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There is a debate about unmatched results between manipulative warming using constant warming rates every year (CW) and long-term observations warming affect temperature sensitivity of flowering phenology. This may be because long-term observations represent the actual yearly increase in temperature (i.e. a yearly stepwise warming rate per year, SW) which would differ from CW and their effects would be regulated by precipitation alteration. We conducted a warming experiment with CW (temperature increase by +1 °C and sustained this elevated temperature for the duration of the study) and SW (temperature increase by + 0.25 °C progressively each year) with precipitation addition in an alpine grassland for four years. Our results showed that neither warming rate affected community flowering phenology. However, precipitation addition advanced onsets of flowering for early-spring flowering (ESF) and mid-summer flowering (MSF) groups, and advanced the end date of flowering for ESF but delayed it for the MSF group. Therefore, flowering duration remained stable for the ESF group and prolonged for the MSF group, and further prolonging the flowering duration of the community. There were no interactions between warming rates and precipitation addition on the community's flowering phenology. A severe drought in a year significantly decreased the maximal number of community flowers in the following year. Therefore, a change in precipitation has a greater effect than warming on the community flowering phenology in the semi-arid alpine grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine-root decomposition is a critical process regulating ecosystem carbon cycles and affecting nutrient cycling and soil fertility. However, whether interaction between warming and grazing affects fine-root decomposition is still under-researched in natural grasslands. A two-factorial experiment with asymmetric warming (i.e. daytime vs. nighttime and growing season vs. nongrowing season) and moderate grazing (i.e. about average 50% forage utilization rate) was conducted to explore whether warming and grazing affect fine-root decomposition and loss of nutrients during a 2-year decomposition period in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Both warming and grazing facilitated carbon cycling through increase in fine-root decomposition, and influenced element cycling which varies among elements. The effects of warming and grazing on fine-root decomposition and loss of nutrients were additive. Both warming and grazing significantly increased cumulative percentage mass loss and total organic carbon loss of fine roots during the 2-year experiment. Only warming with grazing treatment reduced percentage nitrogen loss, whereas warming, regardless of grazing, decreased percentage phosphorus loss. Warming and grazing alone increased percentage loss of potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium compared with control. There were no interactions between warming and grazing on fine-root decomposition and loss of nutrients. There was greater temperature sensitivity of decreased phosphorus loss than that of decreased nitrogen loss. Different temperature sensitivities of percentage loss of nutrients from fine-root decomposition would alter ratios of the available nutrients in soils, and may further affect ecosystem structure and functions in future warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated near the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, the Sha Gou fault area (SGFA) represents an important area to understand Cenozoic regional interactions between northeastern (NE) Tibetan Plateau and southwestern (SW) Liupan Shan Basin. Within this region, several km-scale arcuate fault systems such as the Lijun fault and the Madong Shan piedmont fault accommodate the transpressive deformation, but their structural style is still controversial. Predecessors regarded these bow-like faults as southwest-dipping thrust systems with large-scale nappes, however, this opinion is not compatible with the new field and geophysical data. In this study, we aim to ascertain the structural pattern of this area based on the analyses of field observation data, interpretation of seismic reflection profiles and two-dimensional gravity forward modeling. According to the present fieldwork, the structural cleavages, low-angle slickenlines, sub-vertical fault surfaces, “ribbon effect” as well as the linear geomorphic features in plane view indicate that these faults belong to a strike-slip system. Newly acquired seismic profiles, characterized by distinct positive flower structures, strongly suggest that this area is again a strike-slip fault system rather than a thrusting system. Furthermore, gravity forward modeling results show that the reverse strike-slip model without large-scale thrust nappes is closer to the present structural style of this area. The gravity forward modeling is an effective method to identify km-scale thrust nappes, which could be used for reference by the structural style analysis in other similar regions. Based on these evidences, a new transpressional shear model for the structural pattern is proposed. The overall structural style of the SGFA is not characterized by large-scale thrust nappes, but is dominated by a transpressional shear system with significant strike-slip faulting. Such a new model can be an additional evidence for the tectonic escape that is going on in the area north of the Himalaya and is dominated by reverse strike-slip deformation. The stepwise morphology (i.e., the Pre-Cretaceous strata in the west of strike-slip faults are higher than those in the east successively) in this model is also caused by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Furthermore, the strike-slip deformation indicates that the SW Liupan Shan Basin is a continental sub-basin segmented by several km-scale strike-slip faults rather than the imbricated style of purely contractional system in typical foreland basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]