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Holocene vegetation and climate history at Haligu on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yunnan, SW China

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Abstract

This paper uses pollen analysis to investigate and document the changing climate and vegetation during the Holocene based on a 400 cm core in depth obtained at a wetland site at Haligu (3,277 m a. s. l.) on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunnan, China. By applying the Coexistence Approach to pollen data from this core, a quantitative reconstruction of climate over the last 9,300 years was made based on each pollen zone and individual core sample, which reveals the temperature and precipitation change frequently during that time. The qualitative analyses show that from 9300 to 8700 cal. yr BP, the vegetation was dominated by needle-leaved forest (mainly Pinus and Abies), indicating a slightly cool and moderately humid climate. Between 8700 and 7000 cal. yr BP, evergreen broad-leaved forest, dominated by Quercus, became the predominant vegetation type, replacing needle-leaved forest at this elevation, implying a warmer and more humid climate. During the period 7000 to 4000 cal. yr BP, the vegetation changed to mixed needle-leaved and evergreen broad-leaved forest, indicating a warm and moderately humid climate, but somewhat cooler than the preceding stage. From 4000 to 2400 cal. yr BP, the vegetation was again dominated by evergreen broad-leaved forest, but coniferous trees (mainly Pinus) began to increase, especially relative to a decline in Quercus. This implies that the climate remained warm and humid but slight drier than previously. The evergreen Quercus phase (8700–2400 yr BP) was designated as the Holocene climatic optimum in the Haligu core sediments. It is correlated with a markedly greater abundance and diversity of pteridophytes spores than was recorded before or after this period. From 2400 cal. yr BP to present, the vegetation was dominated by needle-leaved forest, of which Pinus formed the predominant component, accompanied by Abies and Tsuga. This reflects a slightly cooler, humid climate but also correlates with a period of increasing human settlement on the lower slopes of the mountain. At this elevated site, several hundred metres above the highest present day settlements, direct palynological evidence of anthropogenic activity is uncertain but we discuss ways in which the marked decline in Quercus pollen during this period may reflect the impact of ways in which natural resources of the mountain have been utilised.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Nai-Qiu Du from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences for her help with this study. We also wish to thank Dr. Ming-Mei Liang for assisting in a preliminary investigation of the potential of this study site, the staff of the Jade Dragon Field Station, especially David Paterson, for logistical support, and Frieda Christie for her guidance of SEM study. This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2004CB070205), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30990241), joint funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Royal Society (No. 30811130219), Science-Technology Foundation for Young Scientist of Shanxi Province (No. 2010021032-2), Special founding for the Talents Introduction and Development of Shanxi Province, Scientific Research Staring Foundation for the Doctor and Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Shanxi Agricultural University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, 100093, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Yan Song, Yi-Feng Yao & Cheng-Sen Li

  2. Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, 030801, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Yan Song

  3. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, UK

    A. H. Wortley & S. Blackmore

  4. Central Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

    K. N. Paudayal

  5. The Research Institute of Alpine Economic Plant, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lijiang, 674100, People’s Republic of China

    Shao-Hua Yang

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  1. Xiao-Yan Song
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  2. Yi-Feng Yao
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  3. A. H. Wortley
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Correspondence to Cheng-Sen Li.

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Xiao-Yan Song and Yi-Feng Yao contributed equally.

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Song, XY., Yao, YF., Wortley, A.H. et al. Holocene vegetation and climate history at Haligu on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yunnan, SW China. Climatic Change 113, 841–866 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0364-6

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