Abstract
We present a 550-year ice-core pollen record with a 5-year resolution from the Puruogangri ice field in the central Tibetan Plateau. Analysis of the relationship between pollen record and instrumental observations suggests that the sum of the steppe and meadow pollen taxa is a good indicator of summer (June–August) temperature, whereas the ratios of Cyperaceae/(Gramineae+Artemisia) [Cy/(G+A)] as well as M/S (meadow to steppe percentages) are indicative of humidity changes in this region. Together with δ 18O and glacial accumulation records, the response of vegetation to climate change over the past 500 years was revealed. Desert vegetation dominated during 1450–1640 AD, a time period characterized by cold-wet climate, while steppe vegetation expanded during 1640–1915 when warm-dry climate prevailed. Afterwards, during a cold and humid period, desert vegetation expanded again. Since 1980–2002, due to the increase of summer temperatures, steppe and meadow vegetation predominates, while areas with desert vegetation are reduced. This proxy series is the first high-resolution ice-core pollen record spanning the last 550 years for the central Tibetan Plateau.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Liu K B, Yao Z, Thompson L G. A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geology, 1998, 26: 135–138
Yang B, Tang L, Bräuning A, et al. Summer temperature reconstruction on the central Tibetan Plateau during 1860–2002 derived from annually resolved ice core pollen. J Geophys Res, 2008, 113: D24102, doi:10.1029/2008JD010142
Fredskild B, Wagner P. Pollen and fragments of plant tissue in core samples from the Greenland ice cap. Boreas. 1974, 3: 105–108
McAndrews J H. Pollen analysis of the 1973 ice core Devon Island glacier, Canada. Quat Res, 1985, 22: 68–76
Bourgeois J C, Koerner R M, Gajewski K, et al. A Holocene ice-core pollen record from Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Quat Res, 2000, 54: 275–283
Short S K, Holdsworth G. Pollen, oxygen isotope content and seasonality in an ice core from the Penny ice cap, Baffin Island. Arctic, 1985, 38: 214–218
Thompson L G, Davis M E, Mosley-Thompson E, et al. Pre-Incan agricultural activity recorded in dust layer in two tropical ice cores. Nature, 1988, 336: 763–765
Thompson L G, Mosley-Thompson E, Davis M E, et al. Late Glacial Stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascaran, Peru. Science, 1995, 269: 46–50
Liu K B, Reese C A, Thompson L G. Ice-core pollen record of climatic changes in the central Andes during the last 400 years. Quat Res, 2005, 64: 272–278
Liu K B, Reese C A, Thompson L G. A potential pollen proxy for ENSO derived from the Sajama ice core. Geophys Res Lett, 2007, 34: L09504, doi:10.1029/2006GL029018
Yao T D, Duan K, Thompson L G, et al. Temperature variations over the past millennium on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by four ice cores. Ann Glaciol, 2007, 46: 362–365
Yi C, Li X, Qu J. Quaternary glaciation of Puruoganri the largest modern ice field in Tibet. Quat Int, 2002, 97–98: 111–121
Thompson L G, Yao T D, Davis M E, et al. Holocene climate variability archived in the Puruogangri ice cap on the central Tibetan Plateau. Ann Glaciol, 2006, 43: 61–69
Tang L Y, Shen C M, Li C H, et al. Pollen-inferred vegetation and environmental changes in the central Tibetan Plateau since 8200 yr BP. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2009, 52: 1104–1114
Yu G, Tang L, Yang X, et al. Modern pollen samples from alpine vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 2001, 10: 503–519.
Shen C M, Liu K B, Tang L Y, et al. Quantitative relationships between modern pollen rain and climate in the Tibetan Plateau. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 2006, 140: 61–77
Wang N, Yao T, Pu J, et al. Climatic and environmental changes over the last millennium recorded in the Malan ice core from the northern Tibetan Plateau. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2006, 49: 1079–1089
Paterson W S B. The Physics of Glaciers. Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd, 1994. 238–288
Shen C M, Liu K B, Morrill C, et al. Ecotone shift and major droughts during the mid-Holocene in the central Tibetan Plateau. Ecology, 2008, 89: 1079–1088
Yao T, Wang Y, Liu S, et al. Recent glacial retreat in High Asia in China and its impact on water resource in Northwest China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2004, 47: 1005–1075
Kang S, Zhang Y, Qing D. Recent temperature increase recorded in an ice core in the source region of Yangtze River. Chinese Sci Bull, 2007, 52: 825–831
Yao T D, Duan K, Thompson L G, et al. Temperature variations over the past millennium on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by four ice cores. Ann Glaciol, 2007, 46: 362–365
Yao T D, Duan K, Xu B, et al. Ice core precipitation record in central Tibetan plateau since AD 1600. Clim Past Discuss, 2008, 4: 233–248
Thompson L G. Climatic changes for the last 2000 years inferred from ice-core evidence in tropical ice cores. In: Jones P D, Bradley R S, Jonzel J, eds. Climatic Variations and Forcing Mechanisms of the Last 2000 Years. NATO ASI Series, Berlin: Springer, 1996, 141: 281–296
Yao T D, Thompson LG, Qing D H. Variations in temperature and precipitation in the past 2000 a on the Xizang (Tibet) Plateau-Guliya ice core record. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 1996, 4: 459–467
Yang B, Bräuning A, Shi Y. Late Holocene temperature variations on the Tibetan Plateau. Quat Sci Rev, 2003, 22: 2335–2344
Yang B, Kang X, Bräuning A, et al. A 622-year regional temperature history of southeast Tibet derived from tree rings. Holocene, 2009. in press
Yang B, Kang X, Liu J, et al. Annual temperature history in southwest Tibet during the last 400 years recorded by tree rings. Int J Cli matol, 2009, doi: 10.1002/joc.1956
Ge Q S, Zheng J Y, Tian Y, et al. Coherence of climatic reconstruction from historical documents in China by different studies. Int J Climatol, 2008, 28: 1007–1024
Yang, B, Bräuning A, Johnson K R, et al. General characteristics of temperature variation in China during the last two millennia. Geophys Res Lett, 2002, 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL014485
Wang S W, Gong D Y, Zhu J H. Twentieth-century climatic warming in China in the context of the Holocene. Holocene, 2001, 11: 313–321
Tan M, Liu T, Hou J, et al. Cyclic rapid warming on centennial-scale revealed by a 2650-year stalagmite record of warm season temperature. Geophys Res Lett, 2003, 30: 1617–1620
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, B., Tang, L., Li, C. et al. An ice-core record of vegetation and climate changes in the central Tibetan Plateau during the last 550 years. Chin. Sci. Bull. 55, 1169–1177 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-0017-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-0017-6