LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM
; WOODY VEGETATION
; SUMMER MONSOON
; PALEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
; STALAGMITE RECORD
; DOMINATED SAVANNA
; ARNHEM-LAND
; FIRE
; TERRITORY
; CLIMATE
WOS学科分类:
Plant Sciences
; Paleontology
WOS研究方向:
Plant Sciences
; Paleontology
英文摘要:
An environmental history is presented from Girraween Lagoon, Darwin region of the Northern Territory, Australia. Pollen and charcoal analysis of a 5-meter sediment core provides a record of vegetation change, fire history and climate spanning 12,700 cal BP to the present day. This study focusses on tree-grass vegetation dynamics, eucalypt to non-eucalypt plant interactions, and climate-fire-human relationships in an area where few long-term savanna records exist. The dataset suggests wetlands experienced alternating episodes of ephemeral waterlogging and seasonal inundation due to post-glacial monsoon variability up until permanent inundation from approximately 6000 cal BP. The surrounding catchment transformed from a terminal Pleistocene-early Holocene wooded-savanna to a later Holocene open forest. This increase in woody cover was a prominent site feature, primarily driven by climate-moisture availability. In turn, the extent of fire and fire impact, is a function of climate-vegetation feedbacks. Such interplay between fire history, climate change and vegetation pattern was also influenced by more intense human management of the area, in the last 4000 years of the record. It is proposed Girraween may have become a much-socialized and managed human landscape in this late Holocene phase. Results provide essential baseline data describing savanna dynamics linked to contemporary ecological observation, understanding and management goals, and serves as an important resource for the Quaternary sciences and archeology of northern Australia. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1.James Cook Univ, Coll Sci & Engn, POB 6811, Cairns, Qld 4870, Australia 2.James Cook Univ, Ctr Trop Environm & Sustainabil Sci, POB 6811, Cairns, Qld 4870, Australia 3.James Cook Univ, ARC Ctr Excellence Australian Biodivers & Heritag, POB 6811, Cairns, Qld 4870, Australia 4.Charles Darwin Univ, Res Inst Environm & Livelihoods, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia 5.Australian Nucl Sci & Technol Org, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee Dc, NSW 2232, Australia
Recommended Citation:
Rowe, Cassandra,Brand, Michael,Hutley, Lindsay B.,et al. Holocene savanna dynamics in the seasonal tropics of northern Australia[J]. REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY,2019-01-01,267:17-31