Human settlement and destructive activities disrupt the positive contribution of dust to plant biomass growth over the past 2000 years

IF 4 1区地球科学 Q1 GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL

Global and Planetary Change Pub Date : 2024-11-19 DOI:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2024.104640

Lin Chen , Youliang Huang , Menghan Qiu , Zhilun Li , Rui Yang , Mengjing Li , Huiling Sun , Lixiong Xiang , Shanjia Zhang , Xiaozhong Huang , Aifeng Zhou

{"title":"Human settlement and destructive activities disrupt the positive contribution of dust to plant biomass growth over the past 2000 years","authors":"Lin Chen , Youliang Huang , Menghan Qiu , Zhilun Li , Rui Yang , Mengjing Li , Huiling Sun , Lixiong Xiang , Shanjia Zhang , Xiaozhong Huang , Aifeng Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2024.104640","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The dual pressures of global warming and increased anthropogenic activities pose significant threats to terrestrial vegetation ecosystems. To better understand the impacts of climate change and human activities on terrestrial vegetation ecosystems, we reconstructed the changes in vegetation and plant biomass over the past 4500 years using <em>n</em>-alkane records from sediments of two alpine lakes in northwestern China: Xiannv Lake and Tianchi Lake. Our results indicate that changes in the spatial variability of plant biomass are not related to temperature and precipitation. Furthermore, CO<sub>2</sub> fertilization and nutrient inputs from dust contributed to the observed changes in plant biomass. We also compared the history of human activities in the Tianshan Mountains, the eastern Silk Road, and the Hunsandak Sandy Land, and find that the demand for plant resources—whether for human settlement, military construction, or warfare—may have caused a sudden decline in terrestrial vegetation, thereby disrupting the positive effects of dust on plant biomass growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"244 ","pages":"Article 104640"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Global and Planetary Change","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092181812400287X","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The dual pressures of global warming and increased anthropogenic activities pose significant threats to terrestrial vegetation ecosystems. To better understand the impacts of climate change and human activities on terrestrial vegetation ecosystems, we reconstructed the changes in vegetation and plant biomass over the past 4500 years using n-alkane records from sediments of two alpine lakes in northwestern China: Xiannv Lake and Tianchi Lake. Our results indicate that changes in the spatial variability of plant biomass are not related to temperature and precipitation. Furthermore, CO₂ fertilization and nutrient inputs from dust contributed to the observed changes in plant biomass. We also compared the history of human activities in the Tianshan Mountains, the eastern Silk Road, and the Hunsandak Sandy Land, and find that the demand for plant resources—whether for human settlement, military construction, or warfare—may have caused a sudden decline in terrestrial vegetation, thereby disrupting the positive effects of dust on plant biomass growth.

查看原文本刊更多论文

人类定居和破坏活动破坏了尘埃在过去 2000 年里对植物生物量增长的积极贡献

全球变暖和人类活动增加的双重压力对陆地植被生态系统构成了巨大威胁。为了更好地了解气候变化和人类活动对陆地植被生态系统的影响，我们利用中国西北部两个高山湖泊沉积物中的正烷烃记录，重建了过去4500年间植被和植物生物量的变化：我们的研究结果表明，中国西北部两个高山湖泊（仙女湖和天池）沉积物中的正烷烃记录重建了过去 4500 年间植被和植物生物量的变化。我们的研究结果表明，植物生物量的空间变化与温度和降水无关。此外，二氧化碳施肥和沙尘的营养输入也导致了所观测到的植物生物量变化。我们还比较了天山山脉、丝绸之路东段和匈奴沙地的人类活动历史，发现人类定居、军事建设或战争对植物资源的需求可能导致陆地植被骤减，从而破坏了沙尘对植物生物量增长的积极影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Global and Planetary Change 地学天文-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

10.30%

发文量

226

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： The objective of the journal Global and Planetary Change is to provide a multi-disciplinary overview of the processes taking place in the Earth System and involved in planetary change over time. The journal focuses on records of the past and current state of the earth system, and future scenarios , and their link to global environmental change. Regional or process-oriented studies are welcome if they discuss global implications. Topics include, but are not limited to, changes in the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere, as well as climate change, sea level variation, observations/modelling of Earth processes from deep to (near-)surface and their coupling, global ecology, biogeography and the resilience/thresholds in ecosystems. Key criteria for the consideration of manuscripts are (a) the relevance for the global scientific community and/or (b) the wider implications for global scale problems, preferably combined with (c) having a significance beyond a single discipline. A clear focus on key processes associated with planetary scale change is strongly encouraged. Manuscripts can be submitted as either research contributions or as a review article. Every effort should be made towards the presentation of research outcomes in an understandable way for a broad readership.