Late Holocene vegetation history suggests natural origin of steppes in the northern Mongolian mountain taiga

Schlütz, Frank; Dulamsuren, Choimaa; Wieckowska, Magdalena; Mühlenberg, Michael; Hauck, Markus

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.12.012

Cited by 55 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…During the past ten years a few publications reporting new results of paleoenvironmental studies have appeared in English (Grunert et al, 2000;Peck et al, 2002;Fowell et al, 2003;Miehe et al, 2007;Prokopenko et al, 2007;Schlü tz et al, 2008). The current study is primarily focused on Hoton-Nur (also known as Khoton Nuur), a large fresh-water lake in the Mongolian Altai (Fig.…”

Section: U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia

Rudaya

Tarasov

Dorofeyuk

et al. 2009

Quaternary Science Reviews

222

148

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a b s t r a c tThis study presents the results of the palynological and diatom analyses of the sediment core recovered in Hoton-Nur Lake (48 37 0 18 00 N, 88 20 0 45 00 E, 2083 m) in 2004. Quantitative reconstruction of the Holocene vegetation and climate dynamics in the semiarid Mongolian Altai suggests that boreal woodland replaced the primarily open landscape of northwestern Mongolia at about 10 kyr BP (1 kyr ¼ 1000 cal yr) in response to a noticeable increase in precipitation from 200-250 mm/yr to 450-550 mm/yr. A decline of the forest vegetation and a return to a predominance of open vegetation types occurred after 5 kyr BP when precipitation sums decreased to 250-300 mm/yr. Prior to 11.5 kyr PB diatom concentrations are relatively low and the lake is dominated by planktonic Cyclotella and small Fragilariaceae, suggesting the existence of a relatively deep and oligotrophic/mesotrophic lake. The great abundance of Staurosirella pinnata from the beginning of the record until 10.7 kyr BP might imply intensified erosion processes in the catchment and this is fully consistent with the presence of scarce and dry vegetation and the generally arid climate during this period. From about 10.7 kyr BP, more planktonic diatom taxa appeared and increased in abundance, indicating that the lake became more productive as diatom concentration increased. This change correlates well with the development of boreal woodland in the catchment. Decrease in precipitation and changes in the vegetation towards steppe are reflected by the rapid increase in Aulacoseira distans from about 5 kyr BP. The Holocene pollen and diatom records do not indicate soil and vegetation cover disturbances by the anthropogenic activities, implying that the main transformations of the regional vegetation occurred as a result of the natural climate change. Our reconstruction is in agreement with the paleomonsoon records from China, demonstrating an abrupt strengthening of the summer monsoon at 12 kyr BP and an associated increase in precipitation and in lake levels between 11 and 8 kyr BP, followed by the stepwise attenuation of the monsoon circulation and climate aridization towards the modern level. The records from the neighboring areas of Kazakhstan and Russia, situated west and north of Hoton-Nur, demonstrate spatially and temporally different Holocene vegetation and climate histories, indicating that the Altai Mountains as a climate boundary are of pivotal importance for the Holocene environmental and, possibly, habitation history of Central Asia.

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Section: U N C O R R E C T E D P R O O Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia

Rudaya

Tarasov

Dorofeyuk

et al. 2009

Quaternary Science Reviews

222

148

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“…This finding points to a high vulnerability of the trees at the taiga's LT to climate warming. This conclusion is supported by ecophysiological, dendrochronological and palynological studies from the LT of the mountain taiga of western Khentei (Dulamsuren et al, 2009a(Dulamsuren et al, , 2010bSchlütz et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

et al. 2018

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Abstract. In northern Mongolia, at the southern boundary of the Siberian boreal forest belt, the distribution of steppe and forest is generally linked to climate and topography, making this region highly sensitive to climate change and human impact. Detailed investigations on the limiting parameters of forest and steppe in different biomes provide necessary information for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and prognosis of potential landscape change. In this study, remote sensing data and gridded climate data were analyzed in order to identify main distribution patterns of forest and steppe in Mongolia and to detect environmental factors driving forest development. Forest distribution and vegetation vitality derived from the normalized differentiated vegetation index (NDVI) were investigated for the three types of boreal forest present in Mongolia (taiga, subtaiga and forest-steppe), which cover a total area of 73 818 km 2 . In addition to the forest type areas, the analysis focused on subunits of forest and nonforested areas at the upper and lower treeline, which represent ecological borders between vegetation types. Climate and NDVI data were analyzed for a reference period of 15 years from 1999 to 2013.The presented approach for treeline delineation by identifying representative sites mostly bridges local forest disturbances like fire or tree cutting. Moreover, this procedure provides a valuable tool to distinguish the potential forested area. The upper treeline generally rises from 1800 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the northeast to 2700 m a.s.l. in the south. The lower treeline locally emerges at 1000 m a.s.l. in the northern taiga and rises southward to 2500 m a.s.l. The latitudinal gradient of both treelines turns into a longitudinal one on the eastern flank of mountain ranges due to higher aridity caused by rain-shadow effects. Less productive trees in terms of NDVI were identified at both the upper and lower treeline in relation to the respective total boreal forest type area. The mean growing season temperature (MGST) of 7.9-8.9 • C and a minimum MGST of 6 • C are limiting parameters at the upper treeline but are negligible for the lower treeline. The minimum of the mean annual precipitation (MAP) of 230-290 mm yr −1 is a limiting parameter at the lower treeline but also at the upper treeline in the forest-steppe ecotone. In general, NDVI and MAP are lower in grassland, and MGST is higher compared to the corresponding boreal forest. One exception occurs at the upper treeline of the subtaiga and taiga, where the alpine vegetation consists of mountain meadow mixed with shrubs. The relation between NDVI and climate data corroborates that more precipitation and higher temperatures generally lead to higher greenness in all ecological subunits. MGST is positively correlated with MAP of the total area of forest-steppe, but this correlation turns negative in the taiga. The limiting factor in the forest-steppe is the relative humidity and in the taiga it is the snow cover distribution. The subtaiga represents a...

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“…Dulamsuren et al (2014) found a considerable anthropozoogenic influence on the actual lower forest line in the Mongolian Altai. For northern Mongolia, Schlütz et al (2008) showed that the present vegetation pattern in the mountain taiga where steppes occur on south-facing slopes is caused by climate conditions and relief and does not originate from human activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Modeling forest lines and forest distribution patterns with remote-sensing data in a mountainous region of semiarid central Asia

Klinge¹,

Böhner

Erasmi³

2015

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Satellite images and digital elevation models provide an excellent database to analyze forest distribution patterns and forest limits in the mountain regions of semiarid central Asia on the regional scale. For the investigation area in the northern Tien Shan, a strong relationship between forest distribution and climate conditions could be found. Additionally areas of potential human impact on forested areas are identified at lower elevations near the edge of the mountains based on an analysis of the differences in climatic preconditions and the present occurrence of forest stands.The distribution of spruce (Picea schrenkiana) forests is hydrologically limited by a minimum annual precipitation of 250 mm and thermally by a minimum monthly mean temperature of 5 • C during the growing season. While the actual lower forest limit increases from 1600 m a.s.l. (above sea level) in the northwest to 2600 m a.s.l. in the southeast, the upper forest limit rises in the same direction from 1800 m a.s.l. to 2900 m a.s.l.. In accordance with the main wind directions, the steepest gradient of both forest lines and the greatest local vertical extent of the forest belt of 500 to 600 m to a maximum of 900 m occur at the northern and western mountain fronts.The forests in the investigation area are strongly restricted to north-facing slopes, which is a common feature in semiarid central Asia. Based on the presumption that variations in local climate conditions are a function of topography, the potential forest extent was analyzed with regard to the parameters slope, aspect, solar radiation input and elevation. All four parameters showed a strong relationship to forest distribution, yielding a total potential forest area that is 3.5 times larger than the present forest remains of 502 km 2 .

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Late Holocene vegetation history suggests natural origin of steppes in the northern Mongolian mountain taiga

Cited by 55 publications

References 26 publications

Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia

Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altai reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

Modeling forest lines and forest distribution patterns with remote-sensing data in a mountainous region of semiarid central Asia

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