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Late Quaternary vegetation, fire and climate history reconstructed from two cores at Cerro Toledo, Podocarpus National Park, southeastern Ecuadorian Andes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Corinna Brunschön  and
Hermann Behling
Corinna Brunschön*
Affiliation:
Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Hermann Behling
Affiliation:
Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Albrecht-von-Haller Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: +49 551 39 8449. E-mail address:Corinna.Brunschoen@biologie.uni-goettingen.de (C. Brunschön).
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Abstract

The last ca. 20,000 yr of palaeoenvironmental conditions in Podocarpus National Park in the southeastern Ecuadorian Andes have been reconstructed from two pollen records from Cerro Toledo (04°22'28.6"S, 79°06'41.5"W) at 3150 m and 3110 m elevation. Páramo vegetation with high proportions of Plantago rigida characterised the last glacial maximum (LGM), reflecting cold and wet conditions. The upper forest line was at markedly lower elevations than present. After ca. 16,200 cal yr BP, páramo vegetation decreased slightly while mountain rainforest developed, suggesting rising temperatures. The trend of increasing temperatures and mountain rainforest expansion continued until ca. 8500 cal yr BP, while highest temperatures probably occurred from 9300 to 8500 cal yr BP. From ca. 8500 cal yr BP, páramo vegetation re-expanded with dominance of Poaceae, suggesting a change to cooler conditions. During the late Holocene after ca. 1800 cal yr BP, a decrease in páramo indicates a change to warmer conditions. Anthropogenic impact near the study site is indicated for times after 2300 cal yr BP. The regional environmental history indicates that through time the eastern Andean Cordillera in South Ecuador was influenced by eastern Amazonian climates rather than western Pacific climates.

Keywords

PalynologyVegetation and fire historyClimate dynamicsLate PleistoceneHoloceneEcuadorAndes
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , November 2009 , pp. 388 - 399
Copyright
University of Washington

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