Abstract
Pollen diversity offers abundant clues into the floristic diversity and history of vegetation change. Few palynological studies investigated modern pollen diversity or the past floristic diversity on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Based on modern pollen assemblages from 37 topsoils and 63 surface lake sediments in the Nam Co catchment on the central TP, this study quantitatively explored spatial distribution of modern pollen diversity using Shannon-Wiener index (H) and palynological richness (E(T n ), n=600). Pollen diversity indices showed spatial variability among vegetation types, reflecting the differences in terrestrial floristic diversity in the lake catchment. Their values were high in the southeastern region of the lake catchment which is covered by alpine steppe, while values were low for alpine meadow and marsh meadow. The pollen diversity in lacustrine pollen assemblage could be an effective proxy to document past floristic diversity. The past floristic diversity in the lake catchment, recovered from a fossil pollen record of NMLC-1, showed a long-term change of ascending overlaid by several rapid diversity changes during the last 8400 years due to the downward shift of altitudinal vegetation belt driven by a general climatic cooling. The results imply that under the environmental challenge of climate warming and vegetation degradation, alpine vegetation restoration in the Nam Co catchment and the central TP should pay attention to altitudinal vegetation belt and zonal vegetation of alpine steppe, and use the long-term change of floristic diversity as a historical analogue.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berger A, Loutre M F. 1991. Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years. Quat Sci Rev, 10: 297–317
Berglund B E, Gaillard M J, Björkman L, Persson T. 2008. Long-term changes in floristic diversity in southern Sweden: Palynological richness, vegetation dynamics and land-use. Veg Hist Archaeobot, 17: 573–583
Birks H J B. 1973. Modern pollen rain studies in some arctic and alpine environments. In: Birks H J B, West R G, eds. Quaternary Plant Ecology. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. 143–168
Birks H J B, Felde V A, Bjune A E, Grytnes J A, Seppä H, Giesecke T. 2016. Does pollen-assemblage richness reflect floristic richness? A review of recent developments and future challenges. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 228: 1–25
Birks H J B, Line J M. 1992. The use of rarefaction analysis for estimating palynological richness from Quaternary pollen-analytical data. Holocene, 2: 1–10
Chen S Y. 2015. Dynamics of grassland vegetation and lake, and their relationship on Tibetan Plateau (in Chinese). Dissertation for Master Degree. Lanzhou: Lan Zhou University
Colwell R K. 2013. Estimate: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 9. User’s Guide and application published at: http://purl.oclc.org/estimates
Cour P, Zheng Z, Duzer D, Calleja M, Yao Z. 1999. Vegetational and climatic significance of modern pollen rain in northwestern Tibet. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 104: 183–204
Daut G, Mäusbacher R, Baade J, Gleixner G, Kroemer E, Mügler I, Wallner J, Wang J, Zhu L P. 2010. Late Quaternary hydrological changes inferred from lake level fluctuations of Nam Co (Tibetan Plateau, China). Quat Int, 218: 86–93
Davis M B, Brubaker L B. 1973. Differential sedimentation of pollen grains in lakes. Limnol Oceanogr, 18: 635–646
Dimitriou K, Kassomenos P. 2014. Indicators reflecting local and transboundary sources of PM 2.5 and PM COARSE in Rome—Impacts in air quality. Atmos Environ, 96: 154–162
Dorji T, Moe S R, Klein J A, Totland Ø. 2014. Plant species richness, evenness, and composition along environmental gradients in an alpine meadow grazing ecosystem in Central Tibet, China. Arct Antarct Alp Res, 46: 308–326
Draxler R R, Hess G D. 1998. An overview of the HYSPLIT_4 modeling system of trajectories, dispersion, and deposition. Aust Meteor Mag, 47: 295–308
Fægri K, Iversen J. 1989. Textbook of pollen analysis. 4th ed. London: John Wiley and Sons
Felde V A, Peglar S M, Bjune A E, Grytnes J A, Birks H J B. 2016. Modern pollen-plant richness and diversity relationships exist along a vegetational gradient in southern Norway. Holocene, 26: 163–175
Francis A P, Currie D J. 2003. A globally consistent richness-climate relationship for angiosperms. Am Natist, 161: 523–536
Frenzel P, Wrozyna C, Xie M P, Zhu L P, Schwalb A. 2010. Palaeo-water depth estimation for a 600-year record from Nam Co (Tibet) using an ostracod-based transfer function. Quat Int, 218: 157–165
Gasse F, Arnold M, Fontes J C, Fort M, Gibert E, Huc A, Li B Y, Li Y F, Liu Q, Mélières F, Campo E V, Wang F B, Zhong Q S. 1991. A 13000-year climate record from western Tibet. Nature, 353: 742–745
Gaston K J. 1996. Species richness: Measure and measurement. In: Gaston K J, ed. Biodiversity-A Biology of Numbers and Differences. Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd. 77–113
Giesecke T, Wolters S, Jahns S, Brande A. 2012. Exploring Holocene changes in palynological richness in northern Europe-did postglacial immigration matter? Plos One, 7: e51624
Hammer Ø, Harper D A T, Ryan P D. 2001. PAST: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for Education and Data Analysis. Palaeonto Electro, 4: 9
Harper D A T. 1999. Numerical Palaeobiology. New York: John Wiley & Sons
Herrmann M, Lu X M, Berking J, Schütt B, Yao T D, Mosbrugger V. 2009. Reconstructing Holocene vegetation and climate history of Nam Co area (Tibet), using pollen and other palynomorphs. Quat Int, 218: 45–57
Herzschuh U, Birks H J B, Mischke S, Zhang C, Böhner J. 2010. A modern pollen-climate calibration set based on lake sediments from the Tibetan Plateau and its application to a Late Quaternary pollen record from the Qilian Mountains. J Biogeogr, 37: 752–766
Herzschuh U, Winter K, Wunnemann B, Li S. 2006. A general cooling trend on the central Tibetan Plateau throughout the Holocene recorded by the Lake Zigetang pollen spectra. Quat Int, 154–155: 113–121
Hou X Y. 2001. Vegetation Atlas of China (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press
Hurlbert S H. 1971. The nonconcept of species diversity: A critique and alternative parameters. Ecology, 52: 577–586
Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1976. Sporae Pterido-Phytorum Sinicorum (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press
Jiang W Y, Cheng, Y F, Yang X X, Yang S L. 2013. Chinese Loess Plateau vegetation since the Last Glacial Maximum and its implications for vegetation restoration. J Appl Ecol, 50: 440–448
Kang S C. 2011. Modern environmental processes and changes in the Nam Co basin, Tibetan Plateau (in Chinese). Beijing: China Meteorological Press. 1–418
Kasper T, Haberzettl T, Doberschütz S, Daut G, Wang J B, Zhu L P, Nowaczyk N, Mäusbacher R. 2012. Indian Ocean Summer Monsoon (IOSM)-dynamics within the past 4 ka recorded in the sediments of Lake Nam Co, central Tibetan Plateau (China). Quat Sci Rev, 39: 73–85
Klein J A, Harte J, Zhao X Q. 2004. Experimental warming causes large and rapid species loss, dampened by simulated grazing, on the Tibetan Plateau. Ecol Lett, 7: 1170–1179
Kreft H, Jetz W, Mutke J, Kier G, Barthlott W. 2008. Global diversity of island floras from a macroecological perspective. Ecol Lett, 11: 116–127
Li Q, Lu H Y, Shen C M, Zhao Y, Ge Q S. 2016. Vegetation successions in response to Holocene climate changes in the central Tibetan Plateau. J Arid Environ, 125: 136–144
Li Q, Lu H Y, Zhu L P, Wu N Q, Wang J B, Lu X M. 2011. Pollen-inferred climate changes and vertical shifts of alpine vegetation belts on the northern slope of the Nyainqentanglha Mountains (central Tibetan Plateau) since 8.4 kyr BP. Holocene, 21: 939–950
Lin X, Zhu L P, Wang Y, Wang J B, Xie M P, Ju J T, Mäusbacher R, Schwalb A. 2008. Environmental changes reflected by n-alkanes of lake core in Nam Co on the Tibetan Plateau since 8.4 kaB.P.. Chin Sci Bull, 53: 3051–3057
Lu H Y, Wu N Q, Liu K B, Zhu L P, Yang X D, Yao T D, Wang L, Li Q, Liu X Q, Shen C M, Li X Q, Tong G B, Jiang H. 2011. Modern pollen distributions in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the development of transfer functions for reconstructing Holocene environmental changes. Quat Sci Rev, 30: 947–966
Lu H Y, Wu N Q, Yang X D, Shen C M, Zhu L P, Wang L, Li Q, Xu D K, Tong G B, Sun X J. 2008. Spatial pattern of Abies and Picea surface pollen distribution along the elevation gradient in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Xinjiang, China. Boreas, 37: 254–262
Lu X M, Herrmann M, Mosbrugger V, Yao T D, Zhu L P. 2010. Airborne pollen in the Nam Co Basin and its implication for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 163: 104–112
Ludwig J A, Reynolds J F. 1988. Statistical Ecology A Primer on Methods and Computing. New York: J Wiley & Sons
Luly J G. 1997. Modern pollen dynamics and surficial sedimentary processes at Lake Tyrrell, semi-arid northwestern Victoria, Australia. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 97: 301–318
Matthias I, Semmler M S, Giesecke T. 2015. Pollen diversity captures landscape structure and diversity. J Ecol, 103: 880–890
Miehe G, Miehe S, Kaiser K, Reudenbach C, Behrendes L, La Duo L, Schlütz F. 2009. How old is pastoralism in Tibet? An ecological approach to the making of a Tibetan landscape. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 276: 130–147
Miehe G, Miehe S, Schlütz F, Kaiser K, Duo L. 2006. Palaeoecological and experimental evidence of former forests and woodlands in the treeless desert pastures of Southern Tibet (Lhasa, A.R. Xizang, China). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 242: 54–67
Montagna P A, Sadovski A L, King S A, Nelson K K, Palmer T A, Dunton K H. 2017. Modeling the effect of water level on the Nueces Delta marsh community. Wetlands Ecol Manage, 25: 731–742
Odgaard B V. 1999. Fossil pollen as a record of past biodiversity. J Biogeogr, 26: 7–17
Odgaard B V. 2008. Species richness of the past is elusive-evenness may not be. Terra Nostra, 2: 209
Pounds J A, Bustamante M R, Coloma L A, Consuegra J A, Fogden M P L, Foster P N, La Marca E, Masters K L, Merino-Viteri A, Puschendorf R, Ron S R, Sánchez-Azofeifa G A, Still C J, Young B E. 2006. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming. Nature, 439: 161–167
Shannon C E, Weaver W J. 1949. The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
Shen C M. 2003. Millennial-scale variations and centennial scale events in the Southwest Asian monsoon: Pollen evidence from Tibet. Doctoral Dissertation. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Shen C M, Liu K B, Morrill C, Overpeck J T, Peng J L, Tang L Y. 2008. Ecotone shift and major droughts during the mid-late Holocene In the central Tibetan Plateau. Ecology, 89: 1079–1088
Shen C M, Liu K B, 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
Stanisci A, Pelino G, Blasi C. 2005. Vascular plant diversity and climate change in the alpine belt of the central Apennines (Italy). Biodivers Conserv, 14: 1301–1318
Stein A F, Draxler R R, Rolph G D, Stunder B J B, Cohen M D, Ngan F. 2015. NOAA’s HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling system. Bull Amer Meteorol Soc, 96: 2059–2077
Sugita S. 1993. A model of pollen source area for an entire lake surface. Quat Res, 39: 239–244
Tang L Y, Shen C M, Li C H, Peng J L, Liu H, Liu K B, Morrill C, Overpeck J T, Coel J E, Yang B. 2009. Pollen-inferred vegetation and environmental changes in the central Tibetan Plateau since 8200 yr BP. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 52: 1104–1114
Thomas C D, Cameron A, Green R E, Bakkenes M, Beaumont L J, Collingham Y C, Erasmus B F N, de Siqueira M F, Grainger A, Hannah L, Hughes L, Huntley B, van Jaarsveld A S, Midgley G F, Miles L, Ortega-Huerta M A, Townsend Peterson A, Phillips O L, Williams S E. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427: 145–148
Van Campo E, Cour P, Sixuan H. 1996. Holocene environmental changes in Bangong Co basin (Western Tibet). Part 2: The pollen record. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 120: 49–63
Wang F X, Chien N F, Zhang Y L, Yang H Q. 1997. Pollen Flora of China. 2nd ed (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press
Wang J B, Zhu L P, Wang Y, Ju J T, Daut G, Li M H. 2015. Spatial variability and the controlling mechanisms of surface sediments from Nam Co, central Tibetan Plateau, China. Sedimentary Geol, 319: 69–77
Wang Y, Herzschuh U, Shumilovskikh L S, Mischke S, Birks H J B, Wischnewski J, Böhner J, Schlütz F, Lehmkuhl F, Diekmann B, Wünnemann B, Zhang C. 2014. Quantitative reconstruction of precipitation changes on the NE Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum—Extending the concept of pollen source area to pollen-based climate reconstructions from large lakes. Clim Past, 10: 21–39
Wilmshurst J M, McGlone M S. 2005. Origin of pollen and spores in surface lake sediments: Comparison of modern palynomorph assemblages in moss cushions, surface soils and surface lake sediments. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 136: 1–15
Wu Y S, Xiao J Y. 1995. A preliminary study on modern pollen rain of Zabuye Salt Lake area, Xizang (in Chinese). Acta Botan Yunnan, 17 (1): 72–78
Xi Y Z, Ning J C. 1994. Study on pollen morphology of plants from dry and semidry area in China (in Chinese). Yushania, 11: 119–191
Xiao X Y, Shen J, Wang S M, Xiao H F, Tong G B. 2008. The plant diversity and its relationship with paleoenvironment since 2.78 Ma revealed by pollen records in the Heqing deep drilling core. Chin Sci Bull, 53: 3686–3698
Xie M P, Zhu L P, Peng P, Wang J B, Wang Y, Schwalb A. 2009. Ostracod assemblages and their environmental significance from the lake core of the Nam Co on the Tibetan Plateau 8.4 kaBP. J Geogr Sci, 19: 387–402
Xu Q H, Li Y C, Yang X L, Xiao J L, Liang W D, Peng Y J. 2005. Source and distribution of pollen in the surface sediment of Daihai Lake, inner Mongolia. Quat Int, 136: 33–45
Yao T D, Pu J C, Lu A X, Wang Y Q, Yu W S. 2007. Recent glacial retreat and its impact on hydrological processes on the Tibetan Plateau, China, and surrounding regions. Arct Antarct Alp Res, 39: 642–650
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
Zhang B, Wu Y, Zhu L, Wang J, Li J, Chen D. 2011. Estimation and trend detection of water storage at Nam Co Lake, central Tibetan Plateau. J Hydrol, 405: 161–170
Zhao S J, Ding Z L. 2014. Changes in plant diversity on the Chinese Loess Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum. Chin Sci Bull, 59: 4096–4100
Zhao Y, Herzschuh U. 2009. Modern pollen representation of source vegetation in the Qaidam Basin and surrounding mountains, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Veg Hist Archaeobot, 18: 245–260
Zhu D G, Meng X G, Zhao X T, Shao Z G, Feng X Y, Yang C B, Zheng D X, Ma Z B, Wu Z H, Wang J, Wang J P, Zang W S. 2004. On the Quaternary environmental evolution of the Nam Co area, Tibet (in Chinese). Beijing: Geological Publishing House. 159–171
Zhu L P, Lü X M, Wang J B, Peng P, Kasper T, Daut G, Haberzettl T, Frenzel P, Li Q, Yang R M, Schwalb A, Mäusbacher R. 2015. Climate change on the Tibetan Plateau in response to shifting atmospheric circulation since the LGM. Sci Rep, 5: 13318
Zhu L P, Wu Y H, Wang J B, Lin X, Ju J T, Xie M P, Li M H, Mäusbacher R, Schwalb A, Daut G. 2008. Environmental changes since 8.4 ka reflected in the lacustrine core sediments from Nam Co, central Tibetan Plateau, China. Holocene, 18: 831–839
Zhu L P, Xie M P, Wu Y H. 2010. Quantitative analysis of lake area variations and the influence factors from 1971 to 2004 in the Nam Co basin of the Tibetan Plateau. Chin Sci Bull, 55: 1294–1303
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Prof. Houyuan Lu, Prof. Liping Zhu, Prof. Yan Zhao, and Dr. Junbo Wang for discussions, and Dr. Jianting Ju for field assistance. The author acknowledges the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the provision of HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model used in this study. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41471169, 41690113, 41271226, 41571189 & 41330105).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Table S1
List of topsoils and surface lake sediments from Nam Co catchment, central Tibetan Plateau
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Q. Spatial variability and long-term change in pollen diversity in Nam Co catchment (central Tibetan Plateau): Implications for alpine vegetation restoration from a paleoecological perspective. Sci. China Earth Sci. 61, 270–284 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9133-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9133-0