Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data
To reconstruct past vegetation from pollen or, more recently, lake sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) data is a common goal in palaeoecology. To overcome the bias of a researcher’s subjective assessment and to assign past assemblages to modern vegetation types quantitatively, the modern analogue technique (MA...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-05-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.668611/full |
| _version_ | 1818945744964419584 |
|---|---|
| author | Sisi Liu Sisi Liu Kai Li Kai Li Weihan Jia Kathleen Rosmarie Stoof-Leichsenring Xingqi Liu Xianyong Cao Ulrike Herzschuh Ulrike Herzschuh Ulrike Herzschuh |
| author_facet | Sisi Liu Sisi Liu Kai Li Kai Li Weihan Jia Kathleen Rosmarie Stoof-Leichsenring Xingqi Liu Xianyong Cao Ulrike Herzschuh Ulrike Herzschuh Ulrike Herzschuh |
| author_sort | Sisi Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To reconstruct past vegetation from pollen or, more recently, lake sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) data is a common goal in palaeoecology. To overcome the bias of a researcher’s subjective assessment and to assign past assemblages to modern vegetation types quantitatively, the modern analogue technique (MAT) is often used for vegetation reconstruction. However, a rigorous comparison of MAT-derived pollen-based and sedDNA-based vegetation reconstruction is lacking. Here, we assess the dissimilarity between modern taxa assemblages from lake surface-sediments and fossil taxa assemblages from four lake sediment cores from the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau and northern Siberia using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, ordination methods, and Procrustes analyses. Modern sedDNA samples from 190 lakes and pollen samples from 136 lakes were collected from a variety of vegetation types. Our results show that more modern analogues are found with sedDNA than pollen when applying similarly derived thresholds. In particular, there are few modern pollen analogues for open vegetation such as alpine or arctic tundra, limiting the ability of treeline shifts to be clearly reconstructed. In contrast, the shifts in the main vegetation communities are well captured by sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA). For example, pronounced shifts from late-glacial alpine meadow/steppe to early–mid-Holocene coniferous forests to late Holocene Tibetan shrubland vegetation types are reconstructed for Lake Naleng on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Procrustes and PROTEST analyses reveal that intertaxa relationships inferred from modern sedaDNA datasets align with past relationships generally, while intertaxa relationships derived from modern pollen spectra are mostly significantly different from fossil pollen relationships. Overall, we conclude that a quantitative sedaDNA-based vegetation reconstruction using MAT is more reliable than a pollen-based reconstruction, probably because of the more straightforward taphonomy that can relate sedDNA assemblages to the vegetation surrounding the lake. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:03:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-328ae99f7eda49f094ff741d2cca9e4d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T08:03:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-328ae99f7eda49f094ff741d2cca9e4d2022-12-21T19:47:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2021-05-01910.3389/fevo.2021.668611668611Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen DataSisi Liu0Sisi Liu1Kai Li2Kai Li3Weihan Jia4Kathleen Rosmarie Stoof-Leichsenring5Xingqi Liu6Xianyong Cao7Ulrike Herzschuh8Ulrike Herzschuh9Ulrike Herzschuh10Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Potsdam, GermanyInstitute of Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, GermanyAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Potsdam, GermanyCollege of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, ChinaAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Potsdam, GermanyAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Potsdam, GermanyCollege of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing, ChinaAlpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA) Group, State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science (LATPES), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaAlfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems, Potsdam, GermanyInstitute of Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, GermanyInstitute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, GermanyTo reconstruct past vegetation from pollen or, more recently, lake sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) data is a common goal in palaeoecology. To overcome the bias of a researcher’s subjective assessment and to assign past assemblages to modern vegetation types quantitatively, the modern analogue technique (MAT) is often used for vegetation reconstruction. However, a rigorous comparison of MAT-derived pollen-based and sedDNA-based vegetation reconstruction is lacking. Here, we assess the dissimilarity between modern taxa assemblages from lake surface-sediments and fossil taxa assemblages from four lake sediment cores from the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau and northern Siberia using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, ordination methods, and Procrustes analyses. Modern sedDNA samples from 190 lakes and pollen samples from 136 lakes were collected from a variety of vegetation types. Our results show that more modern analogues are found with sedDNA than pollen when applying similarly derived thresholds. In particular, there are few modern pollen analogues for open vegetation such as alpine or arctic tundra, limiting the ability of treeline shifts to be clearly reconstructed. In contrast, the shifts in the main vegetation communities are well captured by sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA). For example, pronounced shifts from late-glacial alpine meadow/steppe to early–mid-Holocene coniferous forests to late Holocene Tibetan shrubland vegetation types are reconstructed for Lake Naleng on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Procrustes and PROTEST analyses reveal that intertaxa relationships inferred from modern sedaDNA datasets align with past relationships generally, while intertaxa relationships derived from modern pollen spectra are mostly significantly different from fossil pollen relationships. Overall, we conclude that a quantitative sedaDNA-based vegetation reconstruction using MAT is more reliable than a pollen-based reconstruction, probably because of the more straightforward taphonomy that can relate sedDNA assemblages to the vegetation surrounding the lake.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.668611/fullvegetation reconstructionplant sedimentary (ancient) DNA metabarcodingpollenanalogue matchingLate GlacialHolocene |
| spellingShingle | Sisi Liu Sisi Liu Kai Li Kai Li Weihan Jia Kathleen Rosmarie Stoof-Leichsenring Xingqi Liu Xianyong Cao Ulrike Herzschuh Ulrike Herzschuh Ulrike Herzschuh Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution vegetation reconstruction plant sedimentary (ancient) DNA metabarcoding pollen analogue matching Late Glacial Holocene |
| title | Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data |
| title_full | Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data |
| title_fullStr | Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data |
| title_short | Vegetation Reconstruction From Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau Using Modern Analogue Technique–Comparing Sedimentary (Ancient) DNA and Pollen Data |
| title_sort | vegetation reconstruction from siberia and the tibetan plateau using modern analogue technique comparing sedimentary ancient dna and pollen data |
| topic | vegetation reconstruction plant sedimentary (ancient) DNA metabarcoding pollen analogue matching Late Glacial Holocene |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.668611/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sisiliu vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT sisiliu vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT kaili vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT kaili vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT weihanjia vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT kathleenrosmariestoofleichsenring vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT xingqiliu vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT xianyongcao vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT ulrikeherzschuh vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT ulrikeherzschuh vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata AT ulrikeherzschuh vegetationreconstructionfromsiberiaandthetibetanplateauusingmodernanaloguetechniquecomparingsedimentaryancientdnaandpollendata |