Vegetation history of the Loess Plateau of China during the last 100,000 years based on pollen data

This paper summarizes the vegetation history of the past 100,000 years for the Loess Plateau, Central China. The report is primarily based on a recent pollen record from Weinan and on prior records from the Plateau. The pollen diagram of the loess-paleosol sequence at Weinan, in the southern part of the Plateau, displays a predominance of arid shrubs or herbs (Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae) alternating with abundant mesic herbs such as Cyperaceae, Ranuculaceae and Liliaceae indicating a succession of steppe and meadow-steppe environments during the past 100 ka. Forest vegetation developed in a few comparatively short time intervals: Ulmus forest at 95.1-90.7 ka; Corylus woodland at 25.0-21.1 ka, and Tsuga stand at 13.7-11.8 ka. Previously published pollen data with more-or-less reliable dates also indicates that there were different types of steppe vegetation dominating the last 100 ka. The present lack of forest on the Plateau has been explained by plant ecologists as being due to anthropogenic effects. However, in the context of the last 100 ka it appears that there are non-human factors which may have contributed to the treelessness of the Plateau, such as the free-draining nature of loess. Copyright (C) 1996 INQUA/Elsevier Science Ltd