our findings indicate that N addition can affect components of plant-soil system and, in particular, weaken the linkages between plant and microbial communities and enzyme activity patterns. The work suggests that N enrichment-induced soil acidification plays a key role in SOM decomposition and nutrient cycling in the Tibetan meadow ecosystem.

Sampling depth of L-band radiometer measurements of soil moisture and freeze-thaw dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau

Knowing the exact sampling depth of microwave radiometry is essential for quantifying the performance and appreciation of the applicability of satellite soil moisture products. We investigate in this study the sampling depth (δSM) of the L-band microwave emission under frozen and thawed soil conditions on the Tibetan Plateau. Two years of diurnal brightness temperature (TBp) measurements at a time interval of 30 min are collected by the ELBARA-III radiometer deployed at a Tibetan meadow site. Vertical profiles of soil temperature and volumetric liquid water content (θliq) are measured simultaneously at soil depths up to 1 m below the surface. The impact of the θliq measured at different depths on the microwave emission simulations is assessed using the τ-ω emission model, whereby the permittivity of frozen and thawed soil is estimated by the four-phase dielectric mixing model. It is found that: 1) the sampling depth for the effective temperature depends on the magnitude of θliq, and is estimated to be, on average, about 50 and 15 cm for the cold dry and wet warm period, respectively, because of the seasonality in θliq; 2) the δSM is determined at 2.5 cm for both frozen and thawed soil conditions during both cold and warm periods, which is shallower than the commonly used θliq measurement depth (i.e. 5 cm) adopted for the in-situ monitoring networks across the globe; 3) the TBp simulations performed with the θliq measurements taken at the estimated δSM of 2.5 cm result in lower unbiased root mean squared errors, about 14% (3.16 K) and 22% (3.36 K) for the horizontal and vertical polarizations respectively, in comparison to the simulations with the θliq measurements taken from 5 cm soil depth; and 4) the θliq retrieved with the single channel algorithm from the ELBARA-III measured vertically polarized TBp are in better agreement with the θliq measured at 2.5 cm than the one measured at 5 cm. These findings are crucial for developing strategies for the calibration/validation as well as the application of satellite based soil moisture products relying on the L-band radiometry.

Impact of surface roughness, vegetation opacity and soil permittivity on L-band microwave emission and soil moisture retrieval in the third pole environment

The brightness temperature (TBp) observed by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission is significantly affected by the soil permittivity (εs), surface roughness and vegetation opacity (τp). This study assesses the impact of these factors on simulating the SMAP horizontally (p = H) and vertically (p = V) polarized TBp measurements and retrieving the liquid soil water content (θliq) for both frozen and thawed soils in the typical Tibetan desert and meadow ecosystems. For this investigation, the zero-order approximation of the radiative transfer equations, i.e., τ-ω emission model, is configured with surface roughness and τp parameterizations adopted by current SMAP soil moisture retrieval algorithms, and the εs is computed with the four-phase dielectric mixing model that is applicable for both frozen and thawed soils.For the Tibetan desert site, the τ-ω emission model with above configurations underestimates year-round the SMAP TBH measurements (bias > 20 K), while TBV are underestimated during the cold season. Implementation of a new surface roughness parameterization reduces the TBH underestimation, and the improved TBp simulations lead to better θliq retrievals produced by the single channel algorithm (SCA) using the TBV as well as TBH measurements. The remaining TBH and TBV underestimations are removed by further adopting a new εs parameterization.For the Tibetan meadow site, the τ-ω emission model overestimates both TBH and TBV during the warm season and underestimates TBH during the cold season when the vegetation is sparse. Implementation of the new surface roughness parameterization reduces the TBH underestimation, and further the TBp overestimation is mitigated by adopting a new τp parameterization derived from a discrete radiative transfer model previously developed and tested for the same site. The in-situ measured θliq dynamics are better captured by corresponding retrievals for both frozen and thawed soils with implementation of the new surface roughness and τp parameterizations, which reduces the unbiased RMSEs by more than 40%. The parameterizations developed in this study are useful to provide consistent and reasonable TBp simulations and θliq retrievals over the Tibetan Plateau for both frozen and thawed soils based on both SMAP TBH and TBV measurements.

Evaluation of Noah Frozen Soil Parameterization for Application to a Tibetan Meadow Ecosystem

Abstract This study evaluates the Noah land surface model (LSM) in its ability to simulate water and heat exchanges over frozen ground in a Tibetan meadow ecosystem. A comprehensive dataset including in situ micrometeorological and soil moisture–temperature profile measurements collected between November and March is utilized, and analyses of the measurements reveal that the measured soil freezing characteristics are better captured by 1) modifying the parameter bl implemented in the current Noah LSM that constrains the shape parameter of soil water retention curve utilized by the water potential freezing point depression equation to produce appropriate liquid water content θliq under subzero temperature conditions and 2) neglecting the ice effect on soil-specific surface and thus matric potential via setting the empirical parameter that accounts for the effect of increase in specific surface of soil particles and ice–liquid water ck to zero. The numerical experiments performed with the Noah model run show that in comparison to the default Noah LSM, adoption of ck = 0 and site-specific bl values reduces the overestimation of θliq across the soil profile. Implementation of augmentations such as the parameterization of diurnally varying thermal roughness length resolves the overestimation of daytime turbulent heat fluxes and underestimation of surface temperature. Further adoption of a new heat conductivity parameterization reduces the overestimation of nighttime surface temperature. An appropriate treatment of phase change efficiency that accounts for changing freezing rate with varying liquid water contents is also needed to reduce the temperature underestimation across soil profiles.

N addition suppresses the performance of grassland caterpillars (Gynaephora alpherakjj) by decreasing ground temperature

AbstractNitrogen deposition may stimulate plant biomass production and improve the quality of plant tissue, with both effects potentially facilitating herbivore growth and development. We hypothesized that simulated N deposition (N addition) would facilitate the growth and development of the grassland caterpillar Gynaephora alpherakjj, a notorious pest species in the alpine Tibetan meadow. We tested this hypothesis in two complementary experiments. The first field experiment tested N (ambient N levels vs. N addition) and caterpillar effects (caterpillar absence vs. presence) on plant community and sedge (major food plant species for caterpillars) biomass, growth, and development rate of the caterpillars, and microhabitat temperature. The second chamber experiment tested N addition effects through plant tissue quality on caterpillar performance. Results show that N addition increased the biomass and leaf N concentration of the sedge species, but decreased the feeding time, growth, and development rate of the caterpillars in the field experiment. The independent chamber experiment showed that increased leaf N facilitated the caterpillar growth and development. These results suggest that the reduced performance of caterpillars was not caused by an N addition‐induced change in food quality. By contrast, N addition significantly reduced the ground surface temperature presumably because of canopy shading, as indicated by increased plant height and biomass in the N addition treatment. A significant quadratic relationship between ground surface temperature and the number of feeding caterpillars in the field experiment explained the difference in feeding time between the N addition and ambient N treatments. It can thus be concluded that N addition reduced caterpillar performance by stimulating plant growth leading to reduced ground surface temperatures, which decreased caterpillar feeding activity. Our results suggest that the effect of N deposition on abiotic factors could be critical to the growth, development, and survival of immobile herbivore species or the individuals at immobile stages that cannot quickly respond to changing microclimatic environments.

Declining Precipitation Enhances the Effect of Warming on Phenological Variation in a Semiarid Tibetan Meadow Steppe

Abstract: Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator of global warming, especially on the Tibetan Plateau. However, whether climate warming has enhanced the advance of grassland phenology since 2000 remains debated and little is known about the warming effect on semiarid grassland phenology and interactions with early growing season precipitation. In this study, we extracted phenological changes from average NDVI in the growing season (GNDVI) to analyze the relationship between changes in NDVI, phenology and climate in the Northern Tibetan Damxung grassland from 2000 to 2014. The GNDVI of the grassland declined. Interannual variation of GNDVI was mainly affected by mean temperature from late May to July and precipitation from April to August. The length of the growing season was significantly shortened due to a delay in the beginning of the growing season and no advancement of the end of the growing season, largely caused by climate warming and enhanced by decreasing precipitation in spring. Water avai...

Elevation, moisture and shade drive the functional and phylogenetic meadow communities’ assembly in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Despite a long history of alpine meadows studies, uncertainty remains about the importance of environmental factors in structuring their assembly. We examined the functional and phylogenetic structure of 170 alpine Tibetan meadow communities in relation to elevation, soil moisture and shade. Functional community structure was estimated with both communityweighted mean (CWM) trait values for specific leaf area (SLA), plant height and seed mass and functional diversity (Rao’s quadratic index) for their traits individually and in combination (multivariate functional diversity). We found that shade induced by woody plants significantly increased the phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of SLA of co-occurring species, suggesting that woody plants behave as “ecosystem engineers” creating a different environment that allows the existence of shade tolerant species and thereby facilitates the coexistence of plant species with different light resource acquisition strategies. We also found evidence for a clear decrease in phylogenetic diversity, CWM and functional diversity related to plant height in the two extreme, both the dry and wet, soil moisture conditions. This indicates that both drought and excess moisture may act as environmental filters selecting species with close phylogenetic relationships and similar height. Moreover, we detected significant decreases in both CWM and functional diversity for seed mass along elevational gradients, suggesting that low net primary productivity (NPP) limits seed size. Finally, because of different individual trait responses to environmental factors, the multivariate functional diversity did not change across environmental gradients. This lack of multivariate response supports the hypothesis that multiple processes, such as environmental filtering, competition and facilitation, may operate simultaneously and exert opposing effects on community assembly along different niche (e.g., water use, light acquisition) axes, resulting in no overall functional community structure change. This contrast between individual and multivariate trait patterns highlights the importance of examining individual traits linked with different ecological processes to better understand the mechanisms of community assembly.

The effects of fertilization on the trait–abundance relationships in a Tibetan alpine meadow community

Aims Comparisons of the trait-abundance relationships from various habitat types are critical for community ecology, which can offer us insights about the mechanisms underlying the local community assembly, such as the relative role of neutral vs. niche processes in shaping community structure. Here, we explored the responses of trait-abundance relationships to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilization in an alpine meadow. Methods Five fertilization treatments (an unfertilized control and additions of N, P, K and NPK respectively) were implemented using randomized block design in an alpine Tibetan meadow. Species relative abundance (SRA), plant above-ground biomass and species richness were measured in each plot. For 24 common species, we measured species functional traits: saturated height, specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) in each treatment but seed size only in the unfertilized control. Standard major axis (SMA) regression and phylogenetically independent contrasts (PICs) analysis were used to analyse species trait-abundance relationships in response to different fertilization treatments. Important Findings Positive correlations between SRA and saturated height were raised following N, P and NPK fertilizations, which indicated an increase in light competition in these plots. In P fertilized plots, SRA was also positively correlated with LDMC because tall grasses with a nutrients conservation strategy often have a relative competitive advantage in capturing limited light and soil nutrients. In K fertilized plots, neither the trait-abundance relationships nor above-ground biomass or species richness significantly differed from that in the control, which suggests that K was not a limiting resource in our study site. These significant correlations between species traits and relative abundance in fertilized treatment suggest that trait-based selection plays an important role in determining species abundance within local communities in alpine meadows.

Livestock grazing ingestion suppressed the dominant species population (Stipa aliena) germination: a laboratory experiment

Grazing has an important effect on population dynamics in grassland vegetation. This paper aims at providing information on the impact of livestock ingestion on seed germination in a Tibetan meadow. We conducted a laboratory germination experiment in which Stipa aliena seeds were treated by yak and Tibetan sheep rumen fluids and yak dung extract with undiluted, 1‐fold and 10‐fold diluted solutions. The results showed that seed germinability was restrained in all these treatments. In the control treatment, 66.2% of the seeds germinated, while there was almost no S. aliena germination in the undiluted and 1‐fold diluted solutions of both yak and Tibetan sheep rumen fluids. Yak dung extract had relatively less effect on seed germination. Additionally, the primary effect of rumen fluid seems to be that it kills part of the seeds rather than delaying germination. Seed death may be due to the acidity of the fluid or/and due to the effect of microorganisms in the fluid. The negative effects of livestock digestive juices on S. aliena germination may constitute a mechanism explaining the population dynamics in alpine meadows of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau.

Shifting phenology and abundance under experimental warming alters trophic relationships and plant reproductive capacity

Phenological mismatches due to climate change may have important ecological consequences. In a three-year study, phenological shifts due to experimental warming markedly altered trophic relationships between plants and insect herbivores, causing a dramatic decline of reproductive capacity for one of the plant species. In a Tibetan meadow, the gentian (Gentiana formosa) typically flowers after the peak larva density of a noctuid moth (Melanchra pisi) that primarily feeds on a dominant forb (anemone, Anemone trullifolia var. linearis). However, artificial warming of approximately 1.5 degrees C advanced gentian flower phenology and anemone vegetative phenology by a week, but delayed moth larvae emergence by two weeks. The warming increased larval density 10-fold, but decreased anemone density by 30%. The phenological and density shifts under warmed conditions resulted in the insect larvae feeding substantially on the gentian flowers and ovules; there was approximately 100-fold more damage in warmed than in unwarmed chambers. This radically increased trophic connection reduced gentian plant reproduction and likely contributed to its reduced abundance in the warmed chambers.