Advances in Earth Science ›› 2016, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (8): 870-884. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2016.08.0870.

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles    

Recent Progress and Perspectives in Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Research Based on Chironomidae (Diptera)

Yu Hu( ), Jianhui Chen *( ), Haipeng Wang, Feiya Lü, Guoying Wei   

  1. Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000,China
  • Received:2016-03-17 Revised:2016-06-20 Online:2016-08-20 Published:2016-08-20
  • Contact: Jianhui Chen E-mail:huy13@lzu.edu.cn;jhchen@lzu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China “Processes and mechanisms of hydrological-ecosystemic evolution in lakes over arid northwestern China”(No.2012CB956102) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China “Chironomid-based proxy records and their comparison from alpine lakes in mid-latitude China during the past 2000 years”(No.41471162)

Yu Hu, Jianhui Chen, Haipeng Wang, Feiya Lü, Guoying Wei. Recent Progress and Perspectives in Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Research Based on Chironomidae (Diptera)[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2016, 31(8): 870-884.

Chironomidae (Diptera) becomes a rapid developing proxy in the international paleolimnology in the recent 20 years due to its short life cycle, strong ability to move and sensitive response to environmental change. The main progress of paleolimnological research based on chironomid can be summarized as the following four aspects: ①The establishment of a large number of sample training sets and transfer functions, as well as the comparison and integration of regional databases; ②More attention on the role of internal lacustrine factors in controlling of the chironomid population; ③Attention on finer time scales since the modern interglacial period; ④Improvement of the experimental technology and numerical methods, and constant development of new indicators. The domestic related research started late, but databases in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze river, the Tibetan Plateau, the Yunnan Plateau and the region of inner Mongolia and Xinjiang has been established so far, and also some researches on the internal lacustrine factors on chironomid population has been carried out; paleoenvironmental reconstruction is mainly concentrated in the northwest arid areas and the Yunnan Plateau, and the research in eastern region is primarily focused on reflecting the effects of recent state of human activities on the lakes. Paleoenvironment and paleoclimate researches based on chironomid urgently need to ①Carry out more individual ecology work to accurately understand the relationship between the species and environmental factors, combined with the investigation of a broader area; ②Further improve the efficiency of experiments by new technology to enhance the resolution of identification; ③Pay attention to the application of the advanced quantitative ecology methods and the novel tools such as isotopic analysis; ④Attach great importance to the role of chironomid in the definition of lake natural state and the ecological restoration.

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