The vegetation and ecosystem in the source region of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River (SRYY) are fragile. Affected by climate change, extreme droughts are frequent and permafrost degradation is serious in this area. It is very important to quantify the drought–vegetation interaction in this area under the influence of climate–permafrost coupling. In this study, based on the saturated vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil moisture (SM) that characterize atmospheric and soil drought, as well as the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) that characterize vegetation greenness and function, the evolution of regional vegetation productivity and drought were systematically identified. On this basis, the technical advantages of the causal discovery algorithm Peter–Clark Momentary Conditional Independence (PCMCI) were applied to distinguish the response of vegetation to VPD and SM. Furthermore, this study delves into the response mechanisms of NDVI and SIF to atmospheric and soil drought, considering different vegetation types and permafrost degradation areas. The findings indicated that low SM and high VPD were the limiting factors for vegetation growth. The positive and negative causal effects of VPD on NDVI accounted for 47.88% and 52.12% of the total area, respectively. Shrubs were the most sensitive to SM, and the response speed of grassland to SM was faster than that of forest land. The impact of SM on vegetation in the SRYY was stronger than that of VPD, and the effect in the frozen soil degradation area was more obvious. The average causal effects of NDVI and SIF on SM in the frozen soil degradation area were 0.21 and 0.41, respectively, which were twice as high as those in the whole area, and SM dominated NDVI (SIF) changes in 62.87% (76.60%) of the frozen soil degradation area. The research results can provide important scientific basis and theoretical support for the scientific assessment and adaptation of permafrost, vegetation, and climate change in the source area and provide reference for ecological protection in permafrost regions.

Climate change profoundly alters land use in alpine regions, and delving into the evolutionary characteristics of these changes is crucial for the sustainable development of regional land resources and the gradual enhancement of the ecological environment. Taking the source region of the Yangtze and Yellow River (SRYAYE) as a case study, we integrate permafrost and snowfall data into the Future Land Use Simulation model (FLUS). Analyzing historical land use, we predict and simulate the land use scenarios for 2030, 2035, and 2060 under SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 climates, and conduct a detailed analysis of the scale, composition, and pattern of land use in this area. Scale. The results showed that ① the Kappa coefficient of the improved FLUS model was higher than 0.927, and that the overall accuracy of the simulation was increased by 2.64%; ② the area of forest land and the high-coverage grassland will increase in the future and the center of gravity will migrate to the west, and that the area of moderate and low-coverage grassland will slightly decrease but tend to become green to the west; and ③ the fragmentation degree of the SRYAYE is decreasing, and the influence of human activities on the landscape pattern is weaker than in the past.

The source region of the Yellow River (SRYR) is continuously affected by climate change and human activities, and water security problems have long existed and are constantly changing, with the possibility of inducing a series of new risks. To diagnose the above problems and clarify their evolution features, based on the connotation of water security and its involved dimensions, this paper systematically reviews the relevant research results on water security in the SRYR, summarizes the water security problems and their evolution trend in the region from three aspects: water disasters, water ecology, and water supply security, and deeply analyzes the cascade effect of each water security problem. This paper provides a scientific basis for carrying out water disaster prevention and ecological restoration in the SRYR, which is conducive to optimizing the development and utilization of water resources in the context of adapting to climate change.

The ongoing warming–wetting trend is profoundly reshaping water and land resources (WLR) in alpine regions, challenging their ecological functions. Focusing on the Yellow River source region above Huangheyan Station, we developed a synergistic WLR allocation framework explicitly oriented towards ecological function enhancement. We systematically assessed the spatiotemporal evolution of WLR and key ecological functions from 2000 to 2020, and projected future dynamics for 2030–2060 under four SSP scenarios. A multi-objective optimization model was established to minimize water shortage, maximize water conservation capacity (WCC), maximize vegetation water use efficiency (WUE), and minimize soil erosion amount (SEA), solved using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II algorithm (NSGA-II). The results indicate significant ecological improvements over the past two decades (Net Primary Production (NPP) +14.3%, WCC +67.9%, SEA −34.1%). Critically, the optimized allocation schemes demonstrated substantial benefits across all future scenarios, enhancing WCC by 4.6–20.2%, improving WUE by 0.6–10.7%, and reducing SEA by 3.9–9.1%. This study offers a useful reference for coordinating ecological conservation and resource management in climate-sensitive and ecologically fragile alpine regions.

In the context of global climate change, droughts are expected to become more severe, persistent, and frequent. Drought is considered to be one of the main drivers of vegetation mortality, and the mechanism of vegetation response to drought has been the focus of global attention. This paper analyzes the research hotspots on vegetation response to drought at internal and international through bibliometric analysis, summarizes the progress of drought assessment in the alpine plateau region on this basis, and further analyzes the mechanism of vegetation response to drought from the perspectives of vegetation structure and physiological changes, vegetation water recharge, and ecosystem stability. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the research conducted on the impact of drought on vegetation in the alpine plateau region. Additionally, the paper will discuss the existing challenges and limitations of this research, as well as offer insights into future directions and trends in this field. This paper aims to serve as a valuable reference for researchers, establish a foundation for further research and decision-making in the alpine plateau region, and contribute to the advancement of research in this field.

Against the backdrop of global climate change and sustainable development, research on the value of ecological products derived from soil and water conservation measures has attracted increasing attention. Addressing the issue of value realization for ecological products derived from soil and water conservation measures, this study used VOSviewer software to perform a visual analysis of 2,935 literature entries from the Web of Science Core Collection, covering the fields of “ecological product value” and “ecosystem services” from 2020 to 2024. The research traced two temporal trajectories: the evolution of soil and water conservation technologies and the formation of the theoretical framework for ecological product value. By integrating methods such as multi-source remote sensing, dynamic correction, and model coupling, the study refined the equivalent factor method to establish a value realization mechanism centered on ecological product value and supplemented by ecological compensation. The results demonstrate that the ecological benefits of soil and water conservation measures can be effectively converted into economic benefits, thus providing a crucial reference for promoting regional sustainable development.