Surface pollen and its relationship to vegetation in the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

We use a data set of 23 surface pollen samples from moss polsters in the Zoige Basin to explore the relationship between modern pollen assemblages and contemporary vegetation patterns. The surface pollen samples spanned four types of plant communities: Carex muliensis marsh, Stipa and Kobresia meadow, Carex-dominated forb meadow and Sibiraea angustata scrub. Principal-components analysis (PCA) was used to determine the relationships between modern pollen and vegetation and environmental variables. The results show that the pollen assemblages of surface moss samples generally reflect the features of the modern vegetation, basically similar in the vegetation types and the dominant genera; however, they don’t show a very clear distinction between different communities. Our results also demonstrate that pollen representation of different families or genus varied. Some tree taxa, such as Pinus and Betula, and herb types, such as Artemisia are over-represented, while Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae and Cyperaceae are moderately represented, and Poaceae and Rosaceae are usually under-represented in our study region. PCA results indicate that the distribution of vegetation in the Zoige Basin is mainly controlled by precipitation and altitude.

Keywords

modern pollen assemblages / principal- components analysis / Zoige Basin / eastern Tibetan Plateau

References

[1] Cai Y, Wang Y, Jiang F C, Li C Z (2007). Characteristics of pollen assemblages in surface soil in the Maqu, Hongyuan area, Zoige Plateau, Northern Sichuan. J Geom, 13(4): 333–339 (in Chinese)

[2] Cheng B, Zhu Y, Chen F H, Zhang J W, Huang X Z, Yang M L (2004). Relationship between the surface pollen and vegetation in Shiyang River Drainage, Northwest China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 26(1): 81–88 (in Chinese)

[3] Cushing E J (1967). Evidence for differential pollen preservation in late quaternary sediments in Minnesota. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 4: 87–101

[4] Editorial Board of Sichuan Vegetation (1980). Vegetation of Sichuan. Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Press, 128–308 (in Chinese)

[5] Faegri K, Iversen J (1989). Text Book of Pollen Analysis. 4th ed. London: John Wiley & Sons Inc

[6] Herzschuh U, Tarasov P, Wunnemann B, Hartmann K (2004). Holocene vegetation and climate of the Alashan Plateau, NW China, reconstructed from pollen data. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 211: 1–17

[7] Hou X Y (2001). Vegetation Atlas of China. Beijing: Science Press, 94–100 (in Chinese)

[8] Lamb H F (1984). Modern pollen spectra from Labrador and their use in reconstructing Holocene vegetational history. J Ecol, 72: 37–59

[9] Li W (1993). Some problems of Holocene pollen analysis. In: Zhang, L, ed. Research of the Historical Change of the Environment for Human Survival in China. Beijing: Ocean Press, 4–10 (in Chinese)

[10] Li W, Yao Z, Liu G (1993). Research of the Quaternary Vegetation and Environment in the Northern and Middle Subtropical Zone in China. Beijing: Ocean Press (in Chinese)

[11] Li Y C, Xu Q H, Zhao Y K, Yang X L, Xiao J L, Chen H, Lü X M (2005). Pollen indication to source plants in the eastern desert of China. Chin Sci Bull, 50: 1632–1641

[12] Liu H Y, Cui H T, Pott R, Speier M (1999). The surface pollen of the woodland-steppe ecotone in southeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 105: 237–250

[13] Liu K B, Yao Z J, Thompson L G (1998). A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geology, 26: 135–138

[14] Luo C X, Zheng Z, Tarasov P, Pan A D, Huang K Y, Beaudouin C, An F Z (2009). Characteristics of the modern pollen distribution and their relationship to vegetation in the Xinjiang region, northwestern China. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 153: 282–295

[15] Ma Y Z, Liu K, Feng Z D, Sang Y L, Wang W, Sun A Z (2008). A survey of modern pollen and vegetation along a south–north transect in Mongolia. J Biogeogr, 35: 1512–1532

[16] Pardoe H S (2001). The representation of taxa in surface pollen spectra on alpine and sub-alpine glacier forelands in souther Norway. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 117: 63–78

[17] Shang X, Li X Q, An Z S, Ji M, Zhang H B (2009). Modern pollen rain in the Lake Qinghai basin. Science China (Series D): Earth Sciences, 52(10): 1510–1519

[18] Shen C M, Liu K, Tang L Y, Overpeck J T (2006). Quantitative relationships between modern pollen rain and climate in the Tibetan Plateau. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 140: 61–77

[19] ter Braak C J F (1988). CANOCO––A FORTRAN program for canonical community ordination by (Partial) (Detrended) (Canonical) Correspondence analysis, principal components analysis and redundancy analysis version 2.1. Agricultural Mathematics Group, Wageningen

[20] Wright H E, Cushing E J Jr (1967). Quaternary Paleoecology. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 275–301

[21] Xu Q H, Li Y C, Yang X L, Zheng Z H (2007). The qutitative relationship between some main pollen taxas and vegetation in north China. Science China (Series D): Earth Sciences, 37(2): 192–205 (in Chinese)

[22] Yan S, Xu Y (1989). Spore-pollen association in surface soils in the Altay Mountains, Xinjiang. Arid Zone Research, 6: 26–33 (in Chinese)

[23] Yu G, Tang L Y, Yang X D, Ke X K, Harrison S P (2001). Modern pollen samples from alpine vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau. Glob Ecol Biogeogr, 10: 503–519

[24] Zhao Y, Herzschuh U (2009). Modern pollen representation of source vegetation in the Qaidam Basin and the surrounding mountains, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 18: 245–260

[25] Zhao Y, Xu Q H, Huang X Z, Guo X L, Tao S C (2009). Differences of modern pollen assemblages from lake sediments and surface soils in arid and semi-arid China and their significance for pollen-based quantitative climate reconstruction. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 156: 519–524

[26] Zhao Y, Yu Z C, Chen F H, Emi I, Cheng Z (2007). Holocene vegetation and climate history at Hurleg Lake in the Qaidam Basin, northwest China. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 145: 275–288

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg