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Indonesian vegetation response to changes in rainfall seasonality over the past 25,000 years

Nature Geoscience volume 7, pages 513–517 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

The hydrologic response to climate forcing in the Indo-Pacific warm pool region has varied spatially over the past 25,000 years1,2,3,4,5. For example, drier conditions are inferred on Java and Borneo for the period following the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, whereas wetter conditions are reconstructed for northwest Australia4. The response of vegetation to these past rainfall variations is poorly constrained. Using a suite of 30 surface marine sediment samples from throughout the Indo-Pacific warm pool, we demonstrate that today the stable isotopic composition of vascular plant fatty acids (δ13Cfa) reflects the regional vegetation composition. This in turn is controlled by the seasonality of rainfall consistent with dry season water stress6. Applying this proxy in a sediment core from offshore northeast Borneo, we show broadly similar vegetation cover during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene, suggesting that, despite generally drier glacial conditions1,7, there was no pronounced dry season. In contrast, δ13Cfa and pollen data from a core off the coast of Sumba indicate an expansion of C4 herbs during the most recent glaciation, implying enhanced aridity and water stress during the dry season. Holocene vegetation trends are also consistent with a response to dry season water stress. We therefore conclude that vegetation in tropical monsoon regions is susceptible to increases in water stress arising from an enhanced seasonality of rainfall, as has occurred8 in past decades.

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Figure 1: Histogram of mean monthly rainfall averaged over 1979–201026.
Figure 2: Distribution of the δ13C value of the C30n-alkanoic fatty acid (δ13Cfa) in surface sediments from the IPWP.
Figure 3: Coretop δ13Cfa versus precipitation data on nearby land26.
Figure 4: Downcore δ13Cfa compared to pollen data from core 69-3 and IPWP speleothem δ18O records.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NSF grants ABR-86074300 and OCE-1333387, and BMBF grant PABESIA. X. Philippon, C. Johnson, S. Sylva, D. Montluçon, K. A. Rose and A. Gorin provided invaluable technical assistance. W. Kuhnt generously shared Timor Sea core-top samples from cruise SO-185.

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  1. Nathalie Dubois

    Present address: Present address: Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

    Nathalie Dubois, Delia W. Oppo & Jessica E. Tierney

  2. Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

    Valier V. Galy

  3. MARUM–Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany

    Mahyar Mohtadi

  4. Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Centre for Palynology and Paleoecology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia

    Sander van der Kaars

  5. Department of Earth Sciences, Earth and Climate Cluster, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Sander van der Kaars

  6. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA

    Yair Rosenthal

  7. Department of Geology, Rutgers, The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA

    Yair Rosenthal

  8. ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

    Timothy I. Eglinton

  9. Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), 30655 Hannover, Germany

    Andreas Lückge

  10. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades New York 10694, USA

    Braddock K. Linsley

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Contributions

D.W.O. designed the study with input from all co-authors. ND generated the δ13Cfa data, with guidance from V.V.G., J.E.T. and T.I.E.. S.v.d.K. generated the pollen data. N.D. and D.W.O. wrote the paper with input from all co-authors.

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Correspondence to Nathalie Dubois or Delia W. Oppo.

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Dubois, N., Oppo, D., Galy, V. et al. Indonesian vegetation response to changes in rainfall seasonality over the past 25,000 years. Nature Geosci 7, 513–517 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2182

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