This study presents a detailed spatial, quantitative assessment of the land use/cover changes (LUCC) in the savanna region of Llanos Orientales in Colombia. LUCC was determined from multitemporal ...satellite imagery (Landsat and CBERS) from 1987 to 2007. Systematic landscape transitions were identified and put in the context of population change and economic activity. The results showed that during the period 1987 to 2007, 14% of the study area underwent some kind of land use/cover change, with most change occurring in the last decade. Systematic transitions were observed from flooded savannas to crops and exotic pastures. An important land cover change was linked to the expansion of palm oil plantations from 31 km
2 in 1987 to 162 km
2 in 2007. The observed changes are shown to be related to the economic and market-oriented-development from before 1970 to the present day. Based on the future economic development plans, the Llanos Orientales will continue to undergo significant change as an estimated 70% of the 17,000 km
2 have been identified for conversion to plantation, or for petroleum and mining purposes. We provide recommendations for future economy integrated conservation, by proposing the implementation of a Llanos ecological network.
► We have quantified land use/cover change (LUCC) in the Colombian savannas since 1987. ► We used Landsat and CBERs satellite images to map LUCC for 1987, 2000, 2007. ► Rates and directions of changes were defined by systematic transition assessment. ► Approximately 14% of the region has undergone change, with an increased likelihood of conversion to palm oil plantation. ► We propose a Llanos ecological network for economy integrated conservation.
Here we developed a composite pollen-based record of altitudinal vegetation changes from Lake Fúquene (5° N) in Colombia at 2540 m elevation. We quantitatively calibrated Arboreal Pollen percentages ...(AP%) into mean annual temperature (MAT) changes with an unprecedented ~60-year resolution over the past 284 000 years. An age model for the AP% record was constructed using frequency analysis in the depth domain and tuning of the distinct obliquity-related variations to the latest marine oxygen isotope stacked record. The reconstructed MAT record largely concurs with the ~100 and 41-kyr (obliquity) paced glacial cycles and is superimposed by extreme changes of up to 7 to 10° Celsius within a few hundred years at the major glacial terminations and during marine isotope stage 3, suggesting an unprecedented North Atlantic – equatorial link. Using intermediate complexity transient climate modelling experiments, we demonstrate that ice volume and greenhouse gasses are the major forcing agents causing the orbital-related MAT changes, while direct precession-induced insolation changes had no significant impact on the high mountain vegetation during the last two glacial cycles.
The Amazon plays a critical role in global atmospheric budgets of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). However, while we have a relatively good understanding of the continental-scale flux of these ...greenhouse gases (GHGs), one of the key gaps in knowledge is the specific contribution of peatland ecosystems to the regional budgets of these GHGs. Here we report CH4 and N2O fluxes from lowland tropical peatlands in the Pastaza–Marañón foreland basin (PMFB) in Peru, one of the largest peatland complexes in the Amazon basin. The goal of this research was to quantify the range and magnitude of CH4 and N2O fluxes from this region, assess seasonal trends in trace gas exchange, and determine the role of different environmental variables in driving GHG flux. Trace gas fluxes were determined from the most numerically dominant peatland vegetation types in the region: forested vegetation, forested (short pole) vegetation, Mauritia flexuosa-dominated palm swamp, and mixed palm swamp. Data were collected in both wet and dry seasons over the course of four field campaigns from 2012 to 2014. Diffusive CH4 emissions averaged 36.05 ± 3.09 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1 across the entire dataset, with diffusive CH4 flux varying significantly among vegetation types and between seasons. Net ebullition of CH4 averaged 973.3 ± 161.4 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1 and did not vary significantly among vegetation types or between seasons. Diffusive CH4 flux was greatest for mixed palm swamp (52.0 ± 16.0 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1), followed by M. flexuosa palm swamp (36.7 ± 3.9 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1), forested (short pole) vegetation (31.6 ± 6.6 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1), and forested vegetation (29.8 ± 10.0 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1). Diffusive CH4 flux also showed marked seasonality, with divergent seasonal patterns among ecosystems. Forested vegetation and mixed palm swamp showed significantly higher dry season (47.2 ± 5.4 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1 and 85.5 ± 26.4 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1, respectively) compared to wet season emissions (6.8 ± 1.0 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1 and 5.2 ± 2.7 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1, respectively). In contrast, forested (short pole) vegetation and M. flexuosa palm swamp showed the opposite trend, with dry season flux of 9.6 ± 2.6 and 25.5 ± 2.9 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1, respectively, versus wet season flux of 103.4 ± 13.6 and 53.4 ± 9.8 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1, respectively. These divergent seasonal trends may be linked to very high water tables (> 1 m) in forested vegetation and mixed palm swamp during the wet season, which may have constrained CH4 transport across the soil–atmosphere interface. Diffusive N2O flux was very low (0.70 ± 0.34 µg N2O–N m−2 day−1) and did not vary significantly among ecosystems or between seasons. We conclude that peatlands in the PMFB are large and regionally significant sources of atmospheric CH4 that need to be better accounted for in regional emissions inventories. In contrast, N2O flux was negligible, suggesting that this region does not make a significant contribution to regional atmospheric budgets of N2O. The divergent seasonal pattern in CH4 flux among vegetation types challenges our underlying assumptions of the controls on CH4 flux in tropical peatlands and emphasizes the need for more process-based measurements during periods of high water table.
This paper compares a new super-high resolution pollen record from a central location in Lake Fúquene (4°N) with 3 pollen records from marginal sites from the same lake basin, located at 2540 m ...elevation in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. We harmonized the pollen sum of all records, and provided previously published records of climate change with an improved age model using a new approach for long continental pollen records. We dissociated from subjective curve matching and applied a more objective procedure including radiocarbon ages, cyclostratigraphy, and orbital tuning using the new 284 ka long Fúquene Basin Composite record (Fq-BC) as the backbone (
Groot et al., 2011). We showed that a common ∼9 m cycle in the arboreal pollen percentage (AP%) records reflects obliquity forcing and drives vegetational and climatic change. The AP% records were tuned to the 41 kyr component filtered from standard benthic δ
18O LR04 record. Changes in sediment supply to the lake are reflected in concert by the four records making frequency analysis in the depth domain an adequate method to compare records from the same basin. We calibrated the original
14C ages and used where necessary biostratigraphic correlation, i.e. for records shorter than one obliquity cycle. Pollen records from the periphery of the lake showed changes in the abundance of
Alnus and
Weinmannia forests more clearly while centrally located record Fq-9C shows a more integrated signal of regional vegetation change.
The revised age models show that core Fq-2 reflects the last 44 ka and composite record Fq-7C the last 85.5 ka. Marginally located core Fq-3 has an age of 133 ka at 32 m core depth and the lowermost 11 m of sediments appear of older but unknown age. The longest record Fq-BC shows ∼60 yr resolution over the period of 284-27 ka. All pollen records are in support of a common regional vegetation development leading to a robust reconstruction of long series of submillennial climate oscillations reflecting Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) cycles. Reconstructed climate variability in the tropical Andes since marine isotope stage (MIS) 8 compares well with NGRIP (δ
18O based), Epica Dome C (δD based) and the Mediterranean sea surface temperature record MD01-2443/44 (U
K′37 based) underpinning the global significance of the climate record from this tropical Andean lake. A basin-wide biostratigraphy is presented and we concluded although with varying robustness that each core is representative of regional vegetational and climatic change.
► Four climate sensitive pollen records from a tropical North Andean lake were compared. ►
14C ages, cyclostratigraphy and orbital tuning show 284 ka with 60 yr resolution. ► Migrating altitudinal vegetation distributions show submillennial–scale cycles. ► Over/under-representation of pollen at marginal/central lake sites is shown. ► DO cycles during MIS 2-8 in land, sea and ice cores show a robust climate correlation.
A multi-proxy study on a sediment core from Pedro Palo Lake, a mid-altitude endorheic Andean Lake in northern South America, was carried out to understand the effects of human activities and climate ...variability on tropical mountain freshwater ecosystems. Results indicate that between ~ 7980 and 4110 cal year BP the lake maintained well-mixed, mesotrophic conditions, within which a diverse planktonic and benthic diatom community flourished. From 4110 to about 2050 cal year BP, benthic diatoms almost disappeared, and the planktonic community changed to include small
Discostella
spp. and large
Fragilaria
species, suggesting higher nutrient concentrations and possibly, more turbid waters. At this time, peaks in charcoal concentration and in the sedimentary C/N ratio imply that forest fires in the watershed intensified and that more organic matter, derived from terrestrial vegetation, accumulated in the lake. This period coincides with an increase in population, and in the social, technological and agricultural complexity of indigenous peoples. We propose that anthropogenic activities, burning and deforestation, increased the nutrient load to the lake causing the observed changes in the diatom communities. After 2050 cal year BP, periphytic diatoms returned, the intensity and frequency of fires diminished, and a secondary forest grew. We infer an associated decrease in nutrients, resulting from reforestation and/or lower water levels caused by drier climates. Estimations based on the age model of the core suggest that it took approximately 30 years for the lake to change from its most degraded state in the middle Holocene to its state in the late Holocene. However, the much-reduced diversity of the diatom community after ~ 2050 cal year BP indicates that the lake did not rebound to its previous middle Holocene conditions. The record from Pedro Palo is therefore a good example of the detrimental and long-lasting effects of anthropic deforestation.
Here, we use 30 long-term, high-resolution palaeoecological records from Mexico, Central and South America to address two hypotheses regarding possible drivers of resilience in tropical forests as ...measured in terms of recovery rates from previous disturbances. First, we hypothesize that faster recovery rates are associated with regions of higher biodiversity, as suggested by the insurance hypothesis. And second, that resilience is due to intrinsic abiotic factors that are location specific, thus regions presently displaying resilience in terms of persistence to current climatic disturbances should also show higher recovery rates in the past. To test these hypotheses, we applied a threshold approach to identify past disturbances to forests within each sequence. We then compared the recovery rates to these events with pollen richness before the event. We also compared recovery rates of each site with a measure of present resilience in the region as demonstrated by measuring global vegetation persistence to climatic perturbations using satellite imagery. Preliminary results indeed show a positive relationship between pre-disturbance taxonomic richness and faster recovery rates. However, there is less evidence to support the concept that resilience is intrinsic to a region; patterns of resilience apparent in ecosystems presently are not necessarily conservative through time.
An interview with Colombian artist Maria Berrio is presented. Berrio talks about her inspiration, process of creating one of her compositions, and some pivotal moments in the evolution of her craft.
The existence of lignitic deposits (Knysna Formation) on the South African south coast, near to the town of Knysna has been recognised for more than a century. However, a combination of limited study ...and few natural exposures has meant that the age and stratigraphic position of the Knysna Formation are unclear, despite its potential as a palaeoenvironmental archive. We present a new suite of chronological, geochemical and palynological data obtained from a recently identified lignite exposure in this area. The lignite pollen assemblage is dominated by palms (Arecaceae), which are now locally extinct, and contains additional palynomorphs of tropical affinity, along with (moist-temperate) Podocarpus-type pollen, grasses, and herbaceous pollen types (e.g. Cliffortia-type, Asteraceae). Overall, the assemblage shows some commonalities with the Miocene Elandsfontein Formation in the Western Cape. The lignites are dominated by a diverse range of higher plant biomarkers, including abundant leaf wax lipids, as well as lignin monomers and leaf cuticle-derived macromolecular organic matter. All strongly indicate a terrestrial depositional setting, perhaps akin to contemporary palm swamps. A number of sesquiterpenoids imply the presence of gymnosperms, supporting observations from the pollen data and previously reported macro-fossil finds. The application of isothermal thermoluminescence techniques to coversands overlying the lignite produced a minimum age of approximately 1.7 Ma. Additional clues as to the likely age of the lignite are provided by compound-specific stable carbon isotope analyses of the leaf wax lipids. These are approximately 8 per mil enriched relative to typical C3 vegetation leaf waxes, and imply a potential contribution from C4 vegetation. From this, an age post-dating the Oligocene may be inferred, and in conjunction with the site's geomorphic setting, an age post dating the middle Miocene is considered plausible. This is markedly younger than previous (Eocene) age estimates for the Knynsa Formation.
The biomisation method is used to reconstruct Latin American vegetation at 6000±500 and 18 000±1000 radiocarbon years before present (14C yr BP) from pollen data. Tests using modern pollen data from ...381 samples derived from 287 locations broadly reproduce potential natural vegetation. The strong temperature gradient associated with the Andes is recorded by a transition from high altitude cool grass/shrubland and cool mixed forest to mid-altitude cool temperate rain forest, to tropical dry, seasonal and rain forest at low altitudes. Reconstructed biomes from a number of sites do not match the potential vegetation due to local factors such as human impact, methodological artefacts and mechanisms of pollen representivity of the parent vegetation. At 6000±500 14C yr BP 255 samples are analysed from 127 sites. Differences between the modern and the 6000±500 14C yr BP reconstruction are comparatively small; change relative to the modern reconstruction are mainly to biomes characteristic of drier climate in the north of the region with a slight more mesic shift in the south. Cool temperate rain forest remains dominant in western South America. In northwestern South America a number of sites record transitions from tropical seasonal forest to tropical dry forest and tropical rain forest to tropical seasonal forest. Sites in Central America show a change in biome assignment, but to more mesic vegetation, indicative of greater plant available moisture, e.g. on the Yucatán peninsula sites record warm evergreen forest, replacing tropical dry forest and warm mixed forest presently recorded. At 18 000±1000 14C yr BP 61 samples from 34 sites record vegetation reflecting a generally cool and dry environment. Cool grass/shrubland is prevalent in southeast Brazil whereas Amazonian sites record tropical dry forest, warm temperate rain forest and tropical seasonal forest. Southernmost South America is dominated by cool grass/shrubland, a single site retains cool temperate rain forest indicating that forest was present at some locations at the LGM. Some sites in Central Mexico and lowland Colombia remain unchanged in the biome assignments of warm mixed forest and tropical dry forest respectively, although the affinities that these sites have to different biomes do change between 18 000±1000 14C yr BP and present. The "unresponsive" nature of these sites results from their location and the impact of local edaphic influence.
We present a record of environmental and climatic changes in the northern Andes during the penultimate interglacial-glacial cycle based on integrated information from pollen and grain size ...distributions (GSDs). The record reflects the 58.33-26.21 m interval of a new sediment core from Lake Fuquene (2540 m elevation; 5 degree N) in the Colombian Andes. The age model is mainly based on cyclostyratigraphy and shows that this core interval reflects the period from 284 to 130 ka. The 1 cm sample increments yield a resolution of ~ 60 yr. In 2553 samples we analyzed 66 selected pollen and spore taxa with the best known ecological ranges. We reconstructed upper forest line (UFL) positions between ~ 2000 and ~ 3400 m elevation and the most abrupt temperature shifts ranged up to 10 degree C/100 yr at Terminations II and III. Regional vegetation change is mainly driven by eccentricity (100 kyr) and obliquity (41 kyr) cycles, while changes in local aquatic vegetation show variability in the obliquity and precession (21 kyr) bands. Millennial-scale climate variability reflecting Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) climate cycles in the upper part of the record, continues in this penultimate intergalcial-glacial cycle strongly suggesting that this variability has a persistent character in Pleistocene vegetation and climate dynamics. Short-lived upslope excursions of the UFL reflect 20 DO-style cycles during marine isotope stages (MIS) 7 and 6. Changes in species composition of montane forest are evident, and trees with most pioneer qualities (Alnus, Morella, Quercus and Weinmannia) migrated at the forefront. Other arboreal taxa like Podocarpus, Miconia, and Hedyosmum mostly followed later. Changes in regional vegetation distribution and forest composition, as well as in local aquatic vegetation and GSD of sediments supplied to the lake, allowed the development of an integrated reconstruction of the biotic and abiotic environments in the drainage basin.
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