Geochemical time series from lake sediments of the Central Asia as chronologic evidence of environmental change over the Late Holocene

A short lacustrine sediment core (41 cm) from Lake Bosten in arid central Asia was used to investigate the environmental changes that occurred in the past ≈150 years based on the superposition of climate and anthropogenic factors. Geochemical elements, total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen (TN), and stable isotope data (δ13Corg and δ15N) were used to identify abnormal environmental changes. The average C/N ratio in the sediments of Lake Bosten suggested that the organic matter in lake sediments was mainly from aquatic plants. The δ13Corg and δ15N in the lake sediments mainly reflect changes in the structure of the lake’s ecosystem. Before the 1960s, the primary productivity of the lake was relatively low with a relatively stable lake water environment. From the 1960s to the mid-1980s, the lake’s ecosystem was closely related to a significant decline in water levels caused by human activities and an increase in salinity. From the late 1980s to ≈2000, the aquatic plant structure of Lake Bosten did not change significantly. After 2000, the upper part of the sedimentary record suggested enhanced productivity due to urban and industrial development in the catchment area. However, sedimentary perspectives of the responses of different environmental proxies in sediments to human activities were anisochronous, and the increasing heavy metal (Pb and Cu) and P accumulations appeared in 1970, reflecting heightened human impacts. Through the comparison between the Aral Sea and Lake Bosten, it was inferred that, under the intervention of human activities, the lake experienced a completely different evolution trend. Humans, as geological agents, should protect our living environment while satisfying social development. The results will provide an important supplement to a large spatial scale study of the influences of human activities on the environment in Central Asia, which also has some significant implications for the protection of the ecological environment and the realization of sustainable development in arid regions.

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Towards more meaningful scenarios of biodiversity responses to land-use change in Central Asia

Regional Environmental Change ◽

10.1007/s10113-020-01666-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Johannes Kamp ◽

Martin Freitag ◽

Norbert Hölzel

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Environmental Change ◽

Central Asia ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Grazing Intensity ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Livestock Grazing ◽

Land Use Patterns ◽

Use Patterns

Abstract We here respond to Nunez et al. (Reg Environ Chang 20:39, 2020), recently published in Regional Environmental Change. Nunez et al. project biodiversity responses to land-use and climate change in Central Asia. Their projections are based on scenarios of changing socio-economic and environmental conditions for the years 2040, 2070, and 2100. We suggest that the predicted magnitude of biodiversity loss might be biased high, due to four shortfalls in the data used and the methods employed. These are (i) the use of an inadequate measure of “biodiversity intactness,” (ii) a failure to acknowledge for large spatial variation in land-use trends across the five considered Central Asian countries, (iii) the assumption of a strictly linear, negative relationship between livestock grazing intensity and the abundance of animals and plants, and (iv) the extrapolation of grazing-related biodiversity responses into areas of cropland. We conclude that future scenarios of biodiversity response to regional environmental change in Central Asia will benefit from using regional, not global, spatial data on livestock distribution and land-use patterns. The use of extra-regional data on the relationships between biodiversity and land-use or climate should be avoided.

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Holocene dune activity and environmental change in the prairie parki and and boreal forest, central Saskatchewan, Canada

The Holocene ◽

10.1191/0959683606hl903rp ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 17-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Stephen A. Wolfe ◽

Jeff Ollerhead ◽

David J. Huntley ◽

Olav B. Lian

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Great Plains ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Aeolian Activity ◽

Landscape Response ◽

Response To Environmental Change ◽

Holocene Activity ◽

Dune Activity

Past aeolian activity was reconstructed at four dunefields in the prairie parkland and boreal forest of central Saskatchewan to elucidate landscape response to environmental change. Optical ages from stabilized dunes in the boreal transition ecoregion indicate two episodes of activity. The first, at about 11 ka, corresponds to a period of early-Holocene parkland and grassland cover following deglaciation and drainage after about 13.0 ka, and brief establishment of boreal forest. The second, between about 7.5 and 5 ka, corresponds to a period of mid-Holocene parkland-grassland cover. Optical ages from dunefields in the prairie parkland primarily record mid-Holocene activity, between about 7.5 and 4.7 ka, corresponding to a period of grassland cover, with some reworking continuing into the late Holocene. Although this area was deglaciated by about 13.5 ka, there is no evidence of early-Holocene dune activity, suggesting that mid-Holocene activity may have reworked earlier deposits here. Consequently, much of the morphology and stratigraphy observed in these dunefields are associated with mid-Holocene activity, likely associated with increased aridity and reduced vegetation cover at that time. This study provides the most northerly evidence of mid-Holocene dune reactivation on the Great Plains, lending support to the assertion that aeolian activity was widespread at that time.

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