Dynamics of animal grazing intensity on the central-eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the middle-late Holocene

Abstract

Animal grazing is the primary livelihood of people on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), but the history of grazing activity on the QTP remains unclear. The QTP also served as a crucial area for exchanges between people at varying altitudes and latitudes. We analyzed fossil fungal spores from a sediment core retrieved from Muricuo Lake (elevation: 4020 m a.s.l) on the central-eastern QTP, spanning the past ∼9200 cal yr BP. Combining our findings with other coprophilous fungal spore data, along with paleoclimate and human activity records from the central-eastern QTP, we discuss the history and possible influencing factors of grazing activity on the central-eastern QTP during the middle to late Holocene. Grazing activity may have increased around ∼3600 cal yr BP in the Muricuo Lake area, likely driven by a general increase in movement of humans into the central-eastern QTP, as supported by the increase in fungal spores and charcoal records in Muricuo Lake. After ∼1400 cal yr BP, grazing activity intensified in parallel with increased trade exchanges.