Climate-driven reduction in biomass production of the Eurasian steppe coincides with nomadic migration during the first millennium CE
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Although it is generally accepted today that climate and other environmental factors affected past human societies at different spatiotemporal scales, direct linkages are difficult to determine, and correlation should not be confused with causation. Here, we use a tree-ring width network of multimillennial chronologies from inner Eurasia to reconstruct annual changes in Net Primary Productivity (NPP) back to 200 BCE. Our findings reveal that episodes of reduced NPP around the 70s-100s, 360s-380s, and 470s-560s CE likely contributed to the westward and southward migration of nomadic people from their homelands in northwestern China and Mongolia. Although prolonged multidecadal periods of climate-induced low NPP served as tipping points for agricultural and pastoral subsistence systems, the inherent mobility of nomadic communities not only enabled them to adapt to adverse environmental conditions but also facilitated a widespread dispersal of ethnic groups.
Institutions: Yunnan University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou University, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Academy of Sciences, Global Change Research Institute, Masaryk University, University of Cambridge, Stockholm University, Bolin Centre for Climate Research, West Virginia University, China Meteorological Administration, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, National University of San Juan, Universidad Mayor, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Yunnan Normal University
Language: English
Topic: Tree-ring climate responses
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
Award: G2577781915
OpenAlex ID: W7128425411