ISSN:
1573-5052
Keywords:
Cereal
;
Climate
;
Fossil pollen
;
Holocene
;
Palynology
;
Vegetational history
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract The longest continuous Amazonian palynological record (ca 7010 yrs B.P. to present) from Lake Ayauchi, Ecuador, reveals species-by-species abundance changes during a period of climatic change. Pollen influx from a wet tropical rain forest was found to be high, 1×104−105 grains cm-2 yr-1, although mature forest taxa were poorly represented. Horizons of laminated sediments and weathered gyttja, dated to ca 4200–3150 B.P., evidence a period of reduced net water availability. During this period Ficus, Alchornea and Palmae pollen representation appears to decline, although there is no evidence of a major forest compositional change. The lake was reduced to a shallow, possibly seasonal, pool. Zea cultivation was recorded between ca 2850 B.P., (the earliest paleoecological record to date in the Amazon basin) and ca 800 B.P. It is suggested that Zea was cultivated on exposed lake sediment within the crater at times of low water levels. The abandonment of Zea cultivation may have been due to rising water levels or social unrest.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00045475
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