Fungal spore record of pastoralism on the NE Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau since the middle Holocene

Pastoralism is considered a crucial factor in the eventual year-round occupation of high-altitude regions (>3000 m asl) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (NE-QTP) was an important corridor for early human occupation. We analyzed fossil fungal spore records for the last 8500 years from a high resolution aeolian section at Langgeri (LGR) on the NE-QTP Thirty-two fungal spore types were identified in the LGR section, including seven coprophilous types. We combined analysis of coprophilous fungal spores, Cyperaceae, Artemisia, and Hippophae pollen, and the charcoal >50 µm fraction to explore the timing and controls of pastoralism on the NE-QTP since the middle Holocene. Pastoralism commenced at LGR shortly before ca. 5.5 ka and gradually increased between ca. 5.5–3.5 ka, but markedly intensified after ca. 2.2 ka, with three periods of growth at ca. 2.1–1.9,1.4–1.2, and 0.6–0 ka, and a decline at ca. 1.1–0.6 ka. The timing of changes in pastoral activity on the NE-QTP based on the coprophilous fungal spore record is supported by regional archeology and historical documents. Technological and political developments, rather than climate change, played key roles in the long-term fluctuations of regional pastoralism on the NE-QTP in the late Holocene.