RESUMEN
The Qilian Mountains provide an ecological security barrier, and the region is an important river runoff area in China. Water resources play an essential role in the natural environment of Northwest China. This study used daily temperature and precipitation data from meteorological stations in the Qilian Mountains from 2003 to 2019, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite data. Additionally, we used the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite's monthly gravity field model data. Furthermore, we analyzed the characteristics of climate warming and humidification in the eastern, central, and western sections of the Qilian Mountains based on spatial precipitation interpolation and linear trend analysis. Finally, we examined the relationship between water storage changes and precipitation and its impact on vegetation ecology. The results revealed a significant warming and humidification trend in the western Qilian Mountains. The temperature increased significantly, and the increased precipitation rate in summer reached 1.5-3.1 mm/10a. Water storage in the Qilian Mountains displayed an increasing trend, with an increase of approximately 14.3 × 108 m3 over the 17 years study period, averaging an increase of 8.4 mm/year. The spatial distribution of water storage in the Qilian Mountains increased from north to south and east to west. There were noticeable seasonal differences, with the largest surplus occurring in the western Qilian Mountains (71.2 mm in summer). The fractional vegetation coverage in 95.2 % of the western Qilian Mountains and net primary productivity in 90.4 % of the area displayed an increasing trend, and vegetation ecology improved significantly. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of ecosystem and water storage changes in the Qilian Mountain area under the background of climate warming and humidification. The results obtained from this study provided an assessment of the vulnerability of alpine ecosystems and helped in making spatially explicit decisions for the rational utilization of water resources.
RESUMEN
Qilian Mountains, is an important ecological function area, an important ecological security barrier, the river runoff region in Northwest China, as well as a sensitive area to global climate change and fragile area of ecological environment. The ecological environment in this area played an important role in the economic development of Northwest China. Based on the observation data of temperature and precipitation in Qilian Mountains, MOD10A2 snow products and the flow data of Shiyang River, Heihe River and Shule River, we systematically analyzed the characteristics of climate change from 1961 to 2020, and the impacts of climate change on water resources under the scenario of climate warming. The results showed that, from 1961 to 2020, the annual average temperature increased significantly, with the rate reaching 0.39 â·(10 a)-1. The warming rate was the highest in the western part of Qilian Mountains, followed by the middle and eastern regions. The warming trend was the strongest in winter and the lowest in spring. The average temperature changed abruptly in 1997. The annual average precipitation increased with flucturation, with a rate of 10 mm·(10 a)-1, which increased most obviously in the middle of Qilian Mountains. After 2004, it entered a rainy period, with a warm and humid trend. The precipitation in the four seasons showed an increasing trend and the increase of precipitation in summer contributed the most to the annual precipitation. Annual precipitation was dominated by interannual scale change, and the contribution rate of 2.8-year was approximately 64.3%. The snow cover of Qilian Mountains was obviously affected by temperature and snowfall, which was negatively correlated with summer temperature and positively correlated with snowfall. From 2016 to 2020, the temperature increase had slowed down in Qilian Mountains, the snowfall had increased, and the snow cover tended to increase. After 2000, the temperature and precipitation increased more obviously, the meltwater from glacier and snow increased, the mountainous runoff of Shiyang River, Heihe River and Shule River had an increasing trend. Our findings are of great significance to the construction of ecological civilization and coping with climate change in Qilian Mountains.