Wangping Li

Modeling permafrost properties in the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau

Water and heat dynamics in the active layer at a monitoring site in the Tanggula Mountains, located in the permafrost region of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QXP), were studied using the physical-process-based COUPMODEL model, including the interaction between soil temperature and moisture under freeze-thaw cycles. Meteorological, ground temperature and moisture data from different depths within the active layer were used to calibrate and validate the model. The results indicate that the calibrated model satisfactorily simulates the soil temperatures from the top to the bottom of the soil layers as well as the moisture content of the active layer in permafrost regions. The simulated soil heat flux at depths of 0 to 20 cm was consistent with the monitoring data, and the simulations of the radiation balance components were reasonable. Energy consumed for phase change was estimated from the simulated ice content during the freeze/thaw processes from 2007 to 2008. Using this model, the active layer thickness and the energy consumed for phase change were predicted for future climate warming scenarios. The model predicts an increase of the active layer thickness from the current 330 cm to approximately 350–390 cm as a result of a 1–2°C warming. However, the effect active layer thickness of more precipitation is limited when the precipitation is increased by 20%–50%. The COUPMODEL provides a useful tool for predicting and understanding the fate of permafrost in the QXP under a warming climate.

Soil moisture and texture primarily control the soil nutrient stoichiometry across the Tibetan grassland

Soil nutrient stoichiometry and its environmental controllers play vital roles in understanding soil-plant interaction and nutrient cycling under a changing environment, while they remain poorly understood in alpine grassland due to lack of systematic field investigations. We examined the patterns and controls of soil nutrients stoichiometry for the top 10cm soils across the Tibetan ecosystems. Soil nutrient stoichiometry varied substantially among vegetation types. Alpine swamp meadow had larger topsoil C:N, C:P, N:P, and C:K ratios compared to the alpine meadow, alpine steppe, and alpine desert. In addition, the presence or absence of permafrost did not significantly impact soil nutrient stoichiometry in Tibetan grassland. Moreover, clay and silt contents explained approximately 32.5% of the total variation in soil C:N ratio. Climate, topography, soil properties, and vegetation combined to explain 10.3-13.2% for the stoichiometry of soil C:P, N:P, and C:K. Furthermore, soil C and N were weakly related to P and K in alpine grassland. These results indicated that the nutrient limitation in alpine ecosystem might shifts from N-limited to P-limited or K-limited due to the increase of N deposition and decrease of soil P and K contents under the changing climate conditions and weathering stages. Finally, we suggested that soil moisture and mud content could be good predictors of topsoil nutrient stoichiometry in Tibetan grassland.

Permafrost and land cover as controlling factors for light fraction organic matter on the southern Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Permafrost degradation can stimulate the decomposition of organic soil matter and cause a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The light fraction organic matter (LFOM) is a labile substrate for microbial decomposition and probably plays an important role in future permafrost carbon cycles. However, little is known about the distribution of LFOM and its relationship with permafrost and environmental factors. Here, we investigated the light fraction carbon (LFC) and nitrogen (LFN) contents and stocks under meadows and wet meadows with different permafrost conditions on the southern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that LFC and LFN were mainly distributed in the upper 30cm of soils, and the sites with permafrost had significantly higher contents of LFC and LFN than those from the sites without existing permafrost. The LFC and LFN decreased sharply with depth, suggesting that the soil organic matter (SOM) in this area was highly decomposed in deep soils. Soil moisture and bulk density explained approximately 50% of the variances in LFC and LFN for all the sampling sites, while soil moisture explained approximately 30% of the variance in permafrost sites. Both the C:N ratios and LFC:LFN ratios in the sites with permafrost were higher than those in the sites without permafrost. The results suggested that the permafrost and land cover types are the main factors controlling LFOM content and stock, and that permafrost degradation would lead to a decrease of LFOM and soil C:N ratios, thus accelerating the decomposition of SOM.

Distribution of Soils and Landform Relationships in Permafrost Regions of the Western Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau, China

Abstract We evaluated software predictions involving soil distributions across landscape positions using selected soil morphology and terrain features in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau. The relationships presented are based on the Soil Taxonomy System and the 2010 soil suborders coupled with defined environmental factors and predict the spatial distribution of the soil suborders, using the See 5.0 decision tree software integrated with the soil-land inference model. Ten environmental factors closely related to permafrost-affected soil formation were selected as variables for the model: soil parent material, land surface temperatures, elevation, slope gradient, slope aspect, planform and profile curvatures, wetness index, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. A total of 62 soil profiles from 2010 were used for model building and validation. The results showed that the soils in the study area were primarily Turbels, Cryids, and Psamments, which cover 47.9%, 22.3%, and 11.7%, respectively, of the total area. Altitude had the closest relationship with soil type; in addition, permafrost played an important role in the soil-forming processes, which led to higher water content in the higher altitudes than in the lower altitudes in the arid areas. The thickness of the active layer in the study area was usually more than 2 m; however, additional consideration of the thickness of the active layer within the Soil Taxonomy System is required.

Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen pools in permafrost zones of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

There are several publications related to the soil organic carbon (SOC) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). However, most of these reports were from different parts of the plateau with various sampling depth. Here, we present the results from a systematic sampling and analysis of 200 soil pits. Most of the pits were deeper than 2 m from an east-west transect across the plateau. The SOC and total nitrogen (TN) pools of the 148 × 104 km2, the area of the permafrost zone, for the upper 2 m soils calculated from the vegetation map were estimated to be 17.07 Pg (interquartile range: 11.34–25.33 Pg) and 1.72 Pg (interquartile range: 1.08–2.06 Pg), respectively. We also predicted the distribution of land cover types in 2050 and 2070 using decision tree rules and climate scenarios, and then predicted SOC and TN pools of this region. The results suggested that the SOC and TN pools will decrease in the future. The results not only contribute to the carbon and nitrogen storage and stocks in the permafrost regions as a whole but most importantly, to our knowledge of the possible changes of C and N storage on the QTP in the future.

Soil infiltration processes of different underlying surfaces in the permafrost region on the Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT Soil infiltration processes were evaluated under field conditions by double-ring infiltrometers with different underlying surfaces in permafrost regions of the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that initial infiltration rates, stable soil infiltration rates and cumulative soil infiltration are strongly dependent on the underlying surface types, with the highest initial and stable soil infiltration rates in the alpine desert steppe, and the lowest in alpine meadow. The effects of soil moisture and texture on infiltration processes were also assessed. Within the same underlying surfaces, the values of infiltration parameters increased with the amount of vegetation cover, while soil moisture and soil infiltration rates displayed opposing trends, with fitting slopes of −0.03 and −0.01 for the initial and stable soil infiltration rates, respectively. The accuracies of the five models in simulating soil infiltration rates and seven models in predicting cumulative infiltration rates were evaluated against data generated from field experiments at four sites. Based on a comparative analysis, the Horton model provided the most complete understanding of the underlying surface effects on soil infiltration processes. Altogether, these findings show that different underlying surfaces can alter soil infiltration processes. This study provides a useful reference for understanding the parameterization of land surface processes for simulating changes in hydrological processes under global warming conditions in the permafrost region on the Tibetan Plateau.

First-principles study of ferromagnetism in Pd-doped and Pd- Cu-codoped BN

In this paper, we aimed at probing the ferromagnetism properties of Pd and Pd-Cu- codoped supercell BN based on the first-principles methods. The formation energy, lattice constants, energy band structures, spin density of state, energy difference between ferromagnetism (FM) and autiferromagnetism (AFM) orderings were calculated. Formation energy calculations showed that Pd atom tended to replace B atom in the supercell. Pd-doped BN exhibited a half-metallic ferromagnetic. And the ferromagnetism arised form the strong hybridization between the Pd4d and N2p state. Pd-Cu-codoped BN also displayed a half-metallic ferromagnetic. The incorporation of Pd and Pd-Cu induced some impurity energy differences between FM and AFM orderings. It also showed that FM state was the ground state, and room temperature ferromagnetism may be expected. These results pointed out the possibility of fabricating BN based on dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) by doping with Pd and Pd-Cu.