Palynological analysis of the Late-Holocene vegetation and climate of Ganli-Gol wetland near Urmia, northwestern Iran

Document Type : Scientific article

Authors

1 M.Sc. Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

2 Assistant Prof., Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

3 Associate Prof., Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

4 استاد، گروه پالئواکولوژی و مطالعات تورب‌زار، انستیتو گیاه‌شناسی و اکولوژی زمین‌سیما، دانشگاه گرایفسوالد، گرایفسوالد، آلمان

Abstract

Palynologial analysis of a core from Ganli-Gol wetland reveals the Late-Holocene vegetation dynamics and the role of climate and man on the past environment in northwestern Iran. Our pollen diagram shows substantial changes in vegetation over the period 3000-1600cal.BP. Artemisia and/or Chenopodiaceae must have abundantly contributed in the vegetation composition of the area. Poaceae and Cyperaceae were important wetland vegetation as the high values of their pollen suggest. The low values of arboreal pollen throughout the record indicate the negligible contribution of forest vegetation over the whole period. We used C/A (Chenopodiaceae/Artemisia) pollen ratio, to estimate the past dry/wet periods in the area. During 3000-2850cal.BP, a relatively dry climate and the expansion of steppe vegetation can be inferred from low values of C/A. Increased values of Artemisia with the occurrence of oak during 2850-2652cal.BP may reflect less drier condition with semi-steppe vegetation. The end of this period is marked by low values of Quercus and Artemisia and high Chenopodiaceae, suggesting the prevalence of a cold and dry condition with steppe-desert vegetation. Increased values of Quercus combined with high values of Artemisia and Poaceae could be taken as indications for improved climatic condition during 2338-2020cal.BP. The occurrence of Vitis and relatively high values of anthropogenic pollen types, e.g. Plantago lanceolata and Centaurea solstitialis, are evidences for increased agricultural activity in this period. The period 2020-1614cal.BP is marked by low values of Quercus and Artemisia and high Chenopodiaceae pollen suggesting that steppe vegetation and a relatively arid condition prevailed in the area.

Keywords

References

- Akhani, H., 2004. Halophytic vegetation of Iran: towards a syntaxonomical classification. Annali di botanica, 4: 65-82.
- Akhani, H. and Ghorbanli, M., 1993. A contribution to the halophytic vegetation and flora of Iran: 35-44. In: Lieth, H. and AL Masoom, A. (Eds.). Towards the Rational Use of High Salinity Tolerant Plants. Springer Netherlands, 519p.
- Beug, H.J., 2004. Leitfaden der Pollen bestimmung für Mitteleuropa und Angrenzende Gebiete. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil Publication, Germany, 542p.
- Bottema, S., 1986. A late Quaternary pollen diagram from Lake Urmia (northwestern Iran). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 47: 241-261.
- Bradley, R.S., 1999. Paleoclimatology: Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary. International Geophysics Series, Academic Press, San Diego, 613p.
- Connor, S.E., Thomas, I. and Kvavadze, E.V., 2007. A 5600-yr history of changing vegetation, sea levels and human impacts from the Black Sea coast of Georgia. The Holocene, 17: 25-36.
- de Klerk, P., Haberl, A., Kaffke, A., Krebs, M., Matchutadze, I., Minke, M., Schulz, J. and Joosten, H., 2009. Vegetation history and environmental development since ca 6000 cal yr BP in and around Ispani 2 (Kolkheti lowlands, Georgia). Quaternary Science Reviews, 28(9-10): 890-910.
- Djamali, M., de Beaulieu, J.L., Andrieu-Ponel, V., Berberian, M., Miller, N., Gandouin, E., Lahijani, H., Shah Hosseini, M., Ponel, Ph., Salimian, M. and Guiter, F., 2009a. A late Holocene pollen record from Lake Almalou in NW Iran: evidence for changing landuse in relation to some historical events during the last 3700 years. Journal of Archaeological Science, 367: 1346-1375.
- Djamali, M., de Beaulieu, J.L., Miller, N., Andrieu-Ponel, V., Lak, R., Sadeddin, M., Akhani, H. and Fazeli, H., 2009b. Vegetation history of the SE section of Zagros mountains during the last five millennia; a pollen record from the Maharlou Lake, Fars province, Iran. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 18: 123-136.
- Djamali, M., de Beaulieu, J.L., Shah Hosseini, M., Andrieu-Ponel, V., Amini, A., Akhani, H., Leroy, S.A.G., Stevens, L., Alizadeh, H., Ponel, P. and Brewer, S., 2008. A late Pleistocene long pollen record from Lake Urmia, NW Iran. Quaternary Research, 69: 413-420.
- El Moslimany, A.P., 1990. Ecological significance of common non-arboreal pollen: examples from drylands of the Middle East. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 64: 343-350.
- Fægri, K. and Iversen, J., 1989. Textbook of Pollen Analysis. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 328p.
- Finné, M., Holmgren, K., Sundqvist, H.S., Weiberg, E. and Lindblom, M., 2011. Climate in the eastern Mediterranean, and adjacent regions, during the past 6000 years, a review. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38: 3153-3173.
- Gholipour, A. and Sonboli, A., 2013. Rediscovery of Acorus calamus (Acoraceae) in Iran. Taxonomy and Biosystematics Journal, 15: 113-116.
- Grimm, E.C., 2011. Tilia Software, ver. 1.7.16., Illinois State Museum.
- Joannin, S.A., Ali, A., Ollivier, V., Roiron, P., Peyron, O., Chevaux, S., Nahapetyan, S., Tozalakyan, P., Karakhanyan, A. and Chataigner, C., 2013. Vegetation, fire and climate history of the Lesser Caucasus: a new Holocene record from Zarishat fen (Armenia). Journal of Quaternary Science, 29: 70-82.
- Joosten, H. and de Klerk, P., 2002. What’s in a name? Some thoughts on pollen classification, identification, and nomenclature in quaternary palynology. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 122: 29-45.
- Khakpour Saeej, M., Ramezani, E., Siyab Ghodsy, A.A., Zare, H. and Joosten, H., 2013. Palynological reconstruction of 1500 years of vegetation history of Veisar (N Iran). Rostaniha, 14: 135-148 (In Persian).
- Moore, P.D., Webb, J.A. and Collinson, M.E., 1991. Pollen Analysis. Blackwell Science Publisher, Oxford, 216p.
- Mozaffarian, V., 2008. Compositae: Anthemideae and Echinopeae. In: Assadi, M., Maassoumi, A. and Mozaffarian, V. (Eds.). Flora of Iran. No. 59. Published by Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, 671p (In Persian).
- Neumann, F.H., Kagan, E.J., Schwab, M.J. and Stein, M., 2007. Palynology, sedimentology and palaeoecology of the late Holocene Dead Sea. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26: 1476-1498.
- Roberts, N., Eastwood, W., Kuzucuoglu, C., Fiorentino, G. and Caracuta, V., 2011. Climatic, vegetation and cultural change in the eastern Mediterranean during the mid- Holocene environmental transition. The Holocene, 21: 147-162.
- Shah Hosseini, M., 2003. Sedimentology of the Lake Urmia bottom sediments in the middle part of Shahid Kalantari Highway with a special reference to the source of sediments. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, 77p (In Persian).
- Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J. and Reimer, R.W., 2005. CALIB 5.0. [www program and documentation].
- Talebi, T., Ramezani, E., Djamali, M., Alizadeh, K.L.H., Naqinezhad, A., Alizadeh, K. and Andrieu-Ponel, V., 2016. The Late-Holocene climate change, vegetation dynamics, lake-level changes and anthropogenic impacts in the Lake Urmia region, NW Iran. Quaternary International, 408: 40-51.
- van Zeist, W., 2008. Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation at Zeribar. In: Wasylikowa, K. and Witkowski, A. (Eds.). The Palaeoecology of Lake Zaribar and Surrounding Areas, Western Iran, During the Last 48,000 Years. A.R.G Gantner Verlag K.G. Publisher, Ruggell, 377p.
- van Zeist, W. and Bottema, S., 1977. Palynological investigations in western Iran. Palaeohistoria, 19: 19-85.
- Wick, L., Lemcke, G. and Sturm, M., 2003. Evidence of Lateglacial and Holocene climatic change and human impact in eastern Anatolia: high-resolution pollen, charcoal, isotopic and geochemical records from the laminated sediments of Lake Van, Turkey. The Holocene, 13: 665-675.
- Zhao, Y., Liu, H., Li, F., Huang, X., Sun, J., Zhao, W., Herzschuh, U. and Tang, Y., 2012. Application and limitations of the Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae pollen ratio in arid and semi-arid China. The Holocene, 22: 1385-1392.
- Zohary, M., 1973. Geobotanical Foundations of the Middle East. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, UK, 765p.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics