UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL ALTIPLANO PUNO

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS AGRARIAS

ESCUELA PROFESIONAL DE INGENIERÍA TOPOGRÁFICA Y AGRIMENSURA

ASIGNATURA: ZONIFICACION ECOLOGICA Y ECONOMICA

TEMA: Traducción, redacción de un artículo científico

Docente: Ing. Elmer Elio Calizaya Llatasi

Estudiante: Ever Jhonior Flores Quispe

Celular: 963731112

Gmail: efloresquispe7@gmail.com

Ciudad: Puno-Perú

Año: 2021

Semestre: decimo
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
Journal of
Arid
Environments
Journal of Arid Environments 66 (2006) 113–126
www.elsevier.com/locate/jnlabr/yjare

Changes in Holdridge Life Zone diversity in the

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of
China over the past 40 years
Y. Zhenga,b,, Z. Xiec, L. Jiangd, H. Shimizub, S. Drakee
a
Laboratory of Quantitative Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
No. 20 Xiangshan Nanxin Cun, Beijing 100093, China
b
National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
c
Geosciences Department, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
d
Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
e
Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA

Received 28 July 2003; received in revised form 11 April 2005; accepted 29 September 2005
Available online 5 December 2005

Abstract

The Holdridge Life Zone model, Shannon’s Entropy Index and Simpson’s Diversity Index were
used to study the dynamics of vegetation distribution over the past 40 years in the Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region (XUAR), China. The results indicated that Holdridge Life Zone diversity was
highest in the 1960s, dramatically decreased in the 1970s, and then gradually increased in the 1980s
and 1990s. From the 1970s, the environment in XUAR seemed to be increasing in stability, as
characterized by a reduction in the number of days of sandy dust storm activity in the 1990s, and an
increase in temperature and precipitation leading to an increase in water flow in some rivers. It is
possible that both changes in human activities and positive climate change contributed to the
Holdridge Life Zone diversity dynamics and more stable environment in XUAR.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Climate change; Vegetation diversity; Holdridge Life Zones; Sandy dust storm; Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region

Corresponding author. Laboratory of Quantitative Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, Chinese

Academy of Sciences, No. 20 Xiangshan Nanxin Cun, Beijing 100093, China. Tel.: +86 10 62836508;
fax: +86 10 82590429.
E-mail addresses: zhengyr@ibcas.ac.cn, zhengyuanrun@hotmail.com (Y. Zheng).

0140-1963/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.09.005
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
114 Y. Zheng et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 66 (2006) 113–126

1. Introduction

Some ecosystems once thought to have relatively low direct economic values may
potentially be substantial resource bases for socio-economic development. They may also
represent a rich source of biodiversity, the benefits of which are difficult to quantify but
could include stabilizing effects on ecosystem processes, preserving genetic resources,
supplying potential pharmaceuticals, and so on (Daily et al., 1997; Yates et al., 2000). This
might be the case for the ecosystems in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR),
in north-west China.
As the largest autonomous region (province) in China, XUAR covers over one-sixth of
China’s land, holds the majority of the country’s arid areas, and is relatively sparsely
populated. The topography of XUAR is unique, with the Kunlun Mountains in the south,
Altay Mountains in the north, and the Tianshan Ranges running through the middle. All
of these mountain ranges extend more or less east-west, and elevations over 4000 m are
common. Between the Altay and Tianshan Ranges lie the Junggar Basin and the
Gurbantunggut Desert. The much larger Tarim Basin and Taklimakan Desert are situated
between the Tianshan and Kunlun Ranges (Longworth and Williamson, 1993).
The topography, combined with the region’s latitude and inland continental location,
results in complex and unique ecosystems in XUAR, which could serve as important
resource bases of biodiversity and could provide resources for potential socio-economic
development. However, in the several decades before the 1980s, XUAR experienced
significant desertification and became the main source of sandy dust storms in China.
Many efforts have been made to rehabilitate degraded vegetation in this area. However, in
order to design sound rehabilitation strategies, it is necessary to understand the spatio-
temporal structure and function of the existing ecosystems and their relationship to
climate, since plant Life Zones are likely to exhibit a close relationship to climate
(Holdridge et al., 1971). To serve this purpose, this study will quantitatively assess the
dynamics of vegetation distribution in this area using the Holdridge Life Zone model,
Shannon’s Entropy Index and Simpson’s Diversity Index. The causes of vegetation
distribution dynamics in XUAR will also be examined.

2. Relevant previous studies

There have been a number of significant long-term efforts to assess the potential
responses of natural ecosystems to climate changes (Clements, 1916; Thornthwaite, 1931;
Holdridge, 1947; Holdridge et al., 1971; Box, 1981; Emanuel et al., 1985). Very detailed
and rigorous approaches to biome distribution modeling have been developed, aided by
significant progress in understanding ecosystem processes and by increasingly powerful
computing resources (Yates et al., 2000). However, in spite of these advances, the
Holdridge Life Zone model is still widely used in climate impact studies because of its
practicality and universal accessibility (Prentice, 1990; Smith et al., 1992; Henderson-
Sellers, 1994). For example, it has recently been used in the US Country Studies Program
focusing on climate change (Benioff et al., 1996; Yates et al., 2000). In one research
endeavor, Yates et al. (2000) also compared the Holdridge Life Zone model with three
mechanistic simulation models (BIOME2, the Dynamic Global Phytogeography Model
(DOLY), and the Mapped Atmosphere-Plant-Soil System (MAPSS)) for the conterminous
United States. Their research indicated that the performance of the Holdridge model was