Palynological evidence reveals vegetation succession in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene

doi:10.1111/jse.13168

J Syst Evol ›› 2025, Vol. 63 ›› Issue (1): 53-61.DOI: 10.1111/jse.13168

• Research Article • Previous Articles Next Articles

Palynological evidence reveals vegetation succession in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene

Gan Xie¹, Jin‐Feng Li¹, Yi‐Feng Yao¹, Shi‐Qi Wang^2,3, Bin Sun¹, David K. Ferguson⁴, Cheng‐Sen Li¹, Min Li¹, Tao Deng^2,3*, and Yu‐Fei Wang^1,3*

¹Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
²Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
³University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
⁴Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Vienna A‐1090, Austria

^*Authors for correspondence. Yu‐Fei Wang. E‐mail: wangyf@ibcas.ac.cn; Tao Deng. E‐mail: dengtao@ivpp.ac.cn

Received:2024-11-01 Accepted:2025-01-10 Online:2025-03-03 Published:2025-01-01
Supported by:
This work is supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32000174, 42430207), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (2019QZKK0705), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFF0804501, 2022YFF0801502), and the CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (2022VBA0010).

Abstract

Abstract: The uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau shaped the landforms and influenced Asia's climate system and ecosystem. Vegetations on the Plateau are the first to be affected by the uplift history of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and related ecological impacts. However, original research on vegetation in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau remains limited. Here, we reconstructed the vegetation in the Lunpola Basin, central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 24.3 to 16 Ma based on pollen data from the Dingqinghu Formation. Pollen assemblages reveal a temperate mixed deciduous broad-leaved and coniferous forest around the Lunpola paleolake during the latest Oligocene to the Early Miocene. An obvious vegetation vertical zone existed near the Lunpola Basin. Dark coniferous forests grew in the highlands, thermophilous shrubs stayed in the lowlands. This work provides new and original data on plant composition and vegetation in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and enhances our understanding of the ecological impacts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift.

Key words: Early Miocene, Late Oligocene, Lunpola Basin, paleovegetation, pollen assemblage, Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau.

Gan Xie, Jin-Feng Li, Yi-Feng Yao, Shi-Qi Wang, Bin Sun, David K. Ferguson, Cheng-Sen Li, Min Li, Tao Deng, Yu-Fei Wang. Palynological evidence reveals vegetation succession in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene[J]. J Syst Evol, 2025, 63(1): 53-61.

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[2]	Xiang-Chuan Li, Steven R. Manchester, Qin Wang, Liang Xiao, Tian-Long Qi, Yun-Zhi Yao, Dong Ren, and Qiang Yang. A unique record of Cercis from the late early Miocene of interior Asia and its significance for paleoenvironments and paleophytogeography [J]. J Syst Evol, 2021, 59(6): 1321-1338.
[3]	Lu-Liang Huang, Jian-Hua Jin, Cheng Quan, and Alexei A. Oskolski. Mummified Magnoliaceae woods from the upper Oligocene of South China, with biogeography, paleoecology, and wood trait evolution implications [J]. J Syst Evol, 2020, 58(1): 89-100.

Palynological evidence reveals vegetation succession in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene

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