Paleovegetation dynamics in an alternative stable states landscape in the montane Western Ghats, India

Autor: Prabhakaran Ramya Bala, Sarath Pullyottum Kavil, Ichiro Tayasu, Chikage Yoshimizu, Kaustubh Thirumalai, Krishnan Sajeev, Raman Sukumar
Přispěvatelé: Centre for Earth and Space Sciences [Hyderabad], University of Hyderabad, Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science [Bangalore] (IISc Bangalore), Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Bangalore, Department of Anthropology [University of Pennsylvania], University of Pennsylvania, Cycles biogéochimiques marins : processus et perturbations (CYBIOM), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Holocene
The Holocene, 2022, pp.095968362110665. ⟨10.1177/09596836211066592⟩
ISSN: 0959-6836
1477-0911
DOI: 10.1177/09596836211066592⟩
Popis: International audience; Peat deposits (>50 ka) in the montane Nilgiris (Western Ghats, India), have been central to the reconstruction of late Quaternary paleoclimate using paleovegetation changes in the forest-grassland vegetation mosaic that coexist here. However, it is well-known that short-term disturbances can also cause vegetation switches when multiple stable vegetation states exist. We studied paleovegetation changes within the alternative stable states framework using stable carbon isotopes (relative abundance of C3-C4 vegetation) on the cellulose fraction from two high-resolution radiocarbon-dated peat cores ~170 m apart in the Sandynallah valley: Core 1 closer to the hillslope (32,000 years old) and Core 2 from the centre of the valley (45,000 years old). Core 1 is located in an ecotone showing shola-sedgeland dynamics with vegetation switching at c.22 ka from shola (possibly due to fire) to a prolonged unstable state until 13 ka sustained by low waterlogging. Following a hiatus c.13 ka, sedgeland dominates, with a shift into shola at 3.75 ka driven by increasing aridity. Core 2 shows a stable sedgeland mixed C3-C4 composition responding to temperature, enriched in C3-vegetation in the last glacial with C4-dominance beginning c.18.5 ka, indicative of deglacial warming. The distinctive vegetation states at corresponding times in Cores 1 and 2 within the same valley, responding independently to disturbances and climate, respectively, is the first paleo-record from an alternative stable states landscape in the montane tropics. Thus, short-term disturbances and site attributes need to be accounted for before ascribing vegetation change to changing climate in such vegetation mosaics.
Databáze: OpenAIRE