Coprophilous fungi as an indicator of grazing pressure and population density in the uvs nuur basin (Mongolia) over the past three millennia

Spores of coprophilous fungi are well preserved in various paleoarchives, including bottom sediments in lakes. The coprophilous fungi spend part of their life cycle on the dung of herbivorous animals, where they produce spores. Due to this feature, the coprophilous fungi are used as a qualitative indicator of the presence and density of the population using domestic livestock. This paper is aimed at testing the hypothesis that fluctuations in the spore contents of coprophilous fungi are independent from climate, i.e., the possibility of using this indicator as an independent one for the qualitative reconstruction of population density in the eastern part of the Uvs Nuur basin. To do this, we have attempted to link global historical processes in Central Asia over the past three millennia with fluctuations in the contents of the coprophilous fungi spores in the bottom sediments in Lake Bayan Nuur located in the Uvs Nuur basin. Spores of the coprophilous fungi were counted on palynological slides along with other palynomorphs. Concentrations and accumulation rates (number of spores per 1 gram per year) were calculated for the coprophilous fungi. Only two genera of coprophilous fungi, Sporormilella and Sordaria, were abundantly found in the paleorecord of the lake. Comparison of historical evidence of the population of North-Western Mongolia during the last three millennia and fluctuations in the contents of the coprophilous fungi spores in the bottom sediments of the lake revealed remarkable coincidence, which allows using coprophilous fungi as a qualitative indicator of the density of the population engaged in cattle breeding. However, no relationships between the coprophilous fungi spore contents and the climate change were revealed, which characterizes this indicator as being independent of the climate change.