SedaDNA reveals mid-to late Holocene aquatic plant and algae changes in Luanhaizi Lake on the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Aquatic plants and algae are the primary producers in lake ecosystems, providing the organic matter and oxygen necessary for the nutrients and energy of most organisms. Climatic and environmental changes may have irreversible impacts on aquatic plants and algae communities, while direct observation and experiments can only provide a short-term perspective. As a record of the long-term variation of the ecosystem, sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) could offer evidence about aquatic plants and algae change over extended time scales and improve the taxonomic resolution than the traditional morphology methods such as pollen and macrofossil. In this study, we employed metagenomics in sedaDNA from Luanhaizi Lake (northeastern Tibetan Plateau) since 8.2 cal kyr BP, to characterize the aquatic plant and algae communities' response to the climatic and environmental change over an extended historical timeline. The results demonstrate that during 8130–4620 cal yr BP, pondweed (Stuckenia) was the dominating aquatic plant in Luanhaizi Lake, with a generally low diversity of aquatic plants and algae. During 3670–2290 cal yr BP, Luanhaizi Lake had an increased diversity and triggered a shift from Stuckenia to Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum). During 1810–50 cal yr BP, with the warming process, cyanobacteria appeared and diversity peaked. Correlation and redundancy analyses show that this process might be related to climatic and environmental changes, such as decreased salinity, increased temperature, and higher water levels. Our results signify that aquatic plants and algae communities are sensitive to paleoclimatic and environmental change, in the context of global warming, the studies on the past dynamics of aquatic plants and algae will help predict the potential changes of the lake ecosystem on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in the future.