Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
broadleaf, and the effects of annual average precipitation of the evergreen forests
would be bigger than the deciduous forests. The deciduous forests play a positive
role in decreasing the annual average temperature, while the evergreen forests
promote the annual average temperature rise. Besides, the expansion of deciduous
forests may result in severe drought in the summer in Jiangxi Province.
In the second case, we simulated the land cover under the future scenarios, and
analyze the effects of land cover conversion on energy balance in the semiarid
grassland area of China through the numerical simulation with the WRF model.
The results indicate that the grassland will show a steadily upgrowing trend under
the CES scenario. Compared to the CES scenario, the rate of increase in grassland
cover is lower, while the rate of increase in urban land cover will be higher under
the REG scenario. Although the conversion from cropland to grassland will reduce
the energy flux, the expansion of urban area and decreasing of forestry area will
bring about more energy flux. As a whole, the energy flux of near surface will
obviously not change under the CES scenario, and the climate therefore will not be
possible to be influenced greatly by land cover change. The energy flux under the
REG scenario is higher than that under the CES scenario.
The last case study investigated the effects of biosphere feedback in grassland
of Northwest China. Based on the forecast of the conversion pattern from grass-
land to other land use types in next 30 years, the potential effects of grassland
degradation on regional climate in the overgrazing area of Northwest China from
2010 to 2040 have been explored with the WRF model. The analysis results show
that grassland will mainly convert into bare land and croplands, which account for
42 and 48 % of the total converted grassland area, respectively. The grassland
degradation during next 30 years will result in the increase of temperature in
summer, with an increment of 0.4-1.2 C, and the decrease of temperature in
winter with a decrement of 0.2 C. In addition, grassland degradation will cause
the decrease of precipitation in both summer and winter, with a decrement of
4-20 mm. On the whole, those research conclusions can offer valuable informa-
tion for the land use planning and climate change adaptation.
References
Barthold F, Wiesmeier M, Breuer L, Frede HG, Wu J, Blank F (2013) Land use and climate
control the spatial distribution of soil types in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. J Arid
Environ 88:194-205
Bonan GB, Pollard D (1992) Effects of boreal forest vegetation on global climate. Nature
359:716-718
Boucher JF, Tremblay P, Gaboury S, Villeneuve C (2012) Can boreal afforestation help offset
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Bounoua L, Defries R, Collatz GJ, Sellers P, Khan H (2002) Effects of land cover conversion on
surface climate. Clim Change 52(1-2):29-64
Clarke JM (2000) Effect of drought stress on residual transpiration and its relationship with water
use of wheat. Can J Plant Sci 71(3):695-702
