Zhang Mingli

Modeling the potential spatial distribution of endemic plant Potaninia mongolica

This study modeled the potential distribution of endemic Potaninia mongolica in the eastern Central Asian desert by using ecological niche model: the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP). We created predictive models using herbarium collection data and environmental layers. For model evaluation, we chose the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) as a single measure. Our results showed that: (1) GARP obtained high scores of performance (AUCs > 0.9); (2) the visual inspection of model results indicated that the generated most potential suitable areas for P. mongolica covered the most desert areas, specifically including the significant portions of southern Mongolia, such as Alashan Gobi, and the East Gobi; the Alashan Left and Right Banner as well as the northern areas of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; and the western Yumen, the middle Hexi Corridor of the Gansu Province; (3) the ecological niche of P. mongolica was defined in a widely arid environmental space: Max Temperature of Warmest Month were almost during 30.2–36.8 °C, Min Temperature of Coldest Month were ranged from −15.6 °C to −16.9 °C, and the Annual Precipitation were between 40–80 mm.

Predicting the potential distribution patterns of the rare plant Gymnocarpos przewalskii under present and future climate change

Knowledge about the geographic distribution of the rare and relic plant Gymnocarpos przewalskii is very important to inform conservation strategies. In this study, we attempt to simulate and predict the potential geographic distribution of the species under present and future climate change, using the model of maximum entropy (Maxent), a species distributional model. We created predicting models based on sixteen sampled localities and nineteen environmental layers. Our results indicated that the simulated present distributions agree well with the actual distribution ranges. Under the future climate scenario with Maximum and energy requirements, the G. przewalskii shift broadly northward and westward. Distribution patterns of the rare species changed greatly.

Comparison of satellite and ship observations for total cloud amount

The data series of monthly clouldiness over global ocean from COADS was compared with that of from satellite Nimbus-7 during April 1979 to March 1985. The correspondence between them is good. Both the two methods of observation can provide useful information of the distribution of cloudiness and the two data sets can be mutually complementary.