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Plant Diversity Changes During the Middle Miocene in the Lunpola Basin, Tibetan Plateau
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DOI：10.3390/d18030187.png)
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Abstract
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The Tibetan Plateau (TP) experienced significant climatic transitions and tectonic uplift during the Middle Miocene. Little is known about plant diversity changes and their relationship with climatic and tectonic processes in spite of extensive reconstructions of vegetation change over this period. Based on palynological assemblages spanning similar to 15-12 Ma from the Lunpola Basin, we quantitatively reconstruct the evolution of plant diversity around the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (MMCT) in the central TP. Plant taxa richness and evenness of three groups of tree, shrub and herb, and pteridophyte are estimated using Hill numbers methods. Three distinct diversity phases are identified. From similar to 15 to 14.2 Ma, plant richness gradually increased while evenness decreased, possibly due to the development of vertical vegetation zones driven by the uplift of the central TP. From similar to 14.2 to 13.8 Ma, richness dropped sharply in response to rapid climatic deterioration in the MMCT. From similar to 13.8 to 12 Ma, both richness and evenness increased under fluctuations, associated with paleo-lake shrinkage and expansion of lakeside wetlands caused by persistent plateau uplift and climatic aridification. Long-term changes in plant diversity within the Lunpola Basin were influenced by global climate changes, the uplift of central TP, and regional hydrological dynamics during the Middle Miocene. Our findings provide paleoecological insights into the coevolution of TP growth, climate change, hydrological process, and biodiversity of alpine ecosystem.
Keywords:
Tibetan Plateau
Lunpola Basin
Middle Miocene
pollen and spores
Hill numbers
plant diversity
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