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.     

内江城区现代孢粉组合及其与植被关系

通过内江城区5个样点表土花粉组合特征及其与植物群落关系的分析,结果表明:(1)花粉组合中木本植物花粉占59. 6%,木本植物与草本植物花粉比值(AP/NAP)约为1. 5;以松属、桤木属和蒿属为主。(2)城郊荒地花粉组合与母体植被能较好地对应,老城公园花粉组合基本能反映母体植被中优势种,城中小丘花粉组合难以反映植物群落的数量特征;随着人类活动干扰程度增强,花粉组合与母体植被的对应关系减弱。(3)主要花粉类型中松属、桤木属和蒿属花粉具超代表性;棕榈科、栾树属、禾本科和榕属花粉具低代表性。可为四川盆地及相似地区环境考古和花粉过敏症研究提供基础数据和参考资料。     

Pollen indicators of human activity

The study of past human activities and their environmental effect is high in the agenda of global change research. A record of pollen assemblages is one of the most common proxies employed for detecting the impact of human activities on the landscape. In this review, we provide a summary and discussion on the recent progress on the use of pollen as indicators of human activity. For most of the studies related to human impact, the following features have been focused on： （1） decline of certain tree pollen; （2） flourishing of pioneer plant pollen; （3） concomitant occurrence of cereal-type pollen and cropland weed pollen; （4） abrupt changes in pollen concentration and richness; and （5） occurrence of nitrophi- Ious plants and pastoral weed. Pollen of anthropogenic plants （weeds and cereal-type plants） is ideal indicators of human activities. Different types of human activities will result in different pollen assem- blages. Patterns of human-impacted pollen spectra would vary between forested areas and grassland. In the study of human impact with pollen data, high resolution in both time and space must be consid- ered. High resolution in space will help to inform the complexity of the landscape. More importantly, it can help to reveal the interference of human activities on the landscape, hence avoiding the bias created by the limited data points. Fine resolution in time will make accurate recording of short-lived events possible, hence avoiding the exclusion of events related to human activities. The combination of palynology with other proxies will help to decipher more accurately landscape changes through time. Charcoal is a particularly useful proxy for recording the disturbance of humans on vegetation. Its peak values usually occur with pronounced drop of tree pollen and significant rise of anthropogenic pollen.     

近300年来岱海流域气候干湿变化与人类活动的湖泊响应

根据岱海60cm柱状岩芯的磁化率、孢粉、粒度等环境指标的分析结果,对历史时期岱海气候干湿变化和人类活动的湖泊记录进行探讨,岱海湖泊沉积记录近300年来的气候干湿变化可划分七个阶段,与历史记载有较好的一致性;频率磁化率高值段对应气候偏湿阶段,低值对应气候偏干阶段,人类活动特别是人口增加和土地开垦,加剧流域水土流失,导致湖泊沉积物中细颗粒组分增加,频率磁化率升高;孢粉Ulmus的变化受流域人口增加的影响。频率磁化率和孢粉是反映岱海历史时期干湿变化和人类活动的重要环境指标。     

石羊河流域空气传播孢粉的初步研究

为了确定风长距离搬运的孢粉对干旱区尾闾型湖泊沉积物孢粉谱的贡献率，对干旱区典型的小流域--石羊河流域空气中的孢粉进行了分析．石羊河流域云杉树盛花期时，3个样点8个空气样孢粉分析显示，空气样孢粉组合与取样点植被状况大致相当，孢粉组合的空间变化基本上受现代植被分布状况控制，影响空气样孢粉谱和孢粉浓度的因素主要是取样时间和地点．在一定的范围内，干旱区风搬运孢粉的能力很强，可大量地搬运孢粉；但风长距离搬运孢粉的能力有限，超过一定距离，风搬运的孢粉数量还是很小的，风搬运的流域上游森林带的孢粉对中下游地区空气样孢粉谱的贡献率很小．     

Pollen assemblage characteristics of lakes in the monsoon fringe area of China

This paper presents the pollen assemblages from 108 surface sediment samples from 4 lakes （the Lake Daihai, Lake Hongjiannao, Lake Hulunnao and Lake Duikounao） in the monsoon fringe area of China. The herb pollen taxa Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae and Compositae are the major components of pollen assemblages of the 4 lakes and Pinus, Betula, Quercus, Ulmus, Populus, Ostryopsis and Elaeagnaceae are frequently presented, which reflect regional and local vegetation well. The mean similarity coefficients for samples from the Lake Daihai, Lake Hongjiannao, Lake Hulunnao and Lake Duikounao are 0.66±0.17, 0.71±0.11,0.73±0.12 and 0.67±0.12 respectively, so pollen assemblages are relatively consistent in each lake, which shows that focusing and mixing effects have occurred before and after pollen deposition. However, pollen assemblages do differ between sampling sites in each lake. The largest difference is seen in the Lake Daihai, followed by the Lake Duikounao, Lake Hulunnao and Lake Hongjiannao （The mean Euclidean distance is 20.09 ± 11.11, 11.22 ± 3.64, 10.67 ± 4.03 and 8.44 ± 4.51 respectively）. These differences are possibly caused by the differences of focusing and mixing effects, pollen source areas, drainage areas and regional vegetation compositions. The Lake Daihai and Lake Hongjiannao have water deeper than 5 m and strong re-suspension, focusing and mixing effects occur in the lakeshore and shallow water areas, where pollen concentrations are lower than in deeper lake areas. In the Lake Hulunnao and Lake Duikounao, with depths less than 5 m, re-suspension and mixing effects are obvious across the whole lake area, so pollen assemblages and pollen concentrations are more consistent among sampling sites in each lake. Comparison between the lake samples and samples from the inflowing river reveals that wind is primary pollen transportation force in the Lake Hongjiannao, where the consistency of pollen assemblage is conspicuous, while there is greater variation in lakes where pollen input is do     

Surface pollen distribution patterns in Beibu Gulf and corresponding sediment dynamics environment

The Beibu Gulf is a semi-enclosed gulf in the northwest of the South China Sea.We palynologically analyzed 306 surface sediment samples from the eastern Beibu Gulf to improve bioclimatic interpretation of fossil pollen records there.Surface pollen assemblages could be classified into five pollen regions based on the distributions of total,arboreal,herbaceous and fern pollen concentrations.Four high-concentration and three low-concentration subregions could be distinguished within these regions.The distribution patterns of surface pollen assemblages were consistent with those of grain sizes of surface sediments.Sediments from regions with high pollen concentrations were very fine and fine silts (>7.0,<0.008 mm),whereas those with low pollen concentrations were fine sand (<3.5,>0.088 mm).Sedimentary heterogeneity of surface pollen assemblages was closely related to pollen source,transportation and sedimentation controlled by ocean currents,tides and waves,and oceanic bottom topography.Fern spores exhibited higher percentages along the east margins of the region,while arboreal types like Pinus increased in concentration towards the center.Herbaceous pollen appeared in high percentages around seacoasts near their source areas.Dacrydium and mangrove pollen were distributed near their source regions at low percentages.We discuss the sediment dynamic environments in the eastern Beibu Gulf based on surface pollen distributions.The estuary region is an important access to the sea basin and a depositional site for terrestrial pollen grains.Coastal regions can accumulate pollen due to the back-and-forth movements of tides there.Although ocean currents on a gulf scale tend to spread pollen grains,the interaction of multiple currents could lead to pollen accumulation and deposition.Low surface pollen concentrations in the northeast shallow-water regions of the eastern Beibu Gulf could be attributed to repeated washing and sediment floatation caused by severe wave activities during the summer.Strong tides in Qiongzhou Strait frequently wash the seabed and disadvantage pollen deposition,leading to low surface pollen concentrations there.     

Surface pollen assemblages of human-disturbed vegetation and their relationship with vegetation and climate in Northeast China

Pollen assemblages of 53 surface pollen samples from farmlands and wastelands in Northeast China were analyzed. Tree pollen percentages were usually higher than 30%, with Pinus (26.9%), Quercus (0.9%), Betula (0.9%) and Populus (0.7%) as the major types, and herb pollen percentages were usually higher than 50%, with weedy Poaceae (8.7%), Chenopodiaceae (7.1%), Artemisia (1.9%) and Compositae (3.5%) as the major taxa. Thus, the pollen assemblages were consistent with the regional vegetation compositions. However, there were differences in pollen assemblages among regions, especially among different geomorphological units. For example, in the mountains, there were more types of tree pollen and higher total percentages (average 42%) than in other areas, while cereal pollen percentages were lowest (11.2%). In the hills and high plains, herbs made up more than 60% of the pollens, with cereals (average 53.6%) the dominant type. In the low plains, pollen types were similar to those in the hills and high plains, but total pollen concentrations and the proportion of Concentricystes were much higher, while cereal pollen percentages were slightly lower (average 41.6%). Pollen assemblages in different land use types also differed. For example, in farmland, cereal pollen percentages were more than 40% and Chenopodiaceae was usually less than 2.5%, while in wasteland, weedy Poaceae was usually less than 10% and Chenopodiaceae was usually higher than 25%. Total pollen concentrations in farmland (average 3909 grains/g) were much lower than in wasteland (average 15074 grains/g). Redundancy analysis revealed that pollen assemblages were significantly negatively correlated with mean annual temperature (-0.73) and July mean temperature (-0.81) and significantly positively correlated with mean annual precipitation (0.48), indicating that pollen assemblages in the artificial or human-disturbed vegetation reflect regional climate well. Comparison of pollen assemblages in different areas of northern China showed that pollen concentrations reflect the intensities of human impact to some degree. For example, pollen concentrations decrease as human impacts increase in intensity. The cereal pollen proportions in farmland differed by area. In Northeast China, cereal pollen proportions were distinctly higher than in most other areas of northern China, suggesting differences in planting habits and climate.     

鲁西地区早二叠世早、中期孢粉组合特征

为解决鲁西地区二叠系内部划分和煤层对比问题，笔者先后对鲁西诸煤田二叠系进行了大量的孢粉分析工作，采集处理300多块样品，经系统研究，建立了本区二叠纪的4个孢粉组合，本文重点讨论早二叠世早、中期的两个孢粉组合，自下而上为：Thymospora thiessenii-Laevigatosporites vulgaris-Densosprites组合；Gulisporites cochlearius-Laevigatosposporites组合。根据所建立的各孢粉组合特征并与华北各地二叠纪孢粉组合广泛对比，进一步阐述了各孢粉组合的地质时代。     

Deep-water Oligocene pollen record from South China Sea

Leg 184 of ODP recovered a record of deepwater sediments spanning the past 32.8 Ma from the South China Sea (SCS). The sediments of the Ofigocene (32.8-23.8 Ma) at Site 1148 contain relatively abundant fossil pollen. The pollen analysis at Site 1148 has established the first pollen assemblage sequence of deep-water Oligocene in the China Sea. The pollen assemblages of the Ofigocene are dominated by montane conifer tree pollen. The abundances of broad-leaved tree pollen are lower in the assemblages.Both of the montane conifer and broad-leaved tree pollen groups include mainly tropical-subtropical components. The pollen of cold and drought-enduring plants is present in lower content. The distinct change in pollen assemblage sequence of deep-water Oligocene of the SCS occurred at 32.0 Ma, indicative of an important shift of the Oligocene climate in the SCS region. The characteristics of the pollen flora of the deep-water Oligocene indicate the tropical montane ralnforest and lowland ralnforest developed on the areas around the SCS before 32.0 Ma, reflecting the warm and wet climatic condition. In the pollen flora of the Oligocene after 32.0 Ma, the temperate montane conifer and cool and drought-en- during deciduous tree taxa remarkably increased, indicating that the climate in the SCS region became comparatively cool and dry.     

Modern pollen-vegetation relationship based on discriminant analysis across an altitudinal transect on Gongga Mountain, eastern Tibetan Plateau

Quantitative relationship between modern pollen assemblage and altitudinal vegetation belt is crucial for the reconstruction of paleovegetation in the mountain regions.Modern pollen analysis on 70 topsoil samples was conducted across an altitudinal transect(1100-4500 m) on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain in the eastern Tibetan Plateau with an elevation interval of 50 m.Distributions of major pollen types along the transect indicated a weak correlation between Pinus pollen and the elevation.Distributions of Picea and Abies pollen(percentage sum of 2%-8%) could fairly indicate the elevation range of 2700-3700 m,as well as the subalpine dark coniferous forest and the timberline in the region.High percentage intervals of alpine types of Ericaceae,Cupressaceae and Cyperaceae were correlated to the high-elevation regions(3700-4500 m) dominated by alpine shrub meadow and alpine meadow.Seven altitudinal vegetation belts on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain were well defined by discriminant analysis conducted on the modern pollen assemblages,as reflected by high values of probability of modern analog.Most of the modern pollen assemblages(88.5%) were typical for the vegetation types at their sampling locations.Thus,the relationship between the modern pollen assemblages and vegetation across the altitudinal transect based on discriminant analysis can be applied to the quantitative reconstruction of paleovegetation changes in the mountain regions of the eastern Tibetan Plateau.     

Modern pollen and vegetation relationships in the Yili Basin, Xinjiang, NW China

Fifty-six surface pollen samples from different vegetation zones in the Yili Basin,western Tianshan Mountains,Xinjiang were analyzed to examine the relationships between the surface pollen assemblages and the original vegetation.A pollen analysis and a vegetation investigation with a discriminant analysis show that the pollen assemblages greatly differ across disparate vegetation zones.Twelve pollen taxa can be used as significant types for vegetation reconstruction in the basin.These taxa were the most abundant in the surface pollen samples.Cupressaceae pollen percentages were greater than 1%in Cupressaceae shrubs.More than5%of Picea pollen indicates the growth of a Picea forest within 5 km.The subalpine meadow that is distributed widely in the basin is characterized by high content of Artemisia,Chenopodiaceae,Poaceae,Picea,Asteraceae,Taraxacum and Arenaria pollen types.The Artemisia-Chenopodiaceae-Poaceae-Cannabaceae pollen assemblages indicate the presence of montane steppe in the area.Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae pollen dominate the desert steppe and Populus forest.Artemisia pollen percentages were greater than 60%in the Artemisia desert,whereas Chenopodiaceae pollen percentages exceeded 65%in the Chenopodiaceae desert.The Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae(A/C)ratios reflect the vertical moisture changes in the Yili Basin.The mean A/C ratios were greater than 1.2 in the subalpine meadow and montane steppe that occupy the humid zone in the basin.These ratios were between1 and 1.2 in the Cupressaceae shrubs,desert steppe,Populus forest and floodplain meadow.The ratios were less than 0.5 in the Chenopodiaceae desert,which is an arid environment.     

辽西南票地区早二叠世山西组孢子花粉组合

辽西南票地区山西组,共发现孢粉２１个属４７种。组合特征是蕨类植物孢子占优势,为孢粉总量的９７．４％;裸子植物花粉含量很少,仅占２．６％。根据孢粉含量及其在垂直方向上的变化,本组合自下向上划分成两个组合带：Ｓｉｍｏｚｏｎｏｔｒｉｌｅｔｅｓ－Ｓｉｎｕｌａｔｉｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ;Ｓｉｎｕｌａｔｉｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ－Ｌａｅｖｉｇａｔｏｓｐｏｒｉｔｅｓ。     

西北干旱区黑河上中游地区不同海拔高度农田表土花粉组合特征

通过对黑河流域上中游地区43个农田表土样品的孢粉分析,探讨了该流域不同类型农田的表土花粉组合特征.结果显示:农作物花粉是农田花粉组合的主要成分,平均百分含量为43.6%;农作物以外的草本花粉平均百分含量为50.4%,其中旱生草本以藜科(平均21.1%)为主,湿/中生草本以禾本科(平均8.3%)、蒿属(平均6.6%)、菊科(平均5.2%)为主,也出现了少量豆科、毛茛科、唇形科等多种杂草花粉;农田中乔木(平均1.6%)和灌木(平均4.3%)花粉百分含量较低.种植的农作物不同,其花粉组合特征亦有差别:油菜地中油菜花粉百分含量平均为85.8%,占绝对优势,而其他草本花粉百分含量很少;苜蓿地、玉米地、小麦地以及混作地花粉组合以农作物以外的草本花粉为主,农作物花粉次之.农田花粉组合与海拔高度的关系表明:藜科花粉百分含量在2600m以下随海拔的升高而略有降低,海拔超过2600m以后快速降低,其变化可能与油菜花粉的高产量有关;蒿属花粉百分含量随海拔的升高呈增加趋势,海拔超过2800m以后降低;十字花科(油菜)花粉主要出现在2000m以上,峰值出现在2800m;人工禾本科花粉(≥40μm)则出现在海拔2000m以下,这与绿洲农...     

安徽淮北晚古生代煤系的植物化石组合

本文通过所采集的大量植物化石,讨论了安徽淮北地区太原组、山西组、下石盒子组及上石盒子组植物群特征,并划分为四个植物化石组合。同时根据植物群面貌、孢粉组合、含煤性及岩石地球化学特征,可将k_3砂岩作为上、下石盒子组界线     

Pollen indication to source plants in the eastern desert of China

Pollen analysis is one of the important resources for the reconstruction of palaeoclimate and palaeovegetation. The relationship between modern pollen and vegetation is the foundation of pollen analysis. Owing to its complexity and importance, many polynologists and plant-ecologists have been studying on it[1―17]. In 1963, M. B. Davis gave the definition of R-values[2] that have carried forward the quantitative relationship between pollen and vegetation. However, R-value is changeable for d…     

Pollen flux and vertical dispersion in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains

The pollen flux in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains is presented in one year's experiments. The results indicate that arboreal pollen percentages are more than 65% and pollen flux is higher than 5000 grain·cm-2·a-1,while less than 2% and lower than 1000 grain·cm-2·a-1 for shrubby pollen,and less than 20% and lower than 3000 grain·cm-1·a-1 for herbaceous pollen for most samples at different heights. The pollen assemblages are similar to those in the samples under 8 m height where Pinus and Ouercus are dominant and followed by the few non-local pollen types,and Fraxinus percentages are high with a few non-local pollen types at 16 m to 32 m height as well as non-local pollen clearly increased at 40 m height. Comparisons between pollen assemblages and vegetation composition suggest that similarities are higher for pollen trap samples than for surface moss samples.     

Pollen transport in the Shiyang River drainage,arid China

In order to assess the contribution of the pollen transported by wind and fluvial flows to the pollen spectra in Shiyang River drainage,a typical small endorheic drainage in arid lands of northwest China, preliminary studies on modern pollen rain along two transects with 91 surface soil samples, 8 atmospheric samples, 30 modern fluvial flow samples and 50 riverbed mud samples, were carried out.Results show that dispersal agents (air, flowing water) have dissimilar effects on transport of pollen and the structure of pollen spectra. Fluvial flow has a stronger capacity thanwind to transport large quantities of pollen over long dis-tances. Pollen transported by fluvial flow makes a large con-tribution to the pollen spectra of riverbed alluvial sediments.Paleoenvironmental reconstructions undertaken using pollen spectra from fluvial sediments in arid lands are strongly influenced by pollen transport. Therefore, the sources, the transportation agents and the depositional condition of pol-len should be systematically investigated before pollen as-semblages are used to derive the environmental significance in such settings.     

吐鲁番─哈密盆地早─中侏罗世孢粉组合

论述了吐鲁番－哈密盆地三道岭煤矿和艾丁湖煤矿西山窑组及八道湾组的孢子花粉，计有６３属，８０种。根据孢粉组合特征及其与国内外有关资料的对比、分析，认为三道岭西山窑组的孢粉组合时代为中侏罗世早期，而艾丁湖八道湾组的孢粉组合时代为早侏罗世。这两个孢粉组合的报道，为该盆地的石油勘探提供了重要生物化石新材料。     

Reconstruction of the past 1000-a temperature in Canada based on pollen data

Reconstructions of past climate based on pollen data have formed a robust approach and produced a great of products in time scales from a millennium to ten millenniums. However, it is an attempt for reconstruction of the past decade-century climate in the Global Change field. This note reports a reconstruction of the past 1000-a temperature in a 50-a scale in Canada based on pollen data. Because there were little human activities during the last 1000 years in North America, the climate in the period mainly responded to natural changes. The reconstruction of a natural-forcing change in the climate can provide a basis to recognize the climate changes impacted from human activities in China. The technique of modern analogue can be implemented to reconstruct the past millennium climate in China.