Yuhong Wang

Penguins and vegetations on Ardley Island, Antarctica: evolution in the past 2,400 years

The impact of penguins on vegetation cover is a frequently documented but not fully explained phenomenon, especially over geological time scales. To address this we collected two ornithogenic sediment cores from Ardley Island, Antarctica, and reconstructed historic variations of penguin population and different vegetations by using biomarkers fecal sterols and n-alkanols in the cores. The three major types of vegetations in the colony, namely coprophilic algae, moss and lichen, exhibited quite different trends, in concert with fluctuations in the penguin populations: a moderate penguin population is favorable for coprophilic algae and mosses, while lichen abundances decreased whenever penguin population increased, and vice versa. Cholestanol and alkanols biomarkers, in combination with bioelements, provided integrated information about the 2,400-year evolution of the penguin colony: historical penguins and vegetation populations, their fluctuations, and their interactions.

Seabirds colonized Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Arctic ~9,400 years ago

A 118-cm-long and well-preserved sediment profile in a paleo-notch, which was formed by ocean wave action before rising to the terrace, was collected from the first terrace of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Arctic. The bottom of this profile was dated as 9,400xa0years B.P. based on two radiocarbon dates of fossil mollusc shell fragments. The organic material in the sediment was identified by δ13Corg–C/N plot and δ15Norg characteristics to be predominantly composed of seabird guano, which was transported from the ocean via preying and excreting by seabirds. These results indicate that seabirds have inhabited Ny-Ålesund since 9,400xa0years B.P. after Kongsfjorden was completely deglaciated. This is the first report on Holocene seabird occupation on Ny-Ålesund and it provides the foundation for understanding the ecological history of seabirds in Svalbard in Holocene.

Penguin tissue as a proxy for relative krill abundance in East Antarctica during the Holocene.

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a key component of the Southern Ocean food web. It supports a large number of upper trophic-level predators, and is also a major fishery resource. Understanding changes in krill abundance has long been a priority for research and conservation in the Southern Ocean. In this study, we performed stable isotope analyses on ancient Adélie penguin tissues and inferred relative krill abundance during the Holocene epoch from paleodiets of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), using inverse of δ15N (ratio of 15N/14N) value as a proxy. We find that variations in krill abundance during the Holocene are in accord with episodes of regional climate changes, showing greater krill abundance in cold periods. Moreover, the low δ15N values found in modern Adélie penguins indicate relatively high krill availability, which supports the hypothesis of krill surplus in modern ages due to recent hunt for krill-eating seals and whales by humans.

The ecosystem evolution of penguin colonies in the past 8,500 years on Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica

Penguin colony is one of the Earth’s simplest ecosystems. As the seabird with the largest population in Antarctica, penguin is a unique indicator of Antarctic environment and climate changes. In this study, we collected an ornithogenic sediment core from Gardner Island in Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica, reconstructed an 8,500xa0years variation history of penguin population and vegetation abundance on this island, and examined the evolution of the penguin colony. We used the levels of two molecular markers cholesterol and cholestanol as the proxy indicators of penguin population size. Other molecular markers, including C24:0 alkenoic acid, C18n-alkanol and phytol were used as the proxy indicators of aquatic moss, algae, and general vegetation, respectively. It is shown that the growth of algae was mainly affected by the nutritional supply from penguin droppings, so their abundance was positively linked with penguin population. The growth of aquatic moss, however, was controlled more by the degree of water body transparency than by nutrient availability. Because the pollution of water body increased as penguin population grew, aquatic moss abundance showed a seesaw-like relationship with penguin population. These results suggested that penguins played a dominant role in this simple ecosystem in the Antarctic environment. The reconstructed relationship between penguin population and vegetation abundance may offer new insights to understand ancient Antarctic environment and ecology.

Historical change of mercury pollution in remote Yongle archipelago, South China Sea

We collected three ornithogenic coral sand sedimentary profiles from Jinyin Island, Jinqing Island and Guangjin Island of Yongle archipelago, South China Sea and reconstructed the deposition flux of anthropogenic Hg over the past 700 years in the study area. On the whole, the anthropogenic Hg flux is relatively low; it remained at a low level before the Industrial Revolution with a small peak at about 1450-1550 AD, which may record the enhanced metallurgy activity in Ming Dynasty of China. During the 20th century, the deposition flux of anthropogenic Hg increased rapidly, but two troughs occurred during the periods around 1940s and 1970s, corresponding to the economic depression caused by World War II, Civil War in China (1945-1949), and the Culture Revolution (1966-1976) in China. Since the 1970s the deposition flux of anthropogenic Hg has been persistently increasing, apparently the result of fast economic development in East and Southeast Asia countries around South China Sea.

The abrupt climate change near 4,400 yr BP on the cultural transition in Yuchisi, China and its global linkage

Extreme climatic events have profound impacts on human society. Here we present the results of a study of organic biomarkers within a sedimentary section at the archaeological site of Yuchisi, eastern China, in order to reconstruct climatic variability during the Dawenkou (5,050–4,400 yr BP) and Longshan (4,400–4,000 yr BP) cultures. At ~4,400 yr BP, within the cultural transition horizon, abrupt changes in biomarkers, such as the fatty acid ratio C18:2/C18:0, 2C31/(C27u2009+u2009C29), n-C18-ol and n-C30-ol, indicate the occurrence of local climate changes over the course of a few decades. These changes occurred during the transition from the Holocene warm period to a subsequent cold period which lasted for the following 600 years. This climatic shift has been recorded at numerous sites worldwide, and it is likely to have been the main cause of the widespread collapse of many isolated cultures at that time. The palaeoclimatic and archaeological data from the Yuchisi sediments may provide new insights into the relationship between climate change and prehistoric cultural transitions.

From sea to land: assessment of the bio-transport of phosphorus by penguins in Antarctica

In Antarctica, the marine ecosystem is dynamically interrelated with the terrestrial ecosystem. An example of the link between these two ecosystems is the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus. Biovectors, such as penguins, transport phosphorus from sea to land, play a key role in this cycle. In this paper, we selected three colonies of penguins, the most important seabirds in Antarctica, and computed the annual quantity of phosphorus transferred from sea to land by these birds. Our results show that adult penguins from colonies at Ardley Island, the Vestfold Hills, and Ross Island could transfer phosphorus in the form of guano at up to 12 349, 167 036, and 97 841 kg/a, respectively, over their breeding period. These quantities are equivalent to an annual input of 3.96×109–1.63×1010 kg of seawater to the land of Antarctica. Finally, we discuss the impact of phosphorus on the ice-free areas of the Antarctica.

Ecosystem evolution of seal colony and the influencing factors in the 20th century on Fildes Peninsula, West Antarctica

As the top most predator in Antarctica, the seal is a unique indicator of Antarctic environment and climate changes. In this study, we collected a sediment core from the Fildes Peninsula of West Antarctica, and used cholesterol, cholestanol, epicoprostanol, coprostanol, and seal hair numbers as the proxy indicators of seal population size and phytol as of general vegetation, and we reconstructed the 20th century history of variation of the seal population and vegetation abundance on this island. The sealing industry in the early 20th century caused the dramatic decline of seal population, and the ban of seal hunting since the 1960s led to its recovery of seal population. The seal population during the past century was primarily controlled by human activities and krill density. The reconstructed relation between seal population and vegetation abundance may offer new insights into Antarctic environment and ecology.

A 1400-year terrigenous dust record on a coral island in South China Sea

We present analyses of a lacustrine sediment core (DY6) on Dongdao Island, which provides high-resolution paleoclimate records for the South China Sea (SCS). Results of element analyses indicate that the concentrations of Ti and Al in DY6 are much higher than the background on the island. Morphological characteristics of acidic insoluble particles are similar to aeolian in East China. Sr and Nd isotope compositions in these particles are consistent with those in Asian aeolian dust. We inferred that dust in DY6 may have been transported by East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) from inland Asia. The continuous dust records for the past 1400 years in North SCS were presented based on the measured Ti flux, which revealed an opposite trend to the variations in the EAWM for the past 50 years. A comparison of wind fields between cold and warm years shows that north surface wind in southeast China was stronger in cold years. However, 850u2005hPa wind vector along the east coast of China, the key level of wind for long-distance dust transmission, weakened in cold years. We conclude that differences in the EAWM records can be attributed to the 850u2005hPa wind pattern in different areas.

The Potential of Alkyl Amides as Novel Biomarkers and Their Application to Paleocultural Deposits in China

A series of alkyl amides was detected and identified in the sedimentary record from an archaeological site at Yuchisi, Mengcheng, Anhui, China. The alkyl amides profiles change abruptly at the depth corresponding to the transition between two prehistoric cultures, which also corresponds to an abrupt change in the fatty acid ratio C18:2/C18:0. The different patterns of variation of the longer and shorter chain alkyl amides at the depth of the cultural transition may reflect differences in their response to external environmental changes, as well as different sources. This is the first study of the stratigraphic variation of alkyl amides in sediments, and their first application to assess paleoenvironmental changes. We suggest that alkyl amides may have potential as new biomarkers in archeological and paleoenvironmental studies.