Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research

Evaluation of turbulent flux parameterizations over a continental glacier on the Tibetan Plateau

A lack of observations of turbulent fluxes over continental glaciers limits our understanding of the mechanisms that control glacier variations and associated water resource changes across the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of turbulent fl...

Identification and Characterization of a Previously Uncharacterized Metagenome-Derived Chitinase and Its Application in N -Acetyl- d -Glucosamine Production from Crayfish Shell Waste

Abstract The generation of agricultural and food-processing byproducts has increased rapidly, highlighting the importance of their high-value utilization. In this study, a putative chitinase gene was identified from a metagenome-assembled genome. The enzyme plays a key role in ch...

Temperature dependence of grain size in Tibetan ice core

Grain size in ice cores can not only reflect the glacial strain processes but also be linked to climate change. However, the variation of grain size along ice cores in mountain glaciers remains largely unexplored. Here, we continuously measured the ice grain areas along two deep...

Lower soil organic carbon mineralization and temperature sensitivity along a freeze-thaw erosion gradient in permafrost soils

Freeze-thaw erosion (FTE) is widespread in permafrost regions, yet its effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics remain unclear. Here, we investigated SOC fractions, physicochemical properties, microbial biomass and community composition, SOC-degradation functional genes, SOC...

Spatial-homogenized soil-surface pollen data can service as substitute for lake-surface pollen assemblage

Lake-surface pollen assemblage is the ideal modern analogue for past climate and vegetation reconstructions quantitatively based on lacustrine fossil pollen spectra. Soil-surface pollen assemblage, on the other hand, has been more widely applied due to its ready accessibility, ye...

Natural methane emissions feedbacks in MAGICC v. 7.6

Literature estimates of natural methane emissions, particularly from wetlands, have a wide range of uncertainty. Meanwhile, few Earth System Models (ESMs) explicitly model wetlands as a potential source of methane. As a result, Simple Climate Models that aim to emulate the behavi...

Early Eocene Compressional Deformation in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau Recorded by Magnetic Fabrics of the Longzhong Basin

Abstract Intracontinental deformation records how early Eocene India–Asia collisional stress propagated into continental interiors. How rapidly compression reached the far field, and whether coeval Paleo‐Pacific slab dynamics contributed, remain debated. The Longzhong Basin, ∼1,9...

Transcriptomic efficiency shapes growth-defense trade-offs in alpine desert plants under climate change

Climate change on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, characterized by simultaneous warming and increased precipitation during the growing season, will challenge alpine plants to balance resource acquisition with stress defense. However,the governing physiological and molecular mechanism...

Disentangling Topographic Constraints and the Climatic and Anthropogenic Pathways Shaping Vegetation Greenness in the Southeastern Qinghai–Xizang Plateau

Vegetation greenness reflects ecosystem responses to climate change and human activities. This study quantified spatiotemporal variation in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in Nyingchi, a representative alpine-gorge region of the Southeastern Qinghai–Xizang Plate...

Ancient proteins identify various Denisovan remains from Southwest China

More than a decade of multidisciplinary research has identified a collection of cranial, facial and dental remains of Denisovans from across Asia, providing insight into their cranial capacity, appearance, diet and evolutionary history. However, our understanding of their spatiot...

Characteristics of dissolved organic matter and greenhouse gas emissions in the Yarlung Tsangpo, a large transboundary river

Rivers are significant emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O. However, the spatial variability of riverine GHG fluxes and their relationship with dissolved organic matter (DOM) characteristics—such as concentration, composition, sources, and properti...

An ABA /auxin regulatory module controlled by nitrogen governs symbiotic organogenesis in the bryophyte species Ricciocarpos natans

Summary During the terrestrialization of plants c. 470 Ma, overcoming nitrogen limitation was a major evolutionary challenge. While nonvascular plants may acquire nitrogen through rhizoids and surface diffusion, symbiotic interactions likely provide an important strategy to overc...

Functional niche partitioning influences species turnover across supraglacial microbial communities on the Longxiazai glacier, Tibetan Plateau

Glaciers represent unique ecosystems harboring diverse microbial communities that dominate biomass and drive biogeochemical cycling across supraglacial habitats. These microbes transform deposited modern and ancient carbon/nitrogen, and these elements are subsequently transferred...

Tectonic escape from the Pangean megamonsoon via oceanic isolation modulated low-latitude hydroclimate

The assembly of the Pangea supercontinent during the late Paleozoic ice age drove Earth’s most intense megamonsoon. Although climate models predict a humid low-latitude eastern Pangean margin, widespread red-bed records indicate extreme seasonal oxidation, creating a conspicuous...

Cumulative spatial assessment of observed wildlife-vehicle collisions based on indicator species thresholds

Global road network expansion has exacerbated wildlife-vehicle collisions. However, traditional risk assessments predominantly assume a linear relationship between landscape features and observed collision quantities, overlooking the non-linear threshold characteristics of ecolog...

A Physics‐Guided Feature Selection Machine Learning Approach for Cloud Probability Retrieval and Detection From TEMPO Imagery

Abstract Accurate cloud detection is critical for reliable retrievals of aerosols and trace gases from remote‐sensing measurements. TEMPO provides unprecedented hourly observations over North America, but radiometric calibration biases, thousands of spectral channels, and limited...

Need-responsive accessibility supports equitable sustainable development and reshapes migration as evolving human needs

Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals’ commitment to “leave no one behind” requires accessibility that responds to evolving human needs, yet prevailing accessibility assessments remain static and sector-specific, overlooking hierarchical need evolution and behavioral feedba...

High frequency of urban new particle formation on the Tibetan Plateau: quantifying formation rates, growth rates, and CCN production

Abstract. New particle formation (NPF) strongly influences aerosol number size distributions and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), yet its characteristics and climatic relevance in high-altitude urban environments over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) remain poorly constrained. We conduct...

Pre-Paleocene Kohistan–Karakoram Amalgamation: Evidence from the Detrital Zircon Provenance of the Baraul Banda Formation, Pakistan

The Baraul Banda Formation preserves an important Paleocene–Eocene sedimentary record within the western Kohistan–Ladakh Arc (KLA) and provides new constraints on sediment provenance and tectonic evolution during the final stages of Neo-Tethyan closure. This study integrates stra...

Planetary Boundary Layer Height on the Northern Mount Qomolangma Region Retrieved From Wind LiDAR Observations

Abstract A coherent Doppler wind LiDAR (Wind3D 6000) has been operating in the northern Mount Qomolangma region since 2023. We retrieved planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) from LiDAR observations collected from October 2023 to September 2025 using a hybrid algorithm combining...