Dataset: Environmental reconstruction of northern Taiwan during the last 1750 years: Inferences from the Duck Pond sediments

Despite progress in understanding Taiwan’s climate, detailed information on lake biogeochemical cycles, fire–human interactions, and high-resolution climate records remains limited. To address this, a multi-proxy analysis was conducted on a sediment core from the Duck Pond in northern Taiwan, covering the past 1750 cal BP. The analysis included black carbon (BC) flux and its carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C), carbon and nitrogen contents along with their isotopic compositions, and diatom assemblages assessed using principal component analysis (PCA). High BC fluxes during 500-400 cal BP coincided with archaeological and historical evidence of intensified land use and deforestation, suggesting a strong anthropogenic influence. Outside this window, BC variability likely reflects both local and distant fire activities, underscoring the need for broader spatiotemporal fire reconstructions. Stable isotope and diatom records reveal a long-term transition from a shallow, nutrient-limited system under drier conditions (~1750 cal BP) to a deeper, eutrophic lake under wetter conditions by 1150 cal BP, which continued till 525 cal BP. This was followed by a human-impacted, drier phase (525 cal BP to present) and a recent recovery in lake productivity consistent with renewed precipitation. These climate variations aligned with vegetation-based reconstructions (δ¹³CBC) and suggested that Western Pacific Warm Pool sea surface temperatures played a dominant role in modulating precipitation via moisture availability, while ENSO and EAWM acted as secondary modulators of delivery mechanisms.