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Madagascar houses one of the Earth’s biologically richest, but also one of most endangered, terrestrial ecoregions. Although it is obvious that humans substantially altered the natural ecosystems during the past decades, the timing of arrival of early inhabitants on Madagascar as well as their environmental impact is still intensively debated. This research aims to study the beginning of early human impact on Malagasy natural ecosystems, specifically on Nosy Be island (NW Madagascar) by targeting the sedimentary archive of Lake Amparihibe, an ancient volcanic crater. Based on pollen, fungal spore, other non-pollen palynomorph, charcoal particle and diatom analyses combined with high-resolution sediment-physical and (in)organic geochemical data, paleoenvironmental dynamics during the past three millennia were reconstructed. Results indicate a major environmental change at ca. 1300 cal BP characterized by an abrupt development of grass (C4) dominated and fire disturbed landscape showing the alteration of natural rain forest. Further, increased soil erodibility is suggested by distinct increase in sediment accumulation rates, a strong pulse of nutrient input, higher water turbidity and contemporaneous increase in spores of mycorrhizal fungi. These parameters are interpreted to show a strong early anthropogenic transformation of the landscape from rain forest to open grassland. After ca. 1000 cal BP, fires remain frequent and vegetation is dominated by forest/grassland mosaic. While natural vegetation should be dominated by rain forest on Nosy Be, these last results indicate that human continuously impacted the landscapes surrounding the lake. At a local scale, our data support the “subsistence shift hypothesis” which proposed that population expansion with development of herding/farming altered the natural ecosystems. However, a precise regional synthesis is challenging, since high-resolution multi-proxy records from continuous sedimentary archives as well as records located further north and in the hinterland are still scarce in Madagascar. The lack of such regional synthesis also prevents precise comparison between different regions in Madagascar to detect potential (dis)similarities in climate dynamics, ecosystem responses and anthropogenic influences at the island’s scale during the (late) Holocene.
Quantitative reconstructions of past vegetation cover commonly require pollen productivity estimates (PPEs). PPEs are calibrated in extensive and rather cumbersome surface-sample studies, and are so far only available for selected regions. Moreover, it may be questioned whether present-day pollen-landcover relationships are valid for palaeo-situations. We here introduce the ROPES approach that simultaneously derives PPEs and mean plant abundances from single pollen records. ROPES requires pollen counts and pollen accumulation rates (PARs, grains cm−2 year−1). Pollen counts are used to reconstruct plant abundances following the REVEALS approach. The principle of ROPES is that changes in plant abundance are linearly represented in observed PAR values. For example, if the PAR of pine doubles, so should the REVEALS reconstructed abundance of pine. Consequently, if a REVEALS reconstruction is “correct” (i.e., “correct” PPEs are used) the ratio “PAR over REVEALS” is constant for each taxon along all samples of a record. With incorrect PPEs, the ratio will instead vary. ROPES starts from random (likely incorrect) PPEs, but then adjusts them using an optimization algorithm with the aim to minimize variation in the “PAR over REVEALS” ratio across the record. ROPES thus simultaneously calculates mean plant abundances and PPEs. We illustrate the approach with test applications on nine synthetic pollen records. The results show that good performance of ROPES requires data sets with high underlying variation, many samples and low noise in the PAR data. ROPES can deliver first landcover reconstructions in regions for which PPEs are not yet available. The PPEs provided by ROPES may then allow for further REVEALS-based reconstructions. Similarly, ROPES can provide insight in pollen productivity during distinct periods of the past such as the Lateglacial. We see a potential to study spatial and temporal variation in pollen productivity for example in relation to site parameters, climate and land use. It may even be possible to detect expansion of non-pollen producing areas in a landscape. Overall, ROPES will help produce more accurate landcover reconstructions and expand reconstructions into new study regions and non-analog situations of the past. ROPES is available within the R package DISQOVER.
Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die Gewässernetzentwicklung im Bereich der Pommerschen Haupteisrandlage (W2), des eng benachbarten Frühpommerschen Vorstoßes (W2max) und der südlich angrenzenden Sanderflächen in einem Ausschnitt, der ungefähr zwischen Krakow, Goldberg und Malchow im mittleren Mecklenburg gelegen ist. Ziel der Untersuchungen ist die Verknüpfung geomorphologischer, bodenkundlicher, paläobotanischer, paläolimnologischer, archäologischer und historischer Befunde zur paläohydrographischen Rekonstruktion der Gewässer seit dem Spätpleistozän, eines etwa 14.000 Jahre umfassenden Zeitraums. Die hierbei präferierte multidisziplinäre Bearbeitungsweise limnischer Sedimentsequenzen aus Seebohrungen in Verbindung mit landseitigen bodenkundlich–geomorphologischen Kartierungen stellt (noch immer) ein Novum in der Gewässerforschung Mecklenburg-Vorpommerns dar und liefert wichtige Ergänzungen zu Modellvorstellungen der Gewässerentwicklung. Thematische Schwerpunkte werden für die verknüpfte, spätpleistozäne Becken– und Durchbruchstalentwicklung, die fortan archivierte limnisch–telmatische Sedimentationsgeschichte, die Wasserstandsentwicklung und die Wechselwirkung Mensch und Gewässer gesetzt. Zugleich erlauben die bodenkundlichen Arbeiten im Gewässerumfeld Aussagen zur Bodengenese und Landnutzungsgeschichte besonders innerhalb der Nossentiner–Schwinzer Heide. Im Zuge der palynologischen Bearbeitung der Seesedimente durch Dritte liegt desweiteren eine lückenlose Vegetationsgeschichte des Untersuchungsgebietes seit dem Allerød vor, die ebenso wertvolle Ableitungen zur regionalen Siedlungs- und Landnutzungsgeschichte erlaubt. Diatomeen–basierte paläolimnologische Aussagen ebenfalls Dritter fokussieren auf die postglaziale Trophie– und die Wasserstandsentwicklung der untersuchten Seen.