Assessment of lake area in response to climate change at varying elevations: A case study of Mt. Tianshan, Central Asia.

Changes in lake area (water surface area) are often considered accurate and sensitive representations of climate change. However, the role that elevation plays in this dynamic is somewhat unclear; studies remain inconclusive as to whether lake responses are consistent across elevation gradients. Here, we used Landsat and keyhole satellite images to quantify lake area changes from the 1960s to 2020 at different elevations in Central Asia's Tianshan Mountains and relate them to both climatic and anthropogenic factors.

Response of altitudinal vegetation belts of the Tianshan Mountains in northwestern China to climate change during 1989-2015.

Within the mountain altitudinal vegetation belts, the shift of forest tree lines and subalpine steppe belts to high altitudes constitutes an obvious response to global climate change. However, whether or not similar changes occur in steppe belts (low altitude) and nival belts in different areas within mountain systems remain undetermined. It is also unknown if these, responses to climate change are consistent.

Isotopic analysis on nanogram quantities of carbon from dissolved insect cuticle: a method for paleoenvironmental inferences.

Rationale: Carbon isotope (δ C ) data from arthropod cuticles provide invaluable information on past and present biogeochemical processes. However, such analyses typically require large sample sizes that may mask important variation in δ C values within or among species.

Methods: We have evaluated a spooling-wire microcombustion (SWiM) device and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to measure the δ C values of carbon dissolved from the cuticle of chitinous aquatic zooplankton.