Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Organic carbon isotope and molecular fossil records of vegetation evolution in central Loess Plateau since 450 kyr

  • Research Paper
  • Special Topic: Advances in organic proxies for research in climate and environmental changes
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Significant uncertainties remain regarding the temporal evolution of natural vegetation during the Quaternary, and drivers of past vegetation change, on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). This study presents analyses of total organic carbon isotopic composition (TOC) and n-alkane ratios (C31/C27) from the Lingtai loess-palaeosol sequence on the central CLP over the last 450 kyr. The results demonstrate that the vegetation in this region comprised a mix of C3 and C4 plants of herb and woody growth-form. C3 plants dominated for most of the last 450 kyr, but this did not lead to extensive forest. C3 woody plants were more abundant in MIS9 (S3 period) and MIS5 (S1 period) during warm and humid climate conditions. Herbs increased in the region since 130 kyr, possibly as a result of increased aridity. On the orbital timescales, there was a reduction of C3 herbal plants in MIS11 (S4) than in MIS12 (L5), and in Holocene than in the last glacial period. Our isotope and n-alkane proxy records are in agreement with Artemisia pollen changes in the region, which is/was the dominant species in this area and varying due to different heat and water conditions between glacial and interglacial periods. Though the climate in MIS1 (S0) was similar to that in MIS11 (S4), a significant increase in woody plants during the Holocene suggests the impact of human activities and ecological effects of changes in fire activity.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • An Z S, Huang Y S, Liu W G, Guo Z T, Clemens S, Li L, Preww W, Ning Y F, Cai Y F, Zhou W J, Lin B H, Zhang Q L, Cao Y N, Qiang X K, Chang H, Wu Z K. 2005. Multiple expansions of C4 plant biomass in East Asia since 7 Ma coupled with strengthened monsoon circulation. Geology, 33: 705–708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai Y, Fang X, Nie J, Wang Y, Wu F L. 2009. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleoecological and paleoclimatic history of the Chinese Loess Plateau from the application of biomarkers. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 271: 161–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bi X H, Sheng G Y, Liu X H, Fu J M. 2005. Molecular and carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of n-alkanes in plant leaf waxes. Org Geochem, 36: 1405–1417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bird M I, Grocke D. 1997. Determination of the abundane and carbon- isotope composition of elemental carbon in sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 61: 3413–3423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond W J, Keeley J E. 2005. Fire as a lobal ‘herbivore’: The ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems. Trends Ecol Evol, 20: 387–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F H, Rao Z G, Zhang J W, Jin M, Ma J Y. 2006. Variations of organic carbon isotopic composition and its environmental significance during the last glacial on western Chinese Loess Plateau. Chin Sci Bull, 51: 1593–1602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Dong X F. 1990. Agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry study of Longdong area under natural background. J Gansu Sci, 4: 69–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen P N, Wang G A, Han J M, Liu X J, Liu M. 2010. d13C difference between plants and soil organic matter along the eastern slope of Mount Gongga. Chin Sci Bull, 55: 55–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng J, Hu T M, Cheng J M. 2011. Responses of distribution of Artemisia sacrorum community to climate in semi-arid and semi-humid areas of Loess Plateau. Sci Soil Water Conserv, 9: 51–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Cranwell P A, Eglinton G, Robinson N. 1987. Lipids of aquatic organisms as potential contributors to lacustrine sediments-II. Org Geochem, 11: 513–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deines P. 1980. The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. In: Fritz P, Fontes J C, eds. Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry I, the Terrestrial Environment. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 329–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding Z, Yang S. 2000. C3/C4 vegetation evolution over the last 7.0 Myr in the Chinese Loess Plateau: Evidence from pedogenic carbonate d13C. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 160: 291–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eglinton G, Hamilton R J. 1967. Leaf epicuticular waxes. Science, 56: 1322–1335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu Z Y, Liu Q, Xu B, Han J M, Yang S L, Ding Z L. 2003. Climate change as the dominant control on glacial-interglacial variation in C3 and C4 plant abundance in the Loess Plateau. Chin Sci Bull, 48: 1271–1276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo Z T, Hou Y J. 2010). The general situation of natural environment changes in the Loess Plateau since the Holocene. In: Tian J L, ed. Study on the Environmental Effects of Ecological Construction in the Loess Plateau (in Chinese). Beijing: Meteorology Press. 1–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo Z T, Liu T S, Fedoroff N, An Z S. 1993. Shift of the monsoon intensity on the Loess Plateau at ca. 0.85 Ma BP. Chin Sci Bull, 38: 586–591

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao Q Z, Wang L, Oldfield F, Peng S Z, Qin L, Song Y, Xu B, Qian Y S, Bloemendal J, Guo Z T. 2012. Delayed build-up of Arctic ice sheets during 400 kyr minima in insolation variability. Nature, 490: 393–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imbrie J, Hays J D, Martinson D G, McIntyre A, Mix A C, Morley J J, Pisias N G, Prell W L. 1984). The orbital theory of Pleistocene climate: Support from a revised chronology of the marine 18O record. In: Berger A, Imbrie J, Hays J, eds. Milankovitch and Climate. Dordrecht: Reidel. 269–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeley J E, Rundel P W. 2005. Fire and the Miocene expansion of C4 grasslands. Ecol Lett, 8: 683–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin B H, Liu R M. 1992. The stable isotopic evidence of the monsoon variation on Chinese Loess Plateau since the last 800 ka years. Chin Sci Bull, 37: 178–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu J F, Su Y. 1994. The changes of vegetation and climate in Pingliang region, Gansu Province since about 800000 yr B.P. (in Chinese). Geograph Res, 13: 90–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Yang S, Cui L L, Hao Z G. 2013. Stable carbon isotopic composition of black carbon in surface soil as a proxy for reconstructing vegetation on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 388: 109–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W G, HuangY S, An Z S, Wu Z H, Lu H Y, Cao Y N. 2005. Summer monsoon intensity controls C4/C3 plant abundance during the last 35 ka in the Chinese Loess Plateau: Carbon isotope evidence from bulk organic matter and individual leaf waxes. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 220: 243–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W G, Ning Y F, An Z S, Wu Z H, Lu H Y, Cao Y N. 2002. Carbon isotopic composition of modern soil and paleosol as a response to vegetation change on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 48: 93–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W G, Zhang P, Sun Y B, Huang Y S, Guo Z T, An Z S. 2008. Molecule fossil evidence for paleovegetation changes in the central of Chinese Loess Plateau during 7–2 Ma: Zhangjiachuang profile as an example. Quat Sci, 2008, 28: 806–811

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Yang H, Ning Y, An Z S. 2007. Contribution of inherent organic carbon to the bulk d13C signal in loess deposits from the arid western Chinese Loess Plateau. Org Geochem, 38: 1571–1579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long L Q, Fang X M, Miao Y F, Bai Y, Wang Y L. 2011. Northern Tibetan Plateau cooling and aridification linked to Cenozoic global cooling: Evidence from n-alkane distributions of Paleogene sedimentary sequences in the Xining Basin. Chin Sci Bull, 56: 1569–1578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lv H Y, Liu T S. 1999. Phytolith record of vegetation succession in the Southern Loess Plateau since late Pleistocene. Quat Sci, 4: 336–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Marino B D, McElroy M B, Salawitch R J, Spaulding W G. 1992. Glacial- to-interglacial variations in the carbon isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2. Nature, 357: 461–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterse F, Martinez-Garcia A, Zhou B, Beets C J, Prins M A, Zheng H B, Eglinton T I. 2014. Molecular records of continental air temperature and monsoon precipitation variability in East Asia spanning the past 130000 years. Quat Sci Rev, 83: 1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterse F, Zhou B, Magill C, Eglinton T I. 2015. Combined records of monsoon precipitation, temperature, and vegetation changes in East Asia over the past 200000 years. IMOG Meeting. 846

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao Z G, Zhu Z Y, Chen F F, Zhang J W. 2006. Reviews on the stable carbon isotopic researches of organic matter of Chinese Loess (in Chinese). Adv Earth Sci, 21: 62–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao Z G, Wu Y, Zhu Z Y, Jia G D, Henderson A. 2011. Is the maximum carbon number of long-chain n-alkanes an indicator of grassland or forest? Evidence from surface soils and modern plants. Chin Sci Bull, 56: 1714–1720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Chu H. 1997. Preparation of organic carbon isotopic sample for Mass Spectrometric analysis by Static Combustion. Anal Test Tech Instrum, 3: 113–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi H Z, Li F C, Sun X H, Wu F, Luo X P, Li X L, Jin Z D. 2011. Distribution of organic carbon in the Luochuan Loess/paleosol and its relationship with clay minerals. Geol China, 2011, 38: 1355–1362

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun J, Lu T, Zhang Z, Wang X, Liu W G. 2012. Stepwise expansions of C4 biomass and enhanced seasonal precipitation and regional aridity during the Quaternary on the southern Chinese Loess Plateau. Quat Sci Rev, 34: 57–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun X J, Song C Q, Wang F Y, Sun M R. 1997. Vegetation history of the Loess Plateau of China during the last 100000 years based on pollen data. Quat Int, 37: 25–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Y B, An Z S, Clemens S C, Jan Bloemendal J, Vandenberghe J. 2010. Seven million years of wind and precipitation variability on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 297: 525–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidic N J, Montanez I P. 2004. Climatically driven glacial-interglacial variations in C3 and C4 plant proportions on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Geology, 32: 337–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volkman J K, Gillan F T, Johns R B, Eglinton G. 1981. Sources of neutral lipids in a temperate intertidal sediment. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 45: 1817–1828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G A, Feng X B, Han J M, Zhou L H, Tan W B, Su F. 2008. Paleovegetation reconstruction using d13C of soil organic matter. Biogeo Sciences, 5: 1325–1337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang G A, Jia Y, Li W. 2015. Effects of environmental and biotic factors on carbon isotopic fractionation during decomposition of soil organic matter. Sci Rep, 5: 11043, doi: 10.1038/srep11043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H B, Feng Z D. 2014. Geographic Differentiation of the Last Interglacial Paleosol S1 in the Chinese Loess Plateau-Significance of Soil Genesis and Soil Morphology (in Chinese). Lanzhou: Lanzhou University Press. 37

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y L, Fang X M, Bai Y, Xi X X, Yang S L, Wang Y X. 2007. Distribution of lipids in modern soils from various regions with continuous climate (moisture-heat) change in China and their climate significance. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 50: 600–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu F L, Fang X M, Ma Y Z, An Z S, Li J J. 2004. A 1.5 Ma sporopollen record of paleoecologic environment evolution in the central Chinese Loess. Chin Sci Bull, 49: 295–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie S C, Wang Z Y, Wang H M, Chen F H, An C B. 2002. The occurrence of grassy vegetation over the loess plateau since the last interglacier: the molecular fossil record. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 45: 53–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie S, Guo J, Huang J, Chen F H, Wang H B, Farrimond P. 2004. Restricted utility of d13C of bulk organic matter as a record of paleovegetation in some loess-paleosol sequences in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Quat Res, 62: 86–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang S L, Ding Z L, Wang X, Tang Z H, Gu Z Y. 2012. Negative d18O–d13C relationship of pedogenic carbonate from northern China indicates a strong response of C3/C4 biomass to the seasonality of Asian monsoon precipitation. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 317-318: 32–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H C, Yang M S, Zhang W X, Lei G L, Chang F Q, Pu Y, Fan H F. 2004. Molecular fossil and paleovegetation records of paleosol S4 and adjacent loess layers in the Luochuan loess section, NW China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 51: 321–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang P, Liu W G, Qiang X K. 2013. Vegetation coverage and monsoon variation recorded by stable carbon isotope of Loess since 2.5 Ma. Mar Geol Quat Geol, 2013, 33: 137–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z H, Zhao M X, Eglinton G, Lu H Y, Huang C Y. 2006. Leaf wax lipids as paleovegetational and paleoenvironmental proxies for the Chinese Loess Plateau over the last 170 kyr. Quat Sci Rev, 25: 575–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z H, Zhao M X, Lu H Y, Faiia A M. 2003. Lower temperature as the main cause of C4 plant declines during the glacial periods on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 214: 467–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng S X, Shangguan Z P. 2007. Foliar d13C values of nine dominant species in the Loess Plateau of China. Photosynthetica, 45: 110–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong Y X, Xue Q, Chen F H. 2009. Alkane distributions in Modern vegetation and surface soil from western Loess Plateau. Quat Sci, 29: 767–773

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou B, Shen C D, Sun W D, Zheng H B, Yang Y, Sun Y B, An Z S. 2007. The history of wildfire in the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last 420 ka and its implications to environmental and climate changes. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 252: 617–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou B, Shen C D, Sun W D, Bird M I, Ma W T, Taylor D, Liu W G, Peterse F, Yi W X, Zheng H B. 2014. Late Pliocene–Pleistocene expansion of C4 vegetation in semiarid East Asia linked to increased burning. Geology, 42: 1067–1070

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou B, Shen C D, Zheng H B, Sun Y M. 2009. Vegetation evolution on the central Chinese Loess Plateau since late Quaternary evidenced by elemental carbon isotopic composition. Chin Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 2082–2089

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry (Ministry of Education), School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Bin Zhou & Guzalnur Wali

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CD, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Francien Peterse

  3. College of Science, Technology and Engineering and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia

    Michael I. Bird

Authors
  1. Bin Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guzalnur Wali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Francien Peterse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael I. Bird
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bin Zhou.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhou, B., Wali, G., Peterse, F. et al. Organic carbon isotope and molecular fossil records of vegetation evolution in central Loess Plateau since 450 kyr. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 1206–1215 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-5276-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-5276-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation