Response of Different Altitude Vegetation to Climate Change in Taibai Mountain Alpine Zone during the Past about 2000 Years

Based on organic geochemical indicators of a lake-sediment profile from Western Foye Chi (3410 m), the study reconstructs the climate change of the Taibai Mountain alpine zone during the past about 2000 years. In order to explore the similarities and differences of vegetation response to the climate change at different altitudes in the alpine zone, pollen analysis of the profile was carried out, and cluster analysis was performed on the results in combination with the published pollen data of Paomaliang (3556 m), Sanqingchi (3080 m) and Fangxiangsi (3000 m) in Taibai Mountain. These analyses suggest that the responses of the vegetation to relatively cold and dry climate have good consistency at different altitudes, which is even more noticeablein the transition zone of timberline. Besides, along with the modern warming period, the responses of vegetation to climate change are mainly determined by the altitude. This study can provide some references for understanding the coupling rela-tionship between climate and vegetation of alpine environmental systems during the Late Holocene. © 2020 Peking University.