Surface soil phytoliths as vegetation and altitude indicators: a study from the southern Himalaya

doi:10.1038/srep15523

CORC > 地质与地球物理研究所 > 中国科学院地质与地球物理研究所 > 中国科学院新生代地质与环境重点实验室

	Surface soil phytoliths as vegetation and altitude indicators: a study from the southern Himalaya
	An, Xiaohong 1,2; Lu, Houyuan 2,3; Chu, Guoqiang 2
刊名	SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
	2015-10-26
卷号	5
DOI	10.1038/srep15523
文献子类	Article
英文摘要	Phytoliths represent one of the few available altitudinal vegetation proxies for mountain ecosystems. This study analyzed 41 topsoil phytolith samples collected from five altitudinal zones in the southern Himalaya as far as, and beyond, the timberline, from tropical forest (up to 1,000 m a.s.l.) to subtropical forest (1,000-2,000 m a.s.l.), to temperate forest (2,000-3,000 m a.s.l.), to subalpine forest (3,000-4,100 m a.s.l.) and finally to alpine scrub (4,100-5,200 m a.s.l.). The statistical results show a good correlation between phytolith assemblages and these five altitudinal vegetation zones: the five phytolith assemblages identified effectively differentiated these five altitudinal vegetation zones. In particular, coniferous phytoliths accurately indicated the timberline. Additionally, we tested the phytolith index Ic (a proxy for estimating the percentage of Pooideae vis-alpha-vis the total grass content) as a quantifier of phytolith variety versus altitude. Ic increased along altitude, as expected. An investigation of phytoliths provided an initial basis for the analysis of the composition of gramineous vegetation. Furthermore, redundancy analysis and discriminant analysis also suggested a significant correlation between phytolith assemblages and altitude. Our research therefore provides an up-to-date analogue for the reconstruction of changes to palaeovegetation and palaeoaltitude in mountainous areas.
WOS关键词	PAST ENVIRONMENTAL-CONDITIONS ; QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS ; TIBETAN PLATEAU ; CHINA ; ASSEMBLAGES ; HOLOCENE ; GRASSES ; AFRICA ; RECONSTRUCTION ; GRASSLANDS
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
语种	英语
WOS记录号	WOS:000363396300001
资助机构	National Natural Science Foundation of China(41271226 ; National Natural Science Foundation of China(41271226 ; Chinese Geological Survey(12120113013900) ; Chinese Geological Survey(12120113013900) ; 41230104) ; 41230104) ; National Natural Science Foundation of China(41271226 ; National Natural Science Foundation of China(41271226 ; Chinese Geological Survey(12120113013900) ; Chinese Geological Survey(12120113013900) ; 41230104) ; 41230104)
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.iggcas.ac.cn/handle/132A11/62196]
专题	地质与地球物理研究所_中国科学院新生代地质与环境重点实验室
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Geol Sci, Inst Geol, Beijing 100037, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geol & Geophys, Key Lab Cenozo Geol & Environm, Beijing 100029, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Excellence Tibetan Plateau Earth Sci, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	An, Xiaohong,Lu, Houyuan,Chu, Guoqiang. Surface soil phytoliths as vegetation and altitude indicators: a study from the southern Himalaya[J]. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS,2015,5.
APA	An, Xiaohong,Lu, Houyuan,&Chu, Guoqiang.(2015).Surface soil phytoliths as vegetation and altitude indicators: a study from the southern Himalaya.SCIENTIFIC REPORTS,5.
MLA	An, Xiaohong,et al."Surface soil phytoliths as vegetation and altitude indicators: a study from the southern Himalaya".SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 5(2015).