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Li SF, Valdes PJ, Farnsworth A, Davies-Barnard T, Su T, Lunt DJ, Spicer RA, Liu J, Deng WYD, Huang J, Tang H, Ridgwell A, Chen LL, Zhou ZK. Orographic evolution of northern Tibet shaped vegetation and plant diversity in eastern Asia. Sci Adv 2021; 7:eabc7741. [PMID: 33571113 PMCID: PMC7840128 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc7741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The growth of the Tibetan Plateau throughout the past 66 million years has profoundly affected the Asian climate, but how this unparalleled orogenesis might have driven vegetation and plant diversity changes in eastern Asia is poorly understood. We approach this question by integrating modeling results and fossil data. We show that growth of north and northeastern Tibet affects vegetation and, crucially, plant diversity in eastern Asia by altering the monsoon system. This northern Tibetan orographic change induces a precipitation increase, especially in the dry (winter) season, resulting in a transition from deciduous broadleaf vegetation to evergreen broadleaf vegetation and plant diversity increases across southeastern Asia. Further quantifying the complexity of Tibetan orographic change is critical for understanding the finer details of Asian vegetation and plant diversity evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Feng Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China.
- Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Paul J Valdes
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Alex Farnsworth
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - T Davies-Barnard
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- College of Engineering, Maths, and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
| | - Tao Su
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
- Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
| | - Daniel J Lunt
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Robert A Spicer
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
- School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
| | - Jia Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
| | - Wei-Yu-Dong Deng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jian Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
| | - He Tang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Andy Ridgwell
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Lin-Lin Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhe-Kun Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, China.
- Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Biodiversity, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, China
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