Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Chinmay Dash, Soumya Prakash Dhal, Pitambar Pati, Rajesh Agnihotri, Anjum Farooqui, Yeong Bae Seong
Summary: A sediment record from Chilika Lagoon in India reveals that climate change affects denudation and weathering rates. The presence of mangrove and associated assemblages suggests a backwater estuarine environment between 7.8 and 6 ka B.P., indicating a warm climate and strengthened monsoon. The dominance of C-4 photosynthesizing plants and lower sea levels after 5 ka B.P. indicate arid conditions.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
D. Fleitmann, S. J. Burns, A. Matter, H. Cheng, S. Affolter
Summary: Isotope measurements on fluid inclusion water in stalagmites from Hoti Cave in Northern Oman indicate that rainfall in the area mainly came from monsoons, but the southern monsoonal moisture source ceased around 6,300 years ago, leading to reduced rainfall and a shift in rainfall seasonality, which impacted human migration in the region.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jordan Christian, Jeffrey B. Basara, Eric D. Hunt, Jason A. Otkin, Jason C. Furtado, Vimal Mishra, Xiangming Xiao, Robb M. Randall
Summary: Flash droughts are devastating and difficult to predict, impacting agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, and the human environment. Global hotspots of flash drought, driven by evaporative demand and precipitation deficits, exist in various regions. From 1980-2015, six regions experienced a significant increase in flash drought occurrences, while three regions saw a significant decline. More research is needed to understand the regional drivers of flash drought and its socio-economic impacts.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Yeyan Jiang, Juan Li, Bin Wang, Youngmin Yang, Zhiwei Zhu
Summary: Over the past century, the decadal variations of Northern Hemisphere land monsoon rainfall (NHLMR) have been driven by the east-west sea surface temperature contrast over the Pacific and the interhemispheric North Atlantic-South Indian Ocean sea surface temperature dipole. Future projections show that the leading mode of decadal NHLMR will retain its spatial pattern and intensity, but with shortened periodicities and overall declining variation. The relationship between NHLMR and the oceanic forcing factors, particularly the interhemispheric dipole, will weaken in the future due to decreased anthropogenic aerosol emissions.
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Tripti Bhattacharya
Summary: The North American Monsoon (NAM) is an important component of the hydrologic cycle in southwestern North America, but our understanding of its long-term evolution is incomplete. A new study has compiled a Holocene proxy records to create a composite index of NAM evolution and found a relationship between NAM strength and latitudinal temperature gradient over the Holocene. The study highlights the importance of paleoclimatic records, particularly from past warm intervals, in gaining insights into the evolution of regional monsoons.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jian Cao, Hao Wang, Bin Wang, Haikun Zhao, Chao Wang, Xiaowei Zhu
Summary: Due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, the summer monsoon precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere has significantly decreased during the historical period. Simulations show that anthropogenic aerosols are the main cause of this decrease, while greenhouse gases primarily affect surface warming. The results indicate that reducing aerosol emissions may rapidly recover the Northern Hemisphere monsoon precipitation.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lei Zhang, Zaiyuan Li, Yan Peng, Xinyue Liang, Kenneth Wilson, Gilson Chipabika, Patrick Karangwa, Bellancile Uzayisenga, Benjamin A. Mensah, Donald L. Kachigamba, Yutao Xiao
Summary: The fall armyworm, a major plant pest, has spread from the Americas to Africa and Asia. Genetic analysis shows that the American populations have experienced deep differentiation, while the invasive populations from Africa and Asia have a relatively homogeneous structure. The most likely sources of the invasion into the Eastern hemisphere are the north- and central American populations. Additionally, there is evidence of an earlier introduction of the fall armyworm into Africa, followed by migration into the recent invasive population.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Boehmer, Manuel Chevalier, Raphael Hebert, Anne Dallmeyer, Chenzhi Li, Xianyong Cao, Odile Peyron, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schluetz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, Zhuo Zheng
Summary: A poor spatial coverage of climate reconstructions, especially in Asia, may contribute to the mismatch between model and proxy data in Holocene climate change. This study explores the latitudinal and regional trends in temperature and precipitation based on pollen-based reconstructions, revealing distinct patterns and regional differences.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ye Tian, Dominik Fleitmann, Qiong Zhang, Lijuan Sha, Jasper. A. Wassenburg, Josefine Axelsson, Haiwei Zhang, Xianglei Li, Jun Hu, Hanying Li, Liang Zhao, Yanjun Cai, Youfeng Ning, Hai Cheng
Summary: This study highlights the importance of Qunf Cave oxygen isotope record in understanding the Holocene Indian summer monsoon. The results suggest that the North African summer monsoon also played a role in southern Oman during the early to middle Holocene. It is concluded that the Qunf Cave oxygen isotope record characterizes primary changes in the Afro-Asian monsoon regime.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
M. Schanner, M. Korte, M. Holschneider
Summary: We propose a global geomagnetic field model, ArchKalmag14k, based on thermoremanent records for the last 14 thousand years. The model is constructed by modifying existing algorithms and sequentializing the inversion process. Uncertainty estimates that vary in space and time are provided. The model shows less variation in large-scale degrees compared to comparable models. Local predictions represent the underlying data and uncertainty is higher for earlier times and regions with sparse data coverage. The model is used to analyze the appearance and evolution of the South Atlantic anomaly and reverse flux patches at the core-mantle boundary, considering uncertainty. While good agreement with earlier models is found for recent times, the model suggests a different evolution of intensity minima prior to 1650 CE. In general, data is insufficient to support global models before 6000 BCE.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexander J. Thompson, Jiang Zhu, Christopher J. Poulsen, Jessica E. Tierney, Christopher B. Skinner
Summary: The controversy surrounding the Holocene thermal maximum, a period of global warmth in the early to mid-Holocene, has been addressed through simulations showing that vegetation change in the Northern Hemisphere can explain the warming trend that previous models failed to reproduce. These findings emphasize the importance of considering vegetation dynamics when modeling the temperature evolution during the Holocene.
Article
Ecology
Matthew Adesanya Adeleye, Simon Graeme Haberle, Stephen Harris, Felicitas Viktoria-Louise Hopf, Simon Connor, Janelle Stevenson
Summary: The study aimed to understand the drivers of Holocene heathland development in temperate-oceanic Australia (Bass Strait) using sedimentary records from truwana/Cape Barren Island. Major expansion of heathland in response to sea-level rise and increased Indigenous burning in the early to mid-Holocene was identified, while late Holocene saw expansion of scrub and woodland due to changing climate conditions and decreased fire activity. The study suggests a modified model for interglacial vegetation development in the Southern Hemisphere.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Fuyuan Gao, Junhuai Yang, Kaiming Li, Dunsheng Xia, Zhenqian Wang, Lai Zhao, Hao Lu, Shuyuan Wang, Jiaxin Zhou, Wenxi Qu, Youjun Wang, Lupeng Yu
Summary: Spatiotemporal changes in the Holocene climate of the arid region of China were primarily due to shifts in the intensity and location of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). Two aeolian sedimentary sections on the western Chinese Loess Plateau were investigated to explore these EASM variations and their impact on the regional environment and human cultural development. The results suggest that the EASM exhibited westward movement and rapid southward retreat, affecting the moisture history and leading to changes in the cultural distribution.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yongqiang Guo, Yonggang Ge, Peng Cui, Xiaoqing Chen, Peini Mao, Tao Liu, Liang Zhou
Summary: The study on tufa deposits in the ETP area reveals their sensitivity in recording regional hydroclimate changes, especially during the early and mid-Holocene. The presence of dirty tufa layers indicates that strong monsoon rainfall events triggered flood-rich periods during the early and mid-Holocene.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hyoeun Oh, Soon-Il An, Jongsoo Shin, Sang-Wook Yeh, Seung-Ki Min, Seok-Woo Son, Jong-Seong Kug
Summary: This study demonstrates the hysteresis responses of mean precipitation in the NHLM region to CO2 increase and decrease, with different time asymmetries in different monsoon regions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Rosemary Shikangalah, Benjamin Mapani, Isaac Mapaure, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: This study investigates the responsiveness of Dichrostachys cinerea to seasonal variations in temperature and rainfall in central Namibia. The results show that the species has differential responses to temperature and rainfall, with past temperature fluctuations intensifying their influence on growth rings.
Article
Plant Sciences
Fang Tian, Wen Qin, Ran Zhang, Ulrike Herzschuh, Jian Ni, Chengjun Zhang, Steffen Mischke, Xianyong Cao
Summary: The study of sediment cores from Lake Xingxinghai in the Yellow River Source Area reveals that the vegetation in the region has undergone slight changes over the past 7,400 years, with alpine steppe being replaced by alpine meadow. However, these vegetation changes are likely driven by climate change rather than human impact.
VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Luise Schulte, Stefano Meucci, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Tony Heitkam, Nicola Schmidt, Barbara von Hippel, Andrei A. Andreev, Bernhard Diekmann, Boris K. Biskaborn, Bernd Wagner, Martin Melles, Lyudmila A. Pestryakova, Inger G. Alsos, Charlotte Clarke, Konstantin Krutovsky, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: This study investigates the distributional shifts of boreal larch species using ancient sedimentary DNA analysis. The results demonstrate that climate is a significant determinant of larch species distribution.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Boehmer, Chenzhi Li, Xianyong Cao, Raphael Hebert, Anne Dallmeyer, Richard J. Telford, Stefan Kruse
Summary: Future precipitation levels are uncertain due to the difficulties in reproducing observed temperature-precipitation correlations in climate models. We analyzed proxy-based temperature-precipitation correlations and hydrological sensitivities from Holocene records, and found significant variations in different latitudes and periods. The variations from proxy data are largely consistent with transient climate simulations. The findings highlight regions where simulating past and future precipitation levels may be particularly challenging.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
R. Hebert, U. Herzschuh, T. Laepple
Summary: By analyzing sedimentary pollen records and instrumental data, we provide a comprehensive estimate of regional temperature variability. We find that long-term natural variability is overprinted by strong ocean-driven climate variability, which may cause substantial and potentially unpredictable regional climatic shifts in the coming century.
Article
Geography, Physical
Zhen Li, Yongbo Wang, Ulrike Herzschuh, Xianyong Cao, Jian Ni, Yan Zhao
Summary: This paper reconstructs the composition and changes of vegetation in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) over the past 15,000 years using pollen assemblages. The study identifies six forest biomes mainly in the southeastern plateau, which gradually expanded along the eastern margin during the early to mid-Holocene. The alpine meadow biome also expanded westward towards lower latitudes and higher altitudes during the early Holocene. The study also found migration patterns for the alpine steppe biome, which moved eastward during the late Holocene. The dominant biome, temperate steppe, was widely distributed on the QTP with minor migration patterns. The desert biome was mainly found in the northwestern plateau and the Qaidam Basin. The study highlights the importance of monsoonal precipitation in the development of alpine ecosystems and the influence of regional moisture brought by the mid-latitude Westerlies on desert vegetation. Temperature changes played a relatively minor role in alpine vegetation variations but had more significant impacts on forest biomes.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Izabella Baisheva, Luidmila Pestryakova, Sardana Levina, Ramesh Glueckler, Boris K. Biskaborn, Stuart A. Vyse, Birgit Heim, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring
Summary: The livelihoods of local communities in Central Yakutia, Siberia, depend on the alaas landscapes and lakes. The development and dynamics of these lakes are closely linked to climate change, permafrost thawing, catchment conditions, and land use. By analyzing sedimentary ancient DNA and biogeochemistry from Lake Satagay, researchers reconstructed the lake's development over the past 10,800 years. The findings suggest that the lake formation occurred earlier than previously believed, and changes in diatom and macrophyte communities were driven by climate-driven shifts in water level and mineral and organic input. The study also highlights the potential impact of future warming and anthropogenic land use on the desiccation of the lake. Rating: 9/10
JOURNAL OF PALEOLIMNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Heike. H. H. Zimmermann, Kathleen. R. R. Stoof-Leichsenring, Viktor Dinkel, Lars Harms, Luise Schulte, Marc-Thorsten Huett, Dirk Nuernberg, Ralf Tiedemann, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: The disappearance of sea ice has caused significant changes in polar marine ecosystems over the past 20,000 years, as revealed by ancient DNA analysis of marine sediments off Kamchatka. The shift from a late-glacial ecosystem adapted to sea ice to an ice-free Holocene ecosystem is characterized by changes in dominant organisms. This study highlights the importance of ancient DNA in studying long-term ecosystem responses to climate change for improved risk assessment in ocean and cryosphere.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Stefan Kruse, Iuliia Shevtsova, Birgit Heim, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Evgeniy S. Zakharov, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: The subarctic forest tundra transition zone is vulnerable to climate change, and forest changes could result in biodiversity loss. The impact of complex landscapes with barriers and channels for seed dispersal is understudied. This study uses a vegetation model to investigate potential tree above-ground biomass change in mountainous central Chukotka (Siberia). The results suggest densification of existing tree stands and a lagged forest expansion, but in scenarios with cooling after 2300 CE, forests gradually retreat to their pre-twenty-first-century position, leaving an imprint of forests in former tundra areas with potential negative impact on tundra biodiversity.
ARCTIC ANTARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fabian Kirsten, Anne Dallmeyer, Reinhard Bernbeck, Thomas Boehmer, Robert Busch, Morteza Hessari, Susan Pollock, Brigitta Schuett
Summary: Settlement crises in ancient cultures of Western Asia are commonly believed to be caused by climatic events. However, the limited availability of climate proxies challenges the relationship between climate and settlement dynamics. This study investigates the climate changes on the Varamin Plain using a comprehensive Earth System Model simulation and pollen-based climate reconstructions. The results show that the average climate conditions on the plain have not changed significantly, but there have been substantial changes in seasonality. These findings provide some indications of a connection between climate and settlement dynamics, but more high-resolution long-term proxy records are needed to further explore this issue.
Article
Ecology
Raphael Hebert, Laura Schild, Thomas Laepple, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: This study investigates the variability of vegetation composition and its patterns in the Holocene using a global fossil pollen dataset. The findings reveal increasing fluctuations in vegetation composition from centennial to millennial timescales and identify differences in variability between different biome classes. The results have important implications for understanding and assessing the impacts of future climate change on vegetation.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Boehmer, Chenzhi Li, Manuel Chevalier, Raphael Hebert, Anne Dallmeyer, Xianyong Cao, Nancy H. Bigelow, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Odile Peyron, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schluetz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, Zhuo Zheng
Summary: In this study, LegacyClimate 1.0 dataset is described, which reconstructs the mean July temperature (T-July), mean annual temperature (T-ann), and annual precipitation (P-ann) using 2594 fossil pollen records from the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Holocene period. Two reconstruction methods, the modern analog technique (MAT) and weighted averaging partial least squares regression (WA-PLS), show similar spatial and temporal patterns. To improve the accuracy of the reconstructions, customized reconstructions using modern pollen data are provided to reduce the impact of precipitation on temperature reconstruction, and vice versa. The dataset is useful for synthesis studies, evaluating climate models, and improving the models themselves.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Manuel Chevalier, Anne Dallmeyer, Nils Weitzel, Chenzhi Li, Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Ulrike Herzschuh, Xianyong Cao, Andreas Hense
Summary: Comparing temporal and spatial vegetation changes requires carefully selecting an appropriate evaluation metric, such as the Earth mover's distance (EMD), to quantify the mismatch between vegetation distributions. This approach overcomes the limitation of summarizing data into unary estimates and considers the entire range of affinity scores to calculate the distance between compared entities. The EMD and statistical tests introduced in this study provide a more refined interpretation of past vegetation changes.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Chenzhi Li, Alexander K. Postl, Thomas Boehmer, Xianyong Cao, Andrew M. Dolman, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: This article presents a chronology framework called LegacyAge 1.0, which includes harmonized chronologies for 2831 pollen records along with their age control points and metadata. The chronologies were created using a Bayesian framework and optimal parameter settings. Calibrated radiocarbon dates were used as the most common control points, and outliers and inconsistencies were addressed by consulting the original publications. The LegacyAge 1.0 chronologies were numerically compared to the original publications, resulting in improved reliability for 95.4% of the records. This chronology framework and revised chronologies offer opportunities for synthesis studies on pollen-based vegetation and climate change.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Stefan Kruse, Simone M. Stuenzi, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Josias Gloy, Ulrike Herzschuh
Summary: Boreal forests in Siberia play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, but they are threatened by global warming. To predict the dynamics and carbon stock development of these forests, researchers have developed a coupled model that combines a permafrost-vegetation model with a forest model. The results show that the coupled model accurately simulates the vegetation patterns in eastern Siberia, making it a valuable tool for understanding boreal forest dynamics.
GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
