Holocene paleoecology of the Gran Sabana, SE Venezuela: preliminary pollen and microcharcoal analysis at Laguna Encantada
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2008.v28.005Keywords:
Fire, Mauritia, Microcharcoal, Palaeoecology, Pollen, Savannas, VenezuelaAbstract
The Gran Sabana region (SE Venezuela) is characterized by extensive neotropical savannas, in a warm and wet climate, apparently more suitable for the existence of rain forests. Two main types of hypotheses have been proposed to explain this situation: natural factors, such as climate changes or soil poverty, and burning by humans. This study analyzes the pollen and charcoal content of a 7,500 years old peat bog, at the shore of Laguna Encantada. The savanna landscape has dominated the area during the whole interval, but local fi res did not appear until around 1,200 years ago, when the present communities began to establish. An expansion of gallery forests, likely due to a climatic shift, has been recorded around 4,000 years ago, followed by a deforestation triggered by fire, leading to present-day situation. These results, together with former similar studies, suggest that the present Gran Sabana landscape resulted from the interaction of diverse factors, being climate changes more related to its origin and human induced fires more linked to the recent expansion.
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