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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Untangling anthropogenic and climatic influence on riverine forest in the Kruger National Park, South Africa
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, Volume 18, No. 2, Year 2009
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Description
Understanding the interplay between climatic and anthropogenic factors is a major challenge in palaeo-ecology. In particular, it is often difficult to distinguish anthropogenic and "natural" fire in the charcoal record. In this paper, analysis of fossil pollen, charcoal, diatoms and isotopic evidence from Mapimbi, a small lake in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, suggests that for most of the past ca. 700 years, the riverine gallery forests surrounding Mapimbi were primarily influenced by climate, and benefited during warmer, wetter periods. The transitions between four, statistically different phases in the time-series data coincide with regional climate records previously constructed from speleothem data, and are consistent with the transition from the medieval warm period ending in the 14th century a.d. to the cooler, drier conditions prevailing during the little ice age of ca. a.d. 1400-1800. The data also suggest a period of significant, anthropogenic influence after a.d. 1800, when maize was grown and the incidence of localised fires increased. An increase in woody cover in recent decades may be associated with the management of the area by Kruger National Park. A decline in cultivation occurred in the end of the 20th century linked with changes in socio-political organisation. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.
Authors & Co-Authors
Gillson, Lindsey
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Ekblom, Anneli
United Kingdom, Oxford
Oxford Social Sciences Division
Statistics
Citations: 39
Authors: 2
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1007/s00334-008-0202-6
ISSN:
09396314
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cohort Study
Study Locations
South Africa