A high resolution 15,600-year pollen and microcharcoal record from the Cederberg Mountains, South Africa

Valsecchi, Verushka; Chase, Brian M.; Slingsby, Jasper A.; Carr, Andrew S.; Quick, Lynne J.; Meadows, Michael E.; Cheddadi, Rachid; Reimer, Paula J.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.07.009

Cited by 63 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Similarly, it can feed into many of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems criteria (Bland, Keith, Miller, Murray, & Rodríguez, 2016). For example, in addition to loss of historical extent of occurrence or area of occupancy, for ecosystems to be listed as threatened under the IUCN criteria requires evidence of continuing decline in spatial extent, environmental quality or biotic interactions (Bland et al, 2016) (Mouillot & Field, 2005;Valsecchi et al, 2013;Veblen et al, 1999) or species' fire response attributes (e.g. Shedley et al, 2018).…”

Section: Applying the Ignition Catchment Concept In Biodiversity Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered ignition catchments threaten a hyperdiverse fire‐dependent ecosystem

Slingsby

Moncrieff

Rogers

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

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Human activities affect fire in many ways, often unintentionally or with considerable time‐lags before they manifest themselves. Anticipating these changes is critical, so that insidious impacts on ecosystems, their biodiversity and associated goods and services can be avoided, mitigated or managed. Here we explore the impact of anthropogenic land cover change on fire and biodiversity in adjacent ecosystems on the hyperdiverse Cape Peninsula, South Africa. We develop a conceptual framework based on the notion of an ignition catchment, or the spatial extent and temporal range where an ignition is likely to result in a site burning. We apply this concept using fire models to estimate spatial changes in burn probability between historical and current land cover. This change layer was used to predict the observed record of fires and forest encroachment into fire‐dependent Fynbos ecosystems in Table Mountain National Park. Urban expansion has created anthropogenic fire shadows that are modifying fire return intervals, facilitating a state shift to low‐diversity, non‐flammable forest at the expense of hyperdiverse, flammable Fynbos ecosystems. Despite occurring in a conservation area, these ecosystems are undergoing a hidden collapse and desperately require management intervention. Anthropogenic fire shadows can be caused by many human activities and are likely to be a universal phenomenon, not only contributing to the observed global decline in fire activity but also causing extreme fires in ecosystems where there is no shift to a less flammable state and flammable fuels accumulate. The ignition catchment framework is highly flexible and allows detection or prediction of changes in the fire regime, the threat this poses for ecosystems or fire risk and areas where management interventions and/or monitoring are required. Identifying anthropogenic impacts on ignition catchments is key for both understanding global impacts of humans on fire and guiding management of human‐altered landscapes for desirable outcomes.

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Section: Applying the Ignition Catchment Concept In Biodiversity Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered ignition catchments threaten a hyperdiverse fire‐dependent ecosystem

Slingsby

Moncrieff

Rogers

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

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“…At Klaarfontein, on the Atlantic coast, and largely removed from potential influences of the Agulhas Current, pollen data indicate relatively dry conditions from $7500 to 4000 cal a BP (Meadows and Baxter, 2001), and an occupational hiatus observed in archaeological evidence from the same region at Elands Bay Cave has been interpreted as indicating a period of reduced freshwater resources from $8700 to 4800 cal a BP (Parkington et al, 1988). In the Cederberg Mountains of the Western Cape, pollen and stable isotope evidence from rock hyrax middens from De Rif indicate relatively arid conditions from 7000 to 5000 cal a BP (Valsecchi et al, 2013;Chase et al, 2015a), suggesting dry WRZ conditions being roughly coeval with the early to mid-Holocene period of increased humidity at Eilandvlei. As indicators of aridity/increased seasonality, the microcharcoal records from Eilandvlei and the coastal Rietvlei-Stillbay site (located only 100 km to the west) also show significant differences, with the latter expressing a strong 'WRZ pattern' of aridity between $7000 and 5000 cal a BP (Quick et al, 2015).…”

Section: Agementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Major atmospheric (white arrows) and oceanic (blue arrows) circulation systems and the austral summer positions of the Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the Congo Air Boundary (CAB) are indicated. B. Aridity index map of the south‐western Cape (Zomer et al ., ), with lower values indicating drier conditions (black box in A), and the locations of published palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records from the region: 1 Elands Bay Cave (Parkington et al ., ), 2 Grootdrift (Meadows et al ., ), 3 Verlorenvlei (Stager et al ., ; Carr et al ., a), 4 Klaarfontein Springs (Meadows and Baxter, ), 5 Pakhuis Pass (Scott and Woodborne, ,b), 6 Sneeuberg Vlei and Driehoek Vlei (Meadows and Sugden, ), 7 De Rif (Quick et al ., ; Valsecchi et al ., ; Chase et al ., ), 8 Truitjes Kraal (Meadows et al ., ), 9 Katbakkies (Meadows et al ., ; Chase et al ., ), 10 Rietvlei (Schalke, ), 11 Cape Flats (Schalke, ), 12 Princess Vlei (Neumann et al ., ; Kirsten and Meadows, ), 13 Cape Hangklip (Schalke, ), 14 Die Kelders (Klein and Cruz‐Uribe, ), 15 The Agulhas Plain vleis and lunettes (Soetendalsvlei, Voëlvlei, Renosterkop and Soutpan) (Carr et al ., ,b), 16 Blombos Cave (Henshilwood et al ., ), 17 Rietvlei‐Still Bay (Quick et al ., ), 18 Pinnacle Point (Bar‐Matthews et al ., ; Rector and Reed, ; Matthews et al ., ), 19 Seweweekspoort (Chase et al ., , , in press), 20 Cango Cave (Talma and Vogel, ) and Boomplaas Cave (Deacon et al ., ), 21 Norga peats (Scholtz, ), 22 Groenvlei (Martin, ; Wündsch et al ., ), 23 Vankervelsvlei (Irving and Meadows, ; Quick et al ., ), 24 Nelson Bay Cave (Cohen and Tyson, ), 25 Klasies River Mouth (Deacon et al ., ) and 26 Uitenhage Aquifer (Heaton et al ., ; Stute and Talma, ). C. Wilderness lakes region, indicating the location of Eilandvlei and the current distribution of dominant vegetation types (Mucina and Rutherford, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this, significant advances have been made over the last few years and higher resolution records are emerging (e.g. Chase et al, 2011Chase et al, , 2013Chase et al, , 2015aNeumann et al, 2011;Valsecchi et al, 2013;Carr et al, 2015;Quick et al, 2015). Important questions remain, however, regarding the past dynamics of temperate and tropical systems in the region, particularly at the WRZ-SRZ interface, and their impact on regional environments (Chase et al, 2017(Chase et al, , 2018.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A high-resolution record of Holocene climate and vegetation dynamics from the southern Cape coast of South Africa: pollen and microcharcoal evidence from Eilandvlei

et al. 2018

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The southern Cape is a particularly dynamic region of South Africa in terms of climate change as it is influenced by both temperate and tropical circulation systems. This paper presents pollen and microcharcoal data generated from a sediment core extracted from the coastal lake Eilandvlei spanning the last ∼8900 years. With an average sample resolution of 57 years, this record represents the highest resolution record of Holocene vegetation change from the region. The data indicate that cool, seasonal and moderately dry conditions characterized the Wilderness Embayment from ∼8900 to 8000 cal a BP. Afrotemperate forests expanded from ∼8000 cal a BP until 4700 cal a BP. This humid period is followed by indications of more arid and seasonal conditions until 3500 cal a BP. A long‐term increase in forest taxa suggests steadily increasing moisture availability across the late Holocene. Strong affinities are noted with records from more tropical regions of South Africa, suggesting that tropical systems are of importance in maintaining higher moisture availability in the region. An important mechanism of climate change is the Agulhas Current, which transmits what appears to be a localized signal of tropical variability to the southern Cape coast.

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“…The location of the study site in the southwestern Cape region is shown. (B) Map of southwestern Cape with the Katbakkies Pass site and other hyrax midden sites indicated (PK, Pakhuis Pass (Scott and Woodborne, 2007a, b); DR, De Rif Quick et al, 2011;Valsecchi et al, 2013); TK, Truitjes Kraal ; SWP-1; Seweweekspoort-1 ). ( lowlands to the east currently receives 50% or more of their precipitation during the summer (Hijmans et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%