Monitoring recent and reconstructing Holocene vegetation change around Nam Co Lake, Tibet, using palynofloras
Final Report Abstract
This first large-scale mapping of vegetation units in the Tibetan Highlands focussed on the ecotone between the two largest alpine ecosystems of the world. It is based on floristic complete plot based vegetation records serving as a ground thruthing for a satellite based vegetation map. Three major results are new and partly unexpected: (1) There are no grazing gradients in Tibetan pastures. (2) Plant life forms in the zonal vegetation of the Alpine Steppe are grazing resilient and not vulnerable, in contrast to (3) the vulnerable turf of the Kobresia pygmaea pastures. The main threat of pastoralism in Tibet is the degradation of Kobresia schoenoides swamps as winter pastures and the implementation of harmful rangeland policies. First data on airborne pollen from the Tibetan Plateau have been collected by pollen traps and already published. Data from pollen traps and surface samples have been used to reconstruct Holocene vegetation history at Nam Co lake.
Publications
- (2010). Airborne pollen in the Nam Co Basin and its implication for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. - Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 163, 104-112
Lu, X., Herrmann, M., Mosbrugger, V., Yao, T. & Zhu, L.
- (2010). Reconstructing Holocene vegetation and climate history of Nam Co area (Tibet), using pollen and other palynomorphs. Quaternary International, 218, 45-57
Herrmann, M., Lu, X.M., Berking, J., Schütt, B., Yao T.D., Mosbrugger, V.
- (2011). Plant communities of central Tibetan pastures in the Alpine Steppe/Kobresia pygmaea ecotone. Journal of Arid Environments, 75, 711-723
Miehe, G., Miehe, S., Bach, K., Noelling, J., Hanspach, J., Reudenbach, C., Kaiser, K., Wesche, K., Mosbrugger, V., Yang, Y.P. & Ma, Y.M.
- (2013). Resilience or Vulnerability? Vegetation Patterns of a Central Tibetan Pastoral Ecotone. - In: Manuel B. Morales Prieto and Juan Traba Diaz (eds.); Steppe Ecosystems: Biological Diversity, Management and Restoration, 111-152; Nova Publishers
Miehe, G., Miehe, S., Bach, K., Wesche, K., Seeber, E., Behrendes, L., Kaiser, K., Reudenbach, C., Nölling, J., Hanspach, J., Herrmann, M., Yaoming, M., Mosbrugger, V.
