Climate change is one of the most serious challenges facing mankind. Sphagnum moss plays an important role in the carbon sink of peatland. Understanding the potential distribution of Sphagnum moss under climate change scenarios is critical for the conservation and rational exploitation of it. In this study, we divided the Hengduan Mountains (HDM) into east (EHDM) and west (WHDM) parts to see the difference between the whole and the parts, and understand the effects of integrity and connectivity of the landscape on species distribution. Since no enough occurrence data in EHDM, we applied the occurrence data in WHDM. Then, MaxEnt model was employed to predict the potential distribution of Sphagnum moss and computed the migratory paths of the distribution center points. We found precipitation in the coldest quarter, daily range of average temperature, isothermality and slope were the main factors affecting the suitable habitat for Sphagnum moss in HDM and WHDM. In HDM, the current potential suitable habitat is 2.6×104 km2, and will increase over 8 times and tend to shift northeastward and higher elevations in the future. In WHDM, the suitable area is 1.06×104 km2, but will decline exceeds 70% under most future climate scenarios, and tend to shift southward and lower elevations. Landscape integrity and connectivity have a great impact on the distribution of HDM Sphagnum moss species. Overall, our findings provide a reference for the conservation and management of Sphagnum moss.

As an important soil carbon pool in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), alpine peatland are extremely sensitive to global change. Duration of drainage and water table drawdown accelerate peatland degradation due to the soil changed from anaerobic condition to aerobic condition, which may even worsen under climate warming. Hence, the objective of our research was to evaluate the effect of drainage on microbial characteristics, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their influencing factors, and further analyze whether the the variability of GHG emissions increases with warming. The results showed that the influence of water table drawdown on microbial communities were greater than that of duration of drainage. Both the fungal and prokaryotic community compositions varied with water table gradient, and soil microbiota may served as a biomarker to analyze the differences in GHG emissions among three different water table treatments. Intriguingly, the GHG emission decreased with the increase of drainage age, while water table drawdown decreased the emissions of CO2 and CH4, and increased the emission of N2O. In addition, high temperature increased CO2 by 75% and N2O by 42%, but not significantly decreased the CH4 emission rates. Structural equation modeling showed that microbe was the primary factor affecting GHG emissions from drained peatlands, especially prokaryotes. In all, this study indicate water table has a greater effect on GHG emissions than duration of drainage, and the variability of GHG emissions increases with warming.

As an important soil carbon pool in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), alpine peatland are extremely sensitive to global change. Duration of drainage and water table drawdown accelerate peatland degradation as the soils are no longer protected by anaerobic condition, which may worsen under climate warming. Hence, the purpose of our study was to evaluate the effect of drainage on microbial characteristics, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their influencing factors, and further analyze whether the the variability of GHG emissions increases with warming. The results showed that the influence of water table drawdown on microbial communities were greater than that of duration of drainage. Both the fungal and prokaryotic community compositions varied with water table gradient, and soil microbiota may served as a biomarker to analyze the differences in GHG emissions among three different water table treatments. Intriguingly, the GHG emission decreased with the increase of drainage age, while water table drawdown reduced the CO2 and CH4 emission rates, and increased N2O emission rates. In addition, high temperature increased CO2 by 75% and N2O by 42%, but not significantly decreased the CH4 emission rates. Structural equation modeling showed that microbe was the primary factor affecting GHG emissions from drained peatlands, especially prokaryotes. Overall, our results indicate that water table has a greater impact on GHG emissions than duration of drainage, and the variability of GHG emissions increases with warming.

As an important soil carbon pool in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), alpine peatland are extremely sensitive to global change. Duration of drainage and water table drawdown lead to rapid soil degradation and C losses, and this may worsen under warming as the soils are no longer protected by anaerobic conditions. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess the effect of drainage on microbial characteristics, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their influencing factors, and further analyze whether the the variability of GHG emissions increases with warming. The results showed that the influence of water table drawdown on microbial community structure was greater than that of duration of drainage. Both the fungal and prokaryotic community compositions varied with water table gradient, and soil microbiota may served as a biomarker to analyze the differences in GHG emissions among three different water table treatments. Intriguingly, the GHG emission decreased with the increase of drainage age, while water table drawdown reduced the CO2 and CH4 emission rates, and increased N2O emission rates. In addition, high temperature increased CO2 by 75% and N2O by 42%, but not significantly decreased the CH4 emission rates. Structural equation modeling suggested that microbial community composition was the primary factor affecting GHG emissions from drained peatlands, especially prokaryotes. Overall, our results indicate that water table plays a more important role in GHG emissions than duration of drainage, and the variability of GHG emissions increases with warming.