Vegetation types and climate conditions reflected by the modern phytolith assemblages in the subalpine Dalaoling Forest Reserve, central China

doi:10.1007/s11707-014-0475-2

Front. Earth Sci.

2015, Vol. 9

Issue (2) : 268-275 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-014-0475-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Vegetation types and climate conditions reflected by the modern phytolith assemblages in the subalpine Dalaoling Forest Reserve, central China

Djakanibé Désiré TRAORÉ¹,Yansheng GU^1,^2,^*(

),Humei LIU^1,²,Ceven SHEMSANGA¹,Jiwen GE^2,^*

1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution & Eco-Restoration (WEER), China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China

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Abstract

This research describes modern phytolith records and distributions from subalpine surface soils in the Dalaoling Forest Reserve, and reveals its implications for local climate conditions with respect to the altitude gradient. Well-preserved phytolith morpho-types, assemblages, and climatic indices were used to study the relationship between local vegetation and climate conditions. The phytolith classification system is mainly based on the characteristics of detailed morpho-types described for anatomical terms, which are divided into seven groups: long cells, short cells, bulliform cells, hair cells, pteridophyte type, broad-leaved type, and gymnosperm type. Phytoliths originating from the Poaceae are composed of Pooideae (rondel and trapeziform), Panicoideae (bilobate, cross, and polylobate), Chloridoideae (short/square saddle), and Bambusoideae (oblong concave saddle). Based on the altitudinal distribution of the phytolith assemblages and the indices of aridity (Iph), climate (Ic), and tree cover density (D/P), five phytolith assemblage zones have revealed the five types of climatic conditions ranging from 1,169 m to 2,005 m in turn: warm-wet, warm-xeric to warm-mesic, warm- xeric to cool-mesic, cool-xeric, and cool-mesic to cool-xeric. The Bambusoideae, Panicoideae, and Chloridoideae are the dominant vegetation at the lower-middle of the mountains, while Pooideae is mainly distributed in the higher mountains. The close relationship between phytolith assembleages and changes of altitude gradient suggest that vegetation distribution patterns and plant ecology in the Dalaoling mountains are controlled by temperature and humidity conditions. Our results highlight the importance of phytolith records as reliable ecoclimatic indicators for vegetation ecology in subtropical regions.

Keywords central China subalpine surface soil phytolith records vegetation and climate change

Corresponding Author(s): Yansheng GU,Jiwen GE

Online First Date: 14 November 2014 Issue Date: 30 April 2015

Cite this article:

Yansheng GU,Humei LIU,Ceven SHEMSANGA, et al. Vegetation types and climate conditions reflected by the modern phytolith assemblages in the subalpine Dalaoling Forest Reserve, central China[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2015, 9(2): 268-275.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-014-0475-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2015/V9/I2/268

Fig.1 (a)Map showing the location of the Dalaoling Forest Reserve in China, and (b) showing the sampling sites along altitude gradient

Samples	Elevation/m	Zonal vegetation	Dominant plant species	Soil type
DLL-1	2,005	Deciduous broad-leaved and coniferous mixed forest	Acer davidii, Acer oliverianum, Aralia chinensis, Buddleja lindleyana, Cirsium chrysolepis, Cornus controversa, Corylopsis sinensis, Corylus chinensis, Corylus ferox var. thibetica, Corylus heterophylla var. sutchuanensis, Daucus carota, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Elsholtzia splendens, Euonymus phellomana, Exochorda racemosa, Galium bungei, Helwingia japonica, Hydrangea anomala, Parasenecio forrestii, Quercus spinosa, Spiraea chinensis, Viburnum sympodiale	Mountain brown soil
DLL-2	1,919		As the above
DLL-3	1,791		As the above
DLL-4	1,739		As the above
DLL-5	1,729		Berberis julianae, Bletilla striata, Castanea henryi, Fagus engleriana, Fagus pashanica, Indocalamus tessellatus,Liriodendron chinensis, Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata, Quercus spinosa, Quercus engleriana, Serissa serissoides, Symplocos paniculata
DLL-6	1,721		As the above
DLL-7	1,680	Evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest	Aletrts spicata, Aralia chinensis, Corylopsis sinensis var. sinensis, Euphorbia pekinensis, Indocalamus tesseltatus, Litsea pungens Hemsl, Litsea shangensis,Pinus armandi
DLL-8	1,626		As the above	Mountain yellow-brown soil
DLL-9	1,559		Fagus lucida, Fagus longipetiolata, Fagus engleriana, Symplocos paniculata, Hydrangea macrophylla, Rhododendron fortunei, Kerria japonica, Pilea notata, Dryopteris panda, Arthraxon hispidus
DLL-10	1,494		Acer davidii, Acer flabellatum, Carpinus turczaninowii, Castanea henryi, Castanea seguinii, Cerasus conradinae, Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis, Elaeagnus umbellate, Fagus engleriana, Hamamelis mollis, Lindera obtusiloba, Litsea pungens, Pinus armandii, Serissa serissoides, Symplocos paniculata, Viburnum punctatum
DLL-11	1,423		Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Davidia involucrate, Davidia involucrate var. vilmoriniana, Dipteronia sinensis, Euptelea pleiosperma, Kolkwitzia amabilis, Kalopanax septemlobus, Pterostyrax psilophyllus, Stewartia sinensis
DLL-12	1,374		As the above
DLL-13	1,371		As the above
DLL-14	1,336		Actinidia chinensis, Albizia julibrissin, Aralia chinensis, Arisaema erubescens, Arthraxon hispidus, Betula luminifera, Bletilla striata, Carya cathayensis, Castanea seguinii, Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Duchesnea indica, Erigeron annuus, Euscaphis japonica, Glochidion puberum, Lonicera japonica, Osmunda japonica, Parathelypteris glanduligera, Platycarya strobilacea, Polygonum perfoliatum, Polypogon fugax, Pueraria montana, Quercus serrata, Quercus serrata var. brevipetiolata, Ranunculus sieboldii, Rhus chinensis, Rubus corchorifolius, Smilax china, Spiraea salicifolia, Stellaria media
DLL-15	1,314		As the above
DLL-16	1,272		As the above
DLL-17	1,239		As the above
DLL-18	1,169		As the above	Mountain yellow soil

Tab.1 18 surface soil samples and related vegetation, dominant plant species, and soil types

Fig.2 Major phytolith morphotypes from surface soils in the subalpine Dalaoling Forest Reserve (scale bar is 20 μm). (1?2) bilobates; (3?5) crosses; (6?7) cylindrical polylobates; (8?13) rondels; (14) trapeziform polylobate (Pooideae type); (15) trapeziform sinuate (Pooideae type); (16?17) oblong concave saddles; (18?19) square saddles; (20?21) elongate smooth; (22) elongate echinate); (23) parallelepipedal bulliform cells; (24?26) cuneiform bulliform cells; (27?28) unciform hair cell (grass type); (29) parallelepipedal contorted (gymnosperm type); (30?31) tri-stellate truncate (gymnosperm type); (32?33) vascular tissue; (34?35) tri-stellate truncate (broad-leaved tree type); (36?37) polyhedrons with conical projection (Cyperaceae, Cyperus sp.) (Piperno, 1989; Gu et al., 2008); (38) globular smooth; (39?40) globular echinate; (41) globular granulate; (42) platelet polygon (broad-leaved tree type); (43): opaque perforated platelet (Asteraceae)

Fig.3 Distribution of phytolith assemblages and indices for vegetation and climate change with elevation change.

Climatic index Ic, is a ratio of Pooideae to total Pooideae, Panicoideae, and Chloridoideae phytoliths; Aridity index, Iph, is a ratio of Chloridoideae to total Chloridoideae and Panicoideae phytoliths; Tree cover density index, D/P, is the ratio of ligneous dicotyledons phytoliths against Poaceae phytoliths.

EDBF = Evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest; DBCMF = Deciduous broad-leaved and coniferous mixed forest; MYS = Mountain yellow soil; MYBS = Mountain yellow-brown soil; MBS = Mountain brown soil

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