Vegetation Response to the Hydro-Climatic Changes during the Late Quaternary

A special issue of Quaternary (ISSN 2571-550X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 September 2024) | Viewed by 3066

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
Interests: understanding the hydro-climate changes and corresponding vegetation dynamics during the Holocene, based mainly on pollen records, from the central Indian Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ), and also from the Himalaya, India; understanding the climate-culture relationships; non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs, especially the coprophilous fungal spores) study for understanding the dietary habit of the grazing animals during the Holocene, as well as the human impact on the vegetation around the landscape of the respective study areas in central India and also in the Himalaya, India; studies on the pollen morphology of modern plants of tropical deciduous forests (both moist and dry types), based on observations from the LM, CLSM, and FESEM, with respect to their taxonomy and systematics, evolution and phylogeny, as well as and preservation; melissopalynology for understanding the plant pollen (regional vegetation types and environmental conditions too) and nectar source, purity (of honey)

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Guest Editor
Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Prithvi Bhawan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003, India
Interests: paleoclimate reconstruction; sea level changes; global climate events and teleconnections

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetation is one of the main climatic reservoirs of the Earth; the other four climatic reservoirs being the atmosphere, ocean, land surfaces and cryosphere. The global distribution and composition of vegetation is largely controlled by the climate (precipitation, temperature), soil characteristics and altitude; however, human and natural impacts are also present. Simultaneously, climate change is most evidently reflected in vegetation because the vegetation of any area is an integral and basic composition of the ecosystem, which is sensitive to and governed by the climatic changes. The influence of climate on vegetation is so great that each climatic zone has its own characteristic vegetation type. Therefore, plants are among the best indicators of environmental and climatic changes, both temporally and spatially. Pollen gains and spores are produced by plants, and the widespread transport and mixing of pollen grains by wind or water generally form pollen assemblages, which represent characteristics of the vegetation, climatic conditions or sedimentary environment at a specific time or area.

Understanding climate change and monsoonal variability is a defining issue of our time, and various geological, biological, historical and archaeological proxies provide evidence for ways in which the Earth’s climate has changed (in the past) and may do so in the future. Among the biological proxies, palynology has proved to be one of the most potent tools for the reconstruction of vegetation-based past climatic changes. Therefore, it is crucial to study the response of vegetation (dynamics) to climate change and monsoonal variability during the late Quaternary.

This Special Issue aims to investigate the responses of vegetation to climate change and monsoonal variability with respect to the global climate change scenario during the Holocene across the globe. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The response to the vegetation dynamics to climate change and monsoonal variability during the late Quaternary.
  • Extreme climatic conditions and vegetation response.
  • Hydroclimatic changes and teleconnections during the late Quaternary.
  • The forcing factors of vegetation and climate change during the late Quaternary.

Best regards,

Dr. Mohammad Firoze Quamar
Dr. Upasana S Banerji
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • hydro-climate and vegetation dynamics
  • pleistocene-holocene
  • global climatic events

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 5241 KiB  
Article
Late Holocene Vegetation Dynamics and Sea Level Fluctuations: A High-Resolution Record from Southeast India
by Jyoti Srivastava, Pujarini Samal and M. C. Manoj
Quaternary 2024, 7(4), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7040053 - 3 Dec 2024
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Abstract
A detailed high-resolution study of climate and vegetation changes in two sedimentary profiles from the Godavari delta in India was conducted to understand extreme climate variability over the last 3000 years. These historical climate records are vital for predicting future climate changes influenced [...] Read more.
A detailed high-resolution study of climate and vegetation changes in two sedimentary profiles from the Godavari delta in India was conducted to understand extreme climate variability over the last 3000 years. These historical climate records are vital for predicting future climate changes influenced by increased human activity. Pollen records reveal several climatic periods: (1) an initial warm/humid phase (2260–1560 cal yr BP) with mangrove and tropical tree pollen and maximum pollen accumulation rate (PARmax), (2) a gradual shift to drier conditions with reduced mangrove and arboreal pollen, coinciding with to the Dark Ages Cold Period (1580–1070 cal yr BP), (3) a Medieval Warm Period (1090–580 cal yr BP) marked by a stronger summer monsoon, rejuvenation of mangroves and tree pollen, (4) a relatively cool and dry phase with abundant dry deciduous and non-arboreal pollen possibly linked to the Little Ice Age (580–80 cal yr BP), showing a weakened monsoon, and (5) recent warming since 80 cal yr BP. A semi-quantitative aridity, temperature, and moisture index based on pollen concentration variations have also been used to identify centennial-scale climatic cycles in the pollen record. Full article
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25 pages, 11533 KiB  
Article
Hydroclimatic Changes Revealed by Multiple Proxies Since the Last Glacial Maximum from the Core Monsoon Zone of India
by Mohammad Firoze Quamar, Jyotsna Dubey, Pooja Tiwari, Prasanta Kumar Das, Biswajeet Thakur, Mohammad Javed, Nagendra Prasad, M. E. T. Maneesha and Satish J. Sangode
Quaternary 2024, 7(4), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/quat7040052 - 21 Nov 2024
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Abstract
We present multiproxy records from a 2.25-m-long lake sediment profile from central India, which suggested that between ~22,200 and 18,658 cal yr BP, the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) was weak, supporting open vegetation in a cool and dry climate, which is globally correlated [...] Read more.
We present multiproxy records from a 2.25-m-long lake sediment profile from central India, which suggested that between ~22,200 and 18,658 cal yr BP, the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) was weak, supporting open vegetation in a cool and dry climate, which is globally correlated with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The grain size data of this phase suggest low-energy conditions, indicating a weak ISM. Environmental magnetic concentration-dependent parameters also confirm this weakened ISM. Between ~18,658 and 7340 cal yr BP, the ISM underwent a notable increase, and open mixed tropical deciduous forests replaced the existing vegetation under a warm and moderately humid climate. Environmental magnetic parameters and the grain size data signal a shift toward higher energy levels, in harmony with the warm and moderately humid climate during this time span. Between ~7340 and 1960 cal yr BP, the ISM intensity further increased, which supported open mixed tropical deciduous forests with a rise in prominent tree species under a warm and a relatively more humid climate, correlated with the global Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO). The trends in environmental magnetic parameters and grain size data mirror this phase of climatic amelioration. From ~1961 cal yr BP to the present, the ISM has intensified, giving rise to dense mixed tropical deciduous forests under a warm and relatively more humid climate. Environmental magnetic parameters and the grain size data are in tandem with the palynogical findings from this phase of the ISM variability. Full article
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