TY - JOUR A1 - Gosling, William D. A1 - Scerri, Eleanor A1 - Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie T1 - The climate and vegetation backdrop to hominin evolution in Africa JF - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - The most profound shift in the African hydroclimate of the last 1 million years occurred around 300 thousand years (ka) ago. This change in African hydroclimate is manifest as an east-west change in moisture balance that cannot be fully explained through linkages to high latitude climate systems. The east-west shift is, instead, probably driven by a shift in the tropical Walker Circulation related to sea surface temperature change driven by orbital forcing. Comparing records of past vegetation change, and hominin evolution and development, with this breakpoint in the climate system is challenging owing to the paucity of study sites available and uncertainties regarding the dating of records. Notwithstanding these uncertainties we find that, broadly speaking, both vegetation and hominins change around 300 ka. The vegetative backdrop suggests that relative abundance of vegetative resources shifted from western to eastern Africa, although resources would have persisted across the continent. The climatic and vegetation changes probably provided challenges for hominins and are broadly coincident with the appearance of Homo sapiens (ca 315 ka) and the emergence of Middle Stone Age technology. The concomitant changes in climate, vegetation and hominin evolution suggest that these factors are closely intertwined. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'. KW - hominid KW - pollen KW - El Nino Southern Oscillation KW - habitat KW - human evolution KW - Homo sapiens Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0483 SN - 0962-8436 SN - 1471-2970 VL - 377 IS - 1849 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Courtin, Jérémy A1 - Andreev, Andrei A1 - Raschke, Elena A1 - Bala, Sarah A1 - Biskaborn, Boris A1 - Liu, Sisi A1 - Zimmermann, Heike A1 - Diekmann, Bernhard A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R. A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Vegetation changes in Southeastern Siberia during the late pleistocene and the holocene JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - Relationships between climate, species composition, and species richness are of particular importance for understanding how boreal ecosystems will respond to ongoing climate change. This study aims to reconstruct changes in terrestrial vegetation composition and taxa richness during the glacial Late Pleistocene and the interglacial Holocene in the sparsely studied southeastern Yakutia (Siberia) by using pollen and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) records. Pollen and sedaDNA metabarcoding data using the trnL g and h markers were obtained from a sediment core from Lake Bolshoe Toko. Both proxies were used to reconstruct the vegetation composition, while metabarcoding data were also used to investigate changes in plant taxa richness. The combination of pollen and sedaDNA approaches allows a robust estimation of regional and local past terrestrial vegetation composition around Bolshoe Toko during the last similar to 35,000 years. Both proxies suggest that during the Late Pleistocene, southeastern Siberia was covered by open steppe-tundra dominated by graminoids and forbs with patches of shrubs, confirming that steppe-tundra extended far south in Siberia. Both proxies show disturbance at the transition between the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene suggesting a period with scarce vegetation, changes in the hydrochemical conditions in the lake, and in sedimentation rates. Both proxies document drastic changes in vegetation composition in the early Holocene with an increased number of trees and shrubs and the appearance of new tree taxa in the lake's vicinity. The sedaDNA method suggests that the Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra vegetation supported a higher number of terrestrial plant taxa than the forested Holocene. This could be explained, for example, by the "keystone herbivore" hypothesis, which suggests that Late Pleistocene megaherbivores were able to maintain a high plant diversity. This is discussed in the light of the data with the broadly accepted species-area hypothesis as steppe-tundra covered such an extensive area during the Late Pleistocene. KW - last glacial KW - Holocene KW - Lake Bolshoe Toko KW - paleoenvironments KW - sedimentary ancient DNA KW - metabarcoding KW - trnL KW - pollen Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.625096 SN - 2296-701X VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Zhen A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Cao, Xianyong A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Zhao, Yan T1 - Pollen-based biome reconstruction on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the past 15,000 years JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences N2 - Reconstruction of past vegetation change is critical for better understanding the potential impact of future global change on the fragile alpine ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). In this paper, pollen assemblages comprising 58 records from the QTP, spanning the past 15 kyrs, were collected to reconstruct biome compositions using a standard approach. Six forest biomes were identified mainly on the southeastern plateau, exhibiting a pattern of gradual expansion along the eastern margin during early to mid-Holocene times. The alpine meadow biome was separately identified based on an updated scheme, and showed notable westward expansions towards lower latitudes and higher altitudes during early Holocene times. Consistent patterns of migration could also be identified for the alpine steppe biome, which moved eastward during the late Holocene after 4 ka. As the dominant biome type, temperate steppe was distributed widely over the QTP with minor migration patterns, except for a progressive expansion to lower altitudes in the late Holocene times. The desert biome was inferred mainly as covering the northwestern plateau and the Qaidam Basin, in relatively restricted areas. The spatial distribution of the reconstructed biomes represent the large-scale vegetation gradient on the QTP. Monsoonal precipitation expressed predominant controls on the development of alpine ecosystems, while the variations in desert vegetation responded to regional moisture brought by the mid-latitude Westerlies. Temperature changes played relatively minor roles in the variations of alpine vegetation, but exerted more significant impacts on the forest biomes. KW - biomization KW - pollen KW - vegetation migration KW - Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau KW - holocene Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111190 SN - 0031-0182 SN - 1872-616X VL - 604 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Sisi A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie A1 - Kruse, Stefan A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Holocene vegetation and plant diversity changes in the north-eastern Siberian treeline region from pollen and sedimentary ancient DNA JF - Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution N2 - Although sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) has been increasingly used to study paleoecological dynamics (Schulte et al., 2020), the approach has rarely been compared with the traditional method of pollen analysis for investigating past changes in the vegetation composition and diversity of Arctic treeline areas. Here, we provide a history of latitudinal floristic composition and species diversity based on a comparison ofsedaDNA and pollen data archived in three Siberian lake sediment cores spanning the mid-Holocene to the present (7.6-0 cal ka BP), from northern typical tundra to southern open larch forest in the Omoloy region. Our results show that thesedaDNA approach identifies more plant taxa found in the local vegetation communities, while the corresponding pollen analysis mainly captures the regional vegetation development and has its limitations for plant diversity reconstruction. Measures of alpha diversity were calculated based onsedaDNA data recovered from along a tundra to forest tundra to open larch forest gradient. Across all sites,sedaDNA archives provide a complementary record of the vegetation transition within each lake's catchment, tracking a distinct latitudinal vegetation type range from larch tree/alder shrub (open larch forest site) to dwarf shrub-steppe (forest tundra) to wet sedge tundra (typical tundra site). By contrast, the pollen data reveal an open landscape, which cannot distinguish the temporal changes in compositional vegetation for the open larch forest site and forest-tundra site. IncreasingLarixpollen percentages were recorded in the forest-tundra site in the last millenium although noLarixDNA was detected, suggesting that thesedaDNA approach performs better for tracking the local establishment ofLarix. Highest species richness and diversity are found in the mid-Holocene (before 4.4 ka) at the typical tundra site with a diverse range of vegetational habitats, while lowest species richness is recorded for the forest tundra where dwarf-willow habitats dominated the lake's catchment. During the late Holocene, strong declines in species richness and diversity are found at the typical tundra site with the vegetation changing to relatively simple communities. Nevertheless, plant species richness is mostly higher than at the forest-tundra site, which shows a slightly decreasing trend. Plant species richness at the open larch forest site fluctuates through time and is higher than the other sites since around 2.5 ka. Taken together, there is no evidence to suggest that the latitudinal gradients in species diversity changes are present at a millennial scale. Additionally, a weak correlation between the principal component analysis (PCA) site scores ofsedaDNA and species richness suggests that climate may not be a direct driver of species turnover within a lake's catchment. Our data suggest thatsedaDNA and pollen have different but complementary abilities for reconstructing past vegetation and species diversity along a latitude. KW - sedimentary ancient DNA KW - metabarcoding KW - pollen KW - Siberia KW - palaeovegetation KW - plant diversity KW - latitudinal gradient Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.560243 SN - 2296-701X VL - 8 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Julier, Adele C. M. A1 - Jardine, Phillip E. A1 - Adu-Bredu, Stephen A1 - Coe, Angela L. A1 - Duah-Gyamfi, Akwasi A1 - Fraser, Wesley T. A1 - Lomax, Barry H. A1 - Malhi, Yadvinder A1 - Moore, Sam A1 - Owusu-Afriyie, Kennedy A1 - Gosling, William D. T1 - The modern pollen-vegetation relationships of a tropical forest-savannah mosaic landscape, Ghana, West Africa JF - Palynology N2 - Transitions between forest and savannah vegetation types in fossil pollen records are often poorly understood due to over-production by taxa such as Poaceae and a lack of modern pollen-vegetation studies. Here, modern pollen assemblages from within a forest-savannah transition in West Africa are presented and compared, their characteristic taxa discussed, and implications for the fossil record considered. Fifteen artificial pollen traps were deployed for 1 year, to collect pollen rain from three vegetation plots within the forest-savannah transition in Ghana. High percentages of Poaceae and Melastomataceae/Combretaceae were recorded in all three plots. Erythrophleum suaveolens characterised the forest plot, Manilkara obovata the transition plot and Terminalia the savannah plot. The results indicate that Poaceae pollen influx rates provide the best representation of the forest-savannah gradient, and that a Poaceae abundance of >40% should be considered as indicative of savannah-type vegetation in the fossil record. KW - pollen KW - transitions KW - Poaceae KW - savannah KW - Ghana KW - palaeoecology KW - Bosumtwi Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2017.1356392 SN - 0191-6122 SN - 1558-9188 VL - 42 IS - 3 SP - 324 EP - 338 PB - Taylor & Francis Group CY - Philadelphia ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schirrmeister, Lutz A1 - Bobrov, Anatoly A1 - Raschke, Elena A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Strauss, Jens A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Wetterich, Sebastian T1 - Late Holocene ice-wedge polygon dynamics in northeastern Siberian coastal lowlands JF - Arctic, antarctic, and alpine research : an interdisciplinary journal N2 - Ice-wedge polygons are common features of northeastern Siberian lowland periglacial tundra landscapes. To deduce the formation and alternation of ice-wedge polygons in the Kolyma Delta and in the Indigirka Lowland, we studied shallow cores, up to 1.3 m deep, from polygon center and rim locations. The formation of well-developed low-center polygons with elevated rims and wet centers is shown by the beginning of peat accumulation, increased organic matter contents, and changes in vegetation cover from Poaceae-, Alnus-, and Betula-dominated pollen spectra to dominating Cyperaceae and Botryoccocus presence, and Carex and Drepanocladus revolvens macro-fossils. Tecamoebae data support such a change from wetland to open-water conditions in polygon centers by changes from dominating eurybiontic and sphagnobiontic to hydrobiontic species assemblages. The peat accumulation indicates low-center polygon formation and started between 2380 +/- 30 and 1676 +/- 32 years before present (BP) in the Kolyma Delta. We recorded an opposite change from open-water to wetland conditions because of rim degradation and consecutive high-center polygon formation in the Indigirka Lowland between 2144 +/- 33 and 1632 +/- 32 years BP. The late Holocene records of polygon landscape development reveal changes in local hydrology and soil moisture. KW - Permafrost KW - cryolithology KW - radiocarbon dating KW - paleoecology KW - rhizopods KW - pollen KW - plant macro-fossils Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1462595 SN - 1523-0430 SN - 1938-4246 VL - 50 IS - 1 PB - Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado CY - Boulder ER - TY - THES A1 - Tabares Jimenez, Ximena del Carmen T1 - A palaeoecological approach to savanna dynamics and shrub encroachment in Namibia N2 - The spread of shrubs in Namibian savannas raises questions about the resilience of these ecosystems to global change. This makes it necessary to understand the past dynamics of the vegetation, since there is no consensus on whether shrub encroachment is a new phenomenon, nor on its main drivers. However, a lack of long-term vegetation datasets for the region and the scarcity of suitable palaeoecological archives, makes reconstructing past vegetation and land cover of the savannas a challenge. To help meet this challenge, this study addresses three main research questions: 1) is pollen analysis a suitable tool to reflect the vegetation change associated with shrub encroachment in savanna environments? 2) Does the current encroached landscape correspond to an alternative stable state of savanna vegetation? 3) To what extent do pollen-based quantitative vegetation reconstructions reflect changes in past land cover? The research focuses on north-central Namibia, where despite being the region most affected by shrub invasion, particularly since the 21st century, little is known about the dynamics of this phenomenon. Field-based vegetation data were compared with modern pollen data to assess their correspondence in terms of composition and diversity along precipitation and grazing intensity gradients. In addition, two sediment cores from Lake Otjikoto were analysed to reveal changes in vegetation composition that have occurred in the region over the past 170 years and their possible drivers. For this, a multiproxy approach (fossil pollen, sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), biomarkers, compound specific carbon (δ13C) and deuterium (δD) isotopes, bulk carbon isotopes (δ13Corg), grain size, geochemical properties) was applied at high taxonomic and temporal resolution. REVEALS modelling of the fossil pollen record from Lake Otjikoto was run to quantitatively reconstruct past vegetation cover. For this, we first made pollen productivity estimates (PPE) of the most relevant savanna taxa in the region using the extended R-value model and two pollen dispersal options (Gaussian plume model and Lagrangian stochastic model). The REVEALS-based vegetation reconstruction was then validated using remote sensing-based regional vegetation data. The results show that modern pollen reflects the composition of the vegetation well, but diversity less well. Interestingly, precipitation and grazing explain a significant amount of the compositional change in the pollen and vegetation spectra. The multiproxy record shows that a state change from open Combretum woodland to encroached Terminalia shrubland can occur over a century, and that the transition between states spans around 80 years and is characterized by a unique vegetation composition. This transition is supported by gradual environmental changes induced by management (i.e. broad-scale logging for the mining industry, selective grazing and reduced fire activity associated with intensified farming) and related land-use change. Derived environmental changes (i.e. reduced soil moisture, reduced grass cover, changes in species composition and competitiveness, reduced fire intensity) may have affected the resilience of Combretum open woodlands, making them more susceptible to change to an encroached state by stochastic events such as consecutive years of precipitation and drought, and by high concentrations of pCO2. We assume that the resulting encroached state was further stabilized by feedback mechanisms that favour the establishment and competitiveness of woody vegetation. The REVEALS-based quantitative estimates of plant taxa indicate the predominance of a semi-open landscape throughout the 20th century and a reduction in grass cover below 50% since the 21st century associated with the spread of encroacher woody taxa. Cover estimates show a close match with regional vegetation data, providing support for the vegetation dynamics inferred from multiproxy analyses. Reasonable PPEs were made for all woody taxa, but not for Poaceae. In conclusion, pollen analysis is a suitable tool to reconstruct past vegetation dynamics in savannas. However, because pollen cannot identify grasses beyond family level, a multiproxy approach, particularly the use of sedaDNA, is required. I was able to separate stable encroached states from mere woodland phases, and could identify drivers and speculate about related feedbacks. In addition, the REVEALS-based quantitative vegetation reconstruction clearly reflects the magnitude of the changes in the vegetation cover that occurred during the last 130 years, despite the limitations of some PPEs. This research provides new insights into pollen-vegetation relationships in savannas and highlights the importance of multiproxy approaches when reconstructing past vegetation dynamics in semi-arid environments. It also provides the first time series with sufficient taxonomic resolution to show changes in vegetation composition during shrub encroachment, as well as the first quantitative reconstruction of past land cover in the region. These results help to identify the different stages in savanna dynamics and can be used to calibrate predictive models of vegetation change, which are highly relevant to land management. N2 - Die Ausbreitung von Sträuchern in der namibischen Savanne wirft Fragen nach der Resilienz dieser Ökosysteme gegenüber globalen Veränderungen auf. Dies macht es notwendig, die Vegetationsdynamik in der Vergangenheit zu verstehen, da kein Konsens darüber besteht, ob die Verbuschung ein neues Phänomen ist oder über ihre Haupttreiber. Aufgrund des Mangels an Langzeitvegetationsdatensätzen für die Region und des Mangels an geeigneten paläoökologischen Archiven bleibt die Rekonstruktion der früheren Vegetation und der früheren Landbedeckung der Savannen eine Herausforderung. In diesem Zusammenhang befasst sich diese Studie mit drei Hauptforschungsfragen: 1) Ist Pollenanalyse ein geeignetes Instrument, um die Veränderung der Vegetation widerzuspiegeln, die mit der Verbuschung von Savannen verbunden ist? 2) Entspricht die derzeitige verbuschte Landschaft einem stabilen Zustand der Savannenvegetation? 3) Inwieweit entspricht die quantitative Rekonstruktion der Vegetation auf der Grundlage fossiler Pollendaten der früheren Vegetationsbedeckung der Savanne? Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, konzentrierte sich diese Forschung auf Nord-Zentral-Namibia, da diese Region insbesondere seit dem 21. Jahrhundert am stärksten von Verbuschung betroffen ist, über die Dynamik dieses Phänomens in der Region ist jedoch wenig bekannt. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurden feldbasierte Vegetationsdaten mit modernen Pollendaten verglichen, um das Potenzial moderner Pollen zu bewerten, die Vegetationszusammensetzung und -vielfalt entlang von Niederschlags- und Weideintensitätsgradienten widerzuspiegeln. Zusätzlich wurden zwei Sedimentkerne aus dem Otjikoto-See analysiert, um die Veränderungen der Vegetationszusammensetzung in der Region in den letzten 170 Jahren und ihre möglichen Treiber zu dokumentieren. Hierzu wurde ein Multiproxy-Ansatz (fossiler Pollen, sedimentäre alte DNA, Biomarker, verbindungsspezifische Kohlenstoff- (δ13C) und Deuterium- (δD) Isotope, Kohlenstoff-Isotope (δ13Corg), Korngröße, geochemische Eigenschaften) mit hoher taxonomischer und zeitlicher Auflösung angewendet. Schließlich wurde der REVEALS-Ansatz auf den fossilen Pollendata des Otjikoto-Sees angewendet, um die Vegetationsbedeckung der Vergangenheit quantitativ zu rekonstruieren. Dazu wurden zunächst die Pollenproduktivitätsschätzungen (PPE) der relevantesten Savannentaxa in der Region unter Verwendung des erweiterten R-Wert-Modells und zweier Pollenausbreitungsmodelle (Gaußsches Federmodell und Lagrange-Stochastikmodell) berechnet. Die auf REVEALS basierende Vegetationsrekonstruktion wurde dann unter Verwendung von auf Fernerkundung basierenden regionalen Vegetationsdaten validiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass moderner Pollen die Zusammensetzung der Vegetation gut widerspiegelt, jedoch weniger die Diversität. Interessanterweise machen Niederschlag und Beweidung einen signifikanten, aber geringen Anteil der Änderung der Zusammensetzung in den Pollen- und Vegetationsspektren aus. Die Multiproxy-Analyse zeigt, dass ein Zustandswechsel von der offenen Combretum Baumsavanne zum Terminalia Buschland über ein Jahrhundert stattfinden kann und dass der Übergang zwischen den beiden Zuständen etwa 80 Jahre dauert und durch eine einzigartige Vegetationszusammensetzung gekennzeichnet ist. Dieser Übergang wird durch allmähliche Umweltveränderungen unterstützt, die durch das Management (z.B. großflächige Abholzung für den Bergbau sowie selektive Beweidung und verringerte Feueraktivität verbunden mit intensivierter Landwirtschaft) und damit verbundene Landnutzungsänderungen hervorgerufen werden. Abgeleitete Umweltveränderungen (z.B. verringerte Bodenfeuchtigkeit, verringerte Grasbedeckung, Änderungen der Artenzusammensetzung und Konkurrenzfähigkeit, verringerte Feuerintensität) können die Resilienz der offenen Combretum Baumsavanne beeinträchtigt haben und sie anfälliger machen, durch stochastische Ereignisse wie aufeinanderfolgende niederschlagsreiche Jahre, Dürre, und durch hohe Konzentrationen von pCO2, in einen verbuschten Zustand zu wechseln. Der daraus resultierende verbuschte Zustand wird durch Rückkopplungsmechanismen aufrechterhalten, welche die Etablierung und Konkurrenzfähigkeit der Holzvegetation begünstigen. Schließlich deuten die auf REVEALS basierenden Deckungsschätzungen auf das Vorherrschen einer halboffenen Landschaft während des gesamten 20. Jahrhunderts und eine Verringerung der Grasbedeckung unter 50% seit dem 21. Jahrhundert hin, die mit der Verbreitung von Verbuschungstaxa verbunden ist. Deckungsschätzungen zeigen eine enge Übereinstimmung mit regionalen Vegetationsdaten, wodurch die aus der Multi-Proxy-Analyse abgeleitete Vegetationsdynamik bestätigt werden kann. Die PPE-Berechnung war für alle holzigen Taxa erfolgreich, für Poaceae jedoch fehlgeschlagen. Zusammenfassend ist die Pollenanalyse ein geeignetes Instrument zur Rekonstruktion der Vegetationsdynamik in Savannen. Aufgrund der geringen taxonomischen Auflösung von Pollen zur Identifizierung von Gräsern ermöglicht ein Multiproxy-Ansatz, insbesondere die Verwendung von sedaDNA, die Unterscheidung stabiler verbuschte Zustände von bloßen Waldphasen sowie die Identifizierung von Auslösern und Treibern von Zustandsänderungen. Darüber hinaus spiegelt die auf REVEALS basierende quantitative Vegetationsrekonstruktion trotz der Einschränkungen bei der Berechnung von PPEs deutlich das Ausmaß der Veränderungen in der Vegetationsbedeckung wider, die in den letzten 130 Jahren aufgetreten sind. Diese Forschung liefert neue Einblicke in die Pollen-Vegetations-Beziehungen in Savannen und unterstreicht die Bedeutung von Multiproxy-Ansätzen zur Rekonstruktion der Vegetationsdynamik in semi-ariden Landschaften. Es bietet auch die erste Zeitreihe mit ausreichender taxonomischer Auflösung, um die Veränderungen der Vegetationszusammensetzung im Verlauf der Verbuschung sowie die erste quantitative Rekonstruktion der früheren Landbedeckung in der Region aufzuzeigen. Diese Ergebnisse können dazu beitragen, die verschiedenen Stadien der Savannendynamik besser zu identifizieren, und können auch zur Kalibrierung von Vorhersagemodellen für Vegetationsänderungen verwendet werden, die für die Landbewirtschaftung von großem Wert sind. T2 - Ein paläoökologischer Ansatz zur Savannendynamik und Verbuschung in Namibia KW - savanna ecology KW - pollen KW - sedaDNA KW - REVEALS KW - state-transition models KW - Savannen-Ökologie KW - REVEALS KW - sedimentäre alte DNA KW - Pollen KW - Pollenproduktivitätsschätzungen KW - Zustands-Übergangs-Modelle Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-492815 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niemeyer, Bastian A1 - Epp, Laura Saskia A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - A comparison of sedimentary DNA and pollen from lake sediments in recording vegetation composition at the Siberian treeline JF - Molecular ecology resources N2 - Reliable information on past and present vegetation is important to project future changes, especially for rapidly transitioning areas such as the boreal treeline. To study past vegetation, pollen analysis is common, while current vegetation is usually assessed by field surveys. Application of detailed sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) records has the potential to enhance our understanding of vegetation changes, but studies systematically investigating the power of this proxy are rare to date. This study compares sedDNA metabarcoding and pollen records from surface sediments of 31 lakes along a north-south gradient of increasing forest cover in northern Siberia (Taymyr peninsula) with data from field surveys in the surroundings of the lakes. sedDNA metabarcoding recorded 114 plant taxa, about half of them to species level, while pollen analyses identified 43 taxa, both exceeding the 31 taxa found by vegetation field surveys. Increasing Larix percentages from north to south were consistently recorded by all three methods and principal component analyses based on percentage data of vegetation surveys and DNA sequences separated tundra from forested sites. Comparisons of the ordinations using procrustes and protest analyses show a significant fit among all compared pairs of records. Despite similarities of sedDNA and pollen records, certain idiosyncrasies, such as high percentages of Alnus and Betula in all pollen and high percentages of Salix in all sedDNA spectra, are observable. Our results from the tundra to single-tree tundra transition zone show that sedDNA analyses perform better than pollen in recording site-specific richness (i.e., presence/absence of taxa in the vicinity of the lake) and perform as well as pollen in tracing vegetation composition. KW - environmental DNA KW - metabarcoding KW - pollen KW - Siberia KW - trnL marker KW - vegetation Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12689 SN - 1755-098X SN - 1755-0998 VL - 17 SP - e46 EP - e62 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolter, Juliane A1 - Lantuit, Hugues A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Stettner, Samuel A1 - Fritz, Michael T1 - Tundra vegetation stability versus lake-basin variability on the Yukon Coastal Plain (NW Canada) during the past three centuries JF - The Holocene : an interdisciplinary journal focusing on recent environmental change KW - pollen Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683617708441 SN - 0959-6836 SN - 1477-0911 VL - 27 SP - 1846 EP - 1858 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schirrmeister, Lutz A1 - Bobrov, Anatoly A1 - Raschke, Elena A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Strauss, Jens A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna A1 - Wetterich, Sebastian T1 - Late Holocene ice-wedge polygon dynamics in northeastern Siberian coastal lowlands T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Ice-wedge polygons are common features of northeastern Siberian lowland periglacial tundra landscapes. To deduce the formation and alternation of ice-wedge polygons in the Kolyma Delta and in the Indigirka Lowland, we studied shallow cores, up to 1.3 m deep, from polygon center and rim locations. The formation of well-developed low-center polygons with elevated rims and wet centers is shown by the beginning of peat accumulation, increased organic matter contents, and changes in vegetation cover from Poaceae-, Alnus-, and Betula-dominated pollen spectra to dominating Cyperaceae and Botryoccocus presence, and Carex and Drepanocladus revolvens macro-fossils. Tecamoebae data support such a change from wetland to open-water conditions in polygon centers by changes from dominating eurybiontic and sphagnobiontic to hydrobiontic species assemblages. The peat accumulation indicates low-center polygon formation and started between 2380 +/- 30 and 1676 +/- 32 years before present (BP) in the Kolyma Delta. We recorded an opposite change from open-water to wetland conditions because of rim degradation and consecutive high-center polygon formation in the Indigirka Lowland between 2144 +/- 33 and 1632 +/- 32 years BP. The late Holocene records of polygon landscape development reveal changes in local hydrology and soil moisture. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 719 KW - permafrost KW - cryolithology KW - radiocarbon dating KW - paleoecology KW - rhizopods KW - pollen KW - plant macro-fossils Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426603 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 719 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Niemeyer, Bastian A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna T1 - Vegetation and lake changes on the southern Taymyr peninsula, northern Siberia, during the last 300 years inferred from pollen and Pediastrum green algae records T2 - The Holocene N2 - Siberian arctic vegetation and lake water communities, known for their temperature dependence, are expected to be particularly impacted by recent climate change and high warming rates. However, decadal information on the nature and strength of recent vegetation change and its time lag to climate signals are rare. In this study, we present a Pb-210/Cs-137 dated pollen and Pediastrum species record from a unnamed lake in the south of the Taymyr peninsula covering the period from AD 1706 to 2011. Thirty-nine palynomorphs and 10 morphotypes of Pediastrum species were studied to assess changes in vegetation and lake conditions as probable responses to climate change. We compared the pollen record with Pediastrum species, which we consider to be important proxies of climate changes. Three pollen assemblage zones characterised by Betula nana, Alnus viridis and Larix gmelinii (1706-1808); herbs such as Cyperaceae, Artemisia or Senecio (1808-1879), and higher abundance of Larix pollen (1955-2011) are visible. Also, three Pediastrum assemblage zones show changes of aquatic conditions: higher abundances of Pediastrum boryanum var. brevicorne (1706-1802); medium abundances of P. kawraiskyi and P. integrum (1802-1840 and 1920-1980), indicating cooler conditions while less eutrophic conditions are indicated by P. boryanum, and a mainly balanced composition with only small changes of cold- and warm-adapted Pediastrum species (1965-2011). In general, compositional Pediastrum species turnover is slightly higher than that indicated by pollen data (0.54 vs 0.34 SD), but both are only minor for this treeline location. In conclusion, the relevance of differentiation of Pediastrum species is promising and can give further insights into the relationship between lakes and their surrounding vegetation transferred onto climatic conditions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 421 KW - morphotypes KW - Pediastrum KW - pollen KW - Siberia KW - treeline KW - vegetation Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-404882 VL - 25 IS - 4 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Tian, Fang A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Schlütz, Frank T1 - What drives the recent intensified vegetation degradation in Mongolia BT - Climate change or human activity? T2 - The Holocene N2 - This study examines the course and driving forces of recent vegetation change in the Mongolian steppe. A sediment core covering the last 55years from a small closed-basin lake in central Mongolia was analyzed for its multi-proxy record at annual resolution. Pollen analysis shows that highest abundances of planted Poaceae and highest vegetation diversity occurred during 1977-1992, reflecting agricultural development in the lake area. A decrease in diversity and an increase in Artemisia abundance after 1992 indicate enhanced vegetation degradation in recent times, most probably because of overgrazing and farmland abandonment. Human impact is the main factor for the vegetation degradation within the past decades as revealed by a series of redundancy analyses, while climate change and soil erosion play subordinate roles. High Pediastrum (a green algae) influx, high atomic total organic carbon/total nitrogen (TOC/TN) ratios, abundant coarse detrital grains, and the decrease of C-13(org) and N-15 since about 1977 but particularly after 1992 indicate that abundant terrestrial organic matter and nutrients were transported into the lake and caused lake eutrophication, presumably because of intensified land use. Thus, we infer that the transition to a market economy in Mongolia since the early 1990s not only caused dramatic vegetation degradation but also affected the lake ecosystem through anthropogenic changes in the catchment area. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 418 KW - central Mongolia KW - grain size KW - human impact KW - lake eutrophication KW - pollen KW - vegetation degradation Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-404201 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niemeyer, Bastian A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Pestryakova, Luidmila Agafyevna T1 - Vegetation and lake changes on the southern Taymyr peninsula, northern Siberia, during the last 300 years inferred from pollen and Pediastrum green algae records JF - The Holocene : an interdisciplinary journal focusing on recent environmental change N2 - Siberian arctic vegetation and lake water communities, known for their temperature dependence, are expected to be particularly impacted by recent climate change and high warming rates. However, decadal information on the nature and strength of recent vegetation change and its time lag to climate signals are rare. In this study, we present a Pb-210/Cs-137 dated pollen and Pediastrum species record from a unnamed lake in the south of the Taymyr peninsula covering the period from AD 1706 to 2011. Thirty-nine palynomorphs and 10 morphotypes of Pediastrum species were studied to assess changes in vegetation and lake conditions as probable responses to climate change. We compared the pollen record with Pediastrum species, which we consider to be important proxies of climate changes. Three pollen assemblage zones characterised by Betula nana, Alnus viridis and Larix gmelinii (1706-1808); herbs such as Cyperaceae, Artemisia or Senecio (1808-1879), and higher abundance of Larix pollen (1955-2011) are visible. Also, three Pediastrum assemblage zones show changes of aquatic conditions: higher abundances of Pediastrum boryanum var. brevicorne (1706-1802); medium abundances of P. kawraiskyi and P. integrum (1802-1840 and 1920-1980), indicating cooler conditions while less eutrophic conditions are indicated by P. boryanum, and a mainly balanced composition with only small changes of cold- and warm-adapted Pediastrum species (1965-2011). In general, compositional Pediastrum species turnover is slightly higher than that indicated by pollen data (0.54 vs 0.34 SD), but both are only minor for this treeline location. In conclusion, the relevance of differentiation of Pediastrum species is promising and can give further insights into the relationship between lakes and their surrounding vegetation transferred onto climatic conditions. KW - morphotypes KW - Pediastrum KW - pollen KW - Siberia KW - treeline KW - vegetation Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683614565954 SN - 0959-6836 SN - 1477-0911 VL - 25 IS - 4 SP - 596 EP - 606 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cui, Xiao A1 - Lv, Yang A1 - Chen, Miaolin A1 - Nikoloski, Zoran A1 - Twell, David A1 - Zhang, Dabing T1 - Young Genes out of the Male: An Insight from Evolutionary Age Analysis of the Pollen Transcriptome JF - Molecular plant N2 - The birth of new genes in genomes is an important evolutionary event. Several studies reveal that new genes in animals tend to be preferentially expressed in male reproductive tissues such as testis (Betran et al., 2002; Begun et al., 2007; Dubruille et al., 2012), and thus an "out of testis' hypothesis for the emergence of new genes has been proposed (Vinckenbosch et al., 2006; Kaessmann, 2010). However, such phenomena have not been examined in plant species. Here, by employing a phylostratigraphic method, we dated the origin of protein-coding genes in rice and Arabidopsis thaliana and observed a number of young genes in both species. These young genes tend to encode short extracellular proteins, which may be involved in rapid evolving processes, such as reproductive barriers, species specification, and antimicrobial processes. Further analysis of transcriptome age indexes across different tissues revealed that male reproductive cells express a phylogenetically younger transcriptome than other plant tissues. Compared with sporophytic tissues, the young transcriptomes of the male gametophyte displayed greater complexity and diversity, which included a higher ratio of anti-sense and inter-genic transcripts, reflecting a pervasive transcription state that facilitated the emergence of new genes. Here, we propose that pollen may act as an "innovation incubator' for the birth of de novo genes. With cases of male-biased expression of young genes reported in animals, the "new genes out of the male' model revealed a common evolutionary force that drives reproductive barriers, species specification, and the upgrading of defensive mechanisms against pathogens. KW - pollen KW - evolution KW - young genes KW - transcriptome Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2014.12.008 SN - 1674-2052 SN - 1752-9867 VL - 8 IS - 6 SP - 935 EP - 945 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tian, Fang A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Schluetz, Frank T1 - What drives the recent intensified vegetation degradation in Mongolia - Climate change or human activity? JF - The Holocene : an interdisciplinary journal focusing on recent environmental change N2 - This study examines the course and driving forces of recent vegetation change in the Mongolian steppe. A sediment core covering the last 55years from a small closed-basin lake in central Mongolia was analyzed for its multi-proxy record at annual resolution. Pollen analysis shows that highest abundances of planted Poaceae and highest vegetation diversity occurred during 1977-1992, reflecting agricultural development in the lake area. A decrease in diversity and an increase in Artemisia abundance after 1992 indicate enhanced vegetation degradation in recent times, most probably because of overgrazing and farmland abandonment. Human impact is the main factor for the vegetation degradation within the past decades as revealed by a series of redundancy analyses, while climate change and soil erosion play subordinate roles. High Pediastrum (a green algae) influx, high atomic total organic carbon/total nitrogen (TOC/TN) ratios, abundant coarse detrital grains, and the decrease of C-13(org) and N-15 since about 1977 but particularly after 1992 indicate that abundant terrestrial organic matter and nutrients were transported into the lake and caused lake eutrophication, presumably because of intensified land use. Thus, we infer that the transition to a market economy in Mongolia since the early 1990s not only caused dramatic vegetation degradation but also affected the lake ecosystem through anthropogenic changes in the catchment area. KW - central Mongolia KW - grain size KW - human impact KW - lake eutrophication KW - pollen KW - vegetation degradation Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683614540958 SN - 0959-6836 SN - 1477-0911 VL - 24 IS - 10 SP - 1206 EP - 1215 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wischnewski, Juliane A1 - Kramer, Annette A1 - Kong, Zhaochen A1 - Mackay, Anson W. A1 - Simpson, Gavin L. A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Terrestrial and aquatic responses to climate change and human impact on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during the past two centuries JF - Global change biology N2 - Rapid population growth and economic development have led to increased anthropogenic pressures on the Tibetan Plateau, causing significant land cover changes with potentially severe ecological consequences. To assess whether or not these pressures are also affecting the remote montane-boreal lakes on the SE Tibetan Plateau, fossil pollen and diatom data from two lakes were synthesized. The interplay of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem response was explored in respect to climate variability and human activity over the past 200 years. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and Procrustes rotation analysis were undertaken to determine whether pollen and diatom responses in each lake were similar and synchronous. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis was used to develop quantitative estimates of compositional species turnover. Despite instrumental evidence of significant climatic warming on the southeastern Plateau, the pollen and diatom records indicate very stable species composition throughout their profiles and show only very subtle responses to environmental changes over the past 200 years. The compositional species turnover (0.36-0.94 SD) is relatively low in comparison to the species reorganizations known from the periods during the mid-and early-Holocene (0.64-1.61 SD) on the SE Plateau, and also in comparison to turnover rates of sediment records from climate-sensitive regions in the circum arctic. Our results indicate that climatically induced ecological thresholds are not yet crossed, but that human activity has an increasing influence, particularly on the terrestrial ecosystem in our study area. Synergistic processes of post-Little Ice Age warming, 20th century climate warming and extensive reforestations since the 19th century have initiated a change from natural oak-pine forests to seminatural, likely less resilient pine-oak forests. Further warming and anthropogenic disturbances would possibly exceed the ecological threshold of these ecosystems and lead to severe ecological consequences. KW - climate change KW - compositional species turnover KW - diatoms KW - human impact KW - pollen KW - Procrustes rotation KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02474.x SN - 1354-1013 VL - 17 IS - 11 SP - 3376 EP - 3391 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden ER - TY - THES A1 - Hahn, Robert T1 - Das Blüte-Bestäuber-Netz auf Brachflächen : biozönologische Untersuchung zur Bedeutung von Brachen in einer intensiv genutzten Agrarlandschaft N2 - In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird die Bedeutung von Brachen für Artenvielfalt und Stabilität von Blüte-Bestäuber-Nahrungsnetzen in agrarisch genutzten Landschaften anhand ausgewählter blütenbesuchender Insektengruppen (Syrphidae, Lepidoptera) untersucht. Die Freilandarbeiten fanden von 1998-2000 im Raum der Feldberger Seenlandschaft, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, statt. Es werden die beiden Hauptnahrungsquellen Nektar und Pollen betrachtet, dabei fanden Untersuchungen zur Intensität der Blüte-Bestäuber-Interaktion auf Stilllegungsflächen, zum flächenbezogenen quantitativen Nektarangebot im Jahresverlauf, zur individuellen Pollennutzung bei Syrphiden und zur Breite und Überlappung der Nahrungsnischen bei den dominanten Arten Episyrphus balteatus, Metasyrphus corollae, Syritta pipiens und Sphaerophoria scripta statt. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich eine hohe Bedeutung der Brachflächen für die Stabilität des Blüte-Bestäuber-Netzes, während die Diversität von anderen, eher landschaftsbezogenen Faktoren abhängig ist. N2 - This dissertation examines the importance of fallow land for the diversity and stability of pollination webs in agricultural landscapes as exemplified by selected groups of anthophilous insects (syrphidae and lepidoptera). The field studies were carried out between 1998 and 2000 in the Feldberg lakeland area in the north-east German State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Observations were made of nectar and pollen as the two main sources of food. Studies were conducted into the intensity of plant-pollinator interaction in set-aside areas, the site-specific quantity of nectar available during the vegetation period and the individual pollen intake of syrphid flies. Different methods were employed to establish the breadth of the trophic niches among the predominant species (Episyrphus balteatus, Metasyrphus corollae, Syritta pipiens and Sphaerophoria scripta) and the extent to which they overlapped. The studies showed that, while fallow land is very important for the stability of plant-pollinator food webs, their diversity depends on other factors that are more closely related to the landscape. KW - Feldberger Seenlandschaft ; Agrarlandschaft ; Brache ; Samenpflanzen ; Bestäuber ; Artenreichtum KW - Brachfläche KW - Bestäubung KW - Blütenökologie KW - Blüte-Bestäuber-Interaktion KW - Nektar KW - Pollen KW - fallow land KW - pollination KW - flower ecology KW - flower-insect-interaction KW - nectar KW - pollen Y1 - 2002 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-0000652 ER -