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Late Holocene in central Brazil: vegetation changes and humidity variability in a tropical wetland
Author(s) -
SABINO SHIRLEY MARIA LIMA,
CASSINO RAQUEL FRANCO,
GOMES MAKÊNIA OLIVEIRA SOARES,
SANT'ANNA ENEIDA MARIA ESKINAZI,
ROCHA AUGUSTIN CRISTINA HELENA RIBEIRO,
DE OLIVEIRA DIEGO ALVES
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.3351
Subject(s) - holocene , wetland , biome , swamp , vegetation (pathology) , ecology , physical geography , ecosystem , arboreal locomotion , geology , environmental science , geography , habitat , oceanography , biology , medicine , pathology
The Pandeiros wetland is a high biodiversity ecosystem located within a semiarid region of the Cerrado biome, a neotropical savanna. This large wetland is of key importance for ecological and hydrological balance in central Brazil and for the conservation of the Cerrado fauna and flora. In this study, we present the first palaeoecological investigation of the Pandeiros wetland based on pollen analysis of a palm swamp sediment core encompassing the Late Holocene. Our results show that the wetland was subject to multicentennial‐scale oscillations in water availability during the Late Holocene; in particular, higher local humidity was documented between 4100 and 3100 cal a bp and from 2600 to 1000 cal a bp , and two events of drier local conditions occurred at approximately 2900 and 900 cal a bp. Our results also indicate a general decreasing trend in arboreal density in the Pandeiros River Basin from the beginning of the Late Holocene to the present, with the greatest expansion of dry forest occurring between 3600 and 3100 cal a bp.