Holocene monsoon-driven hydroclimate and wildfire suppression in a northeastern Taiwan montane cloud forest
Journal
Global and Planetary Change
Journal Volume
265
ISSN
0921-8181
Date Issued
2026-10
Author(s)
Zhan, Shi-Ting
Liu, Pang-Chuan
Rahman, Abdur
Lin, Tsai-Wen
Wang, Liang-Chi
Abstract
The montane cloud forests are key ecosystems in the East Asian monsoon region, yet their Holocene hydroclimate and fire histories remain poorly constrained. We analyzed pollen assemblages and macroscopic charcoal from a sediment core from Sanxingmei Pond in the subtropical montane cloud forest of northeastern Taiwan, spanning the past 11,000 years. The low forest cover, dominated by pioneer and cold-tolerant taxa, together with frequent fires, as indicated by elevated charcoal levels, suggests cool and dry conditions during the early Holocene. During the Holocene Thermal Maximum (7580–3450 cal BP), wetland pollen and fern spores increased, diversity rose, and charcoal minima indicate enhanced cloud immersion and persistently humid conditions. In the late Holocene, progressive cooling coincided with the expansion and increasing dominance of Chamaecyparis . In the late Holocene, progressive cooling is reflected in the expansion and increasing dominance of Chamaecyparis , which inhabits more elevated and cooler locations than Trochodendron , as observed in the modern record. Fern spores were negatively correlated with fire frequency, highlighting the suppressive effect of humid, cloud-immersed conditions on burning. These results provide a long-term baseline for cloud-forest conservation and wildfire risk assessment under future warming and changing monsoon seasonality. Copyright © 2026. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Subjects
Charcoal
Fire–vegetation–biodiversity interactions
Holocene thermal Maximum
Palynology
Vegetation dynamics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Description
Article number 105614
Type
journal article