As a vital ecological security barrier and climate regulator in northwestern China, the spatial patterns and evolving formation mechanisms of ecosystem services within the Qinghai Lake basin hold significant strategic value for ecological conservation and national park development in the region. This study selected land use data during 2000–2020, integrating the equivalent factor method, spatial correlation analysis, and the geodetector approach to systematically investigate the spatial heterogeneity characteristics of ESV in the Qinghai Lake basin and its corresponding driving mechanisms. The results indicate the following: (1) During the period 2000–2020, grassland consistently constituted the primary land cover category within the Qinghai Lake Basin, accounting for over 60% of the total area; water bodies (16.67%) and unused land (16.56%) represented the secondary land use categories. Over this twenty-year period, the total ESV exhibited a slight increasing trend, rising from USD 30.30 × 10⁸ to USD 30.75 × 10⁸, representing a growth of 0.31%. Regulating services constituted the primary component of ESV. The highest contribution to ESV originated from water bodies, with grassland ranking second. (2) ESV displayed a spatial arrangement marked by “high values in the lake center and low values in the surrounding areas” and “higher values in the southeast and lower values in the northwest.” Its spatial correlation exhibits a pronounced positive relationship. The number of units classified as high-high clusters (primarily water bodies at low elevations) and low-low clusters (mainly grasslands and unused land at high elevations) both increased over the study period, indicating a continuous intensification of ESV spatial agglomeration. (3) Results from the geographical detector reveal that both natural and anthropogenic factors collectively drive the spatial variation in ESV, with natural factors exhibiting stronger explanatory capacity. Among these, elevation and temperature are identified as the dominant drivers of ESV spatiotemporal differentiation. The combined effect of two interacting factors surpasses the influence exerted by any single factor in isolation. This research clarifies that the spatial distribution of ESV in the Qinghai Lake Basin, which features “high values in the lake center and low values in the surrounding areas” as well as “higher values in the southeast and lower values in the northwest,” is jointly shaped by the combined control of vertical zonality governed by topographic and climatic factors and the spatial differentiation of human activities. In low-altitude lakeshore zones, ESV rose as a consequence of water body expansion and the enforcement of ecological conservation measures, leading to the emergence of high-value clusters. In contrast, ESV improvement in high-elevation regions remained limited, constrained by fragile natural conditions and minimal human intervention. The insights derived from this research offer a scientific foundation for refining the “one core, four zones, one ring, multiple points” functional zoning framework of the Qinghai Lake National Park, as well as for developing tailored management approaches suited to distinct elevation-based regions.

The Qinghai Lake Basin represents a critical ecological security barrier in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Water yield and carbon storage within this basin are closely linked to regional ecological security and sustainable development. To investigate their spatiotemporal patterns, influencing factors, and spatial interrelationships from 1995 to 2020, this study integrated the InVEST model, the Optimal Parameter Geodetector model, and spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results indicate that water yield exhibited a fluctuating yet generally increasing trend over the study period, rising from 1.42 × 10⁹ m³ to 1.97 × 10⁹ m³. High water yield values were predominantly concentrated in high-altitude headwater areas, whereas low values mainly occurred in the lake area and its surroundings. Elevation, annual mean temperature, and precipitation were identified as the primary drivers of water yield. Carbon storage increased from 1.76 × 10⁸ t in 1995 to 2.14 × 10⁸ t in 2020. High carbon storage values were mainly concentrated in grassland and forested areas, while low values were largely distributed in built-up land, unused land, and the lake area. Elevation, NDVI, and water yield emerged as the main influencing factors of carbon storage. A significant positive spatial correlation was observed between water yield and carbon storage. Persistent patterns of high-carbon-storage–high-water-yield clusters and low-carbon-storage–low-water-yield clusters demonstrate a clear spatial synergy. These findings provide scientific support for ecological conservation, water resource management, and carbon sink enhancement in the Qinghai Lake Basin and are of practical significance for sustaining regional ecosystem services and safeguarding sustainability.

This study investigated the interactive effects of warming and inundation on methane (CH₄) fluxes and soil physicochemical mechanisms in the littoral wetland of Qinghai Lake. Soil samples were collected from the Bird Island littoral wetland. Eight treatments were established: natural control (CK), different inundation depths (S0, S10, S20), warming alone (ZWCK), and warming combined with inundation (ZW0, ZW10, ZW20). CH₄ fluxes were measured over one year using an ABB LGR analyzer. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Mantel tests were used to identify environmental drivers. The main findings are as follows: (1) Under different water level treatments, CH₄ fluxes showed a unimodal seasonal pattern, peaking in autumn. Warming and the interactive treatments shifted the emission pattern to bimodal or multimodal and significantly increased emission intensity. The warming-alone group had the highest annual emission, with anomalously high winter emission (47.683 μg·m⁻²·h⁻¹). Under the ZW20 treatment, emissions were synergistically enhanced in summer and autumn but turned to suppression in winter. (2) PCA showed that the carbon nitrogen pool (70.5%) and the salinity pH gradient (14.9%) were the main drivers of soil variation. The interactive effects on carbon-nitrogen dynamics shifted with season: warming promoted accumulation in spring; warming with shallow inundation retained carbon-nitrogen in summer, but deep inundation caused loss; warming with deep inundation formed a nutrient center in autumn; inundation dominated accumulation in winter, while warming increased loss. (3) Mantel tests showed that carbon-nitrogen components were highly correlated across seasons, but were strongly and positively correlated with CH₄ flux only in autumn (Mantel’s r ≥ 0.4, p < 0.05), indicating autumn as the key window. These findings provide important insights into carbon cycling processes and regulatory mechanisms of alpine wetlands under future climate change scenarios.

Against the backdrop of climate warming leading to an increase in extreme weather events, extreme precipitation events have become more frequent, and the impact of changes in precipitation on ecosystems cannot be ignored. There is a scarcity of field in situ observational data on greenhouse gas emissions during the growing season for alpine wetlands, especially for alpine river source wetlands, which limits our understanding of the ability of alpine wetland ecosystems to convert between carbon sources and carbon sinks and also hinders our comprehension of the primary effects of extreme precipitation events on wetland ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the main greenhouse gas emission fluxes in two consecutive growing seasons (May to September) under the conditions of natural control (CK), 75% increase in precipitation (IP), and 75% decrease in precipitation (DP) through in situ field simulations of extreme precipitation in an alpine source wetland in the Qinghai Lake Basin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. The results indicate the following: (1) The extreme precipitation increase (IP) treatment did not significantly increase CO₂ fluxes; it promoted CH₄ flux emissions by 168.2% and N₂O flux emissions by 178.4% over the two growing seasons. The extreme precipitation decrease treatment had a non-significant impact on CO₂ fluxes; it inhibited CH₄ emission fluxes by 96.8% and promoted N₂O emission fluxes by 137.8%. (2) During the growing season, CO₂ fluxes were 2.2% lower in the IP treatment than in the DP treatment under the two precipitation patterns; the CH₄ flux under the IP treatment is 84.1% higher than that under the DP treatment, and N₂O fluxes were 43.8% lower in the IP treatment than in the DP treatment. CH₄ fluxes were the most sensitive to precipitation changes. (3) The extreme changes in precipitation were not the main influencing factor for CO₂ fluxes, while CH₄ fluxes were primarily affected by precipitation changes. (4) During the entire growing season, IP reduced the global warming potential (GWP) by 9.03%, and DP decreased GWP by 8.40%. These results suggest that the primary driver of CO₂ fluxes in alpine river source wetlands remains temperature factors; in scenarios where extreme climate events occur frequently, both extreme increases and decreases in precipitation have inhibitory effects on the global warming potential of alpine river source wetlands.

Against the backdrop of global climate change, alterations in precipitation regimes—including the increasing frequency of extreme events—have become more widespread, exerting profound impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and reshaping greenhouse gas (GHG) emission dynamics in wetlands. Wetlands, as unique ecosystems formed at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic environments, play a critical role in regulating carbon source–sink functions. In this study, we conducted in situ field simulation experiments to examine how precipitation changes influence the seasonal fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) in the Wayan Mountain headwater wetlands, and further explored the regulatory effects of vegetation attributes and soil physicochemical properties on these fluxes. The results revealed that a moderate increase in precipitation (+25%) enhanced CO₂ emissions and vegetation growth while suppressing CH₄ and N₂O fluxes, indicating a positive ecosystem response to additional water supply. In contrast, extreme precipitation changes (+75% and −75%) weakened the coupling between GHG fluxes and soil factors, resulting in reduced CO₂ flux, amplified variability in CH₄ and N₂O emissions, and inhibited vegetation growth and community diversity. The dominant controls differed among gases: CO₂ was primarily regulated by soil carbon pools, CH₄ was highly sensitive to water availability, and N₂O was influenced by soil nitrogen, pH, and salinity. Overall, moderate increases in precipitation enhance the carbon sink capacity and community stability of alpine wetlands, whereas extreme hydrological fluctuations undermine ecosystem functioning. These findings provide important insights into carbon cycling processes and regulatory mechanisms of alpine wetlands under future climate change scenarios.

As a vital ecological security barrier and climate regulator in northwestern China, the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB) holds significant strategic value for regional ecological conservation and national park development. This study, utilizing land use data from 2010 to 2023 and integrating the InVEST and GeoDetector models, systematically investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of soil conservation (SC) and its underlying driving mechanisms. The results indicate the following: (1) During the study period, SC services exhibited a gradual declining trend across the selected years, with total SC decreasing from 14.64 × 10³ t to 7.49 × 10³ t. Spatially, high-value areas were predominantly concentrated in the high-altitude forest–grassland ecotones along the basin margins, whereas low-value areas were mainly distributed in the low-altitude zones surrounding the lake and in the northwestern corner of the basin. (2) Among different land use types, forestland, bare land, and grassland constituted the dominant contributing categories, with bare land exhibiting the highest sediment export (SE) intensity (ranging from 8.93 to 19.13 t·hm⁻²·a⁻¹), thereby serving as the primary erosion source area. Along the elevational gradient, the mid-to-high elevation zones (3500–4500 m) contributed the most to total SC, with SC intensity increasing progressively with rising elevation. With respect to slope classes, total SC was predominantly concentrated in the gentle-to-moderate slope zones (5–25°), whereas SC intensity exhibited a non-linear increase with increasing slope steepness. (3) Slope was identified as the single factor with the strongest explanatory power regarding the spatial heterogeneity of SC, and the coupled interactions of “topography–soil–vegetation” exerted a synergistic regulatory effect on SC function. It is recommended that priority attention be given to the mid-to-high elevation contribution zones (3500–4500 m), the total SC contribution zones on gentle-to-moderate slopes (5–25°), and the extremely steep slope areas (>35°) with high erosion risk, so as to implement differentiated soil and water conservation measures. These findings provide a scientific basis for ecological protection, soil and water conservation strategy formulation, and sustainable development in the QLB.