Articles | Volume 18, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-7661-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-7661-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
21 Oct 2026
Data description article |
| 21 Oct 2026
| 21 Oct 2026
A paired marine-fluvial modern pollen dataset from the Bohai Sea and its inflowing rivers, China
Jie Li
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Siyuan Ye
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Xiangjun Meng
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Xiaohui Chen
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Xi Mei
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Maosheng Gao
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Qian Hao
Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Xianyong Cao
Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Bin Chen
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
Sangheon Yi
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Daejeon 305–350, Republic of Korea
Guangming Zhao
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey, Qingdao 266237, China
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EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3246, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3246, 2026
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Warming can push mountain forests into higher habitats, but these changes may differ between rivers in mountain range area. We studied four river corridors in the Hengduan Mountains to understand how treeline may shift by 2100. The results show that treeline may move both upward and sideways, with different patterns among rivers. This suggests that future risks to high mountain habitats should be assessed locally rather than from elevation change alone.
Mengna Liao, Kai Li, Yili Jin, Lina Liu, Xianyong Cao, and Jian Ni
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 5601–5613, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5601-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5601-2025, 2025
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We present a modern pollen dataset comprising 555 pollen count records from 307 sites across the Tibetan Plateau (28–40° N and 75–103° E). This open-access dataset has diverse potential applications in paleoecological and paleoclimatic research. It provides a scientific basis for reconstructing temporal changes in climate and vegetation, and enables the assessment of pollen assemblages' reliability in representing the dynamics of vegetation cover, plant diversity, and functional traits.
Fang Tian, Weiyu Cao, Xiaohan Liu, Zixin Liu, and Xianyong Cao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 5529–5542, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5529-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5529-2025, 2025
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We completed a modern pollen dataset obtained from 90 lakes from the Tibetan Plateau (TP), and integrated it with previous modern lacustrine pollen datasets. The comprehensive modern pollen dataset covers the full range of climatic gradients across the TP and all vegetation types. The modern pollen dataset has good predictive power in estimating net primary production and annual precipitation.
Chenzhi Li, Anne Dallmeyer, Jian Ni, Manuel Chevalier, Matteo Willeit, Andrei A. Andreev, Xianyong Cao, Laura Schild, Birgit Heim, Mareike Wieczorek, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Clim. Past, 21, 1001–1024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1001-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1001-2025, 2025
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We present global megabiome dynamics and distributions derived from pollen-based reconstructions over the last 21 000 years, which are suitable for the evaluation of Earth-system-model-based paleo-megabiome simulations. We identified strong deviations between pollen- and model-derived megabiome distributions in the circum-Arctic and Tibetan Plateau areas during the Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation and in northern Africa and the Mediterranean region during the Holocene.
Xiaohuan Hou, Nannan Wang, Zhe Sun, Kan Yuan, Xianyong Cao, and Juzhi Hou
Clim. Past, 20, 335–348, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-335-2024, 2024
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We present an ice-free season temperature based on brGDGTs over last 15 kyr on the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). The result shows that Holocene Thermal Maximum occurred during 8–3.5 ka, which lags behind pollen-based temperature recorded in same core, indicating a significant seasonal bias between different proxies. We also investigated previously published brGDGT-based temperatures on the TP to determine the pattern of Holocene temperature changes and possible reasons for the diverse records.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Manuel Chevalier, Raphaël Hébert, Anne Dallmeyer, Chenzhi Li, Xianyong Cao, Odile Peyron, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schlütz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, and Zhuo Zheng
Clim. Past, 19, 1481–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1481-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1481-2023, 2023
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A mismatch between model- and proxy-based Holocene climate change may partially originate from the poor spatial coverage of climate reconstructions. Here we investigate quantitative reconstructions of mean annual temperature and annual precipitation from 1908 pollen records in the Northern Hemisphere. Trends show strong latitudinal patterns and differ between (sub-)continents. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the global mean.
Ulrike Herzschuh, Thomas Böhmer, Chenzhi Li, Manuel Chevalier, Raphaël Hébert, Anne Dallmeyer, Xianyong Cao, Nancy H. Bigelow, Larisa Nazarova, Elena Y. Novenko, Jungjae Park, Odile Peyron, Natalia A. Rudaya, Frank Schlütz, Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh, Pavel E. Tarasov, Yongbo Wang, Ruilin Wen, Qinghai Xu, and Zhuo Zheng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2235–2258, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2235-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2235-2023, 2023
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Climate reconstruction from proxy data can help evaluate climate models. We present pollen-based reconstructions of mean July temperature, mean annual temperature, and annual precipitation from 2594 pollen records from the Northern Hemisphere, using three reconstruction methods (WA-PLS, WA-PLS_tailored, and MAT). Since no global or hemispheric synthesis of quantitative precipitation changes are available for the Holocene so far, this dataset will be of great value to the geoscientific community.
Manuel Chevalier, Anne Dallmeyer, Nils Weitzel, Chenzhi Li, Jean-Philippe Baudouin, Ulrike Herzschuh, Xianyong Cao, and Andreas Hense
Clim. Past, 19, 1043–1060, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1043-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1043-2023, 2023
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Data–data and data–model vegetation comparisons are commonly based on comparing single vegetation estimates. While this approach generates good results on average, reducing pollen assemblages to single single plant functional type (PFT) or biome estimates can oversimplify the vegetation signal. We propose using a multivariate metric, the Earth mover's distance (EMD), to include more details about the vegetation structure when performing such comparisons.
Furong Li, Marie-José Gaillard, Xianyong Cao, Ulrike Herzschuh, Shinya Sugita, Jian Ni, Yan Zhao, Chengbang An, Xiaozhong Huang, Yu Li, Hongyan Liu, Aizhi Sun, and Yifeng Yao
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 95–112, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-95-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-95-2023, 2023
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The objective of this study is present the first gridded and temporally continuous quantitative plant-cover reconstruction for temperate and northern subtropical China over the last 12 millennia. The reconstructions are based on 94 pollen records and include estimates for 27 plant taxa, 10 plant functional types, and 3 land-cover types. The dataset is suitable for palaeoclimate modelling and the evaluation of simulated past vegetation cover and anthropogenic land-cover change from models.
Nannan Wang, Lina Liu, Xiaohuan Hou, Yanrong Zhang, Haicheng Wei, and Xianyong Cao
Clim. Past, 18, 2381–2399, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2381-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2381-2022, 2022
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We reconstructed the vegetation and climate change since the last 14.2 ka BP from a fossil pollen record together with multiple proxies (grain size, contents of total organic carbon and total nitrogen) on the northeast Tibetan Plateau. The results reveal that an arid climate occurs in the early Holocene and the vegetation could be disturbed by human activities to some extent after ca. 0.24 ka BP (1710 CE).
Ulrike Herzschuh, Chenzhi Li, Thomas Böhmer, Alexander K. Postl, Birgit Heim, Andrei A. Andreev, Xianyong Cao, Mareike Wieczorek, and Jian Ni
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3213–3227, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3213-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3213-2022, 2022
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Pollen preserved in environmental archives such as lake sediments and bogs are extensively used for reconstructions of past vegetation and climate. Here we present LegacyPollen 1.0, a dataset of 2831 fossil pollen records from all over the globe that were collected from publicly available databases. We harmonized the names of the pollen taxa so that all datasets can be jointly investigated. LegacyPollen 1.0 is available as an open-access dataset.
Chenzhi Li, Alexander K. Postl, Thomas Böhmer, Xianyong Cao, Andrew M. Dolman, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1331–1343, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1331-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1331-2022, 2022
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Here we present a global chronology framework of 2831 palynological records, including globally harmonized chronologies covering up to 273 000 years. A comparison with the original chronologies reveals a major improvement according to our assessment. Our chronology framework and revised chronologies will interest a broad geoscientific community, as it provides the opportunity to make use in synthesis studies of, for example, pollen-based vegetation and climate change.
Xianzhang Dang, Maosheng Gao, Zhang Wen, Guohua Hou, Hamza Jakada, Daniel Ayejoto, and Qiming Sun
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1341–1356, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1341-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1341-2022, 2022
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Due to the widespread salinity in coastal zones, freshwater supplies are now under pressure. This study analyzes the recharge and salinity sources of coastal groundwater (brine, saline, brackish, fresh), as well as salinization and freshening processes, using hydrochemical and isotopic methods. The evolution of saline groundwater is studied using sedimentary characteristics as multiple lines of evidence. This study can be used to better understand groundwater evolution in the coastal zone.
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Short summary
To better read past landscape and climate changes from seafloor sediments, we built a paired record of plant pollen and spores from 430 Bohai Sea samples and 104 river samples from 16 rivers. The results show that pine pollen is more common in deeper, offshore areas, while grasses and salt-tolerant plants are more common near coasts and river mouths. This open dataset helps researchers judge how rivers, wind, and water depth shape the plant signals preserved in sea sediments.
To better read past landscape and climate changes from seafloor sediments, we built a paired...
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