Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Paleoenvironmental significance of 5α-stigmastanol in surface soil and lake sediment from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains, eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We identified a suite of steroid biomarkers in sediments and surface soils around Lake Ximencuo, a typical glacial lake in the Nianbaoyeze region, eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Various sterols, stanols, sterones, and sterenes appear in the sediments and surface soil samples. Among these steroids, plant-derived β-sitosterol and the 5α-stigmastanol that is derived from it exhibit high relative abundances. Notably, we found that the relative abundance of 5α-stigmastanol and the 5α-stigmastanol/n-alkanol ratio in a core of Lake Ximencuo sediment increased significantly in the last 200–300 year. These biomarker changes are broadly consistent with the growth of human settlement and the rapid development of animal husbandry in this region, which resulted in the former nomadic pastoral lifestyles gradually being transformed into permanent settlements since the early eighteenth century. The environmental and cultural changes led to greater delivery to soils around the lake of β-sitosterol that was transformed into 5α-stigmastanol by microbial communities in soil horizons, which include aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and eventually surface runoff transport of the increased abundance of 5α-stigmastanol into Lake Ximencuo. We further postulate that the progressively greater human impacts in the Nianbaoyeze region over the past 200–300 year have modified the kinds of microbes that participate in the biogeochemical cycles of local soils.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Appleby PG, Oldfield F (1992) Application of Pb-210 to sedimentation studies. In: Ivanovich M, Harmon RS (eds) Uranium-series disequilibrium: applications to earth, marine, and environmental problems. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 731–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Atwood AR, Volkman JK, Sachs JP (2014) Characterization of unusual sterols and long chain diols, triols, keto-ols and n-alkenols in El Junco Lake, Galápagos. Org Geochem 66:80–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai JY (2012) The impact of agro-pastoral transformation on ecology in Minqin during the Qing Dynasty. Nation Res Qinghai 23:140–143 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand O, Mansuy-Huault L, Montargès-Pelletier E, Losson B, Argant J, Ruffaldi P, Etienne D, Garnier E, Dezileau L, Faure P, Michels R (2012) Molecular evidence for recent land use change from a swampy environment to a pond (Lorraine, France). Org Geochem 50:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bull ID, van Bergen PF, Nott CJ, Poulton PR, Evershed RP (2000) Organic geochemical studies of soils from the Rothamsted classical experiments—V. The fate of lipids in different long-term experiments. Org Geochem 31:389–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bull ID, Lockheart MJ, Elhmmali MM, Roberts DJ, Evershed RP (2002) The origin of faeces by means of biomarker detection. Environ Int 27:647–654

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen FH, Zhang JF, Liu JB, Cao XY, Hou JZ, Zhu LP, Xu XK, Liu XJ, Wang MD, Wu D, Huang LX, Zeng T, Zhang S, Huang W, Zhang X, Yang K (2020) Climate change, vegetation history, and landscape responses on the Tibetan Plateau during the Holocene: a comprehensive review. Quat Sci Rev 243:106444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng SK, Shen L (2000) Approach to dynamic relationship between population, resources, environment and development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. J Nat Res 15:297–304 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Anjou RM, Bradley RS, Balascio NL, Finkelstein DB (2012) Climate impacts on human settlement and agricultural activities in northern Norway revealed through sediment biogeochemistry. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:20332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evershed RP, Bethell PH, Reynolds PJ, Walsh NJ (1997) 5β-Stigmastanol and related 5β-stanols as biomarkers of manuring: analysis of modern experimental material and assessment of the archaeological potential. J Arch Sci 24:485–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frenzel B (1994) Über Probleme der holozänen Vegetations geschichte Osttibets. Göttinger Geograp Abhand 95:143–166 ((in German))

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaskell SJ, Eglinton G (1975) Rapid hydrogenation of sterols in a contemporary lacustrine sediment. Nature 254:209–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grishko VV, Nogovitsina EM, Ivshina IB (2012) Optimization of conditions for biocatalytic production of stigmast-4-en-3-one. Chem Nat Compd 48:432–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanisch S, Wessels M, Niessen F, Schwalb A (2009) Late Quaternary lake response to climate change and anthropogenic impact: biomarker evidence from Lake Constance sediments. J Paleolimnol 41:393–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He YX, Zheng YW, Pan AD, Zhao C, Sun YY, Song M, Zheng Z, Liu ZH (2014) Biomarker-based reconstructions of Holocene lake-level changes at Lake Gahai on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Holocene 24:405–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herzschuh U, Zhang CJ, Mischke S, Herzschuh R, Mohammadi F, Mingram B, Küschner H, Riedel F (2005) A late Quaternary lake record from the Qilian Mountains (NW China): evolution of the primary production and the water depth reconstructed from macrofossil, pollen, biomarker, and isotope data. Glob Planet Change 46:361–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou JZ, Huang YS, Zhao JT, Liu ZH, Colman S, An ZS (2016) Large Holocene summer temperature oscillations and impact on the peopling of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Geophys Res Lett 43:1323–1330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou JZ, Tian Q, Liang J, Wang MD, He Y (2017) Climatic implications of hydrologic changes in two lake catchments on the central Tibetan Plateau since the last glacial. J Paleolimnol 58:257–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang XY, Meyers PA, Jia CL, Zheng M, Xue JT, Wang XX, Xie SC (2013) Paleotemperature variability in central China during the last 13 ka recorded by a novel microbial lipid proxy in the Dajiuhu peat deposit. Holocene 23:1123–1129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iida T, Tamura T, Matsumoto T (1981) Stigmastanol in the seeds of Trichosanthes cucumeroide. Phytochemistry 20:857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joosten H, Haberl A, Schumann M (2008) Degradation and restoration of peatlands on the Tibetan Plateau. Peatlands Int 1:31–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmkuhl F (1998) Extent and spatial distribution of Pleistocene glaciations in eastern Tibet. Quat Int 45–46:123–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu H, Liu WG (2016) n-Alkane distributions and concentrations in algae, submerged plants and terrestrial plants from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Org Geochem 99:10–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Zhu GB, Xia C, Zhuang LJ, Liu XL (2016) Spatial distribution of anammox bacteria abundance and biodiversity along altitude gradient in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Acta Sci Circum 36:1298–1308 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo J, Zhang YL, Liu FG, Chen Q, Zhou Q, Zhang HF (2014) Reconstruction of cropland spatial patterns for 1726 on Yellow River-Huangshui River Valley in northeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Geogr Res 33:1285–1296

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo D, Cheng RM, Liu S, Shi ZM, Feng QH (2020) Responses of soil microbial community composition and enzyme activities to land-use change in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau. China For 11:483

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyers PA (2003) Applications of organic geochemistry to paleolimnological reconstructions: a summary of examples from the Laurentian Great Lakes. Org Geochem 34:261–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyers PA, Ishiwatari R (1993) Lacustrine organic geochemistry–an overview of indicators of organic matter sources and diagenesis in lake sediments. Org Geochem 20:867–900

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mischke S, Zhang CJ (2010) Holocene cold events on the Tibetan Plateau. Glob Planet Change 72:155–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murohisa T, Iida M (1993) Some new intermediates in microbial side chain degradation of β-sitosterol. J Ferment Bioeng 76:174–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishimura M (1977) Origin of stanols in young lacustrine sediments. Nature 270:711–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niu YJ, Zhu HM, Yang SW, Ma SJ, Zhou JW, Chu B, Hua R, Hua LM (2019) Overgrazing leads to soil cracking that later triggers the severe degradation of alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau. Land Degrad Dev 30:1243–1257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otto A, Simoneit BRT (2002) Biomarkers of Holocene buried conifer logs from Bella Coola and north Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Org Geochem 33:1241–1251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piironen V, Lindsay D, Miettinen T, Toivo J, Lampi AM (2000) Plant sterols: biosynthesis, biological function and their importance to human nutrition. J Sci Food Agric 80:939–966

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prost K, Birk JJ, Lehndorff E, Gerlach R, Amelung W (2017) Steroid biomarkers revisited—improved source identification of faecal remains in archaeological soil material. PLoS ONE 12:e0164882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pu Y, Zhang HC, Lei GL, Chang FQ, Yang MS, Zhang WX, Lei YB, Yang LQ, Pang YZ (2010) Climate variability recorded by n-alkanes of paleolake sediment in Qaidam Basin on the northeast Tibetan Plateau in late MIS3. Sci China Earth Sci 53:863–870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pu Y, Nace T, Meyers PA, Zhang HC, Wang YL, Zhang CL, Shao XH (2013) Paleoclimate changes of the last 1000 yr on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau recorded by elemental, isotopic, and molecular organic matter proxies in sediment from glacial Lake Ximencuo. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 379–380:39–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pu Y, Wang CF, Meyers PA (2017) Origins of biomarker aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments of alpine Lake Ximencuo, China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 475:106–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qi SS, Zhou LH, Hu JP, Liu M, Zhao H, Xiong Y (2017) Isolation, identification and diversity of soil bacteria in multiple regions from Tibetan Plateau. Southwest China J Agric Sci 30:1629–1635 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rommerskirchen F, Eglinton G, Dupont L, Rullkötter J (2006) Glacial/ interglacial changes in southern Africa: Compound-specific δ13C land plant biomarker and pollen records from southeast Atlantic continental margin sediments. Geochem Geophy Geosys 7:Q08010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogge WF, Medeiros PM, Simoneit BRT (2006) Organic marker compounds for surface soil and fugitive dust from open lot dairies and cattle feedlots. Atmos Environ 40:27–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlütz F, Lehmkuhl F (2009) Holocene climatic change and the nomadic Anthropocene in Eastern Tibet: palynological and geomorphological results from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains. Quat Sci Rev 28:1449–1471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen DF, Li SJ, Jiang YJ (2016) Sedimentary records and environmental analysis of the Ximencuo Lake in northeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the past 1,700 Years. J Landsc Res 8:44–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Switzer-Howse KD, Dutka BJ (1978) Fecal sterols: their distribution in water and resultant significance. Water Qual Res J Can 13:175–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vachula R, Huang YS, Longo W, Dee S, Daniels W, Russell J (2019) Evidence of Ice Age humans in eastern Beringia suggests early migration to North America. Quat Sci Rev 205:35–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volkman JK, Barrett SM, Blackburn SI, Mansour MP, Sikes EL, Gelin F (1998) Microalgal biomarkers: a review of recent research developments. Org Geochem 29:1163–1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HY, Dong HL, Zhang CL, Jiang HC, Zhao MX, Liu ZH, Lai ZP, Liu WG (2014) Water depth affecting thaumarchaeol production in Lake Qinghai, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan plateau: Implications for paleo lake levels and paleoclimate. Chem Geol 368:76–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang HY, Dong HL, Zhang CL, Jiang HC, Liu ZH, Zhao MX, Liu WG (2015) Deglacial and Holocene archaeal lipid-inferred paleohydrology and paleotemperature history of Lake Qinghai, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Quat Res 83:116–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Zhu LP, Wang JB, Ju JT, Peng P, Lin X, Hu JF, Nishimura M (2016) Paleohydrological processes revealed by n-alkane δD in lacustrine sediments of Lake Pumoyum Co, southern Tibetan Plateau, and their response to climate changes during the past 18.5 cal ka. J Paleolimnol 56:223–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wischnewski J, Herzschuh U, Rühland KM, Bräuning A, Mischke S, Smol JP, Wang L (2014) Recent ecological responses to climate variability and human impacts in the Nianbaoyeze Mountains (eastern Tibetan Plateau) inferred from pollen, diatom and tree-ring data. J Paleolimnol 51:287–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wünnemann B, Mischke S, Chen FH (2006) A Holocene sedimentary record from Bosten Lake, China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclim Palaeoecol 234:223–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xia J, Haskell BJ, Engstrom DR, Ito E (1997) Holocene climate reconstructions from tandem trace-element and stable-isotope composition of ostracods from Coldwater Lake, North Dakota, USA. J Paleolimnol 17:85–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu BQ, Yao TD, Tian LD, Huo WM, Duan KQ, Chappellaz J (1999a) 800-year CH4 record in Dunde Ice Core. J Glaciol Geocryol 21:15–18 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu BQ, Yao TD, Tian LD, Chappellaz J (1999b) Variation of CH4 concentrations recorded in Dunde ice core bubbles. Chin Sci Bull 44:383–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu XC, Wang Y, Liao X (2005) Survey and forecast of population development in Qinghai region (in Chinese). Qinghai Stat 21:20–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang XD (1996) Pollen assemblage and palaeoclimate during last 2000 year in Ximen Cuo region, Qinghai. Acta Micropalaeontol Sin 13:427–440 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao TD, Thompson LG, Duan KQ, Xu BQ, Wang NL, Pu JC, Tian LD, Sun WZ, Kang SC, Qin X (2002) Temperature and methane records over the last 2 ka in Dasuopu ice core. Sci China Ser D 45:1068–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan HZ, Liu EF, Shen J, Zhou HJ, Geng QF, An SQ (2014) Characteristics and origins of heavy metals in sediments from Ximen Co Lake during summer monsoon season, a deep lake on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. J Geochem Explor 136:76–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhandui (2019) Change of Tibetan governance strategy in Qing Dynasty. J Anhui Agric Univ (Soc Sci Ed) 28:103–109 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang CJ, Mischke S (2009) A Lateglacial and Holocene lake record from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains and inferences of lake, glacier and climate evolution on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Quat Sci Rev 28:1970–1983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou WZ (2009) Tibetan region in Qinghai and Gansu Province in Qing Dynasty: its administrative districts and society. J Chin Hist Geogr 24:10–31 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SH, Yang GL, Wang YT, Hou SG (2010) Abundance and community of snow bacteria from three glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau. J Environ Sci 22:1418–1424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YD, Su YL, Liu ZW, Jeppesen E, Yu JL, Jin M (2016) Geochemical records of anoxic water mass expansion in an oligotrophic alpine lake (Yunnan Province, SW China) in response to climate warming since the 1980s. Holocene 26:1847–1857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YD, Peng T, Su YL, Yu JL, Du YX, Liu ZW (2020) Influence of human activity on the abundance, distribution and origin of fatty acids in sediments of two shallow lakes and implications for paleolimnological studies. Ecol Indic 114:106305

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41877453). We thank two anonymous reviewers for comments that helped us improve this contribution.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Yang Pu

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1005, USA

    Philip A. Meyers

Authors
  1. Yang Pu
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Philip A. Meyers
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yang Pu.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pu, Y., Meyers, P.A. Paleoenvironmental significance of 5α-stigmastanol in surface soil and lake sediment from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains, eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. J Paleolimnol 68, 103–118 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-021-00195-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-021-00195-9

Keywords