We present fossil pollen data and discuss their climatic interpretations from a 688-cm-long sediment core from Hurleg Lake, a freshwater lake located in the Qaidam Basin on the NE Tibetan Plateau, just beyond the northern limit of the East Asian summer monsoon influence. The reconstruction of the Holocene vegetation and climate history was aided by modern surface pollen analysis. The 14000-yr c...

Vegetation recovery in severely disturbed alpine ecosystems can be accelerated through active restoration measures. This study evaluated the short-term effects of two treatments, planting propagated native Salix (willow) shrubs three different densities (1, 2.5, and 4 plants/m2) seeding grass Festuca ovina (sheep fescue), a heathland. We natural vegetation (i.e. cover, vascular plant species ri...

We investigate the temporal dynamics of shifts in phenological responses a range key stages growing season New Zealand’s three indigenous grassland types over last 16 years (2001–2016). A near-daily Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to extract five annual growth phenology indices, namely Start, End, Leng...

Permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has degraded over the last few decades. Its ecological effects have attracted great concern. Previous studies focused mostly at plot scale, and hypothesized that degradation of permafrost would cause lowering of the water table and drying of shallow soil and then degradation of alpine grassland. However, none has been done to test the hypothesis a...

Water is an important resource for plant life. Since climate scenarios for Switzerland predict an average reduction of 20% in summer precipitation until 2070, understanding ecosystem responses to water shortage, e.g. in terms of plant productivity, is of major concern. Thus, we tested the effects of simulated summer drought on three managed grasslands along an altitudinal gradient in Switzerlan...

Abstract. Understanding the differences and control factors of stable water isotopes in soil–plant–atmosphere continuum (SPAC) different vegetation zones is great significance revealing hydrological processes regional cycle mechanisms. From April 2018 to October 2019, we collected 1281 samples investigated isotopes' changes SPAC three (alpine meadows, forests, arid foothills) Shiyang River basi...