Analysis on the effects of climate warming on growth and phenology of alpine plants

Climate warming has become a credible fact due to the long-term effects of natural factors and human activities.Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau(QTP) has been considered as an ideal place to study the responses of terrestrial ecosystem to global climate change.Alpine meadows of QTP are extremely fragile and significantly sensitive to climate warming.The growth and phenology of alpine plants are the sensitive indictors to climate change and can be measured easily.The effects of climate warming on growth and phenology of alpine plants were analyzed.The conclusions were as follows:1)Warming had a positive effect to alpine meadow of QTP,but it would turn to negative effect with temperature increasing.However,both effects were not significant,which tested that the warming effect to alpine meadow of QTP was not significant in a short time(one year).2)The height of plants trended to increas with the elevated temperature in high-elevation regions(4500m),and it would turn to decrease in low-elevation regions(3400m).3)The elevated temperature could speed up the progress of plants phenology and extended the growing season in alpine ecosystem.However,the changes of phenology brought survival risk to plants either.