Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau
The drylands on the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau are extremely sensitive to climate change and grazing activities. However, there is a lack of quantitative study of the combined effects of aridity and grazing pressure, which are vital in determining the sustainable grazing areas. In this study, a 2-dimens...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| Online Access: | https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0284 |
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| author | Tong Lu Changjia Li Shuai Wang Wenxin Zhou Yazhe Li Zhenhua Mao Qiang Tang Jianbo Liu Jiren Xu |
| author_facet | Tong Lu Changjia Li Shuai Wang Wenxin Zhou Yazhe Li Zhenhua Mao Qiang Tang Jianbo Liu Jiren Xu |
| author_sort | Tong Lu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The drylands on the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau are extremely sensitive to climate change and grazing activities. However, there is a lack of quantitative study of the combined effects of aridity and grazing pressure, which are vital in determining the sustainable grazing areas. In this study, a 2-dimensional threshold model was employed to assess the maximum allowable grazing pressure and determine the sustainable grazing areas under both historical conditions and projected climate change scenarios up to 2100. Results showed that 62.2% of the drylands under historical condition were unsuitable for grazing and 6.7% exceeded the ecological threshold, while 31.1% fell within the areas with sustainable grazing. Model projections indicate a trend toward humidification across the drylands under the climate change scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. This process is expected to partially alleviate the negative impact of grazing, leading to an expansion of sustainable grazing areas to approximately 41.0% by 2100. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing grazing strategies in the drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau in the future. The drylands on the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau are extremely sensitive to climate change and grazing activities. However, there is a lack of quantitative study of the combined effects of aridity and grazing pressure, which are vital in determining the sustainable grazing areas. In this study, a 2-dimensional threshold model was employed to assess the maximum allowable grazing pressure and determine the sustainable grazing areas under both historical conditions and projected climate change scenarios up to 2100. Results showed that 62.2% of the drylands under historical condition were unsuitable for grazing and 6.7% exceeded the ecological threshold, while 31.1% fell within the areas with sustainable grazing. Model projections indicate a trend toward humidification across the drylands under the climate change scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. This process is expected to partially alleviate the negative impact of grazing, leading to an expansion of sustainable grazing areas to approximately 41.0% by 2100. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing grazing strategies in the drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau in the future. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d6c3cb0c2f3046219cf6efde608fabbc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2332-8878 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-d6c3cb0c2f3046219cf6efde608fabbc2024-12-18T20:32:18ZengAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Ecosystem Health and Sustainability2332-88782024-01-011010.34133/ehs.0284Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang PlateauTong Lu0Changjia Li1Shuai Wang2Wenxin Zhou3Yazhe Li4Zhenhua Mao5Qiang Tang6Jianbo Liu7Jiren Xu8State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.Ordos Water Conservancy Undertakings Development Center, Ordos 017200, China.Chongqing Jinfo Mountain Karst Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China.School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, Dumfries DG1 4ZL, UK.The drylands on the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau are extremely sensitive to climate change and grazing activities. However, there is a lack of quantitative study of the combined effects of aridity and grazing pressure, which are vital in determining the sustainable grazing areas. In this study, a 2-dimensional threshold model was employed to assess the maximum allowable grazing pressure and determine the sustainable grazing areas under both historical conditions and projected climate change scenarios up to 2100. Results showed that 62.2% of the drylands under historical condition were unsuitable for grazing and 6.7% exceeded the ecological threshold, while 31.1% fell within the areas with sustainable grazing. Model projections indicate a trend toward humidification across the drylands under the climate change scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. This process is expected to partially alleviate the negative impact of grazing, leading to an expansion of sustainable grazing areas to approximately 41.0% by 2100. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing grazing strategies in the drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau in the future. The drylands on the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau are extremely sensitive to climate change and grazing activities. However, there is a lack of quantitative study of the combined effects of aridity and grazing pressure, which are vital in determining the sustainable grazing areas. In this study, a 2-dimensional threshold model was employed to assess the maximum allowable grazing pressure and determine the sustainable grazing areas under both historical conditions and projected climate change scenarios up to 2100. Results showed that 62.2% of the drylands under historical condition were unsuitable for grazing and 6.7% exceeded the ecological threshold, while 31.1% fell within the areas with sustainable grazing. Model projections indicate a trend toward humidification across the drylands under the climate change scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. This process is expected to partially alleviate the negative impact of grazing, leading to an expansion of sustainable grazing areas to approximately 41.0% by 2100. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing grazing strategies in the drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau in the future.https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0284 |
| spellingShingle | Tong Lu Changjia Li Shuai Wang Wenxin Zhou Yazhe Li Zhenhua Mao Qiang Tang Jianbo Liu Jiren Xu Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| title | Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau |
| title_full | Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau |
| title_short | Projected Humidification Expands the Sustainable Grazing Areas in the Drylands of the Qinghai–Xizang Plateau |
| title_sort | projected humidification expands the sustainable grazing areas in the drylands of the qinghai xizang plateau |
| url | https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0284 |
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