云南泸沽湖及周边山地表层孢粉与植被关系研究

本文对云南泸沽湖周边山地不同植被类型下采集的32个表土样品和36个泸沽湖湖泊表层样品进行了孢粉分析,探讨了不同植被类型内的表土孢粉散布特征,对比分析了山地表土与湖泊表层孢粉分布特征的差异。结果表明,不同山地植被类型的孢粉组合具有不同的代表性成分与变化特征,能够较好地反映相应的植被类型。湖泊表层孢粉研究表明,湖泊内不同位置的孢粉组合差异较小,说明湖泊表层孢粉反映的是区域植被的平均分布状况。对比分析泸沽湖周边山地表土与湖泊表层样品的孢粉组合,两者存在一定的差异,表现为:湖泊表层的孢粉组合中乔木花粉(主要是松属)平均含量比表土高,但波动范围要小;草本花粉平均含量要低,且波动范围也小。这可能是由于乔木植物植株较高,而且有些乔木植物花粉具有气囊,更易借助风力将花粉传播到比较远的湖泊中的原因造成的。冷杉和铁杉花粉在所有样品中含量都相对较低,分别不高于6.5%和3.6%;桦属、桤木属、常绿栎类花粉的最高值出现在有这些母体植物生长的表土样品中,在其他样品中则明显较低。在表土孢粉样品中经常可以见到冷杉的气孔器,但在湖泊表层样品中却没有见到,说明气孔器不易到达湖泊中。该研究是对中国西南表层孢粉研究的有益补充,同时为泸沽湖新生代特别是第四纪化石孢粉解释提供了可靠的参考和依据。     

江苏宜兴龙池山现代植被表土孢粉的初步研究

江苏宜兴龙池山森林自然保护区表土花粉分析结果表明,表土孢粉植物群主要以栎属(Quercus)、松属(Pinus)、青冈属(Cyclobalanopsis)、栲属(Castanopsis)/柯属(Lithocarpus)、栗属(Castanea)占优势的木本植物组成,混生有枫香属(Liquidambar)、杨梅属(Myrica)、冬青属(Ilex)、女贞属(Ligustrum)、紫树属(Nyssa)、盐肤木属(Rhus)、黄连木属(Pistacia)等亚热带常见植物类型。研究区不同海拔高度的表土孢粉组合特征基本反映了当地现今的植物构成、植被面貌及其垂直分布规律。结合长江三角洲及其周边地区其他代表性表土花粉资料,首次提出以常绿阔叶木本植物与落叶阔叶木本植物含量之比(E/D),并结合重要优势、标志木本植物科属,初步识别和确立各地带性森林植被的表土花粉指标,为这一地区开展第四纪古植被和古气候等孢粉研究提供参考性依据。     

四川螺髻山表土和化石孢粉揭示的环境生态意义

通过四川螺髻山（1984、2017年）表土和化石孢粉与植被的关系分析发现：孢粉组合中木本植物含量（91.0%）占绝对优势,松属、冷杉属、青冈属、常绿栎类、落叶栎类、桤木属、杜鹃花科、禾本科和蒿属为主要花粉类型;人工次生林花粉组合能很好地反映母体植被的群落特征,并可指示优势种的存在和人类活动痕迹;针阔混交林花粉组合能较好地反映群落整体特征,花粉类型能与母体植被中优势种较好地对应;常绿阔叶林、针叶林和灌丛草甸的花粉组合难以反映母体植被的群落特征。DCA表明,花粉谱的百分含量,能较好地区分人工扰动植被和天然植被,但人工次生林、常绿阔叶林和针阔混交林之间以及针叶林和灌丛草甸之间未能区分。30年前后表土孢粉组合变化明显,1984年样品以松属、青冈属和桤木属等花粉为主,而2017年采样分析中松属、桤木属花粉占绝对优势。随着人类活动的加强,部分地区松树和桤木大面积飞播或种植,表土孢粉组合对当地植被指示意义与扰动强度呈负相关关系。现生植被与表土孢粉组合的差异能为恢复古植被和古环境提供参考,但原生植被已经被破坏地区的孢粉图谱,就很难作为重建历史时期植被的根据。本研究可以为亚热带山地利用孢粉学恢复第四纪时期植被与气候,探讨人类活动与环境的关系提供理论依据和实践参考。     

内蒙古中部四子王旗荒漠草原过渡带表土花粉分析

通过研究内蒙古中部四子王旗地区的表土花粉,试图揭示荒漠草原地区小尺度范围中表土花粉的植被和气侯指示意义.源自4个不同植物群落的19块表土花粉显示:研究区表土花粉组合主要以草本植物蒿属(Artemisia)、藜科(Chenopodiaceae)花粉占优势,两者百分含量一般在60%以上;禾本科(Poaceae)花粉具低代表性,平均含量在5%左右;另含有一定数量的白刺属(Nitraria)、麻黄属(Ephedra)、菊科(Asteraceae)和葱属(Allium)等花粉为特征.笔者首次提出的(蒿属+禾本科+菊科)/(白刺属+麻黄属+藜科)百分比值,有效地揭示了研究区北部较南部要干旱,与A/C比值及当地现生植被生境和气候因子相吻合.研究结果对我国内陆干旱、半干旱荒漠草原区第四纪古植被的恢复,以及古气候的重建提供了参照依据.     

南京低山丘陵区表土及捕捉器花粉谱的差异探究

选取南京丘陵地区29处样点,分别搜集表土及捕捉器样品,开展两种采样方式下孢粉组合与植被关系研究。结果表明,南京低山丘陵地区花粉类型以松属、栎属、枫杨属、榆属、蔷薇科、菊科、禾本科为主,表土花粉组合较好地反映了现代植被特征。主成分分析可以大致区分人工草坪区、农田区以及森林区的样品。农田区表土花粉浓度最低,每克仅为4 964粒,农田的翻耕以及微生物环境是造成其花粉浓度低的重要原因;森林区花粉浓度(每克29 176粒)及花粉通量(49 358粒/平方厘米/年)均很高。人类活动的增强可能会造成孢粉浓度的下降。在探究本地区历史时期人类活动时,可运用孢粉浓度以及与农作物相关的孢粉类型的变化来分析。所有捕捉器样品的乔木花粉百分比均低于其对应的表土样品,其中以松属尤为明显。     

重庆喀斯特地区现代花粉组合与植被的关系

重庆喀斯特地区4种不同地貌单元的81份表土和苔藓样品的孢粉分析结果表明:(1)研究区植物孢粉组合共由109科属组成。除金佛山外,其他植被退化严重地区样点均以草本和蕨类植物占据优势(剔除石漠化治理大量引种的马尾松、柳杉和侧柏等乔木花粉),其次是乔木植物花粉(主要为马尾松),灌木植物花粉含量很低,显示该区植被退化严重;(2)孢粉组合的PCA分析能够很好地将研究区的现代孢粉组合区分开来,较好地反映了重庆喀斯特地区不同地貌单元的植被特征,特别是石漠化区植被退化严重的孢粉组合特征。生态保护较好、自然植被发育的金佛山地区具有106科属的乔木、灌木与草本孢粉类型,以及高含量的乔木花粉,而喀斯特石漠化地区的鸡公山(46科属)、青木关镇(56科属)和南平镇(50科属)则表现为乔灌木孢粉类型较少;(3)银杉作为金佛山特有的孑遗植物,其花粉含量明显低于松属花粉,说明其花粉不利于远距离传播;(4)随着土地利用强度的增加,现代孢粉组合中乔灌木花粉含量和种类越少,草本和蕨类植物孢粉含量越多,且以耕地杂草为主。因此,土地利用方式的变化是喀斯特石漠化区次生植被及其现代孢粉组合变化的主要影响因素。研究可为重庆喀斯特地区土地利用策略的制定,重庆及其周边地区第四纪古植被、古气候和古环境重建研究,以及中国孢粉数据库建设提供基本数据和科学依据。     

浙江宁波天童山国家森林公园表土花粉初步分析

浙江宁波天童山国家森林公园小区域植被表土花粉分析表明:花粉植物群以栲属/柯属(Castanopsis/Litho-carpus)占优势,常见有木荷属(Schi ma)、青冈属(Cyclobalanopsis)、杨梅属(Myrica)、冬青属(Ilex)、木犀科(Oleaceae)、山茶科(Theaceae)等常绿阔叶树种,并伴生有栎属(Quercus)、枫香属(Liquidambar)、鹅耳枥属(Carpi-nus)、盐肤木属(Rhus)等落叶阔叶类型,基本反映了中亚热带北缘现生常绿阔叶林植被面貌和特征。花粉组合随海拔高度的变化主要与微地形生境、人类活动干扰等因素有关,并非指示植被及气候的垂直分异。孢粉组合中高含量的松属(Pinus)、丰富的蕨类植物及较高的炭屑浓度与当地伐木取薪等人类活动密切相关。天童山表土花粉资料为理解研究区现生植被分布格局、生态恢复和探讨地质历史时期区域植被变化、环境演变及人类活动提供了现实材料和依据。     

南京紫金山现代植被表土孢粉的初步研究

 选择南京紫金山现代植被进行植被调查和表土孢粉分析。结合中国东部不同气候带下的几个地点表土孢粉分析,把孢粉百分含量、孢粉组合及孢粉优势种、标志种与植被的各项参数进行对比,找出植被与孢粉之间的关系。为恢复古植被、古生态和古气候提供科学依据。     

基于文献计量学的近30年(1990-2020)第四纪孢粉学研究现状与展望

第四纪孢粉学利用现代和化石孢粉重建第四纪古植被、古气候和古环境,属于可持续发展的前沿学科领域。本文基于CiteSpace软件数据可视化和计量分析模块,以CNKI (中国知网)数据库与Web of Science核心数据库中1990–2020年间的共计6081篇第四纪孢粉学相关文献为基础,梳理了近30年来第四纪孢粉学的过去和现在,并探讨了未来发展趋势。研究结果表明,近30年第四纪孢粉学领域发文量呈增加趋势,中国的总发文量和国际影响力整体呈增长趋势;第四纪孢粉学研究主要集中于各大高校和科研院所,研究成果有明显的聚集性;中国科学院是外文发文量最多的国际机构。第四纪孢粉学近30年的研究主要涉及古植物学、古地理学、古生态学和古气候学等领域,古植被、古气候、古环境的定性和定量重建一直是国内外学者关注和研究的重点。表土花粉研究、花粉与人类活动、亚洲季风演变和孢粉分类学是近几年发刊的热点。虽然一些关键词如花粉产量、代表性以及现代花粉与植被和气候的定量关系等出现频次低,但对第四纪孢粉学十分重要。未来还需要进一步加强湖泊表层沉积物的花粉研究,探讨花粉与植被、气候的定量关系,为准确解译化石花粉提供坚实基础。随着孢粉数据库的不断完善和模型模拟技术的发展,孢粉研究的精细化和模型化趋势也将进一步加强,以提高定量重建的准确性及植被、气候模型的预测性。     

西藏拉萨河流域中下游不同植被类型表土花粉组合特征与年均降水量关系的研究

为定量恢复西藏拉萨河流域全新世的古气候环境,作者对拉萨河流域中下游表土孢粉组合特征与植被以及降雨量分布的相关性进行了研究。表土花粉研究结果显示,拉萨河流域中下游表土花粉组合能较好反映样方植被群落特征。根据研究区域孢粉组合特征,拉萨河流域中下游主要划分为8个孢粉组合带,即高山沼泽草甸带、高山灌丛草甸带、亚高山灌丛带、桦木林带、河谷沙棘林带、亚高山草甸带、亚高山半荒漠灌丛带和亚高山荒漠带。花粉类型与年均降水量的相关性分析结果表明,乔灌木花粉含量、Cy/G+A比值、莎草科、蓼属均与年均降水量呈显著正相关,而草本花粉含量、禾本科、蒿属、藜科与年均降水量呈显著负相关。因此,年均降水量是影响拉萨河中下游植被类型和表土花粉组合特征的重要因素。     

From ice age to modern: a record of landscape change in an Andean cloud forest

Aim To investigate the palaeoecological changes associated with the last ice age, subsequent deglaciation and human occupation of the central Andes. Location Lake Pacucha, Peruvian Andes (13°36′26″ S, 73°19′42″ W; 3095 m elevation). Methods Vegetation assemblages were reconstructed for the last 24 cal. kyr bp (thousand calibrated ¹⁴C years before present), based on pollen analysis of sediments from Lake Pacucha. An age model was established using ¹⁴C accelerator mass spectrometry dates on bulk sediment. Fossil pollen and sedimentological analyses followed standard methodologies. Results Puna brava replaced the Andean forest at the elevation of Lake Pacucha at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Deglaciation proceeded rapidly after 16 cal. kyr bp , and near‐modern vegetation was established by c. 14 cal. kyr bp . The deglacial was marked by the range expansion of forest taxa as grassland taxa receded in importance. The mid‐Holocene was marked by a lowered lake level but relatively unchanged vegetation. Quinoa and maize pollen were found in the latter half of the Holocene. Main conclusions Temperatures were about 7–8 °C colder than present at this site during the LGM. The pattern of vegetation change was suggestive of microrefugial expansion rather than simple upslope migration. The mid‐Holocene droughts were interrupted by rainfall events sufficiently frequent to allow vegetation to survive largely unchanged, despite lowering of the lake level. Human activity at the lake included a 5500‐year history of quinoa cultivation and 3000 years of maize cultivation.     

Determinants of pollen dispersal in the East Asian steppe at different spatial scales

Two sites from the East Asian steppe, the Mu Us Sandland as a regional case and the Anguli Nuur catchment as a local one, were chosen to detect roles of vegetation, climate, landform, and human disturbance on pollen dispersal. 1) Vegetation: The semi-arid steppe vegetation is characterized by Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae pollen under various vegetation conditions; however, no evident correlation between pollen percentages and corresponding plant species cover is found. 2) Climate: Samples under different Mean Annual Precipitations (MAPs) clearly distinguish themselves in the Mu Us Sandland, implying MAP-determined surface pollen spectra in regional scale. 3) Landform: Surface pollen assemblages in the azonal psammophytic vegetation and lowland meadow, show insignificant variance from the zonal steppe vegetation. The azonal halophilous vegetation, mostly distributed in the lowland or near the lake shore, leads to higher than average percentages of Chenopodiaceae pollen. Signal of exotic Pinus pollen is also strengthened in the lowland and lake sediment. 4) Human disturbance: The role of human disturbance on surface pollen assemblages is weak, as shown in the Mu Us Sandland.

This study also provides theoretical bases for quantitative reconstructions of palaeoclimate and palaeovegetation based on fossil pollen spectra from lake sediments and lowland soils in the semi-arid East Asian steppe. We suggest that calibration against locally dispersed pollen taxa is necessary to reliably reconstruct changes in vegetation pattern through time, for example, a factor of 1.75 for the widely used A/C (Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae) ratio is suggested according to the pollen assemblages in the surface layers of the lake sediment vs. slope soil in Anguli Nuur. However, uncertainties also exist for such calibration considering the dynamics of local-scale azonal vegetation.     

Spatial variation of modern pollen in Oregon and southern Washington, USA

Surface sediments from 95 lakes provide information on the spatial variation of modern pollen spectra in Oregon and southern Washington. Percentages for 13 pollen types were compared within and between vegetation zones to characterize regional patterns of pollen spectra. The percentage data were also compared with climate variables to determine relationships between pollen percentages and regional climate gradients. The composition of modern pollen spectra corresponds well with the distribution of the pollen producers. Most pollen assemblages were generally dominated by Pinus, but those west of the Cascade Range were dominated by Alnus. Low percentages of Pseudotsuga/Larix, Tsuga mertensiana, Abies, and Picea pollen coincided with local occurrence of the trees. The distributions of the pollen data were arranged along gradients of temperature and effective moisture. West of the Cascade Range, Alnus, Tsuga heterophylla, Pseudotsuga/Larix, and Cupressaceae pollen were abundant and correlate well with moderate temperature and high effective moisture. In the shrub-steppe and woodlands east of the Cascade Range, where effective moisture is low, Artemisia, Cupressaceae, and Pinus pollen were dominant. At high elevations, Pinus, T. mertensiana, Abies, and Picea were common pollen types in areas with short growing seasons and high effective moisture. Pollen percentages collected from lake surface sediments, moss polsters, and soils were compared within a number of vegetation types to assess their similarity. The three types of sample yielded similar results for forested areas, but lake sediment samples from upper- and lower-treeline sites captured a more regional picture of the vegetation.     

Diversity analysis of bacterial community compositions in sediments of urban lakes by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP)

Bacteria are crucial components in lake sediments and play important role in various environmental processes. Urban lakes in the densely populated cities are often small, shallow, highly artificial and hypereutrophic compared to rural and natural lakes and have been overlooked for a long time. In the present study, bacterial community compositions in surface sediments of three urban lakes (Lake Mochou, Lake Qianhu and Lake Zixia) in Nanjing City, China, were investigated using the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene and clone libraries. Remarkable differences in the T-RFLP patterns were observed in different lakes or different sampling stations of the same lake. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that total nitrogen (TN) had significant effects on bacterial community structure in the lake sediments. Chloroflexi were the most dominant bacterial group in the clone library from Lake Mochou (21.7?% of the total clones) which was partly associated with its higher TN and organic matters concentrations. However, Bacteroidetes appeared to be dominated colonizers in the sediments of Lake Zixia (20.4?% of the total clones). Our study gives a comprehensive insight into the structure of bacterial community of urban lake sediments, indicating that the environmental factors played a key role in influencing the bacterial community composition in the freshwater ecosystems.     

Fossil pollen as a record of past biodiversity

Quaternary pollen records may contribute uniquely to the understanding of present plant diversity. Pollen assemblages can reflect diversity at community and landscape scales but the time resolution of most studies does not match that of modern ecological studies. Because of the complicating effects of differential pollen productivity and dispersal, pollen records do not directly reflect equitability aspects of vegetation diversity. Vegetation diversity indices other than S (the total number of taxa) are therefore not appropriate for pollen assemblages. As a measure of the species richness palynological richness is biased by the lack of taxonomic precision, by a possible interference on pollen dispersal from vegetation structure and by pollen representation. The nonlinear relationship between species richness and pollen-taxa richness may be used in attempts to estimate past floristic richness from fossil pollen assemblages. Using a hypothetical example the strong effect of cover shifts in the vegetation affecting taxa with different representation (R_rel) values on observed palynological richness is demonstrated. It is suggested that estimates of relative pollen productivity should be used to guide the pollen sum on which pollen-type richness is estimated by rarefaction techniques and this approach is illustrated using a paired site study of late Holocene diversity dynamics. The need for a modern training set relating pollen-type richness to species richness, pollen productivity and vegetation structure is emphasized.     

Modern pollen samples from alpine vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau

• 1 A set of 316 modern surface pollen samples, sampling all the alpine vegetation types that occur on the Tibetan Plateau, has been compiled and analysed. Between 82 and 92% of the pollen present in these samples is derived from only 28 major taxa. These 28 taxa include examples of both tree (AP) and herb (NAP) pollen types.
• 2 Most of the modern surface pollen samples accurately reflect the composition of the modern vegetation in the sampling region. However, airborne dust‐trap pollen samples do not provide a reliable assessment of the modern vegetation. Dust‐trap samples contain much higher percentages of tree pollen than non‐dust‐trap samples, and many of the taxa present are exotic. In the extremely windy environments of the Tibetan Plateau, contamination of dust‐trap samples by long‐distance transport of exotic pollen is a serious problem.
• 3 The most characteristic vegetation types present on the Tibetan Plateau are alpine meadows, steppe and desert. Non‐arboreal pollen (NAP) therefore dominates the pollen samples in most regions. Percentages of arboreal pollen (AP) are high in samples from the southern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, where alpine forests are an important component of the vegetation. The relative importance of forest and non‐forest vegetation across the Plateau clearly follows climatic gradients: forests occur on the southern and eastern margins of the Plateau, supported by the penetration of moisture‐bearing airmasses associated with the Indian and Pacific summer monsoons; open, treeless vegetation is dominant in the interior and northern margins of the Plateau, far from these moisture sources.
• 4 The different types of non‐forest vegetation are characterized by different modern pollen assemblages. Thus, alpine deserts are characterized by high percentages of Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia, with Ephedra and Nitraria. Alpine meadows are characterized by high percentages of Cyperaceae and Artemisia, with Ranunculaceae and Polygonaceae. Alpine steppe is characterized by high abundances of Artemisia, with Compositae, Cruciferae and Chenopodiaceae. Although Artemisia is a common component of all non‐forest vegetation types on the Tibetan Plateau, the presence of other taxa makes it possible to discriminate between the different vegetation types.
• 5 The good agreement between modern vegetation and modern surface pollen samples across the Tibetan Plateau provides a measure of the reliability of using pollen data to reconstruct past vegetation patterns in non‐forested areas.

     

样地尺度现代表土花粉与植物群落的定量关系

建立现代植被与表土花粉的精确关系,是基于孢粉记录定量重建古植被与古气候的基础与关键。截止目前,植物群落样方记录较少参与到现代植被与花粉的统计分析中,限制了其精确关系的定量表达。本文通过中国东北样带的森林、草甸草原、典型草原和荒漠草原33个表土样品分析及植被样方调查,基于Bray-Curtis相异系数,研究了东北样带现代表土花粉与植物群落组成和数量之间的定量关系。结果表明: 由于花粉传播距离和花粉产量大小的不同,单个样点的所有科属、优势和常见科属、少见和稀有科属,在组成和数量上的关系存在差异。不同植被类型间差异显著,草甸草原在组成上差异较大,而所有科属、优势和常见科属的数量关系在森林中差异较大,少见和稀有科属的数量关系则在草甸草原中差异较大。不同科属的植被-花粉关系在组成和数量上的趋势基本一致,根据Bray-Curtis相异系数可将该地区花粉类群划分为3类: 超代表性类型、低代表性类型和适中代表性类型。该系数可以获得样方水平和物种水平上植被-花粉的物种组成和数量关系,是定量描述植被-花粉关系的有效指标之一。     

Waxing and waning of forests: Late Quaternary biogeography of southeast Africa

African ecosystems are at great risk. Despite their ecological and economic importance, long‐standing ideas about African forest ecology and biogeography, such as the timing of changes in forest extent and the importance of disturbance, have been unable to be tested due to a lack of sufficiently long records. Here, we present the longest continuous terrestrial record of late Quaternary vegetation from southern Africa collected to date from a drill core from Lake Malawi covering the last ~600,000 years. Pollen analysis permits us to investigate changes in vegetation structure and composition over multiple climatic transitions. We observe nine phases of forest expansion and collapse related to regional hydroclimate change. The development of desert, steppe and grassland vegetation during arid periods is likely dynamically linked to thresholds in regional hydrology associated with lake level and moisture recycling. Species composition of these dryland ecosystems varied greatly and is unlike the vegetation found at Malawi today, with assemblages suggesting strong Somali‐Masai affinities. Furthermore, nearly all semiarid assemblages contain low forest taxa abundances, suggesting that moist lowland gallery forests formed refugia along waterways during arid times. When the region was wet, forests were species‐rich and very high afromontane tree abundances suggest frequent widespread lowland colonization by modern high elevation trees. Furthermore, species composition varied little amongst forest phases until ~80 ka when disturbance tolerant tree taxa characteristic of the modern vegetation increased in abundance. The waxing and waning of forests has important implications for understanding the processes that control modern tropical vegetation biogeography as well as the environments of early humans across Africa. Finally, this work highlights the resilience of montane forests during previous warm intervals, which is relevant for future climate change; however, we point to a fundamental shift in disturbance regimes which are crucial for the structure and composition of modern East African landscapes.     

Modern pollen representation of source vegetation in the Qaidam Basin and surrounding mountains, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau

We use a data set of 35 surface pollen samples from lake sediments, moss polsters and top soils on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau to explore the relationship between modern pollen assemblages and contemporary vegetation patterns. The surface pollen transect spanned four vegetation zones––alpine meadow, steppe, steppe desert and desert––under different climatic/elevational conditions. Relative representation (R _rel) values and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) were used to determine the relationships between modern pollen and vegetation and regional climate gradients. The results show that the main vegetation zones along the regional and elevational transects can be distinguished by their modern pollen spectra. Relative to Poaceae, a high representation of Artemisia, Nitraria and Chenopodiaceae was found, while Cyperaceae and Gentiana showed values in the middle range, and Ranunculaceae, Asteraceae, Ephedra and Fabaceae had low relative representation values. PCA results indicate a high correlation between the biogeoclimatic zones and annual precipitation and annual temperature and July temperature. The Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae ratio and the Artemisia/Cyperaceae ratio are useful tools for qualitative and semi-quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstruction on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Surface lake sediments are found to have different palynomorph spectra from moss cushion and soil samples, reflecting the larger pollen source area in the contemporary vegetation for lakes.