Surface pollen and its relationship to vegetation in the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

doi:10.1007/s11707-011-0176-z

Front Earth Sci

2011, Vol. 5

Issue (3) : 252-261 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-011-0176-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Surface pollen and its relationship to vegetation in the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

Furong LI, Yan ZHAO(

), Jinghui SUN, Wenwei ZHAO, Xiaoli GUO, Ke ZHANG

Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

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Abstract

We use a data set of 23 surface pollen samples from moss polsters in the Zoige Basin to explore the relationship between modern pollen assemblages and contemporary vegetation patterns. The surface pollen samples spanned four types of plant communities: Carex muliensis marsh, Stipa and Kobresia meadow, Carex-dominated forb meadow and Sibiraea angustata scrub. Principal-components analysis (PCA) was used to determine the relationships between modern pollen and vegetation and environmental variables. The results show that the pollen assemblages of surface moss samples generally reflect the features of the modern vegetation, basically similar in the vegetation types and the dominant genera; however, they don’t show a very clear distinction between different communities. Our results also demonstrate that pollen representation of different families or genus varied. Some tree taxa, such as Pinus and Betula, and herb types, such as Artemisia are over-represented, while Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae and Cyperaceae are moderately represented, and Poaceae and Rosaceae are usually under-represented in our study region. PCA results indicate that the distribution of vegetation in the Zoige Basin is mainly controlled by precipitation and altitude.

Keywords modern pollen assemblages principal- components analysis Zoige Basin eastern Tibetan Plateau

Corresponding Author(s): ZHAO Yan,Email:yanzhao@lzu.edu.cn

Issue Date: 05 September 2011

Cite this article:

Furong LI,Yan ZHAO,Jinghui SUN, et al. Surface pollen and its relationship to vegetation in the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau[J]. Front Earth Sci, 2011, 5(3): 252-261.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-011-0176-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2011/V5/I3/252

Fig.1 The location of the modern pollen samples from the Zoige Basin, the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Fig.2 The modern vegetation of Zoige Basin, the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Fig.3 Surface pollen percentages from the Zoige Basin, the eastern Tibetan Plateau

Sample code	Latitude (N)	Longitude (E)	Elevation/m	Sample type	Major plant taxa	Community type
S1	33°27′43.3?	102°38′3.6?	3467	Moss	Carex muliensis, Equisetum, Ranunculaceae, Hippuris vulgaris, Oenanthe javanica	Carex muliensis marsh
S2	33°55′30.3?	102°52′10.6?	3435	Moss	Carex muliensis, Ranunculaceae, Gentiana, Asteraceae, Allium, Fabaceae	Carex muliensis marsh
S3	33°55′30.3?	102°52′10.6?	3435	Moss	Carex muliensis, Ranunculaceae, Gentiana, Asteraceae, Allium, Fabaceae	Carex muliensis marsh
S4	33°48′02.6?	102°34′22.2?	3435	Moss	Carex muliensis, Asteraceae, Gentiana, Poaceae, Leguminosae	Carex muliensis marsh
S5	33°04′38.6?	102°51′19.3?	3572	Moss	Carex muliensis, Ranunculus, Asteraceae, Papaver, Rosaceae, Tsuga	Carex muliensis marsh
S6	33°04′38.6?	102°51′19.3?	3562	Moss	Carex muliensis, Ranunculus, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Tsuga	Carex muliensis marsh
S7	33°04′38.6?	102°51′19.3?	3562	Moss	Carex muliensis, Ranunculus, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Tsuga	Carex muliensis marsh
S8	33°04′38.6?	102°51′19.3?	3552	Moss	Carex muliensis, Poaceae,Ranunculus, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Tsuga	Carex muliensis marsh
S9	33°42′58.6?	102°07′10.4?	3457	Moss	Poaceae, Carex muliensis, Fabaceae	Carex muliensis marsh
S10	33°42′58.9?	102°07′01.1?	3448	Moss	Carex muliensis, Fabaceae, Ranunculus, Cremanthodium lineare, Poaceae, Plantago, Leontopodium	Carex muliensis marsh
S11	33°42′58.9?	102°07′01.1?	3448	Moss	Carex muliensis, Fabaceae, Ranunculus, Cremanthodium lineare, Poaceae, Plantago, Leontopodium	Carex muliensis marsh
S12	32°43′59.9?	102°24′21.2?	3536	Moss	Poaceae, Carex, Artemisia, Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Polygonum, Fabaceae	Stipa and Kobresia meadow
S13	32°43′32.8?	102°35′19.7?	3618	Moss	Poaceae,Carex, Leontopodium, Asteraceae, Cremanthodium lineare, Ranunculus, Polygonum, Pedicularis	Stipa and Kobresia meadow
S14	32°43′27.6?	102°35′27.3?	3648	Moss	Carex, Poaceae, Ranunculus, Polygonum, Asteraceae, Cremanthodium lineare, Leontopodium	Stipa and Kobresia meadow
S15	32°43′25.9?	102°35′27.8?	3654	Moss	Poaceae,Rosaceae,Fabaceae,Ranunculus, Carex muliensis, Asteraceae, Gentiana	Stipa and Kobresia meadow
S16	32°40′42.3?	102°05′42.8?	3473	Moss	Carex, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Artemisia, Ranunculus	Stipa and Kobresia meadow
S17	32°40′42.3?	102°05′42.8?	3473	Moss	Carex, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Artemisia, Ranunculus	Stipa and Kobresia meadow
S18	33°05′43.5?	102°39′53.9?	3482	Moss	Carex, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Cremanthodium lineare, Gentiana, Ranunculus	Carex dominated forb meadow
S19	32°57′48.0?	103°00′32.9?	3608	Moss	Poaceae, Carex muliensis,Fabaceae, Artemisia, Asteraceae, Gentiana, Saussurea, Plantago major, Leontopodium	Carex dominated forb meadow
S20	32°57′49.2?	103°00′30.0?	3593	Moss	Carex, Cremanthodium lineare, Asteraceae, Leontopodium	Carex dominated forb meadow
S21	33°04′29.8?	103°02′02.1?	3504	Moss	Cremanthodium lineare, Ranunculus, Carex muliensis, Leontopodium, Compositae, Artemisia	Carex dominated forb meadow
S22	33°05′35.4?	102°46′07.5?	3558	Moss	Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Ranunculus, Artemisia, Leontopodium, Carex sp.	Sibiraea angustata scrub
S23	33°05′35.4?	102°46′07.5?	3558	Moss	Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Ranunculus, Artemisia, Leontopodium, Carex sp.	Sibiraea angustata scrub

Tab.1 Location and surrounding vegetation types of regional surface pollen samples from the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

Fig.4 Biplot of PCA results based on surface pollen samples (a) and taxa (b) from the Zoige Basin, the eastern Tibetan Plateau

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