Diurnally asymmetric warming and hydroclimatic stress structure alpine ecosystem vulnerability in the Three-River headwaters region
- 1Key Laboratory of Forest Cultivation and Management of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China; Qinghai Three-River-Source National Park Observation and Research Station, Maduo 813500, China
- 2Yinshanbeilu Grassland Eco-hydrology National Observation and Research Station, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China; Institute of Water Resources for Pastoral Area, Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot 010020, China
Abstract
Day-night asymmetry in alpine warming is increasingly pronounced, yet how it affects ecosystem vulnerability under hydroclimatic extremes remains poorly resolved. Here, we quantified functional ecosystem vulnerability across the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR) during 2001–2022 by integrating productivity-derived ecosystem sensitivity and adaptive capacity with temperature- and precipitation-extreme indices. Moderate-to-severe vulnerability covered 60.86% of the TRHR and increased from the humid southeast to the cold-arid northwest. Alpine grasslands were the dominant vulnerability hotspots, with 70.42% of alpine steppes and 56.88% of alpine meadows classified as moderately to severely vulnerable areas. The climatic associations also differed between these ecosystem types. Vulnerability in water-limited alpine steppes was associated mainly with precipitation availability and precipitation–temperature interactions, whereas vulnerability in alpine meadows was more closely linked to cold extremes and contrasting day- and nighttime temperatures. These results indicate that water limitation and thermal constraints jointly shape regional vulnerability and provide a spatial basis for climate-adaptive restoration.
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BibTeX
@article{cao2026diurnally,
title = {{Diurnally asymmetric warming and hydroclimatic stress structure alpine ecosystem vulnerability in the Three-River headwaters region}},
author = {Wenxu Cao and Zhenqi Yang and Qinghe Li},
journal = {Ecological Indicators},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115497},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115497},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Diurnally asymmetric warming and hydroclimatic stress structure alpine ecosystem vulnerability in the Three-River headwaters region
AU - Wenxu Cao
AU - Zhenqi Yang
AU - Qinghe Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Ecological Indicators
DO - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115497
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2026.115497
AB - Day-night asymmetry in alpine warming is increasingly pronounced, yet how it affects ecosystem vulnerability under hydroclimatic extremes remains poorly resolved. Here, we quantified functional ecosystem vulnerability across the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR) during 2001–2022 by integrating productivity-derived ecosystem sensitivity and adaptive capacity with temperature- and precipitation-extreme indices. Moderate-to-severe vulnerability covered 60.86% of the TRHR and increased from the humid southeast to the cold-arid northwest. Alpine grasslands were the dominant vulnerability hotspots, with 70.42% of alpine steppes and 56.88% of alpine meadows classified as moderately to severely vulnerable areas. The climatic associations also differed between these ecosystem types. Vulnerability in water-limited alpine steppes was associated mainly with precipitation availability and precipitation–temperature interactions, whereas vulnerability in alpine meadows was more closely linked to cold extremes and contrasting day- and nighttime temperatures. These results indicate that water limitation and thermal constraints jointly shape regional vulnerability and provide a spatial basis for climate-adaptive restoration.
SN - 1470-160X
SN - 1872-7034
ER -