A series of saline soil-related problems, including salt expansion and collapse, frost heave and thaw settlement, threaten the safety of the road traffic and the built infrastructure in cold regions. This article presents a comprehensive review of the physical and mechanical properties, salt migration mechanisms of saline soil in cold environment, and the countermeasures in practice. It is organized as follows: (1) The basic physical characteristics; (2) The strength criteria and constitutive models; (3) Water and salt migration characteristics and mechanisms; and (4) Countermeasures of frost heave and salt expansion. The review provides a holistic perspective for recent progress in the strength characteristics, mechanisms of frost heave and salt expansion, engineering countermeasures of saline soil in cold regions. Future research is proposed on issues such as the effects of salt erosion on concrete and salt corrosion of metal under the joint action of evaporation and freeze-thaw cycles.

This study investigated the germination behavior and seedling growth of Pycnanthus angolensis seeds. The germination study was carried out in the laboratory and included pretreatment studies and observation of the seed-germination process. For each treatment, three replications of 20 seeds were sown in a transparent plastic germination box (12cm \times 22cm \times 5cm) lined with moistened filter paper at room temperature. To monitor seedling growth, seedlings were transplanted into pots filled with topsoil and laid out in a completely randomized design. Ten seedlings replicated thrice were measured monthly; and the shoot height, leaf area, and root length, as well as the fresh and dry weights of the seedlings, were recorded. Results showed that mechanically scarified seeds exhibited the significantly highest germination percent (83.33%, P <0.005), followed by control seeds (70.83%), whereas seeds treated with 98% sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) displayed the lowest germination percent (1.67). The endospermous seeds exhibited cryptogeal germination, while seeds stored for a month (with or without arils) failed to germinate. During seed germination, radicle protrusion continued with a pseudo-opening of the root, through which the brownish cotyledonary petiole was emitted, thus releasing the plumule at the posterior position. Moreover, P. angolensis exhibited a slow growth rate, attaining a shoot height of 73 cm within a year. The highest positive change in leaf number and area was recorded in the fourth month, a period during which the least change in shoot height occurred. The study concluded that mechanical scarification of the seeds ensured significant and faster germination than chemical scarification or no treatment at all. Additionally, P. angolensis displayed a cryptogeal germination, with the seedling growth of the tree species observed to be slow.

Saltation bombardment is a dominate dust emission mechanism in wind erosion. For loose surfaces, splash entrainment has been well understood theoretically. However, the mass loss predictions of cohesive soils are generally empirical in most wind erosion models. In this study, the soil particle detachment of a bare, smooth, dry, and uncrusted soil surface caused by saltation bombardment is modeled by means of classical mechanics. It is shown that detachment rate can be analytically expressed in terms of the kinetic energy or mass flux of saltating grains and several common mechanical parameters of soils, including Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus, cohesion and friction angle. The novel expressions can describe dust emission rate from cohesive surfaces and are helpful to quantify the anti-erodibility of soil. It is proposed that the mechanical properties of soils should be appropriately included in physically-based wind erosion models.

The extensive debris that covers glaciers in the ablation zone of the Himalayan region plays an important part in regulating ablation rates and water availability for the downstream region. The melt rate of ice is determined by the amount of heat conducted through debris material lying over the ice. This study presents the vertical temperature gradients, thermal properties in terms of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, and positive degree-day factors for the debris-covered portion of Lirung Glacier in Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalaya using field-based measurements from three different seasons. Field measurements include debris temperatures at different debris thicknesses, air temperature, and ice melt during the monsoon (2013), winter (2013), and pre-monsoon (2014) seasons. We used a thermal equation to estimate thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, and degree-day factors (DDF) were calculated from cumulative positive temperature and ice melt of the measurement period. Our analysis of debris temperature profiles at different depths of debris show the daily linear gradients of ?20.81 °C/m, 4.05 °C/m, and ?7.79 °C/m in the monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon seasons, respectively. The values of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity in the monsoon season were 10 times greater than in the winter season. The large difference in these values is attributed to surface temperature and moisture content within the debris. Similarly, we found higher values of DDFs at thinner debris for the pre-monsoon season than in the monsoon season although we observed less melting during the pre-monsoon season. This is attributed to higher cumulative temperature during the monsoon season than in the pre-monsoon season. Our study advances our understanding of heat conductivity through debris material in different seasons, which supports estimating ice melt and discharge from glacierized river basins with debris-covered glaciers in the Himalayan region.

A total of 71,177 glaciers exist on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI 6.0). Despite their large number, glacier ice thickness data are relatively scarce. This study utilizes digital elevation model data and ground-penetrating radar thickness measurements to estimate the distribution and variation of ice thickness of the Longbasaba Glacier using Glacier bed Topography (GlabTop), a full-width expansion model, and the Huss and Farinotti (HF) model. Results show that the average absolute deviations of GlabTop, the full-width expansion model, and the HF model are 9.8, 15.5, and 10.9 m, respectively, indicating that GlabTop performs the best in simulating glacier thickness distribution. During 1980-2015, the Longbasaba Glacier thinned by an average of 7.9±1.3 m or 0.23±0.04 m/a, and its ice volume shrunk by 0.28±0.04 km³ with an average reduction rate of 0.0081±0.0001 km³/a. In the investigation period, the area and volume of Longbasaba Lake expanded at rates of 0.12±0.01 km²/a and 0.0132±0.0018 km³/a, respectively. This proglacial lake could potentially extend up to 5,000 m from the lake dam.

In recent years, the desertification of alpine meadows has become a serious ecological problem and has gradually become a threat to regional economic activities in Maqu County. To reveal the mechanism for sandy desertification of alpine meadows, we conducted wind tunnel experiments on aeolian processes over sandy alpine meadows. Results show that the sand-flux profile of mix-sized sediment decays exponentially with increasing height. However, the profile pattern of a group of uniform-sized particles depends on the experimental wind speeds. The profile pattern of all the groups studied can be expressed by exponential decay functions when the wind speed is less than or equal to 16 m/s. while that for all the groups studied can be expressed by a Gaussian distribution function when the wind speed is above 16 m/s. The average saltation heights of mixed sands at wind speeds of 12 m/s, 16 m/s, 20 m/s, and 24 m/s were 2.74, 4.19, 5.28, and 6.12 cm, respectively. The mean grain size basically first decreases and then increases with increasing height under different wind speeds. The sorting improves with increasing wind speed, while the kurtosis and skewness show relationships with only the characteristics of the parent soil.

Debris-covered glaciers, characterized by the presence of supraglacial debris mantles in their ablation zones, are widespread in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and surroundings. For these glaciers, thin debris layers accelerate the melting of underlying ice compared to that of bare ice, while thick debris layers retard ice melting, called debris-cover effect. Knowledge about the thickness and thermal properties of debris cover on CPEC glaciers is still unclear, making it difficult to assess the regional debris-cover effect. In this study, thermal resistance of the debris layer estimated from remotely sensed data reveals that about 54.0% of CPEC glaciers are debris-covered glaciers, on which the total debris-covered area is about 5,072 km², accounting for 14.0% of the total glacier area of the study region. We find that marked difference in the extent and thickness of debris cover is apparent from region to region, as well as the debris-cover effect. 53.3% of the total debris-covered area of the study region is concentrated in Karakoram, followed by Pamir with 30.2% of the total debris-covered area. As revealed by the thermal resistance, the debris thickness is thick in Hindu Kush on average, with the mean thermal resistance of 7.0×10^-2 ((m²?K)/W), followed by Karakoram, while the thickness in western Himalaya is thin with the mean value of 2.0×10^-2 ((m²?K)/W). Our findings provide a basis for better assessments of changes in debris-covered glaciers and their associated hydrological impacts in the CPEC and surroundings.

Due to a series of linear projects built along National Highway 214, the second "Permafrost Engineering Corridor" on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has formed. In this paper, by overcoming the problems of data decentralization and standard inconsistency, permafrost characteristics and changes along the engineering corridor are systematically summarized based on the survey and monitoring data. The results show that: 1) Being controlled by elevation, the permafrost is distributed in flake discontinuity with mountains as the center along the line. The total length of the road section in permafrost regions is 365 km, of which the total length of the permafrost section of National Highway 214 is 216.7 km, and the total length of the permafrost section of Gong-Yu Expressway is 197.3 km. The mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) is higher than -1.5 °C, and permafrost with MAGT lower than -1.5 °C is only distributed in the sections at Bayan Har Mountain and E'la Mountain. There are obvious differences in the distribution of ground ice in the different sections along the engineering corridor. The sections with high ice content are mainly located in Zuimatan, Duogerong Plain and the top of north and south slope of Bayan Har Mountain. The permafrost thickness is controlled by the ground temperature, and permafrost thickness increases with the decrease of the ground temperature, with the change rate of about 37 m/°C. 2) Local factors (topography, landform, vegetation and lithology) affect the degradation process of permafrost, and then affect the distribution, ground temperature, thickness and ice content of permafrost. Asphalt pavement has greatly changed the heat exchange balance of the original ground, resulting in serious degradation of the permafrost. Due to the influence of roadbed direction trend, the phenomenon of shady-sunny slope is very significant in most sections along the line. The warming range of permafrost under the roadbed is gradually smaller with the increase of depth, so the thawing settlement of the shallow section with high ice-content permafrost is more significant.

An understanding of soil microbial communities is crucial in roadside soil environmental assessments. The 16S rRNA sequencing of a stressed microbial community in soil adjacent to the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (QTH) revealed that the accumulation of heavy metals (over about 10 years) has affected the diversity of bacterial abundance and microbial community structure. The proximity of a sampling site to the QTH/Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR), which is effectively a measure of the density of human engineering, was the dominant factor influencing bacterial community diversity. The diversity of bacterial communities shows that 16S rRNA gene abundance decreased in relation to proximity to the QTH and QTR in both alpine wetland and meadow areas. The dominant phyla across all samples were Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. The concentration of Cr and Cd in the soil were positively correlated with proximity to the QTH and QTR (MC/WC sampling sites), and Ni, Co, and V were positively correlated with proximity to the QTH and QTR (MA/WA sampling sites). The results presented in this study provide an insight into the relationships among heavy metals and soil microbial communities, and have important implications for assessing and predicting the impacts of human-induced activities from the QTH and QTR in such an extreme and fragile environment.

Hydrology of the high glacierized region in the Tianshan Mountains is an important water resource for arid and semiarid areas of China, even Central Asia. The hydrological process is complex to understand, due to the high variability in climate and the lack of hydrometeorological data. Based on field observations, the present study analyzes the meteorological and hydrological characteristics of the Koxkar Glacier River Basin during 2008-2011; and the factors influencing climate impact on glacier hydrology are discussed. The results show that precipitation at the terminus of the glacier was 426.2 mm, 471.8 mm, 624.9 mm, and 532 mm in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Discharge increases starting in May, reaches its highest value in July and August, and then starts to decrease. The mean annual discharge was 118.23×10⁶ m³ during the four years observed, with 87.0% occurring in the ablation season (May-September). During the study period, the runoff in August accounted for 29% of total streamflow, followed by July (22%) and June (14%). The runoff exhibited obviously high interannual variability from April to September, induced by drastic changes in climate factors. Discharge autocorrelations are very high for all the years. The climate factors show different influences on discharge. The highest correlation R between daily temperature and discharge was for a time lag of 2-3 days on the Koxkar Glacier (0.66-0.76). The daily depth of runoff to daily temperature and daily water vapor pressure had an R ² value of 0.56 and 0.69, respectively, which could be described by an exponential function. A closer relationship is found between runoff and either temperature or water vapor pressure on a monthly scale; the R ² values are 0.65 and 0.78, respectively. The study helps us to understand the mechanisms of the hydrological-meteorological system of typical regional glaciers and to provide a reference for glacier-runoff simulations and water-resource management.

This study was conducted to investigate the qualitative and quantitative phytochemical content of the crude extracts of Archidium ohioense, Pelekium gratum, and Hyophila involuta with different alcoholic solvents (ethanol, methanol, Seaman's Schnapps, fresh oil-palm wine, and fresh Raffia-palm wine). The mosses were collected from their natural populations on the central campus of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The yield of the extracts was weighed for all the solvents, and the qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the extracts were carried out using standard methods. The results of phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts from the mosses showed the presence of saponins, cardiac glycosides, triterpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, and steroids. The quantitative phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts showed that ethanolic extracts of Hyophila involuta had the highest flavonoid content (288.37±0.10 mg RE/g), and Raffia-palm-wine extracts of Hyophila involuta had the highest saponin content (224.70±0.02 mg/g), while the methanolic extract of Archidium ohioense had the highest cardiac glycosides content (63.71±0.14 mg/g), and the Raffia-palm wine extract of Hyophila involuta had the highest alkaloids content (102.50±0.12 mg/g). Raffia- and oil-palm wines were observed to be the most effective solvents for all the mosses studied, followed by Seaman's Schnapp, while methanol and ethanol were less effective. The study concluded that the extracts of the mosses studied contain pharmacologically active constituents that can be used for therapeutic purposes.

In this study, in-situ soil moisture measurements are used to evaluate the accuracy of three AMSR-E soil moisture products from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) and VUA (Vrije University Amsterdam and NASA) over Maqu County, Source Area of the Yellow River (SAYR), China. Results show that the VUA soil moisture product performs the best among the three AMSR-E soil moisture products in the study area, with a minimum RMSE (root mean square error) of 0.08 (0.10) m³/m³ and smallest absolute error of 0.07 (0.08) m³/m³ at the grassland area with ascending (descending) data. Therefore, the VUA soil moisture product is used to describe the spatial variation of soil moisture during the 2010 growing season over SAYR. The VUA soil moisture product shows that soil moisture presents a declining trend from east south (0.42 m³/m³) to west north (0.23 m³/m³), with good agreement with a general precipitation distribution. The center of SAYR presents extreme wetness (0.60 m³/m³) during the whole study period, especially in July, while the head of SAYR presents a high level soil moisture (0.23 m³/m³) in July, August and September.

Based on the measurement of L-band ground-based microwave radiometer (ELBARA-III type) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the \tau -\omega radiative transfer model, this research evaluated the effects of four soil dielectric models, i.e., Wang-Schmugge, Mironov, Dobson, and Four-phase, on the L-band microwave brightness temperature simulation and soil moisture retrieval. The results show that with the same vegetation and roughness parameterization scheme, the four soil dielectric models display obvious differences in microwave brightness temperature simulation. When the soil moisture is less than 0.23 m³/m³, the simulated microwave brightness temperature in Wang-Schmugge model is significantly different from that of the other three models, with maximum differences of horizontal polarization and vertical polarization reaching 8.0 K and 4.4 K, respectively; when the soil moisture is greater than 0.23 m³/m³, the simulated microwave brightness temperature of Four-phase significantly exceeds that of the other three models; when the soil moisture is saturated, maximum differences in simulated microwave brightness temperature with horizontal polarization and vertical polarization are 6.1 K and 4.8 K respectively, and the four soil dielectric models are more variable in the microwave brightness temperature simulation with horizontal polarization than that with vertical polarization. As for the soil moisture retrieval based on the four dielectric models, the comparison study shows that, under the condition of horizontal polarization, Wang-Schmugge model can reduce the degree of retrieved soil moisture underestimating the observed soil moisture more effectively than other parameterization schemes, while under the condition of vertical polarization, the Mironov model can reduce the degree of retrieved soil moisture overestimating the observed soil moisture. Finally, based on the Wang-Schmugge model and FengYun-3C observation data, the spatial distribution of soil moisture in the study area is retrieved.

Understanding the interaction between groundwater and surface water in permafrost regions is essential to study flood frequencies and river water quality, especially in the high latitude/altitude basins. The application of heat tracing method, based on oscillating streambed temperature signals, is a promising geophysical method for identifying and quantifying the interaction between groundwater and surface water. Analytical analysis based on a one-dimensional convective-conductive heat transport equation combined with the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing method was applied on a streambed of a mountainous permafrost region in the Yeniugou Basin, located in the upper Heihe River on the northern Tibetan Plateau. The results indicated that low connectivity existed between the stream and groundwater in permafrost regions. The interaction between surface water and groundwater increased with the thawing of the active layer. This study demonstrates that the heat tracing method can be applied to study surface water-groundwater interaction over temporal and spatial scales in permafrost regions.

For estimating the altitude-distribution pattern of carbon stocks in desert grasslands and analyzing the possible mechanism for this distribution, a detailed study was performed through a series of field vegetation surveys and soil samplings from 90 vegetation plots and 45 soil profiles at 9 sites of the Hexi Corridor region, Northwestern China. Aboveground, belowground, and litter-fall biomass-carbon stocks ranged from 43 to 109, 23 to 64, and 5 to 20 g/m², with mean values of 80.82, 44.91, and 12.15 g/m², respectively. Soil-carbon stocks varied between 2.88 and 3.98 kg/m², with a mean value of 3.43 kg/m² in the 0–100-cm soil layer. Both biomass- and soil-carbon stocks had an increasing tendency corresponding to the altitudinal gradient. A significantly negative correlation was found between soil-carbon stock and mean annual temperature, with further better correlations between soil- and biomass-carbon stocks, and mean annual precipitation. Furthermore, soil carbon was found to be positively correlated with soil-silt and -clay content, and negatively correlated with soil bulk density and the volume percent of gravel. It can be concluded that variations in soil texture and climate condition were the key factors influencing the altitudinal pattern of carbon stocks in this desert-grassland ecosystem. Thus, by using the linear-regression functions between altitude and carbon stocks, approximately 4.18 Tg carbon were predicted from the 1,260 km² of desert grasslands in the study area.

The Himalayas are prone to glacial lake outburst floods, which can pose a severe threat to downstream villages and infrastructure. The Zhangmu and Gyirong land treaty ports are located on the China-Nepal border in the central Himalayas. In recent years, the expansion of glacial lakes has increased the threat of these two port regions. This article describes the results of mapping the glacial lakes larger than 0.01 km² in the Zhangmu and Gyirong port regions and analyzes their change. It provides a comprehensive assessment of potentially dangerous glacial lakes and predicts the development of future glacial lakes. From 1988 to 2019, the glacial lakes in these port regions underwent "expansion", and moraine-dammed lakes show the most significant expansion trend. A total of eleven potentially dangerous glacial lakes are identified based on the assessment criteria and historical outburst events; most expanded by more than 150% from 1988 to 2019, with some by over 500%. The Cirenmaco, a moraine-dammed lake, is extremely prone to overtopping due to ice avalanches or the melting of dead ice in the dam. For other large lakes, such as the Jialongco, Gangxico and Galongco, ice avalanches may likely cause the lakes to burst besides self-destructive failure. The potential dangers of the Youmojianco glacial lakes, including lakes Nos. 9, 10 and 11, will increase in the future. In addition, the glacier-bed topography model predicts that 113 glacial lakes with a size larger than 0.01 km², a total area of 11.88 km² and a total volume of 6.37×10⁹ m³ will form in the study area by the end of the 21 century. Due to global warming, the glacial lakes in the Zhangmu and Gyirong port regions will continue to grow in the short term, and hence the risk of glacial lake outburst floods will increase.

Based on an investigation of four published batches listing 3,140 national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) projects in China and using GIS and some quantitative analysis methods, the spatial structure was investigated and the characteristics and distribution discussed. The distribution of ICHs in China is agglomerative and spatially dependent. From the view of ICH type, each type is distributed in different places, for different reasons, with history being the most important one we found. Nationwide, high-density cores are located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta region. High densities of ICH are concentrated in flat, water-rich regions where broad-leaved forests dominate plains and low mountain areas—areas that have fertile soil, pleasant weather, a long history of culture, ethnic agglomeration, and development. This paper suggests that development of the ICH should be based on discovering unknown items, to break the existing pattern of strong cohesion and high density, and to seek a balanced development of the whole.

The original landform along the China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline (CRCOP, line 2) was disturbed during installation of pavement for the pipeline. Forest and vegetation coverage is dense, and runoff develops along the pipe. Since the operation of the CRCOP (line 2) began in 2018, ponding has appeared on both sides of the pipeline. If there is no drainage, ponding can hardly dissipate, due to the low permeability of the permafrost layer. With the supply of surface flow and the transportation of oil at positive temperatures, ponding promotes an increase in temperature and changes the boundary thermal conditions of the pipeline. Meanwhile, when the ponding freezes and thaws, frost heave threatens operational safety of the pipeline. Furthermore, the ponding can affect the thermal condition of line 1. In this paper, the distribution of ponding along the CRCOP was obtained by field investigation. The type and cause of ponding were summarized, and the catchment and stream order were extracted by the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). According to the statistical results in attributes for topographic factors, it is known that ponding along the pipeline is relative to elevation, slope, aspect, and the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI). Water easily accumulates at altitudes of 300-450 m, slopes within 3°-5°, aspect in the northeast or south, TWI within 13-16, flow direction in north-east-south, and flow length within 90-150 km. This paper proposes a theoretical basis for the cause and characteristics of ponding along the pipeline.

Latitudinal permafrost in Northern Northeast (NNE) China is located in the southern margin of the Eurasian continent, and is very sensitive to climatic and environmental change. Numerical simulations indicate that air temperature in the permafrost regions of Northeast China has been on the rise since the 1950s, and will keep rising in the 21^st century, leading to extensive degradation of permafrost. Permafrost degradation in NNE China has its own characteristics, such as northward shifts in the shape of a "W" for the permafrost southern boundary (SLP), discontinuous permafrost degradation into island-like frozen soil, and gradually disappearing island permafrost. Permafrost degradation leads to deterioration of the ecological environment in cold regions. As a result, the belt of larch forests dominated by Larix gmelinii has shifted northwards and wetland areas with symbiotic relationships with permafrost have decreased significantly. With rapid retreat and thinning of permafrost and vegetation change, the CO₂ and CH₄ flux increases with mean air temperature from continuous to sporadic permafrost areas as a result of activity of methanogen enhancement, positively feeding back to climate warming. This paper reviews the features of permafrost degradation, the effects of permafrost degradation on wetland and forest ecosystem structure and function, and greenhouse gas emissions on latitudinal permafrost in NNE China. We also put forward critical questions about the aforementioned effects, including: (1) establish long-term permafrost observation systems to evaluate the distribution of permafrost and SLP change, in order to study the feedback of permafrost to climate change; (2) carry out research about the effects of permafrost degradation on the wetland ecosystem and the response of Xing'an larch to global change, and predict ecosystem dynamics in permafrost degradation based on long-term field observation; (3) focus intensively on the dynamics of greenhouse gas flux in permafrost degradation of Northeast China and the feedback of greenhouse gas emissions to climate change; (4) quantitative studies on the permafrost carbon feedback and vegetation carbon feedback due to permafrost change to climate multi-impact and estimate the balance of C in permafrost regions in the future.

The acquisition of spatial-temporal information of frozen soil is fundamental for the study of frozen soil dynamics and its feedback to climate change in cold regions. With advancement of remote sensing and better understanding of frozen soil dynamics, discrimination of freeze and thaw status of surface soil based on passive microwave remote sensing and numerical simulation of frozen soil processes under water and heat transfer principles provides valuable means for regional and global frozen soil dynamic monitoring and systematic spatial-temporal responses to global change. However, as an important data source of frozen soil processes, remotely sensed information has not yet been fully utilized in the numerical simulation of frozen soil processes. Although great progress has been made in remote sensing and frozen soil physics, yet few frozen soil research has been done on the application of remotely sensed information in association with the numerical model for frozen soil process studies. In the present study, a distributed numerical model for frozen soil dynamic studies based on coupled water-heat transferring theory in association with remotely sensed frozen soil datasets was developed. In order to reduce the uncertainty of the simulation, the remotely sensed frozen soil information was used to monitor and modify relevant parameters in the process of model simulation. The remotely sensed information and numerically simulated spatial-temporal frozen soil processes were validated by in-situ field observations in cold regions near the town of Naqu on the East-Central Tibetan Plateau. The results suggest that the overall accuracy of the algorithm for discriminating freeze and thaw status of surface soil based on passive microwave remote sensing was more than 95%. These results provided an accurate initial freeze and thaw status of surface soil for coupling and calibrating the numerical model of this study. The numerically simulated frozen soil processes demonstrated good performance of the distributed numerical model based on the coupled water-heat transferring theory. The relatively larger uncertainties of the numerical model were found in alternating periods between freezing and thawing of surface soil. The average accuracy increased by about 5% after integrating remotely sensed information on the surface soil. The simulation accuracy was significantly improved, especially in transition periods between freezing and thawing of the surface soil.

Understanding the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem function is critical to promoting the sustainability of ecosystems and species conservation in natural ecosystems. We observed species composition, species richness and aboveground biomass, and simulated the competitive assemblages in a natural grassland ecosystem of China, aiming to test some assumptions and predictions about biodiversity–stability relationships. Our results show that aboveground productivity and temporal stability increased significantly with increasing species richness, and via a combination of overyielding, species asynchrony, and portfolio effects. Species interactions resulted in overyielding caused by trait-independent complementarity, and were not offset by a negative dominance effect and trait-dependent complementarity effect. Therefore, the mechanisms underlying the biodiversity effect shifted from the selection effect to the complementarity effect as diversity increased, and both effects were coexisted but the complementarity effect represent a mechanism that facilitates long term species coexistence in a natural grassland ecosystem of China.

Fossil Taiwania was discovered from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Lingyuan City, western Liaoning Province, Northeast China. It is identified as a new species, Taiwania lingyuanensis sp. nov.. The present specimen is preserved as impressions with well defined leaf shoots system and reproductive structures. Leaves are dimorphic, spirally and imbricately arranged. They are scale-like on the main and cone-bearing branchlets, and subulate to falcate-subulate on the juvenile or sterile shoots. The seed cones are singly elliptic, ovate or elongate-ovate and terminally borne on ultimate shoots, bearing 22–24 scale-bracts complexes imbricately and helically arranged around the cone axis, the bracts are broad-ovate, rhomboidal or hexagonal with entire margins. Both the leafy shoots morphology and reproductive structures are similar to extant Taiwania. Furthermore, geological distribution and molecular biological evidences support that Taiwania is probably originated from the eastern Asia at least in the Early Cretaceous and widely distributed in the North Hemisphere thereafter.

A series of saline soil-related problems, including salt expansion and collapse, frost heave and thaw settlement, threaten the safety of the road traffic and the built infrastructure in cold regions. This article presents a comprehensive review of the physical and mechanical properties, salt migration mechanisms of saline soil in cold environment, and the countermeasures in practice. It is organized as follows: (1) The basic physical characteristics; (2) The strength criteria and constitutive models; (3) Water and salt migration characteristics and mechanisms; and (4) Countermeasures of frost heave and salt expansion. The review provides a holistic perspective for recent progress in the strength characteristics, mechanisms of frost heave and salt expansion, engineering countermeasures of saline soil in cold regions. Future research is proposed on issues such as the effects of salt erosion on concrete and salt corrosion of metal under the joint action of evaporation and freeze-thaw cycles.

This study investigated the germination behavior and seedling growth of Pycnanthus angolensis seeds. The germination study was carried out in the laboratory and included pretreatment studies and observation of the seed-germination process. For each treatment, three replications of 20 seeds were sown in a transparent plastic germination box (12cm \times 22cm \times 5cm) lined with moistened filter paper at room temperature. To monitor seedling growth, seedlings were transplanted into pots filled with topsoil and laid out in a completely randomized design. Ten seedlings replicated thrice were measured monthly; and the shoot height, leaf area, and root length, as well as the fresh and dry weights of the seedlings, were recorded. Results showed that mechanically scarified seeds exhibited the significantly highest germination percent (83.33%, P <0.005), followed by control seeds (70.83%), whereas seeds treated with 98% sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) displayed the lowest germination percent (1.67). The endospermous seeds exhibited cryptogeal germination, while seeds stored for a month (with or without arils) failed to germinate. During seed germination, radicle protrusion continued with a pseudo-opening of the root, through which the brownish cotyledonary petiole was emitted, thus releasing the plumule at the posterior position. Moreover, P. angolensis exhibited a slow growth rate, attaining a shoot height of 73 cm within a year. The highest positive change in leaf number and area was recorded in the fourth month, a period during which the least change in shoot height occurred. The study concluded that mechanical scarification of the seeds ensured significant and faster germination than chemical scarification or no treatment at all. Additionally, P. angolensis displayed a cryptogeal germination, with the seedling growth of the tree species observed to be slow.

Saltation bombardment is a dominate dust emission mechanism in wind erosion. For loose surfaces, splash entrainment has been well understood theoretically. However, the mass loss predictions of cohesive soils are generally empirical in most wind erosion models. In this study, the soil particle detachment of a bare, smooth, dry, and uncrusted soil surface caused by saltation bombardment is modeled by means of classical mechanics. It is shown that detachment rate can be analytically expressed in terms of the kinetic energy or mass flux of saltating grains and several common mechanical parameters of soils, including Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus, cohesion and friction angle. The novel expressions can describe dust emission rate from cohesive surfaces and are helpful to quantify the anti-erodibility of soil. It is proposed that the mechanical properties of soils should be appropriately included in physically-based wind erosion models.

The extensive debris that covers glaciers in the ablation zone of the Himalayan region plays an important part in regulating ablation rates and water availability for the downstream region. The melt rate of ice is determined by the amount of heat conducted through debris material lying over the ice. This study presents the vertical temperature gradients, thermal properties in terms of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, and positive degree-day factors for the debris-covered portion of Lirung Glacier in Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalaya using field-based measurements from three different seasons. Field measurements include debris temperatures at different debris thicknesses, air temperature, and ice melt during the monsoon (2013), winter (2013), and pre-monsoon (2014) seasons. We used a thermal equation to estimate thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, and degree-day factors (DDF) were calculated from cumulative positive temperature and ice melt of the measurement period. Our analysis of debris temperature profiles at different depths of debris show the daily linear gradients of ?20.81 °C/m, 4.05 °C/m, and ?7.79 °C/m in the monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon seasons, respectively. The values of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity in the monsoon season were 10 times greater than in the winter season. The large difference in these values is attributed to surface temperature and moisture content within the debris. Similarly, we found higher values of DDFs at thinner debris for the pre-monsoon season than in the monsoon season although we observed less melting during the pre-monsoon season. This is attributed to higher cumulative temperature during the monsoon season than in the pre-monsoon season. Our study advances our understanding of heat conductivity through debris material in different seasons, which supports estimating ice melt and discharge from glacierized river basins with debris-covered glaciers in the Himalayan region.

A total of 71,177 glaciers exist on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI 6.0). Despite their large number, glacier ice thickness data are relatively scarce. This study utilizes digital elevation model data and ground-penetrating radar thickness measurements to estimate the distribution and variation of ice thickness of the Longbasaba Glacier using Glacier bed Topography (GlabTop), a full-width expansion model, and the Huss and Farinotti (HF) model. Results show that the average absolute deviations of GlabTop, the full-width expansion model, and the HF model are 9.8, 15.5, and 10.9 m, respectively, indicating that GlabTop performs the best in simulating glacier thickness distribution. During 1980-2015, the Longbasaba Glacier thinned by an average of 7.9±1.3 m or 0.23±0.04 m/a, and its ice volume shrunk by 0.28±0.04 km³ with an average reduction rate of 0.0081±0.0001 km³/a. In the investigation period, the area and volume of Longbasaba Lake expanded at rates of 0.12±0.01 km²/a and 0.0132±0.0018 km³/a, respectively. This proglacial lake could potentially extend up to 5,000 m from the lake dam.

In recent years, the desertification of alpine meadows has become a serious ecological problem and has gradually become a threat to regional economic activities in Maqu County. To reveal the mechanism for sandy desertification of alpine meadows, we conducted wind tunnel experiments on aeolian processes over sandy alpine meadows. Results show that the sand-flux profile of mix-sized sediment decays exponentially with increasing height. However, the profile pattern of a group of uniform-sized particles depends on the experimental wind speeds. The profile pattern of all the groups studied can be expressed by exponential decay functions when the wind speed is less than or equal to 16 m/s. while that for all the groups studied can be expressed by a Gaussian distribution function when the wind speed is above 16 m/s. The average saltation heights of mixed sands at wind speeds of 12 m/s, 16 m/s, 20 m/s, and 24 m/s were 2.74, 4.19, 5.28, and 6.12 cm, respectively. The mean grain size basically first decreases and then increases with increasing height under different wind speeds. The sorting improves with increasing wind speed, while the kurtosis and skewness show relationships with only the characteristics of the parent soil.

Debris-covered glaciers, characterized by the presence of supraglacial debris mantles in their ablation zones, are widespread in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and surroundings. For these glaciers, thin debris layers accelerate the melting of underlying ice compared to that of bare ice, while thick debris layers retard ice melting, called debris-cover effect. Knowledge about the thickness and thermal properties of debris cover on CPEC glaciers is still unclear, making it difficult to assess the regional debris-cover effect. In this study, thermal resistance of the debris layer estimated from remotely sensed data reveals that about 54.0% of CPEC glaciers are debris-covered glaciers, on which the total debris-covered area is about 5,072 km², accounting for 14.0% of the total glacier area of the study region. We find that marked difference in the extent and thickness of debris cover is apparent from region to region, as well as the debris-cover effect. 53.3% of the total debris-covered area of the study region is concentrated in Karakoram, followed by Pamir with 30.2% of the total debris-covered area. As revealed by the thermal resistance, the debris thickness is thick in Hindu Kush on average, with the mean thermal resistance of 7.0×10^-2 ((m²?K)/W), followed by Karakoram, while the thickness in western Himalaya is thin with the mean value of 2.0×10^-2 ((m²?K)/W). Our findings provide a basis for better assessments of changes in debris-covered glaciers and their associated hydrological impacts in the CPEC and surroundings.

Due to a series of linear projects built along National Highway 214, the second "Permafrost Engineering Corridor" on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has formed. In this paper, by overcoming the problems of data decentralization and standard inconsistency, permafrost characteristics and changes along the engineering corridor are systematically summarized based on the survey and monitoring data. The results show that: 1) Being controlled by elevation, the permafrost is distributed in flake discontinuity with mountains as the center along the line. The total length of the road section in permafrost regions is 365 km, of which the total length of the permafrost section of National Highway 214 is 216.7 km, and the total length of the permafrost section of Gong-Yu Expressway is 197.3 km. The mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) is higher than -1.5 °C, and permafrost with MAGT lower than -1.5 °C is only distributed in the sections at Bayan Har Mountain and E'la Mountain. There are obvious differences in the distribution of ground ice in the different sections along the engineering corridor. The sections with high ice content are mainly located in Zuimatan, Duogerong Plain and the top of north and south slope of Bayan Har Mountain. The permafrost thickness is controlled by the ground temperature, and permafrost thickness increases with the decrease of the ground temperature, with the change rate of about 37 m/°C. 2) Local factors (topography, landform, vegetation and lithology) affect the degradation process of permafrost, and then affect the distribution, ground temperature, thickness and ice content of permafrost. Asphalt pavement has greatly changed the heat exchange balance of the original ground, resulting in serious degradation of the permafrost. Due to the influence of roadbed direction trend, the phenomenon of shady-sunny slope is very significant in most sections along the line. The warming range of permafrost under the roadbed is gradually smaller with the increase of depth, so the thawing settlement of the shallow section with high ice-content permafrost is more significant.

An understanding of soil microbial communities is crucial in roadside soil environmental assessments. The 16S rRNA sequencing of a stressed microbial community in soil adjacent to the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (QTH) revealed that the accumulation of heavy metals (over about 10 years) has affected the diversity of bacterial abundance and microbial community structure. The proximity of a sampling site to the QTH/Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR), which is effectively a measure of the density of human engineering, was the dominant factor influencing bacterial community diversity. The diversity of bacterial communities shows that 16S rRNA gene abundance decreased in relation to proximity to the QTH and QTR in both alpine wetland and meadow areas. The dominant phyla across all samples were Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. The concentration of Cr and Cd in the soil were positively correlated with proximity to the QTH and QTR (MC/WC sampling sites), and Ni, Co, and V were positively correlated with proximity to the QTH and QTR (MA/WA sampling sites). The results presented in this study provide an insight into the relationships among heavy metals and soil microbial communities, and have important implications for assessing and predicting the impacts of human-induced activities from the QTH and QTR in such an extreme and fragile environment.

Hydrology of the high glacierized region in the Tianshan Mountains is an important water resource for arid and semiarid areas of China, even Central Asia. The hydrological process is complex to understand, due to the high variability in climate and the lack of hydrometeorological data. Based on field observations, the present study analyzes the meteorological and hydrological characteristics of the Koxkar Glacier River Basin during 2008-2011; and the factors influencing climate impact on glacier hydrology are discussed. The results show that precipitation at the terminus of the glacier was 426.2 mm, 471.8 mm, 624.9 mm, and 532 mm in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Discharge increases starting in May, reaches its highest value in July and August, and then starts to decrease. The mean annual discharge was 118.23×10⁶ m³ during the four years observed, with 87.0% occurring in the ablation season (May-September). During the study period, the runoff in August accounted for 29% of total streamflow, followed by July (22%) and June (14%). The runoff exhibited obviously high interannual variability from April to September, induced by drastic changes in climate factors. Discharge autocorrelations are very high for all the years. The climate factors show different influences on discharge. The highest correlation R between daily temperature and discharge was for a time lag of 2-3 days on the Koxkar Glacier (0.66-0.76). The daily depth of runoff to daily temperature and daily water vapor pressure had an R ² value of 0.56 and 0.69, respectively, which could be described by an exponential function. A closer relationship is found between runoff and either temperature or water vapor pressure on a monthly scale; the R ² values are 0.65 and 0.78, respectively. The study helps us to understand the mechanisms of the hydrological-meteorological system of typical regional glaciers and to provide a reference for glacier-runoff simulations and water-resource management.

This study was conducted to investigate the qualitative and quantitative phytochemical content of the crude extracts of Archidium ohioense, Pelekium gratum, and Hyophila involuta with different alcoholic solvents (ethanol, methanol, Seaman's Schnapps, fresh oil-palm wine, and fresh Raffia-palm wine). The mosses were collected from their natural populations on the central campus of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The yield of the extracts was weighed for all the solvents, and the qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the extracts were carried out using standard methods. The results of phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts from the mosses showed the presence of saponins, cardiac glycosides, triterpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, and steroids. The quantitative phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts showed that ethanolic extracts of Hyophila involuta had the highest flavonoid content (288.37±0.10 mg RE/g), and Raffia-palm-wine extracts of Hyophila involuta had the highest saponin content (224.70±0.02 mg/g), while the methanolic extract of Archidium ohioense had the highest cardiac glycosides content (63.71±0.14 mg/g), and the Raffia-palm wine extract of Hyophila involuta had the highest alkaloids content (102.50±0.12 mg/g). Raffia- and oil-palm wines were observed to be the most effective solvents for all the mosses studied, followed by Seaman's Schnapp, while methanol and ethanol were less effective. The study concluded that the extracts of the mosses studied contain pharmacologically active constituents that can be used for therapeutic purposes.

In this study, in-situ soil moisture measurements are used to evaluate the accuracy of three AMSR-E soil moisture products from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) and VUA (Vrije University Amsterdam and NASA) over Maqu County, Source Area of the Yellow River (SAYR), China. Results show that the VUA soil moisture product performs the best among the three AMSR-E soil moisture products in the study area, with a minimum RMSE (root mean square error) of 0.08 (0.10) m³/m³ and smallest absolute error of 0.07 (0.08) m³/m³ at the grassland area with ascending (descending) data. Therefore, the VUA soil moisture product is used to describe the spatial variation of soil moisture during the 2010 growing season over SAYR. The VUA soil moisture product shows that soil moisture presents a declining trend from east south (0.42 m³/m³) to west north (0.23 m³/m³), with good agreement with a general precipitation distribution. The center of SAYR presents extreme wetness (0.60 m³/m³) during the whole study period, especially in July, while the head of SAYR presents a high level soil moisture (0.23 m³/m³) in July, August and September.

Based on the measurement of L-band ground-based microwave radiometer (ELBARA-III type) in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the \tau -\omega radiative transfer model, this research evaluated the effects of four soil dielectric models, i.e., Wang-Schmugge, Mironov, Dobson, and Four-phase, on the L-band microwave brightness temperature simulation and soil moisture retrieval. The results show that with the same vegetation and roughness parameterization scheme, the four soil dielectric models display obvious differences in microwave brightness temperature simulation. When the soil moisture is less than 0.23 m³/m³, the simulated microwave brightness temperature in Wang-Schmugge model is significantly different from that of the other three models, with maximum differences of horizontal polarization and vertical polarization reaching 8.0 K and 4.4 K, respectively; when the soil moisture is greater than 0.23 m³/m³, the simulated microwave brightness temperature of Four-phase significantly exceeds that of the other three models; when the soil moisture is saturated, maximum differences in simulated microwave brightness temperature with horizontal polarization and vertical polarization are 6.1 K and 4.8 K respectively, and the four soil dielectric models are more variable in the microwave brightness temperature simulation with horizontal polarization than that with vertical polarization. As for the soil moisture retrieval based on the four dielectric models, the comparison study shows that, under the condition of horizontal polarization, Wang-Schmugge model can reduce the degree of retrieved soil moisture underestimating the observed soil moisture more effectively than other parameterization schemes, while under the condition of vertical polarization, the Mironov model can reduce the degree of retrieved soil moisture overestimating the observed soil moisture. Finally, based on the Wang-Schmugge model and FengYun-3C observation data, the spatial distribution of soil moisture in the study area is retrieved.

Understanding the interaction between groundwater and surface water in permafrost regions is essential to study flood frequencies and river water quality, especially in the high latitude/altitude basins. The application of heat tracing method, based on oscillating streambed temperature signals, is a promising geophysical method for identifying and quantifying the interaction between groundwater and surface water. Analytical analysis based on a one-dimensional convective-conductive heat transport equation combined with the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing method was applied on a streambed of a mountainous permafrost region in the Yeniugou Basin, located in the upper Heihe River on the northern Tibetan Plateau. The results indicated that low connectivity existed between the stream and groundwater in permafrost regions. The interaction between surface water and groundwater increased with the thawing of the active layer. This study demonstrates that the heat tracing method can be applied to study surface water-groundwater interaction over temporal and spatial scales in permafrost regions.

For estimating the altitude-distribution pattern of carbon stocks in desert grasslands and analyzing the possible mechanism for this distribution, a detailed study was performed through a series of field vegetation surveys and soil samplings from 90 vegetation plots and 45 soil profiles at 9 sites of the Hexi Corridor region, Northwestern China. Aboveground, belowground, and litter-fall biomass-carbon stocks ranged from 43 to 109, 23 to 64, and 5 to 20 g/m², with mean values of 80.82, 44.91, and 12.15 g/m², respectively. Soil-carbon stocks varied between 2.88 and 3.98 kg/m², with a mean value of 3.43 kg/m² in the 0–100-cm soil layer. Both biomass- and soil-carbon stocks had an increasing tendency corresponding to the altitudinal gradient. A significantly negative correlation was found between soil-carbon stock and mean annual temperature, with further better correlations between soil- and biomass-carbon stocks, and mean annual precipitation. Furthermore, soil carbon was found to be positively correlated with soil-silt and -clay content, and negatively correlated with soil bulk density and the volume percent of gravel. It can be concluded that variations in soil texture and climate condition were the key factors influencing the altitudinal pattern of carbon stocks in this desert-grassland ecosystem. Thus, by using the linear-regression functions between altitude and carbon stocks, approximately 4.18 Tg carbon were predicted from the 1,260 km² of desert grasslands in the study area.

The Himalayas are prone to glacial lake outburst floods, which can pose a severe threat to downstream villages and infrastructure. The Zhangmu and Gyirong land treaty ports are located on the China-Nepal border in the central Himalayas. In recent years, the expansion of glacial lakes has increased the threat of these two port regions. This article describes the results of mapping the glacial lakes larger than 0.01 km² in the Zhangmu and Gyirong port regions and analyzes their change. It provides a comprehensive assessment of potentially dangerous glacial lakes and predicts the development of future glacial lakes. From 1988 to 2019, the glacial lakes in these port regions underwent "expansion", and moraine-dammed lakes show the most significant expansion trend. A total of eleven potentially dangerous glacial lakes are identified based on the assessment criteria and historical outburst events; most expanded by more than 150% from 1988 to 2019, with some by over 500%. The Cirenmaco, a moraine-dammed lake, is extremely prone to overtopping due to ice avalanches or the melting of dead ice in the dam. For other large lakes, such as the Jialongco, Gangxico and Galongco, ice avalanches may likely cause the lakes to burst besides self-destructive failure. The potential dangers of the Youmojianco glacial lakes, including lakes Nos. 9, 10 and 11, will increase in the future. In addition, the glacier-bed topography model predicts that 113 glacial lakes with a size larger than 0.01 km², a total area of 11.88 km² and a total volume of 6.37×10⁹ m³ will form in the study area by the end of the 21 century. Due to global warming, the glacial lakes in the Zhangmu and Gyirong port regions will continue to grow in the short term, and hence the risk of glacial lake outburst floods will increase.

Based on an investigation of four published batches listing 3,140 national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) projects in China and using GIS and some quantitative analysis methods, the spatial structure was investigated and the characteristics and distribution discussed. The distribution of ICHs in China is agglomerative and spatially dependent. From the view of ICH type, each type is distributed in different places, for different reasons, with history being the most important one we found. Nationwide, high-density cores are located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta region. High densities of ICH are concentrated in flat, water-rich regions where broad-leaved forests dominate plains and low mountain areas—areas that have fertile soil, pleasant weather, a long history of culture, ethnic agglomeration, and development. This paper suggests that development of the ICH should be based on discovering unknown items, to break the existing pattern of strong cohesion and high density, and to seek a balanced development of the whole.

The original landform along the China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline (CRCOP, line 2) was disturbed during installation of pavement for the pipeline. Forest and vegetation coverage is dense, and runoff develops along the pipe. Since the operation of the CRCOP (line 2) began in 2018, ponding has appeared on both sides of the pipeline. If there is no drainage, ponding can hardly dissipate, due to the low permeability of the permafrost layer. With the supply of surface flow and the transportation of oil at positive temperatures, ponding promotes an increase in temperature and changes the boundary thermal conditions of the pipeline. Meanwhile, when the ponding freezes and thaws, frost heave threatens operational safety of the pipeline. Furthermore, the ponding can affect the thermal condition of line 1. In this paper, the distribution of ponding along the CRCOP was obtained by field investigation. The type and cause of ponding were summarized, and the catchment and stream order were extracted by the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). According to the statistical results in attributes for topographic factors, it is known that ponding along the pipeline is relative to elevation, slope, aspect, and the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI). Water easily accumulates at altitudes of 300-450 m, slopes within 3°-5°, aspect in the northeast or south, TWI within 13-16, flow direction in north-east-south, and flow length within 90-150 km. This paper proposes a theoretical basis for the cause and characteristics of ponding along the pipeline.

Latitudinal permafrost in Northern Northeast (NNE) China is located in the southern margin of the Eurasian continent, and is very sensitive to climatic and environmental change. Numerical simulations indicate that air temperature in the permafrost regions of Northeast China has been on the rise since the 1950s, and will keep rising in the 21^st century, leading to extensive degradation of permafrost. Permafrost degradation in NNE China has its own characteristics, such as northward shifts in the shape of a "W" for the permafrost southern boundary (SLP), discontinuous permafrost degradation into island-like frozen soil, and gradually disappearing island permafrost. Permafrost degradation leads to deterioration of the ecological environment in cold regions. As a result, the belt of larch forests dominated by Larix gmelinii has shifted northwards and wetland areas with symbiotic relationships with permafrost have decreased significantly. With rapid retreat and thinning of permafrost and vegetation change, the CO₂ and CH₄ flux increases with mean air temperature from continuous to sporadic permafrost areas as a result of activity of methanogen enhancement, positively feeding back to climate warming. This paper reviews the features of permafrost degradation, the effects of permafrost degradation on wetland and forest ecosystem structure and function, and greenhouse gas emissions on latitudinal permafrost in NNE China. We also put forward critical questions about the aforementioned effects, including: (1) establish long-term permafrost observation systems to evaluate the distribution of permafrost and SLP change, in order to study the feedback of permafrost to climate change; (2) carry out research about the effects of permafrost degradation on the wetland ecosystem and the response of Xing'an larch to global change, and predict ecosystem dynamics in permafrost degradation based on long-term field observation; (3) focus intensively on the dynamics of greenhouse gas flux in permafrost degradation of Northeast China and the feedback of greenhouse gas emissions to climate change; (4) quantitative studies on the permafrost carbon feedback and vegetation carbon feedback due to permafrost change to climate multi-impact and estimate the balance of C in permafrost regions in the future.

The acquisition of spatial-temporal information of frozen soil is fundamental for the study of frozen soil dynamics and its feedback to climate change in cold regions. With advancement of remote sensing and better understanding of frozen soil dynamics, discrimination of freeze and thaw status of surface soil based on passive microwave remote sensing and numerical simulation of frozen soil processes under water and heat transfer principles provides valuable means for regional and global frozen soil dynamic monitoring and systematic spatial-temporal responses to global change. However, as an important data source of frozen soil processes, remotely sensed information has not yet been fully utilized in the numerical simulation of frozen soil processes. Although great progress has been made in remote sensing and frozen soil physics, yet few frozen soil research has been done on the application of remotely sensed information in association with the numerical model for frozen soil process studies. In the present study, a distributed numerical model for frozen soil dynamic studies based on coupled water-heat transferring theory in association with remotely sensed frozen soil datasets was developed. In order to reduce the uncertainty of the simulation, the remotely sensed frozen soil information was used to monitor and modify relevant parameters in the process of model simulation. The remotely sensed information and numerically simulated spatial-temporal frozen soil processes were validated by in-situ field observations in cold regions near the town of Naqu on the East-Central Tibetan Plateau. The results suggest that the overall accuracy of the algorithm for discriminating freeze and thaw status of surface soil based on passive microwave remote sensing was more than 95%. These results provided an accurate initial freeze and thaw status of surface soil for coupling and calibrating the numerical model of this study. The numerically simulated frozen soil processes demonstrated good performance of the distributed numerical model based on the coupled water-heat transferring theory. The relatively larger uncertainties of the numerical model were found in alternating periods between freezing and thawing of surface soil. The average accuracy increased by about 5% after integrating remotely sensed information on the surface soil. The simulation accuracy was significantly improved, especially in transition periods between freezing and thawing of the surface soil.

Understanding the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem function is critical to promoting the sustainability of ecosystems and species conservation in natural ecosystems. We observed species composition, species richness and aboveground biomass, and simulated the competitive assemblages in a natural grassland ecosystem of China, aiming to test some assumptions and predictions about biodiversity–stability relationships. Our results show that aboveground productivity and temporal stability increased significantly with increasing species richness, and via a combination of overyielding, species asynchrony, and portfolio effects. Species interactions resulted in overyielding caused by trait-independent complementarity, and were not offset by a negative dominance effect and trait-dependent complementarity effect. Therefore, the mechanisms underlying the biodiversity effect shifted from the selection effect to the complementarity effect as diversity increased, and both effects were coexisted but the complementarity effect represent a mechanism that facilitates long term species coexistence in a natural grassland ecosystem of China.

Fossil Taiwania was discovered from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Lingyuan City, western Liaoning Province, Northeast China. It is identified as a new species, Taiwania lingyuanensis sp. nov.. The present specimen is preserved as impressions with well defined leaf shoots system and reproductive structures. Leaves are dimorphic, spirally and imbricately arranged. They are scale-like on the main and cone-bearing branchlets, and subulate to falcate-subulate on the juvenile or sterile shoots. The seed cones are singly elliptic, ovate or elongate-ovate and terminally borne on ultimate shoots, bearing 22–24 scale-bracts complexes imbricately and helically arranged around the cone axis, the bracts are broad-ovate, rhomboidal or hexagonal with entire margins. Both the leafy shoots morphology and reproductive structures are similar to extant Taiwania. Furthermore, geological distribution and molecular biological evidences support that Taiwania is probably originated from the eastern Asia at least in the Early Cretaceous and widely distributed in the North Hemisphere thereafter.