Alpine Habitat Dynamics and Avian Biodiversity in Different Land-use Regimes on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Alpine Habitat Dynamics and Avian Biodiversity in Different Land-use Regimes on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau PDF Author: Li Li
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : de
Pages :

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Alpine Habitat Dynamics and Avian Biodiversity in Different Land-use Regimes on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Alpine Habitat Dynamics and Avian Biodiversity in Different Land-use Regimes on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau PDF Author: Li Li
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : de
Pages :

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Mountain biodiversity, land use dynamics, and traditional ecological knowledge

Mountain biodiversity, land use dynamics, and traditional ecological knowledge PDF Author: P. S. Ramakrishnan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biodiversity conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
With reference to India.

The Biology of Alpine Habitats

The Biology of Alpine Habitats PDF Author: Laszlo Nagy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191546577
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This book is unique in providing a global overview of alpine (high mountain) habitats that occur above the natural (cold-limited) tree line, describing the factors that have shaped them over both ecological and evolutionary timescales. The broad geographic coverage helps synthesise common features whilst revealing differences in the world's major alpine systems from the Arctic to the Tropics. The words "barren" and "wasteland" have often been applied to describe landscapes beyond the treeline. However, a closer look reveals a large diversity of habitats, assemblages and individual taxa, largely connected to topographic diversity within individual alpine regions. The book considers habitat-forming factors (landforms, energy and climate, hydrology, soils, and vegetation) individually, as well as their composite impacts on habitat characteristics. Evolution and population processes are examined in the context of the responsiveness / resilience of alpine habitats to global change. Finally, a critical assessment of the potential impacts of climate change, atmospheric pollutants and land use is made and related to the management and conservation options available for these unique habitats.

Landscape Change in Southwest China's Himalayan Mountains

Landscape Change in Southwest China's Himalayan Mountains PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Land use and land cover change (LULCC) is the main cause of biodiversity declines worldwide. Many of the remaining high-diversity ecosystems are located in developing countries, which are experiencing rapid economic development, population growth, conservation activity and climate change. These drivers interact at multiple spatial and temporal scales to form complex LULCC dynamics, with unexpected consequences for biodiversity. My overarching goal was to identify effective conservation strategies in developing countries. To this end, I studied land cover change, its drivers, and implications for biodiversity in northwest (NW) Yunnan, a biodiversity hotspot in the remote Chinese Himalayas. First, I used advanced remote sensing analysis to understand the consequences of the logging ban and ecotourism development for China's remaining old-growth forests. I found that clearing of high-diversity old-growth forest accelerated, from approximately 1100 hectares/year before the logging ban (1990 to 1999), to 1550 hectares/year after the logging ban (1999 to 2009). Paradoxically, old-growth forest clearing accelerated most rapidly where ecotourism was most prominent. Second, I analyzed change in alpine meadows, which have exceptionally high species richness, beta diversity, and endemism. I found that, between 1990 and 2009, at least 39% of alpine meadows converted to woody shrubs. The patterns of change suggest that a catastrophic regime shift is occurring, driven by feedback mechanisms involving climate change, environmental policy that prohibited intentional burning and economic development that increased grazing pressure. Finally, I studied the role of Tibetan sacred forests for avian biodiversity, and found that sacred forests protected old-growth forest ecosystems, supported a significantly different bird community than the surrounding matrix, and had higher bird species richness at multiple scales. In general, my dissertation shows that complex interactions between environmental policy, economic development strategy, and climate change in tightly coupled human-nature systems can lead to unexpected trajectories of land cover change. Satellite imagery, when paired with ecological field data, can measure these broad-scale changes and their implications for biodiversity, thereby informing policy and management in a timely manner.

Vegetation-based Degradation and Restoration on the Alpine Grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau

Vegetation-based Degradation and Restoration on the Alpine Grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau PDF Author: Yanfu Bai
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832553109
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Known as the “roof of the world,” the Tibetan Plateau is the highest and largest plateau on Earth. Tibetan Plateau hosts several mountain ecosystems characterized by high elevations, cold conditions, and a wide range in water availability. Its unique physical and geographical environment includes ecosystems typical for alpine regions, classified as alpine grasslands, which account for 50-70% of the total land area of the Tibetan plateau. Most of these grasslands contain fragile tundra-like environments which are seriously affected by anthropogenic modifications and whose restoration presents a challenge. These natural grassland types include alpine deserts, alpine steppes, alpine meadows, and alpine swamp meadows along precipitation gradients, as well as the transition types between them. Alpine grasslands remain subject to severe degradation by multiple factors, mainly overgrazing and climate warming. As a result, grasslands exhibit a decreased capacity to support biodiversity and complexity, and more generally, ecosystem functions. Therefore, these changes also affect social and recreational activities and restrict access to clean water and food by local communities.

The Land of the Blue Poppy

The Land of the Blue Poppy PDF Author: Francis Kingdon-Ward
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Botany
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Mountain Geoecology and Sustainable Development of the Tibetan Plateau

Mountain Geoecology and Sustainable Development of the Tibetan Plateau PDF Author: Du Zheng
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401009651
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
Intense uplift of the Tibetan Plateau in Late Cenozoic Era is one of the most important events in geological history of the Earth. The plateau offers an ideal region for studying of lithospheric formation and evolution, probing into the mechanism of crustal movement, and understanding of changes in environments and geo-ecosystems in Asia. Intense uplift ofthe plateau resulted in drastic changes of natural environment and apparent regional differentiation on the plateau proper and neighboring regions. The plateau therefore becomes a sensitive area of climate change in Asian monsoon region, which is closely related to the global change. As a special physical unit, its ecosystems occupy a prominent position in the world. Due to its extremely high elevation and great extent, natural types and characteristics of physical landscapes on the plateau are quite different from those in lowlands at comparable latitudes, and environments are also different from those in high latitudinal zones. Consequently, the Tibetan Plateau has been classified as one of three giant physical regions in China and considered as a unique unit on Earth. Scientific surveys and expeditions to the Tibetan Plateau on large scale began from 1950's. Amongst them, a number of comprehensive scientific expeditions to the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region, Hengduan Mts. areas, Karakorum and Kunlun Mts. regions, as well as the Hoh Xii Mts. areas, have been successively carried out by the Integrated Scientific Expedition to Tibetan Plateau, sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences since 1973.

Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe

Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe PDF Author: George B. Schaller
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226736532
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
The Chang Tang, the vast, remote Tibetan steppe, is one of the most forbidding places on earth. Yet this harsh land is home to a unique assemblage of large mammals, including Tibetan antelope, gazelle, argali sheep, wild ass, wild yak, wolves, snow leopards, and others. Since 1985, George B. Schaller and his Chinese and Tibetan co-workers have surveyed the flora and fauna of the Chang Tang. Their research provides the first detailed look at the natural history of one of the world's least known ecosystems.

Pastures of Change

Pastures of Change PDF Author: Gillian G. Tan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319765531
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This book offers a novel examination of socio-environmental change in a nomadic pastoralist area of the eastern Tibetan plateau. Drawing on long-term fieldwork that underscores an ethnography of local nomadic pastoralists, international development organisations, and Chinese government policies, the book argues that careful analysis and comparison of the different epistemologies and norms about "change" are vital to any critical appraisal of developments - often contested - on the grasslands of Eastern Tibet. Tibetan nomads have developed a way of life that is dependent in multiple ways on their animals and shaped by the phenomenological experience of mobility. These pastoralists have adapted to many changes in their social, political and environmental contexts over time. From the earliest historically recorded systems of segmentary lineage to the incorporation first into local fiefdoms and then into the Chinese state (of both Nationalist and Communist governments), Tibetan pastoralists have maintained their way of life, complemented by interactions with "the outside world". Rapid changes brought about by an intensification of interactions with the outside world call into question the sustained viability of a nomadic way of life, particularly as pastoralists themselves sell their herds and settle into towns. This book probes how we can more clearly understand these changes by looking specifically at one particular area of high-altitude grasslands in the Tibetan Plateau.

Tibet Wild

Tibet Wild PDF Author: George B. Schaller
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 9781597264587
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
George Schaller has spent much of his life traversing wild and isolated places in his quest to understand and conserve threatened species—from mountain gorillas in the Virunga to snow leopards in the Himalaya. Throughout his career, Schaller has spent more time in Tibet than anywhere else, devoting over thirty years to the region's unique wildlife, culture, and landscapes. Tibet Wild is Schaller’s account of three decades of exploration in the remote stretches of Tibet. As human development accelerated, Schaller watched the clash between wildlife and people become more common—and more destructive. What began as a scientific endeavor became a mission: to work with local communities, regional leaders, and national governments to protect the ecological richness and culture of the Tibetan Plateau. Whether tracking brown bears, penning fables about the tiny pika, or promoting a groundbreaking conservation preserve, Schaller has pursued his goal with persistence and good humor. Tibet Wild is an intimate journey through the wilderness of Tibet, guided by the careful gaze and unwavering passion of a life-long naturalist.