@article{AichnerOttSlowinskietal.2018, author = {Aichner, Bernhard and Ott, Florian and Slowinski, Michal and Norygkiewicz, Agnieszka M. and Brauer, Achim and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {Leaf wax n-alkane distributions record ecological changes during the Younger Dryas at Trzechowskie paleolake (northern Poland) without temporal delay}, series = {Climate of the past : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union}, volume = {14}, journal = {Climate of the past : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union}, number = {11}, publisher = {Copernicus}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1814-9324}, doi = {10.5194/cp-14-1607-2018}, pages = {1607 -- 1624}, year = {2018}, abstract = {While of higher plant origin, a specific source assignment of sedimentary leaf wax n-alkanes remains difficult. In addition, it is unknown how fast a changing catchment vegetation would be reflected in sedimentary leaf wax archives. In particular, for a quantitative interpretation of n-alkane C and H isotope ratios in terms of paleohydrological and paleoecological changes, a better understanding of transfer times and dominant sedimentary sources of leaf wax n-alkanes is required. In this study we tested to what extent compositional changes in leaf wax n-alkanes can be linked to known vegetation changes by comparison with high-resolution palynological data from the same archive. We analyzed leaf wax n-alkane concentrations and distributions in decadal resolution from a sedimentary record from Trzechowskie paleolake (TRZ, northern Poland), covering the Late Glacial to early Holocene (13 360-9940 yr BP). As an additional source indicator of targeted n-alkanes, compound-specific carbon isotopic data have been generated in lower time resolution. The results indicated rapid responses of n-alkane distribution patterns coinciding with major climatic and paleoecological transitions. We found a shift towards higher average chain length (ACL) values at the Allerod-Younger Dryas (YD) transition between 12 680 and 12 600 yr BP, co-evaled with a decreasing contribution of arboreal pollen (mainly Pinus and Betula) and a subsequently higher abundance of pollen derived from herbaceous plants (Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Artemisia), shrubs, and dwarf shrubs (Juniperus and Salix). The termination of the YD was characterized by a successive increase in n-alkane concentrations coinciding with a sharp decrease in ACL values between 11 580 and 11 490 yr BP, reflecting the expansion of woodland vegetation at the YD-Holocene transition. A gradual reversal to longer chain lengths after 11 200 yr BP, together with decreasing n-alkane concentrations, most likely reflects the early Holocene vegetation succession with a decline of Betula. These results show that n-alkane distributions reflect vegetation changes and that a fast (i.e., subdecadal) signal transfer occurred. However, our data also indicate that a standard interpretation of directional changes in biomarker ratios remains difficult. Instead, responses such as changes in ACL need to be discussed in the context of other proxy data. In addition, we find that organic geochemical data integrate different ecological information compared to pollen, since some gymnosperm genera, such as Pinus, produce only a very low amount of n-alkanes and for this reason their contribution may be largely absent from biomarker records. Our results demonstrate that a combination of palynological and n-alkane data can be used to infer the major sedimentary leaf wax sources and constrain leaf wax transport times from the plant source to the sedimentary sink and thus pave the way towards quantitative interpretation of compound-specific hydrogen isotope ratios for paleohydrological reconstructions.}, language = {en} } @article{RachEngelsKahmenetal.2017, author = {Rach, Oliver and Engels, S. and Kahmen, A. and Brauer, Achim and Martin-Puertas, C. and van Geel, B. and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {Hydrological and ecological changes in western Europe between 3200 and 2000 years BP derived from lipid biomarker delta D values in lake Meerfelder Maar sediments}, series = {Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal}, volume = {172}, journal = {Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0277-3791}, doi = {10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.07.019}, pages = {44 -- 54}, year = {2017}, abstract = {One of the most significant Late Holocene climate shifts occurred around 2800 years ago, when cooler and wetter climate conditions established in western Europe. This shift coincided with an abrupt change in regional atmospheric circulation between 2760 and 2560 cal years BP, which has been linked to a grand solar minimum with the same duration (the Homeric Minimum). We investigated the temporal sequence of hydroclimatic and vegetation changes across this interval of climatic change (Homeric climate oscillation) by using lipid biomarker stable hydrogen isotope ratios (ED values) and pollen assemblages from the annually-laminated sediment record from lake Meerfelder Maar (Germany). Over the investigated interval (3200-2000 varve years BP), terrestrial lipid biomarker ED showed a gradual trend to more negative values, consistent with the western Europe long-term climate trend of the Late Holocene. At ca. 2640 varve years BP we identified a strong increase in aquatic plants and algal remains, indicating a rapid change in the aquatic ecosystem superimposed on this long-term trend. Interestingly, this aquatic ecosystem change was accompanied by large changes in ED values of aquatic lipid biomarkers, such as nC(21) and nC(23) (by between 22 and 30\%(0)). As these variations cannot solely be explained by hydroclimate changes, we suggest that these changes in the Wag value were influenced by changes in n-alkane source organisms. Our results illustrate that if ubiquitous aquatic lipid biomarkers are derived from a limited pool of organisms, changes in lake ecology can be a driving factor for variations on sedimentary lipid MN values, which then could be easily misinterpreted in terms of hydro climatic changes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{RachBrauerWilkesetal.2014, author = {Rach, Oliver and Brauer, Achim and Wilkes, Heinz and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {Delayed hydrological response to Greenland cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas in western Europe}, series = {Nature geoscience}, volume = {7}, journal = {Nature geoscience}, number = {2}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {New York}, issn = {1752-0894}, doi = {10.1038/NGEO2053}, pages = {109 -- 112}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The general warming trend of the last deglaciation was interrupted by the Younger Dryas, a period of abrupt cooling and widespread environmental change(1-10). Ice core records suggest the abrupt cooling began 12,846 years ago in Greenland(10), about 170 years before the significant environmental and vegetation change in western Europe(7) classically defined as the Younger Dryas. However, this difference in timing falls within age model uncertainties. Here we use the hydrogen isotope composition of lipid biomarkers from precisely dated varved sediments from Lake Meerfelder Maar to reconstruct hydroclimate over western Europe. We observe a decrease in the hydrogen isotope values of both aquatic and terrestrial lipids 12,850 years ago, indicating cooling climate in this region synchronous with the abrupt cooling in Greenland. A second drop occurs 170 years later, mainly in the hydrogen isotope record of aquatic lipids but to a lesser extent in the terrestrial lipids, which we attribute to aridification, as well as a change in moisture source and pathway. We thus confirm that there was indeed a lag between cooling and substantial hydrologic and environmental change in western Europe. We suggest the delay is related to the expansion of sea ice in the North Atlantic Ocean and the subsequent southward migration of the westerly wind system(9). We further suggest that these hydrological changes amplified environmental change in western Europe at the onset of the Younger Dryas.}, language = {en} } @article{SarkarWilkesPrasadetal.2014, author = {Sarkar, Saswati and Wilkes, Heinz and Prasad, Sushma and Brauer, Achim and Riedel, Nils and Stebich, Martina and Basavaiah, Nathani and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {Spatial heterogeneity in lipid biomarker distributions in the catchment and sediments of a crater lake in central India}, series = {Organic geochemistry : the international journal for rapid publication of current research in organic geochemistry and biochemistry}, volume = {66}, journal = {Organic geochemistry : the international journal for rapid publication of current research in organic geochemistry and biochemistry}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0146-6380}, doi = {10.1016/j.orggeochem.2013.11.009}, pages = {125 -- 136}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The basin-scale spatial variability in lipid biomarker proxies in lacustrine sediments, which are established tools for studying continental environmental change, has rarely been examined. It is often implicitly assumed that a lake sediment core provides an average integral of catchment sources. Here we evaluated the distribution of lipid biomarkers in a modern ecosystem and compared it with the sedimentary record. We analyzed lipid biomarkers in terrestrial and aquatic organisms and in lake surface sediments from 17 locations within the saline-alkaline Lonar crater lake in central India. Terrestrial vegetation and lake surface sediments were characterized by relatively high average chain length (ACL) index values (29.6-32.8) of leaf wax n-alkanes, consistent with suggestions that plants in drier and warmer climates produce longer chain alkyl lipids than plants in cooler and humid areas. A heterogeneous spatial distribution of ACL values in lake surface sediments was found: at locations away from the shore, the values were highest (31 or more), possibly indicating different sources and/or transport of terrestrial biomarkers. In floating, benthic microbial mats and surface sediment, n-heptadecane, carotenoids, diploptene, phytol and tetrahymanol occurred in large amounts. Interestingly, these biomarkers of a unique bacterial community were found in substantially higher concentrations in nearshore sediment samples. We suggest that human influence and subsequent nutrient supply resulted in increased primary productivity, leading to an unusually high concentration of tetrahymanol in the nearshore sediments. In summary, the data showed that substantial heterogeneity existed within the lake, but leaf wax n-alkanes in a core from the center of the lake represented an integral of catchment conditions. However, lake level fluctuation may potentially affect aquatic lipid biomarker distributions in lacustrine sediments, in addition to source changes.}, language = {en} } @article{EngelsBrauerBuddelmeijeretal.2016, author = {Engels, Stefan and Brauer, Achim and Buddelmeijer, Nico and Martin-Puertas, Celia and Rach, Oliver and Sachse, Dirk and Van Geel, Bas}, title = {Subdecadal-scale vegetation responses to a previously unknown late-Allerod climate fluctuation and Younger Dryas cooling at Lake Meerfelder Maar (Germany)}, series = {Journal of quaternary science}, volume = {31}, journal = {Journal of quaternary science}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0267-8179}, doi = {10.1002/jqs.2900}, pages = {741 -- 752}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Lake Meerfelder Maar (MFM) is the northernmost Western European sediment record with annual laminations across the Younger Dryas (YD), and the onset of the YD in the record of MFM has previously been defined as an increase in non-arboreal pollen abundance at ca. 12 680 varve a BP. Here we present a palynological record at unprecedented subdecadal resolution for MFM, covering the Allerod-YD transition. Our results show a fluctuation in pollen accumulation rates (PARs) before the onset of the YD, with lower rates between ca. 12 725 and 12 685 varve a BP. The fluctuation in PARs occurs simultaneous with a previously undescribed short fluctuation in sediment composition and varve thickness, as well as with changes in biogeochemical proxies. The combined evidence indicates signs of climatic instability ca. 45 years before the onset of the YD. The PAR records of Betula and Pinus furthermore show earlier and more abrupt changes at the onset of the YD than the percentage-records do. Finally, heliophilous herbaceous taxa show a delayed increase following the onset of the YD of ca. 145 years. This paper illustrates the potential to identify previously unrecognized climate variability and vegetation change when using subdecadal-resolution analyses. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd.}, language = {en} } @misc{RachKahmenBraueretal.2017, author = {Rach, Oliver and Kahmen, Ansgar and Brauer, Achim and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {A dual-biomarker approach for quantification of changes in relative humidity from sedimentary lipid D/H ratios}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {660}, issn = {1866-8372}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-41873}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-418731}, pages = {17}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Past climatic change can be reconstructed from sedimentary archives by a number of proxies. However, few methods exist to directly estimate hydrological changes and even fewer result in quantitative data, impeding our understanding of the timing, magnitude and mechanisms of hydrological changes. Here we present a novel approach based on delta H-2 values of sedimentary lipid biomarkers in combination with plant physiological modeling to extract quantitative information on past changes in relative humidity. Our initial application to an annually laminated lacustrine sediment sequence from western Europe deposited during the Younger Dryas cold period revealed relative humidity changes of up to 15\% over sub-centennial timescales, leading to major ecosystem changes, in agreement with palynological data from the region. We show that by combining organic geochemical methods and mechanistic plant physiological models on well characterized lacustrine archives it is possible to extract quantitative ecohydrological parameters from sedimentary lipid biomarker delta H-2 data.}, language = {en} } @article{RachKahmenBraueretal.2017, author = {Rach, Oliver and Kahmen, Ansgar and Brauer, Achim and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {A dual-biomarker approach for quantification of changes in relative humidity from sedimentary lipid D/H ratios}, series = {Climate of the past : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union}, volume = {13}, journal = {Climate of the past : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union}, publisher = {Copernicus}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1814-9324}, doi = {10.5194/cp-13-741-2017}, pages = {741 -- 757}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Past climatic change can be reconstructed from sedimentary archives by a number of proxies. However, few methods exist to directly estimate hydrological changes and even fewer result in quantitative data, impeding our understanding of the timing, magnitude and mechanisms of hydrological changes. Here we present a novel approach based on delta H-2 values of sedimentary lipid biomarkers in combination with plant physiological modeling to extract quantitative information on past changes in relative humidity. Our initial application to an annually laminated lacustrine sediment sequence from western Europe deposited during the Younger Dryas cold period revealed relative humidity changes of up to 15\% over sub-centennial timescales, leading to major ecosystem changes, in agreement with palynological data from the region. We show that by combining organic geochemical methods and mechanistic plant physiological models on well characterized lacustrine archives it is possible to extract quantitative ecohydrological parameters from sedimentary lipid biomarker delta H-2 data.}, language = {en} } @article{GarcinDeschampsMenotetal.2018, author = {Garcin, Yannick and Deschamps, Pierre and Menot, Guillemette and de Saulieu, Geoffroy and Schefuss, Enno and Sebag, David and Dupont, Lydie M. and Oslisly, Richard and Brademann, Brian and Mbusnum, Kevin G. and Onana, Jean-Michel and Ako, Andrew A. and Epp, Laura Saskia and Tjallingii, Rik and Strecker, Manfred and Brauer, Achim and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {Early anthropogenic impact on Western Central African rainforests 2,600 y ago}, series = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {115}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {13}, publisher = {National Acad. of Sciences}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1715336115}, pages = {3261 -- 3266}, year = {2018}, abstract = {A potential human footprint on Western Central African rainforests before the Common Era has become the focus of an ongoing controversy. Between 3,000 y ago and 2,000 y ago, regional pollen sequences indicate a replacement of mature rainforests by a forest-savannah mosaic including pioneer trees. Although some studies suggested an anthropogenic influence on this forest fragmentation, current interpretations based on pollen data attribute the "rainforest crisis" to climate change toward a drier, more seasonal climate. A rigorous test of this hypothesis, however, requires climate proxies independent of vegetation changes. Here we resolve this controversy through a continuous 10,500-y record of both vegetation and hydrological changes from Lake Barombi in Southwest Cameroon based on changes in carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of plant waxes. delta C-13-inferred vegetation changes confirm a prominent and abrupt appearance of C-4 plants in the Lake Barombi catchment, at 2,600 calendar years before AD 1950 (cal y BP), followed by an equally sudden return to rainforest vegetation at 2,020 cal y BP. delta D values from the same plant wax compounds, however, show no simultaneous hydrological change. Based on the combination of these data with a comprehensive regional archaeological database we provide evidence that humans triggered the rainforest fragmentation 2,600 y ago. Our findings suggest that technological developments, including agricultural practices and iron metallurgy, possibly related to the large-scale Bantu expansion, significantly impacted the ecosystems before the Common Era.}, language = {en} } @misc{GarcinDeschampsMenotetal.2018, author = {Garcin, Yannick and Deschamps, Pierre and Menot, Guillemette and de Saulieu, Geoffroy and Schefuss, Enno and Sebag, David and Dupont, Lydie M. and Oslisly, Richard and Brademann, Brian and Mbusnum, Kevin G. and Onana, Jean-Michel and Ako, Andrew A. and Epp, Laura Saskia and Tjallingii, Rik and Strecker, Manfred and Brauer, Achim and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {No evidence for climate variability during the late Holocene rainforest crisis in Western Central Africa REPLY}, series = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {115}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {29}, publisher = {National Acad. of Sciences}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1808481115}, pages = {E6674 -- E6675}, year = {2018}, language = {en} } @misc{GarcinDeschampsMenotetal.2018, author = {Garcin, Yannick and Deschamps, Pierre and Menot, Guillemette and de Saulieu, Geoffroy and Schefuss, Enno and Sebag, David and Dupont, Lydie M. and Oslisly, Richard and Brademann, Brian and Mbusnum, Kevin G. and Onana, Jean-Michel and Ako, Andrew A. and Epp, Laura Saskia and Tjallingii, Rik and Strecker, Manfred and Brauer, Achim and Sachse, Dirk}, title = {Human activity is the most probable trigger of the late Holocene rainforest crisis in Western Central Africa Reply}, series = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {115}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {21}, publisher = {National Acad. of Sciences}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1805582115}, pages = {E4735 -- E4736}, year = {2018}, language = {en} }