Late Holocene climate and land-use history in the Mongolian Altai Mountains
Combined evidence from palynological, macro-charcoal and tree-ring analyses
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19586148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Julia Unkelbach (0000-0002-1800-2990, University of Göttingen, corresponding author), Choimaa Dulamsuren (0000-0002-6176-7227, University of Freiburg), Hermann Behling (0000-0002-5843-8342, University of Göttingen) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Pages | 100073 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Trees Forests and People (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2666-7193 • E-ISSN: 2666-7193 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100073 |
| OpenAlex | W3130659904 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 49 |
The Mongolian Altai is an ecologically sensitive region in Central Asia where changes in climate and anthropogenic activities have a strong impact on the forest-steppe vegetation. We combine high-resolution data (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP), charcoal) of two new sedimentological archives from the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park with dendrochronological analyses on Larix sibirica trees to study climatic changes and human landscape interactions over the last 1,350 cal yr BP. Multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental reconstructions show that the present landscape is a result of both short- and long-term climatic variations and of locally different land use. Combined evidence suggests that in the period from 1,350 to 670 cal yr BP western Mongolia was impacted by a rather cold and dry climate, followed by an episode of improved warmer and wetter climatic conditions from 670 to 400 cal yr BP. From around 400 to 200 cal yr BP, the Little Ice Age influenced the forest-steppe vegetation in the area, favoring an expansion of steppe vegetation. Over the last 70 years, climatic conditions were characterized by markedly high summer temperatures. NPP data reveal periods of increased grazing activities in the forests especially during unfavorable climatic periods. During the late 20th century, a decreasing deposition of coprophilous fungal spores with a simultaneous slight decrease of Larix sibirica forest suggest that economic timber harvesting seemed to be of more significance for forest degradation than pastural activities
Archaeology · Charcoal · Climate change · Geography · Holocene · Palynology · Physical geography · Pollen · Steppe · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Tree-ring climate responses · Ecology
Spores of the Dung Fungus Sporormiella
Environmental changes in the northern Altai during the last millennium documented in Lake Teletskoye pollen record
Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records
Particle Motion and the Theory of Charcoal Analysis
Do dung fungal spores make a good proxy for past distribution of large herbivores?
Sporormiella fungal spores, a palynological means of detecting herbivore density
Coniss
A palaeoecological study of holocene peat bog sections in Germany and The Netherlands, based on the analysis of pollen, spores and macro- and microscopic remains of fungi, algae, cormophytes and animals
Atlas of pollen, spores and further non-pollen palynomorphs recorded in the glacial-interglacial late Quaternary sediments of Lake Suigetsu, central Japan
Mongolian tree-rings, temperature sensitivity and reconstructions of Northern Hemisphere temperature
Decadal high-resolution multi-proxy analysis to reconstruct natural and human-induced environmental changes over the last 1350 cal. yr BP in the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, western Mongolia
Late-Holocene land-use history and environmental changes at the high altitudes of St Antönien (Switzerland, Northern Alps)
Application and limitations of the Artemisia /Chenopodiaceae pollen ratio in arid and semi-arid China
Regional fire history based on charcoal analysis of sediments from nine lakes in western Mongolia
Subalpine forest dynamics reconstructed throughout the last 700 years in the Central Pyrenees by means of tree rings and pollen
Multi-proxy studies in palaeolimnology
Late Holocene vegetation, climate, human and fire history of the forest-steppe-ecosystem inferred from core G2-A in the ‘Altai Tavan Bogd’ conservation area in Mongolia
IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP
Environmental Changes in the Mongolian Altai During the Holocene
Exploring linked ecological and cultural tipping points in Mongolia
| Citations per year | 0.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |