The response of south taiga forest ecosystems of European Russia to climatic changes in the Holocene

2012 ◽  
Vol 279-280 ◽  
pp. 354-355
Author(s):  
Elena Novenko
Keyword(s):  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
European Russia ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Taiga Forest

A quantitative synthesis of Holocene vegetation change in Nigeria (Western Africa)

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110331
Author(s):  
Matthew Adesanya Adeleye ◽  
Simon Edward Connor ◽  
Simon Graeme Haberle
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Western Africa ◽  
Chord Distance ◽  
Quantitative Synthesis ◽  
Climatic Regime ◽  
Pollen Records

Understanding long-term (centennial–millennial scale) ecosystem stability and dynamics are key to sustainable management and conservation of ecosystem processes under the currently changing climate. Fossil pollen records offer the possibility to investigate long-term changes in vegetation composition and diversity on regional and continental scales. Such studies have been conducted in temperate systems, but are underrepresented in the tropics, especially in Africa. This study attempts to synthesize pollen records from Nigeria (tropical western Africa) and nearby regions to quantitatively assess Holocene regional vegetation changes (turnover) and stability under different climatic regimes for the first time. We use the squared chord distance metric (SCD) to assess centennial-scale vegetation turnover in pollen records. Results suggest vegetation in most parts of Nigeria experienced low turnover under a wetter climatic regime (African Humid Period), especially between ~8000 and 5000 cal year BP. In contrast, vegetation turnover increased significantly under the drier climatic regime of the late-Holocene (between ~5000 cal year BP and present), reflecting the imp role of moisture changes in tropical west African vegetation dynamics during the Holocene. Our results are consistent with records of vegetation and climatic changes in other parts of Africa, suggesting the Holocene pattern of vegetation change in Nigeria is a reflection of continental-scale climatic changes.

scholarly journals Stepwise Weakening of Aeolian Activities During the Holocene in the Gannan Region, Eastern Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengli Yang ◽  
Xiaojing Liu ◽  
Ting Cheng ◽  
Yuanlong Luo ◽  
Qiong Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Eastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Aeolian Desertification ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Aeolian Sediments ◽  
Aeolian Activity ◽  
History Of

Aeolian sediments hold key information on aeolian history and past environmental changes. Aeolian desertification and extensive land degradation have seriously affected the eco-environment in the Gannan region on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Understanding the history of aeolian activities can deepen our understanding of the impacts of climatic changes on aeolian activities in the future. This study uses a detailed chronology and multiple proxy analyses of a typical aeolian section in Maqu to reconstruct aeolian activities in the region during the Holocene. Our results showed that aeolian activities have occurred in the eastern Tibetan Plateau since the early Holocene. Magnetic susceptibility, grain size records, and paleosols formation indicated a trend of stepwise weakening in aeolian activities from the early Holocene to the present. The weakening of aeolian activities was divided into three stages: ∼10.0–8.0 ka BP, ∼8.0–4.0 ka BP, and ∼4.0 ka BP to the present. Paleosols were primarily formed after ∼8.0 ka BP, and episodically interrupted aeolian activities processes in the Gannan region. Aeolian activity may increase in the Gannan region as the climate gradually warms. Climatic changes and local hydrological conditions have jointly affected the history of aeolian activities in this region.

scholarly journals Carbon stock in litter of middle taiga forest ecosystems of Central Siberia

2021 ◽  
Vol 875 (1) ◽  
pp. 012085
Author(s):  
O Sergeeva ◽  
L Mukhortova ◽  
L Krivobokov
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Carbon Stock ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Middle Taiga ◽  
Plant Residues ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Central Siberia ◽  
Multistage Processes ◽  
Taiga Forest

Abstract Litter plays an important role in the carbon cycle of forest ecosystems incorporating significant amount of carbon as a result of annual partial die-off of the biomass and releasing it during complex multistage processes of organic matter decomposition. The balance of these processes in the forests of permafrost zone significantly shifts towards the accumulation of dead organic matter. That makes the assessment of litter stock in these ecosystems particularly relevant, especially in relation to the predicted consequences of climate change in the study region. On the territory of middle taiga of Central Siberia, 14 sampling plots were established in the various landforms (slopes of different exposition, lowlands and uplands). The carbon stock in litter of the main forest types of the studied area varied from 0.47 to 4.46 kgC/m2. Also, the paper considers composition of litter accumulated in these ecosystems, including the ratio between fresh litterfall, fermented and humified plant residues, and dead roots. Our results demonstrated that fermented plant residues prevailed in the litter composition in most types of studied forest ecosystems due to specificity of hydrothermal regime and quality of litterfall. The results obtained might be applied to refine the carbon budget of Siberian forests.

Holocene history of boreal forest landscapes of the Central European Russia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Belyaev ◽  
Ilya Shorkunov ◽  
Katerina Garankina ◽  
Nikita Mergelov ◽  
Yulia Shishkina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Gully Erosion ◽  
European Russia ◽  
Empirical Modeling ◽  
Snowmelt Runoff ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
High Magnitude ◽  
Late Pleistocene To Holocene

<p>Recent detailed investigations of landforms, soils and surface deposits of the Borisoglebsk Upland northeastern slope within the Nero Lake basin (Central European Russia, Yaroslavl Region) allowed deciphering co-evolution of the major landscape components of the case study area since the Late Pleistocene. The Late Pleistocene to Holocene transition in the gully network was represented by relatively short but high-magnitude (up to 12 m) incision phase followed by significant infill till 6.5 ka. Absence of the well-developed early Holocene paleosols in the studied sections and cores suggests dominantly negative sediment budget. There is so far limited evidence of sedimentation over the first half of the Holocene. Discontinuous deposition with certain interruptions (but without distinct buried soil formation) occurred only within closed depressions and on gully fans. The second part of the Holocene prior to the widespread human settlement left more substantial traces in soil and sediment record. Despite the common perception of the pristine boreal forest landscapes to be geomorphologically stable due to erosion-protective role of woodland vegetation, several phases of dramatically increased soil and gully erosion rates have been identified. It is identified in soil bodies and sediments, both at locations dominated by denudation (evidences of multiple topsoil truncation in Atlantic and Subatlantic) and at zones of alternating incision and infill of small linear erosion features. Such extremes were most likely associated with combination of several triggers including natural forest fires and high-magnitude rainfall or snowmelt runoff events. There are several <sup>14</sup>C dated layers of pyrogenic charcoal indicating pre-anthropogenic wildfire-induced incision and infill cycles during the middle and late Holocene.</p><p>The last phases of increased hillslope and fluvial activity within the study area can be related to increased human interference, starting from about 1600-900 years ago. The onset of cut-and-burn cultivation is independently established from available archeological evidences, dating of cut and burnt tree logs remnants, organic material buried by agrogenic colluvium and gully fans. Latest period of intensive gully growth can most likely be attributed to the XIX<sup>th</sup> Century land tenure reform, when most of the study area gullies experienced significant linear growth, bottom incisions and appearance of several new gully branches. The most recent trend of soil and gully erosion has been evaluated by <sup>137</sup>Cs sediment tracing, soil empirical modeling and comparison of historical and modern maps, airborne photos and satellite images. Rates of soil redistribution on slopes decreased significantly over the last several decades due to combination of natural and anthropogenic impacts: 1) decreased spring snowmelt runoff caused mainly by generally lowered thickness of seasonally frozen topsoil layer; 2) arable land abandonment or shift from row crops and cereals to perennial grass-dominated crop rotations in the post-Soviet period. In addition, local short-term (from several years to within-year) cycles of relatively low-magnitude (not exceeding ±1 m range) incision and infill in gullies are often triggered by biogenic activities, namely beaver dam constructions and breaches and local log jams.</p><p>The study is supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 19-77-10061) and Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 19-29-05238).</p>

Lake Wabamun, Alta.: a paleoenvironmental study

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1438-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hickman ◽  
C. E. Schweger ◽  
T. Habgood
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Sedimentary Organic Matter ◽  
Tephra Layer ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Fossil Pigments ◽  
The Core

Results from paleoenvironmental investigations of Lake Wabamun, Alta. (longitudes 114°26′ and 114°44′ W; latitudes 50°30′ and 53°35′ N), show that the sedimentary record spans the Holocene period in the case of the core taken from the deepest portion of the lake (the Seba core), while the record from the shallow Moonlight Bay spans a somewhat shorter interval. Basically, the lake has changed little during the last 4000 years except for increases in submersed hydrophytes in Moonlight Bay and undoubtedly other shallow regions of the lake. Production, too, has changed little during this interval except in Moonlight Bay, where hydrophytes and benthic algae contributed more to the sedimentary organic matter and fossil pigments. The deposition of the Mt. Mazama tephra in the catchment area and lake at 6600 years BP may have had a profound effect upon the lake. Increased turbidity occurred. This together with climatic changes including increased precipitation and catchment-area instability caused rapid infilling of the lake and low production. Moreover, prior to deposition of the tephra layer, water levels were lower and the water was more saline with Ruppia present, a feature found in other lakes in Alberta during the Hypsithermal period. Finally, prior to this period the lake was similar to its present day condition except during its very beginning when more turbid conditions prevailed.

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