CP Climate of the Past CP Clim. Past 1814-9332 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/cp-10-21-2014 Quantitative reconstruction of precipitation changes on the NE Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum – extending the concept of pollen source area to pollen-based climate reconstructions from large lakes Wang Y. 1 2 Herzschuh U. 1 2 Shumilovskikh L. S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7429-3163 3 Mischke S. 2 4 Birks H. J. B. 5 6 7 8 Wischnewski J. 1 2 Böhner J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0842-0152 9 Schlütz F. 3 10 Lehmkuhl F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6876-7377 11 Diekmann B. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5129-3649 1 Wünnemann B. 12 Zhang C. 13 Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A43, 14473 Potsdam, Germany Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24, 14476 Potsdam, Germany Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany Institute of Geological Sciences, Free University Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, 12249 Berlin, Germany Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Thormøhlensgate 53A, 5006 Bergen, Norway Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Allegaten 55, 5007 Bergen, Norway Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK Institute for Geography, University Hamburg, Bundesstr. 55, 20145 Hamburg, Germany Institute of Geographical Sciences, Free University Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, 12249 Berlin, Germany Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany School of Geography and Oceanography, Nanjing University, Hankou Road 22, 210093 Nanjing, China Centre for Arid Environment and Paleoclimate Research, School of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000 Lanzhou, China 08 01 2014 10 1 21 39 Copyright: © 2014 Y. Wang et al. 2014 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/10/21/2014/cp-10-21-2014.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/10/21/2014/cp-10-21-2014.pdf

Pollen records from large lakes have been used for quantitative palaeoclimate reconstruction, but the influences that lake size (as a result of species-specific variations in pollen dispersal patterns that smaller pollen grains are more easily transported to lake centre) and taphonomy have on these climatic signals have not previously been systematically investigated. We introduce the concept of pollen source area to pollen-based climate calibration using the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau as our study area. We present a pollen data set collected from large lakes in the arid to semi-arid region of central Asia. The influences that lake size and the inferred pollen source areas have on pollen compositions have been investigated through comparisons with pollen assemblages in neighbouring lakes of various sizes. Modern pollen samples collected from different parts of Lake Donggi Cona (in the north-eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau) reveal variations in pollen assemblages within this large lake, which are interpreted in terms of the species-specific dispersal and depositional patterns for different types of pollen, and in terms of fluvial input components. We have estimated the pollen source area for each lake individually and used this information to infer modern climate data with which to then develop a modern calibration data set, using both the multivariate regression tree (MRT) and weighted-averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) approaches. Fossil pollen data from Lake Donggi Cona have been used to reconstruct the climate history of the north-eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The mean annual precipitation was quantitatively reconstructed using WA-PLS: extremely dry conditions are found to have dominated the LGM, with annual precipitation of around 100 mm, which is only 32% of present-day precipitation. A gradually increasing trend in moisture conditions during the Late Glacial is terminated by an abrupt reversion to a dry phase that lasts for about 1000 yr and coincides with "Heinrich event 1" in the North Atlantic region. Subsequent periods corresponding to the Bølling/Allerød interstadial, with annual precipitation (<i>P</i><sub>ann</sub>) of about 350 mm, and the Younger Dryas event (about 270 mm <i>P</i><sub>ann</sub>) are followed by moist conditions in the early Holocene, with annual precipitation of up to 400 mm. A drier trend after 9 cal. ka BP is followed by a second wet phase in the middle Holocene, lasting until 4.5 cal. ka BP. Relatively steady conditions with only slight fluctuations then dominate the late Holocene, resulting in the present climatic conditions. The climate changes since the LGM have been primarily driven by deglaciation and fluctuations in the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon that resulted from changes in the Northern Hemisphere summer solar insolation, as well as from changes in the North Atlantic climate through variations in the circulation patterns and intensity of the westerlies.

 References Aichner, B., Herzschuh, U., Wilkes, H., Schulz, H., Wang, Y. B., Plessen, B., Mischke, S., Diekmann, B., and Zhang, C. J.: Ecological development of Lake Donggi Cona, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, since the late glacial on basis of organic geochemical proxies and non-pollen palynomorphs, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 313–314, 140–149, 2012. An, Z. S., Porter, S. C., Kutzbach, J. E., Wu, X. H., Wang, S. M., Liu, X. D., Li, X. Q., and Zhou, W. J.: Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 19, 743–762, 2000. Anderson, S. T.: The relative pollen productivity and pollen representation of north European trees, and correction factor for tress pollen spectra, Danmarks Geologiske Undersoegelse, Raekke, 2, 1-99 , 1970. Besag, J. and Clifford, P.: Generalized Monte Carlo significance tests. Biometrika, 76, 633–642, 1989. Beug, H. J.: Leitfaden der Pollenbestimmung für Mitteleuropa und angrenzende Gebiete, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München (Germany), 2004. Birks, H. J. B.: The use of pollen analysis in the reconstruction of past climates: a review, in: Climate and History, edite by: Wigley, T. M. L., Ingram, M. J., and Farmer, G., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 111–138, 1981. Birks, H. J. B.: Quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from Holocene biological data, in: Global Change in the Holocene, edited by: Mackay, A. W., Battarbee, R. W., Birks, H. J. B., and Oldfield, F., Arnold London, 342–357, 2003. Birks, H. J. B. and Seppä, H.: Pollen-based reconstructions of late-Quaternary climate in Europe – progress, problems, and pitfalls, Ac. Palaeobot., 44, 317–334, 2004. Birks, H. J. B., Heiri, O., Seppä, H., and Bjune, A. E.: Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative climate reconstructions based on Late-Quaternary biological proxies, Open Ecol. J., 3, 68–110, 2010. Bonny, A. P.: Recruitment of pollen to the seston and sediment of some lake district lakes, J. Ecol., 64, 859–887, 1976. Bonny, A. P.: The effect of pollen recruitment processes on pollen distribution over the sediment surface of a small lake in Cumbria, J. Ecol., 66, 385–416, 1978. Böhner, J.: Advancements and new approaches in climate spatial prediction and environmental modeling. Arbeitsberichte des Geographischen Institutes der Humboldt – Universität zu Berlin, 109, 49–90, 2005. Böhner, J.: General climatic controls and topoclimatic variations in Central and High Asia, Boreas, 35, 279–295, 2006. Böhner, J. and Antonic, O.: Land-surface parameters specific to Topo-Climatology, in: Geomorphometry: Concepts, Software, Applications, edited by: Hengl, T. and Reuter, H. I., Elsevier, Amsterdam, 195–226, 2008. Borström, A., Nielsen, A. B., Gaillard, M. J., Hjelle, K., Mazier, F., Binney, H., Bunting, J., Fyfe, R., Meltsov, V., Poska, A., Räsänen, S., Soepboer, W., Stedingk, H., Suutari, H., and Sugita, S.: Pollen productivity estimates of key European plant taxa for quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: A review, Veg. Hist. Archaeobot., 17, 461–478, 2008. Broecker, W., Bond, G., Klas, M., Clark, E., and McManus, J.: Origin of the northern Atlantic Heinrich events, Clim. Dynam., 6, 265–273, 1992. Bronk Ramsey, C.: Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates, Radiocarbon, 51, 337–360, 2009. Bunting, M. J. and Middleton, R.: Modelling pollen dispersal and deposition using HUMPOL software: simulating wind roses and irregular lakes, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 134, 185–196, 2005. Chen, Y., Ni, J., and Herzschuh, U.: Quantifying modern biomes based on surface pollen data in China, Global Planet. Change, 74, 114–131, 2011. Cook, C. G., Jones, R. T., Langdon, P. G., Leng, M. J., and Zhang, E. L.: New insights on Late Quaternary Asian palaeomonsoon variability and the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum in southwestern China, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 808–820, 2011. Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S. J., Clausen, H. B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N. S., Hammer, C. U., Hvidgerg, C. S., Steffensen, J. P., Sveinbjornsdottir, A. E., Jouzel, J., and Bond, G.: Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record, Nature, 364, 218–220, 1993. Davidson, T. A., Sayer, C. D., Langdon, P. G., Burgess, A., and Jackson, M.: Inferring past zooplanktivorous fish and macrophyte density: Application of a new regression tree model, Freshwater Biol., 55, 584–599, 2010a. Davidson, T. A., Sayer, C. D., Perrow, M., Bramm, M., and Jeppesen, E.: The simultaneous inference of zooplanktivorous fish and macrophyte density from sub-fossil cladoceran assemblages: A multivariate regression tree approach, Freshwater Biol., 55, 546–564, 2010b. Davis, M. B.: On the theory of pollen analysis, Am. J. Sci., 261, 897–912, 1963. Davis, M. B.: Pollen accumulation rates at Rogers Lake, Connecticut during late- and post-Glacial time, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 2, 219–230, 1967. Davis, M. B.: Pollen grains in lake sediments: redeposition caused by seasonal water circulation, Science, 162, 796–799, 1968. Davis, M. B.: Redeposition of pollen grains in lake sediment, Limno. Oceanogr., 18, 44–52, 1973. De'ath, G.: Multivariate regression trees: A new technique for modeling species – environment relationships, Ecology, 83, 1105–1117, 2002. Debusk, G. H.: The distribution of pollen in the surface sediments of Lake Mala\^wi, Africa, and the transport of pollen in large lakes, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 97, 123–153, 1997. Dietze, E., Wünnemann, B., Diekmann, B., Aichner, B., Hartmann, K., Herzschuh, U., Ijmker, J., Jin, H., Kopsch, C., Lehmkuhl, F., Li, S. J., Mischke, S., Niessen, F., Opitz, S., Stauch, G., and Yang, S.: Basin morphology and seismic stratigraphy of Lake Donggi Cona, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, China, Quaternary Int., 218, 131–142, 2010. Fægri, K. and Iversen, J.: Textbook of Pollen Analysis, 4th edition. The Blackwell Press, New Jersey, 69–89, 1989. Fleitmann, D., Burns, S. J., Mangini, A., Mudelsee, M., Kramers, J., Villa, I., Neff, U., Al-Subbary, A. A., Buettner, A., Hippler, D., and Matter, A.: Holocene ITCZ and Indian monsoon dynamics recorded in stalagmites from Oman and Yemen (Socotra), Quaternary Sci. Rev., 26, 170–188, 2007. Gasse, F., Arnold, M., Fontes, J. C., Fort, M., Gibert, E., Huc, A., Li, B. Y., Li, Y. F., Liu, Q., Melieres, M., Campo, E. V., Wang, F. B., and Zhang, Q. S.: A 13000-year climate record from western Tibet, Nature, 353, 742–745, 1991. Giesecke, T. and Fontana, S. L.: Revisiting pollen accumulation rates from Swedish lake sediments, The Holocene, 18, 293–305, 2008. Gregory, P. H.: The Microbiology of the Atmosphere, 2nd Edn., Leonard Hill, Aylesbury, 1973. Goring, S., Lacourse, T., Pellatt, M. G., Walker, I. R., and Mathewes, R. W.: Are pollen-based climate models improved by combining surface samples from soil and lacustrine substrates?, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 162, 203–212, 2010. Grimm, E. C.: TGView Version 2.0.2. Illinois State Museum, Springfield, 2004. Henderson, A. C. G., Holmes, J. A., and Leng, M. J.: Late Holocene isotope hydrology of Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau: Effective moisture variability and atmospheric circulation changes, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 29, 2215–2223, 2010. Herzschuh, U.: Palaeo-moisture evolution in monsoonal Central Asia during the last 50,000 years, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 25, 163–178, 2006. Herzschuh, U., Kramer, A., Mischke, S., and Zhang, C. J.: Quantitative climate and vegetation trends since the late glacial on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau deduced from Koucha lake pollen spectra, Quaternary Res., 71, 162–171, 2009. Herzschuh, U., Birks, H. J. B., Mischke, S., Zhang, C., and Böhner, J.: A modern pollen-climate calibration set based on lake sediments from the Tibetan Plateau and its application to a Late Quaternary pollen record from the Qilian Mountains, J. Biogeogr., 37, 752–766, 2010. Herzschuh, U., Ni, J., Birks, H. J. B., and Böhner, J.: Driving forces of mid-Holocene vegetation shifts on the upper Tibetan Plateau, with emphasis on changes in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrationsm Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 1907–1917, 2011. Hill, M. O. and Gauch, H. G.: Detrended correspondence analysis: An improved ordination technique, Vegetatio, 42, 41–58, 1980. Hong, Y. T., Hong, B., Lin, Q. H., Shibata, Y., Hirota, M., Zhu, Y. X., Leng, X. T., Wang, Y., Wang, H., and Yi, L.: Inverse phase oscillations between the East Asian and Indian Ocean summer monsoons during the last 12000 years and paleo-El Nino, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 231, 337–346, 2005. Huang, X. Z., Zhao, Y., Cheng, B., Chen, F. H., and Xu, J. R.: Modern pollen analysis of the surface sediments from the Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, China, J. Glaciol. Geocryol., 26, 602–609, 2004 (in Chinese with English abstract). IJmker, J. M., Stauch, G., Pötsch, S., Diekmann, B., Wünnemann, B., and Lehmkuhl, F.: Dry periods on the NE Tibetan Plateau during the late Quaternary, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 346–347, 108–119, 2012. Jacobson, G. L. J. and Bradshaw, R. H. W.: The selection of sites for paleovegetational studies, Quaternary Res., 16, 80–96, 1981. Janssen, C. R.: Recent pollen spectra from the deciduous and coniferous-deciduous forests of Northeastern Minnesota: A study in pollen dispersal, Ecology, 47, 804–825, 1966. Janssen, C. R.: Local and regional pollen deposition, in: Quaternary Plant Ecology, edited by: Birks, H. J. B. and West, R. G., Blackwell Oxford, 31–42, 1973. Jiang, Q. F., Ji, J. F., Shen, J., Matsumoto, R., Tong, G. B., Qian, P., Ren, X. M., and Yan, D. Z.: Holocene vegetational and climatic variation in westerly-dominated areas of Central Asia inferred from the Sayram Lake in northern Xinjiang, China. Sci. China Earth Sci., 56, 339–353, 2013. Juggins, S.: User guide C2 – a program for analysing and visualising palaeoenvironmental data, Department of Geography, University of Newcastle, UK, 2003. Kramer, A., Herzschuh, U., Mischke, S., and Zhang, C. J.: Late glacial vegetation and climate oscillations on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau inferred from the Lake Naleng pollen profile, Quaternary Res., 73, 324–335, 2010a. Kramer, A., Herzschuh, U., Mischke, S., and Zhang, C.: Holocene tree-line shifts and monsoon variability in the Hengduan Mountains (southeastern Tibetan Plateau) implications from palynological investigations, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 286, 23–41, 2010b. Kürschner, H., Herzschuh, U., and Wagner, D.: Phytosociological studies in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau (NW China) –- A first contribution to the subalpine scrub and alpine meadow vegetation, Botanische Jahrbücher der Systematik, 126, 273–315, 2005. Laskar, J., Robutel, P., Joutel, F., Gastineau, M., Correia, A. C. M., and Levrard, B.: A long term numerical solution for the insolation quantities of the earth, Astron. Astrophys., 428, 261–285, 2004. Liu, K. B., Yao, Z. J., and Thompson, L. G.: A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Geology, 26, 135–138, 1998. Liu, X. Q., Dong, H. L., Yang, X. D., Herzschuh, U., Zheng, E. L., Stuut, J. W., and Wang, Y. B.: Late Holocene forcing of the Asian winter and summer monsoon as evidenced by proxy records from the northern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 280, 276–284, 2009. Lu, H. Y., Wu, N. Q., Liu, K. B., Zhu, L. P., Yang, X. D., Yao, T. D., Wang, L., Li, Q., Liu, X. Q., Shen, C. M., Li, X. Q., Tong, G. B., and Jiang, H.: Modern pollen distributions in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the development of transfer functions for reconstructing Holocene environmental changes, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 947–966, 2011. Lu, X. M., Herrmann, M., Mosbrugger, V., Yao, T. D., and Zhu, L. P.: Airborne pollen in the Nam Co Basin and its implication for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 163, 104–112, 2010. Luly, J. G.: Modern pollen dynamics and surficial sedimentary processes at Lake Tyrrell, semi-arid northwestern Victoria, Australia, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 97, 301–318, 1997. Mischke, S., Herzschuh, U., Massmann, G., and Zhang, C. J.: An ostracod-conductivity transfer function for Tibetan lakes, J. Paleolimnol., 38, 509–524, 2007. Mischke, S., Kramer, M., Zhang, C., Shang, H., Herzschuh, U., and Erzinger, J.: Reduced early Holocene moisture availability in the Bayan Har Mountains, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, inferred from a multi-proxy lake record, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 267, 59–76, 2008. Mischke, S., Zhang, C., Börner, A., and Herzschuh, U.: Lateglacial and Holocene variation in aeolian sediment flux over the northeastern Tibetan Plateau recorded by laminated sediments of a saline meromictic lake, J. Quaternary Sci., 25, 162–177, 2009. Mischke, S., Bößneck, U., Diekmann, B., Herzschuh, U., Jin, H. J., Kramer, A., Wünnemann, B., and Zhang, C.J.: Quantitative relationship between water-depth and sub-fossil ostracod assemblages in Lake Donggi Cona, Qinghai Province, China, J. Paleolimn., 32, 589–608, 2010a. Mischke, S., Aichner, B., Diekmann, B., Herzschuh, U., Plessen, B., Wünnemann, B., and Zhang, C. J.: Ostracods and stable isotopes of a late glacial and Holocene lake record from the NE Tibetan Plateau, Chem. Geol., 276, 95–103, 2010b. Moore, P. D., Webb, J. A., and Collinson, M. E.: Pollen Analysis, 2nd edition. Blackwell Science, Oxford, 1991. Morrill, C., Overpeck, J. T., and Cole, J. E.: A synthesis of abrupt changes in the Asian summer monsoon since the last deglaciation, The Holocene, 13, 465–467, 2003. Morrill, C., Overpeck, J. T., Cole, J. E., Liu, K. B., Shen, C. M., and Tang, L. Y.: Holocene variations in the Asian monsoon inferred from the geochemistry of lake sediments in central Tibet, Quaternary Res., 65, 232–243, 2006. Ni, J., Yu, G., Harrison, S. P., and Prentice, I. C.: Palaeovegetation in China during the late Quaternary: biome reconstructions based on a global scheme of plant functional types, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 289, 44–61, 2010. Oksanen, J., Kindt, R., Legendre, P., O'Hara, B., Simpson, G. L., Solymos, P., Stevens, M. H. H., and Wagner, H.: Vegan: community ecology package, R package version1, 15–1, 2008. Opitz, S., Wünnemann, B., Aichner, B., Dietze, E., Hartmann, K., Herzschuh, U., Ijmker, J., Lehmkuhl, F., Li, S. J., Mischke, S., Plotzki, A., Stauch, G., and Diekmann, B.: Late Glacial and Holocene development of Lake Donggi Cona, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, inferred from sedimentological analysis, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 337–338, 159–176, 2012. Overpeck, J., Anderson, D., Trumbore, S., and Prell, W.: The southwest Indian Monsoon over the last 18000 years, Clim. Dynam., 12, 213–225, 1996. Paillard, D., Labeyrie, L., and Yiou, P.: Macintosh program performs time-series analysis, EOS Transactions AGU 77, 379, 1996. Parsons, P. W. and Prentice, I. C.: Statistical approaches to R-values and the pollen-vegetation relationship, Rev. Paleobot. Palyno., 31, 127–152, 1981. Pennington, W.: Seston and sediment formation in 5 lake district lake, J. Ecol., 61, 215–251, 1974. Peres-Neto, P. and Jackson, D.: How well do multivariate data sets match? The advantages of a Procrustean superimposition approach over the Mantel test, Oecologia, 129, 169–178, 2001. Prentice, I. C.: Pollen representation, source area, and basin size: toward a unified theory of pollen analysis, Quaternary Res., 23, 76–86, 1985. Prentice, I. C.: Quantitative forest-composition sensing characteristics of pollen samples from Swedish lakes, Boreas, 16, 43–54, 1987. R Development Core Team: R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, 2008. Reimer, P. J., Baillie, M. G. L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J. W., Blackwell, P. G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Buck, C. E., Burr, G. S., Edwards, R. L., Friedrich, M., Grootes, P. M., Guilderson, T. P., Hajdas, I., Heaton, T. J., Hogg, A. G., Hughen, K. A., Kaiser, K. F., Kromer, B., McCormac, F. G., Manning, S. W., Reimer, R. W., Richards, D. A., Southon, J. R., Talamo, S., Turney, C. S. M., van der Plicht, J., and Weyhenmeyer, C. E.: IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP, Radiocarbon, 51, 1111–1150, 2009. Salonen, J. S., Seppae, H., Luoto, M., Bjune, A. E., and Birks, H. J. B.: A Northern European pollen-climate calibration set: analyzing the climate responses of a biological proxy using regression tree methods, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 45, 95–110, 2012. Schlütz, F. and Lehmkuhl, F.: Holocene climatic change and the nomadic Anthropocene in Eastern Tibet: palynological and geomorphological results from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 28, 1449–1471, 2009. Schwartz, M. W.: Predicting tree frequencies from pollen frequency: An attempt to validate the R value method, New Phytol., 112, 129–143, 1989. Shan, F. S., Kong, Z. C., and Du, N. Q.: Palaeovegetation and environmental changes, in: Physical Environment of Hoh Xil Region, Qinghai, edited by: Li, B. Y., Science Press, Beijing, 197–206, 1996. Shen, J., Liu, X. Q., Wang, S. M., and Matsumoto, R.: Palaeoclimatic changes in the Qinghai Lake area during the last 18,000 years, Quaternary Int., 136, 131–140, 2005. Shen, C. M., Liu, K. B., Tang, L. Y., and Overpeck, J. T.: Quantitative relationships between modern pollen rain and climate in the Tibetan Plateau, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 140, 61–77, 2006. Soria-Auza, R. W., Kessler, M., Bach, K., Barajas-Barbosa, P. M., Lehnert, M., Herzog, S. K., and Böhner, J.: Impact of the quality of climate models for modelling species occurrences in countries with poor climatic documentation: a case study from Bolivia, Ecol. Model., 221, 1221–1229, 2010. Stauch, G., IJmker, J., Pötsch, S., Zhao, Y., Hilgers, A., Diekmann, B., Dieter, E., Hartmann, K., Opity, S., Wünnemann, B., and Lehmkuhl, F.: Aeolian Sediments on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 4, 71–84, 2012. Sugita, S.: A model of pollen source area for an entire lake surface, Quaternary Res., 39, 239–244, 1993. Sugita, S.: Pollen representation of vegetation in Quaternary sediments: Theory and method in patchy vegetation, J. Ecol., 82, 881–897, 1994. Sun, X. J. and Wu, Y. S.: Distribution and quantity of sporopollen and algae in surface sediments of the Dianchi Lake, Yunnan Province, Mar. Geol. Quaternary Geol., 17, 81–92, 1987 (in Chinese with English abstract). Tang, L. Y., Shen, C. M., Liu, K. B., Yu, S. Y., and Li, C. H.: Climatic changes in southeast Tibet since LGM: Evidences from Pollen records, Sci. China Ser. D: Earth Sciences, 34, 436–442, 2004 (in Chinese). Tauber, H.: Differential pollen dispersion and the interpretation of pollen diagrams, Danmarks Geologiske Undersoegelse, Raekke 2, 1–69, 1965. Tauber, H.: Investigations of aerial pollen transport in a forested area, Dansk Botanisk Arkiv, 32, 1–121, 1977. ter Braak, C. J. F. and Šmilauer, P.: CANOCO for Windows 4.5, Biometrics, the Netherlands, 2002. Thompson, L. G., Yao, T. D., Davis, M. E., Henderson, K. A., Mosley-Thompson, E., Lin, P. N., Beer, J., Synal, H. A., Cole-Dai, J., and Bolzan, J. F.: Tropical climate instability: the last glacial cycle from a Qinghai-Tibetan Ice Core, Science, 276, 1821–1825, 1997. Van Campo, E., Cour, P., and Hang, S. X.: Holocene environmental changes in Bangong Co basin (Western Tibet). Part 2: The pollen record, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 120, 49–63, 1996. Vandenberghe, J., Renssen, H., Huissteden, K., Nugteren, G., Konert, M., Lu, H. Y., Dodonov, A., and Buylaert, J.-P.: Penetration of Atlantic westerly winds into Central and East Asia, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 25, 2380–2389, 2006. Wang, F. X., Chen, N., Zhang, Y., and Yang, H.: Pollen flora of China, Science Press, Beijing, 1997 (in Chinese). Wang, S. M. and Dou, H. S. (chief Eds.): Lakes in China, Science Press, Beijing, 1998. Wang, W. Y., Wang, Q. J., Li, S. X., and Wang, G.: Distribution and species diversity of plant communities along transect on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, Biodivers. Conserv., 15, 1811–1828, 2006. Wang, Y. J., Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., He, Y. Q., Kong, X. G., An, Z. S., Wu, J. Y., Kelly, M. J., Dykoski, C. A., and Li, X. D.: The Holocene Asian Monsoon links to Solar changes and North Atlantic Climate, Science, 308, 854–857, 2005. Wang, Y. B., Liu, X. Q., and Herzschuh, U.: Asynchronous evolution of the Indian and East Asian Summer Monsoon indicated by Holocene moisture patterns in monsoonal central Asia, Earth-Sci. Rev., 103, 135–153, 2010. Wang, Y. B., Liu, X. Q., Mischke, S., and Herzschuh, U.: Environmental constraints on lake sediment mineral compositions from the Tibetan Plateau and implications for palaeoenvironment reconstruction, J. Paleolimn., 47, 71–85, 2012. Wischnewski, J., Mischke, S., Wang, Y. B., Herzschuh, U.: Reconstructing climate variability on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau since the last Late glacial – a multi-proxy, dual-site approach comparing terrestrial and aquatic signals, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 30, 82–97, 2011. Xu, Q. H., Li, Y. C., Yang, X. L., Xiao, J. L., Liang, W. D., and Peng, Y. J.: Source and distribution of pollen in the surface sediment of Daihai Lake, inner Mongolia, Quaternary Int., 136, 33–45, 2005. Xu, Q. H., Xiao, J. L., Li, Y. C., Tian, F., and Nakagawa, T.: Pollen-based quantitative reconstruction of Holocene climate changes in the Daihai Lake area, inner Mongolia, China, J. Climate, 23, 2856–2868, 2010a. Xu, Q. H., Li, Y. C., Bunting, M. J., Tian, F., and Liu, J. S.: The effects of training set selection on the relationship between pollen assemblages and climate parameters: Implications for reconstructing past climate, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 289, 123–133, 2010b. Yan, G., Wang, F. B., Shi, G. R., and Li, S. F.: Palynological and stable isotopic study of palaeo-environmental changes on the northeastern Tibetan plateau in the last 30,000 years, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 153, 147–159, 1999. Yu, G., Prentice, I. C., Harrison, S. P., and Sun, X. J.: Pollen-based biome reconstructions for China at 0 and 6000 years, J. Biogeogr., 25, 1055–1069, 1998. Yu, G., Tang, L. Y., Yang, X. D., Ke, X. K., and Harrison, S. P.: Modern pollen samples from alpine vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 10, 503–519, 2001. Zhang, C. J. and Mischke, S.: A Late glacial and Holocene lake record from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains and inferences of lake, glacier and climate evolution on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 28, 1970–1983, 2009. Zhao, Y., Yu, Z. C., Chen, F. H., Zhang, J. W., and Yang, B.: Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in monsoon-influenced region of China, Earth-Sci. Rev., 97, 242–256, 2009a. Zhao, Y., Xu, Q. H., Huang, X. Z., Guo, X. L., and Tao, S. C.: Differences of modern pollen assemblages from lake sediments and surface soils in arid and semi-arid China and their significance for pollen-based quantitative climate reconstruction, Rev. Palaeobot. Palyno., 156, 519–524, 2009b. Zhu, Y., Chen, F. H., and Madsen, D.: The environmental signal of an early Holocene pollen record from the Shiyang River basin lake sediments, NW China, Chinese Sci. Bull., 47, 267–273, 2002. Zuur, A. F., Leno, E. N., and Smith, G. M.: Analysing Ecological Data, Springer, New York, 2009.