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- Library Collection RecordAbstract Long-term palaeoecological records are needed to test ecological hypotheses involving time, as short-term observations are of insufficient duration to capture natural variability. In this…Publication Date 2013
- Long-term ecology
- Non-analogue communities
- community stability
- Climate–vegetation disequilibrium
- Origin of biodiversity
- biodiversity conservation
- palaeobotany
- ecosystem ecology
- vegetation dynamics
- climate change
- human impact
- conservation
- fire
- pollen
- Venezuelan Gran Sabana region
- northern South America
- Library Collection Record1. Interactions among plants and their consumers, pollinators and dispersers are central to evolutionary theory, but interactions among plants themselves have received much less attention. Thus…Publication Date 2011
- palaeobotany
- co-evolution
- competition
- evolution
- extended phenotype
- facilitation
- niche
- plant-plant interactions
- selection
- Library Collection Record1. Abrupt changes and regime shifts are common phenomena in terrestrial ecological records spanning centuries to millennia, thus offering a rich opportunity to study the patterns and drivers of…Publication Date 2011
- palaeobotany
- palaeoecology
- abrupt change
- alternate stable states
- aridity
- climate change
- critical thresholds
- palaeoecology and land-use history
- Quaternary
- regime shifts
- Library Collection RecordThe ReSaKo project undertook extended fieldwork across southern Cameroon to explore the palaeoenvironmental information recorded in the alluvial sediments of equatorial African rivers. 160 hand-…Publication Date 2011
- Alluvial sediments
- Palaeosurfaces
- Equatorial Africa
- West African monsoon
- Late Pleistocene
- Fluvial rain forest refuges
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordBackground: Numerous Cape Floristic Region (CFR) clades are found in the Afromontane region of Africa, causing speculation on the source of their distribution. The southern Escarpment has been…Publication Date 2011
- data analysis
- montane grasslands
- ecosystem ecology
- palaeobotany
- climate change
- rainfall
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordSouthern African savannas are mixed plant communities where C3 trees co-exist with C4 grasses. Here foliar ?15N and ?13C were used as indicators of nitrogen uptake and of water use efficiency to…Publication Date 2010
- stable isotopes
- soil nitrogen
- soil carbon
- aridity
- C3 plants
- C4 plants
- savanna
- Soil Condition
- grasslands
- water use efficiency
- rainfall
- plant autecology
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordNinety-four sites worldwide have sufficient resolution and dating to document the impact of millennial-scale climate variability on vegetation and fire regimes during the last glacial period.…Publication Date 2010
- palaeobotany
- climate change
- vegetation dynamics
- Library Collection RecordSedimentary charcoal records document changes in fire regime. We have identified 67 sites (30 sites with better than millennial resolution) which have records for some part of the Last Glacial to…Publication Date 2010
- fire ecology
- palaeobotany
- climate change
- Library Collection RecordThe sediments of Holocene floodplain banks in several river catchments in the southern Cape region, South Africa, were sedimentologically investigated and radiometrically dated. The study resulted in…Publication Date 2010
- Floodplain formation
- fluvial geomorphology
- Environmental change
- palaeobotany
- Gourits River basin
- Cape region
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe use of pollen analysis of herbivore middens in arid and semi-arid areas has facilitated palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and interpretation in places where this may otherwise be impossible due…Publication Date 2010
- Fynbos
- Hyrax midden
- palynology
- southern hemisphere
- Stable isotope analysis
- Vegetation history
- winter rainfall zone
- palaeobotany
- palaeoecology
- Western Cape
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordSpanning the period from 74-58 160;ka, and being broadly coeval with marine oxygen isotope stage 4 (MIS 4), the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort industries represent important phases in the development…Publication Date 2010
- palaeoenvironment
- Still bay
- Howiesons Poort
- Marine oxygen isotope stage 4
- Modern human behaviour
- palaeobotany
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe most common grass phytoliths from "Zambezian" miombos are described here for the first time. Their potential for long term preservation in sediments makes them a useful tool in the…Publication Date 2010
- Poaceae Phytoliths
- Great African Rift
- Mozambique
- Niassa
- Miombo woodlands
- Paleoenvironment
- discriminant analysis
- principal component analysis
- and Cluster Analysis
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordBurnt daga structures in Iron Age villages serve as proxies for severe drought on the plateau of southern Africa. The distribution of burnt daga remains in two other rainfall areas, KwaZulu-Natal and…Publication Date 2010
- Burnt daga
- Cultural proxies for drought
- El Nino
- Iron age of south-eastern Africa
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- drought
- rainfall
- south-eastern Africa
- Library Collection RecordSome of the earliest evidence for modern human behavior has been recovered from the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Archaeological and paleontological sites in the Western Cape are typically…Publication Date 2010
- Modern human behavior
- paleoecology
- Glacial environments
- Middle Stone Age
- Later Stone Age
- palaeobotany
- Western Cape Province
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordTo reconstruct the response of vegetation to abrupt climate changes during the last glacial we have compiled pollen records from the circum-Atlantic tropics between 23° 176' N and 23° 176…Publication Date 2010
- palaeobotany
- climate change
- South America
- Library Collection RecordPalynological and sedimentological data from a core extracted from Lake Eteza shed new light on the Holocene vegetation and climate history in KwaZulu-Natal and can be linked to regional and global…Publication Date 2010
- forest reconstruction
- Vegetation history
- southern hemisphere
- African coast
- human impact
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary 10.1002/9780470609880.ch8.abs This chapter contains sections titled: * Introduction * Hominid Exploitation of Wetlands Environments and Resources * Early Hominins: Colonization of New…Publication Date 2010
- exploitation of wetlands environments and foods by pre-sapiens hominins
- early hominins - colonization of new environments
- preconditions for encephalization - physiological considerations
- palaeobotany
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordIn quantitative phytolith analysis, chance error associated with insufficient counts can affect the robustness of the interpretation, whether it is vegetation reconstruction or taxonomic…Publication Date 2009
- palaeobotany
- Library Collection RecordLittle is known about the sequence of climate and environmental change in southern Africa during the last glacial period, in spite of the intimations from records, such as Antarctic ice cores and…Publication Date 2009
- Late Pleistocene
- climate variability
- stalagmites
- stable isotopes
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordA paleo-environmental record covering the last 16 ka (16,000 cal yrs BP) from the eastern areas of the summer rainfall region in South Africa is presented. This area is until now sparsely…Publication Date 2009
- climate change
- pollen
- stable isotopes
- palaeobotany
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordPaleoenvironmental records derived from pollen, fungal spores, and microscopic charcoal from Lake Baringo, Kenya, reveal a largely dry environment in the East African region since AD 1650. The dry…Publication Date 2009
- Paleoenvironmental changes
- palynology
- land degradation
- Radiocarbon inversion
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- palaeoenvironmental data
- East Africa
- Library Collection RecordPollen and charcoal data generated from a 1469 cm core, radiocarbon dated to 26,430 14C yr BP, recovered from Rumuiku Swamp on the southeast of Mount Kenya, are used to document changes in the…Publication Date 2009
- charcoal
- Holocene
- Last Glacial Maximum
- pollen
- Younger Dryas
- palaeobotany
- Kenya
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe dietary regimes of 15 ungulate species from the middle Pleistocene levels of the hominid-bearing locality of Elandsfontein, South Africa, are investigated using the mesowear technique. Previous…Publication Date 2009
- Elandsfontein
- Mid-Pleistocene
- ungulates
- Mesowear
- palaeoenvironment
- palaeobotany
- Elandsfontein
- Western Cape
- South Africa
- Library Collection RecordMixed farming (the ‘Iron Age’) was introduced to the summer rainfall areas of southern Africa early in the first millennium AD and did not evolve from the local Later Stone Age. In southern…Publication Date 2008
- Bantu-speakers
- Hunter-gatherers
- Indian Ocean trade
- [`]Iron Age'
- Mapungubwe
- mixed farming
- summer rainfall
- Zimbabwe culture
- palaeobotany
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordLong environmental proxy records are very scarce in semi-dry continental areas and often those available present conflicting interpretations. However, more in-depth investigation of apparent…Publication Date 2008
- pollen
- Lake sediments
- Stable isotope
- Speleothem
- climate change
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary 10.1002/9780470698716.ch20.abs This chapter contains section titled: * Early Grassland Soils * How did Grasslands Arise? * Evolutionary ProcessesPublication Date 2008
- dry continental interiors
- advent of grasses
- urine-impregnated middens
- plant fossils
- ancient aridland ecosystems
- grasslands
- palaeobotany
- ecosystem ecology
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary * 1Grasses using the C4 photosynthetic pathway dominate today's savanna ecosystems and account for ~20% of terrestrial carbon fixation. However, this dominant status was reached only…Publication Date 2008
- atmospheric CO2
- C4 plants
- climate change
- fire
- grasslands
- grazing
- Poaceae
- rainfall
- savanna
- seasonality
- carbon dioxide
- palaeoclimate
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSemi-arid climatic conditions were responsible for the evolution of the vast savanna that stretches across central Africa and for the evolution of placers in this area that carry gemstones, rare…Publication Date 2008
- Placer deposit
- savanna
- Gemstones
- Titanium
- Rare earth element minerals
- Zircon landform types
- Malawi
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordEstablishing the habitat preferences of early hominin taxa is a necessary, though difficult, requirement for understanding the interaction between environmental change and hominin evolution. The…Publication Date 2008
- paleoecology
- Animal paleocommunity
- Correspondence analysis
- Swartkrans
- Sterkfontein
- Kromdraai
- Coopers
- Faunal analysis
- palaeobotany
- palaeoecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper documents a continuous ~ 44,000-yr pollen record derived from the Mfabeni Peatland on the Maputaland Coastal Plain. A detailed fossil pollen analysis indicates the existence of extensive…Publication Date 2008
- climate change
- Forest history
- Maputaland
- Africa
- pollen
- human impacts
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe palynology of two overlapping Holocene cores from Lake Sibaya in KwaZulu-Natal elucidates the relationship between climate, vegetation and human impact in the region. By means of twenty-one AMS…Publication Date 2008
- palynology
- Vegetation history
- Holocene
- South Africa
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSavanna ecosystems of southern Africa are strongly influenced by water availability and fire intensity, and this study aimed to show whether these two specific environmental variables are reflected…Publication Date 2008
- calibration
- Kruger National Park
- fire history
- quantitative analysis
- Relevant Source Area of Charcoal
- fire ecology
- palaeobotany
- rainfall
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordHillslopes in central and western parts of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa are often mantled by colluvial sediments of the Masotcheni Formation. These sediments have accreted in response to several…Publication Date 2008
- Climate control
- Landscape evolution
- optically stimulated luminescence dating
- Stable carbon isotope analysis
- Micromorphology
- Masotcheni Formation
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe potential to provide environmental proxies using stable carbon isotopes from modern and archaeological charcoal is explored. Experiments on modern Podocarpus (Yellowwoods) show that ?13C values…Publication Date 2008
- Stable carbon isotopes
- Archaeological charcoal
- Palaeoenvironmental signals
- Middle Stone Age
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis article is a world-wide overview of plant domestication and the origins of agriculture. It focuses on the archaeological record: the what, where, and when of these processes, with a brief…Publication Date 2008
- agriculture
- China
- crops
- domestication
- eastern North America
- Formative
- Maize (corn)
- Mesoamerica
- Near East
- Neolithic
- New Guinea
- Rice
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- South America
- Southeast Asia
- wheat
- palaeobotany
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe Late Pleistocene vertebrate record of Africa contributes to our understanding of human evolution and the development of modern biotic environments. This article explores this record, paying…Publication Date 2007
- Africa
- Ancient DNA
- Body size changes
- Bovids
- carnivores
- climate change
- Equids
- Extinctions
- Fossils
- Late Pleistocene
- Madagascar
- mammals
- Mid-Pleistocene
- Modern human origins
- Paleontology
- palaeobotany
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordPollen analysis shed light on vegetation community structure over the last 23,000 year in the western Cape. The pollen from dated hyrax faecal accumulations (hyraceum) relates to the evolution of…Publication Date 2007
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordCurrent knowledge of the vegetation response to climate changes in tropical Africa and particularly the reconstitution of stand dynamics is severely limited by the scarcity of long and complete, well…Publication Date 2007
- African Humid Period
- freshwater algae
- paleobiodiversity
- plant Migration
- palynology
- pollen
- tropical Africa
- palaeobotany
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary In this chapter, we discuss climatic fluctuations in northern and eastern Africa during the Holocene and in particular the middle Holocene. The major emphasis is on the Sahara and the…Publication Date 2007
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe pollen record of the late Pleistocene in Africa is poorly resolved due to the paucity of sites combined with the fragmented nature of most sequences. A vegetation history of the continent can,…Publication Date 2007
- palynology
- Vegetation history
- Last Glacial Maximum
- Biomes
- Tropical rain forest
- savannas
- Arid and semiarid biomes
- Afromontane region
- Mediterranean climate regions
- climate change
- Refugium hypothesis
- palaeoecology
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- palaeoenvironmental data
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe degree to which different lakes within a landscape respond coherently (in unison) to external drivers such as climate change and soil development is uncertain. Presentation of multi-proxy,…Publication Date 2007
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordReconstructing Plio-Pleistocene African paleoenvironments is important for models of early hominin evolution, but is often hampered by low-resolution or discontinuous climatic data. Here, we present…Publication Date 2007
- savanna
- Monsoon
- Walker Circulation
- Precession
- Hominin
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- palaeoenvironmental data
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSince Darwin situated humans in an evolutionary framework, much discussion has focused on environmental factors that may have shaped or influenced the course of human evolution. Developing adaptive…Publication Date 2007
- human evolution
- paleoecology
- Paleoenvironment
- Africa
- palaeobotany
- palaeoecology
- palaeoenvironmental data
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe environmental contexts of the karstic hominin sites in South Africa have been established largely by means of faunal associations; taken together these data suggest a trend from relatively closed…Publication Date 2007
- Environmental change
- grasslands
- [delta]13C
- Fossil enamel
- Plio-Pleistocene
- South Africa
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordGlobal climate change, linked to astronomical forcing factors, has been implicated in faunal evolutionary change in equatorial Africa, including the origin and diversification of hominin lineages.…Publication Date 2007
- Hominin evolution
- Pliocene
- East Africa
- Baringo
- Tugen Hills
- Precession
- Orbitally forced climate change
- Diatoms
- palaeobotany
- climate change
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe emergence of C4 grass biomes is believed to have first taken place in the upper Miocene, when a series of events modified global climate with long-lasting impacts on continental biotas. Changes…Publication Date 2007
- Miocene
- Pliocene
- Paleosols
- Tooth enamel
- Ratite eggshell
- grasslands
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordPlio-Pleistocene East African grassland expansion and faunal macroevolution, including that of our own lineage, are attributed to global climate change. To further understand environmental factors of…Publication Date 2007
- Paleogeography
- savannas
- East Africa
- carbon isotopes
- palaeobotany
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordGladysvale Cave is one of the few Plio-Pleistocene hominin-bearing cave sites in South Africa that contains a well-stratified cave fill with clastic sediments interspersed with flowstones. The…Publication Date 2007
- Cave sediments
- Chronostratigraphy
- Flowstone bounded units
- Uranium-thorium dating
- South African caves
- palaeobotany
- palaeoclimate
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordMajor morphological and behavioral innovations in early human evolution have traditionally been viewed as responses to conditions associated with increasing aridity and the development of extensive…Publication Date 2007
- Laetoli
- paleoecology
- isotopes
- Hominin evolution
- Paleodiet
- herbivore
- Pliocene
- Tanzania
- Africa
- palaeobotany
- palaeoecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis paper reports new multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental data on the late Glacial-Holocene transition (c. 14.8-9.3 ka) in equatorial East Africa, in the form of microfossil assemblages (chironomids,…Publication Date 2007
- climate change
- Crater lake
- Chironomids
- Diatoms
- East Africa
- Empakaai
- Multi-proxy reconstruction
- Ostracods
- palaeobotany
- Africa