Surface pollen assemblages as indicators of human impact in the warm temperate hilly areas of eastern China

Investigation of 78 surface pollen samples from warm temperate hilly areas of eastern China shows that pollen assemblages in areas of different land use are significantly different. Pollen concentrations in wastelands are higher than in plantations; these, in turn, are higher than in farmlands; implying that pollen concentration decreases with increasing human impact. Arboreal pollen dominated by Pinus and Quercus is common in all samples. Herbaceous pollen percentages are higher while shrub pollen, fern spores and fern allies are lower in farmlands than in wastelands. Crop pollen is only detectable in and near farmlands; its percentages and concentrations decrease in wastelands. Cereal and Cruciferae pollen percentages average 16.7% and 6.7% in farmland respectively, but Cereal reduces to less than 3% and Cruciferae to less than 0.5% in nearby wastelands. Principle coordinates analysis and clustering analysis indicate that pollen assemblages from farmlands are distinguishable from those under other vegetation types. Occurrence of Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia, and Compositae pollen and Selaginella sinensis spores are closely related to human activities, and their types and frequencies indicate intensity of human impact. The spatial distribution of crops, Chenopodiaceae, and Artemisia reflects changes in both natural environments and human activities. Percentages of cereal and Cruciferae pollen, for example, increase with decreasing altitude, but decrease with increasing latitude. Understanding pollen assemblages under artificial and human-disturbed vegetation in hilly areas may aid understanding of human impacts on the plains during the early-middle Holocene.