Month: February 2016

An abstract for a poster was accepted for the European conference of Tropical Ecology, this year in Göttingen, Germany.
Title: OVERVIEW OF QUATERNARY POLLEN RECORDS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH
AMERICA, CARIBBEAN AND MEXICO
Authors: Suzette G.A. Flantua, Henry Hooghiemstra, Eric C. Grimm, Hermann Behling, Mark B. Bush, Catalina González-Arango, William D. Gosling, Marie-Pierre Ledru, Socorro Lozano-García, Antonio Maldonado, Aldo R. Prieto, Valentí Rull, John Van Boxel.

Abstract: For over a decade the general impression of research on past and present pollen– vegetation relationships has been incomplete in most of the Neotropics. Continentalscale synoptic studies often missed out on the vast majority of potentially available studies and data. Here we present an inventory of palaeoecological research in Central and South America, Caribbean and México, in terms of pollen records and modern rain samples. With a set of maps, we show that there are over 1400 cores and sections with palaeoecological data and more than 4800 modern samples. Some biomes and regions have a relatively high research density while the scarcity at others offer opportunities for future research. An increasing number of records are sustained by geochronological control points for age modelling, and multi-proxy studies are taking the lead over single proxy publications. This compilation of research shows the numerous innovative topics currently being explored to increase our understanding of palaeoenvironmental settings and modern vegetation-pollen relationships. To impulse divulgation and collaboration, we present the newly developed website and interactive map interface, where this inventory and corresponding reference database is publically available. Researchers and students are invited to pinpoint their new studies and publications, making interactive use of this platform for increased detectability and awareness on available publications.

More info on the event can be found at: http://gtoe-2016.de/

The goal of PAGES’ new LandCover6k Working Group is to achieve Holocene landcover
and land-use reconstructions that can be used to evaluate and improve the scenarios
of anthropogenic land-cover change (ALCC ) by Klein Goldewijk et al. (2011; HYDE) and Kaplan et al. (2009; KK) for the purpose of climate modeling studies (Gaillard et al.
2015). LandCover6k focuses on the last 6000 calendar years, i.e. the period in the Holocene when anthropogenic deforestation occurred in most continents, but it will also cover older periods in regions where significant human impact on vegetation occurred earlier.

Check for more information: PAGES Magazine Vol. 23, No.23, pp. 81, December 2015.
Check the website: www.pages-igbp.org/ini/wg/landcover6k/

From the 23rd of November to the 4th of December 2015, a workshop was held at San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina. This workshop was designed for postgraduate students and young scientists based in Latin-American institutions, undertaking research in palaeoecology, with emphasis on microfossil analysis: e.g. pollen, charcoal, plant macrofossil remains, ostracods, diatoms, other. It aimed to provide (1) an outline of the principles, methods and applications of selected proxies; (2) an overview of methods and software use for data analyses; and (3) an overview of spatial and evolutionary responses of organisms to different Quaternary driving forces, providing insight into general questions of species survival, spread and biodiversity.

Participants presented a poster related to their research projects, including an abstract which is published online in http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/488293.html

The workshop report from this event has been published in the PAGES Magazine of December 2015. http://www.pages-igbp.org/

The full program of activities, including abstract presentations can be viewed at:

http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/413062.html

The PAGES LandCover6k group will have a session at the International Palynological Congress in Brasil in October 2016 called:

SS23 – Pollen-based Holocene land-cover reconstructions for climate modelling.

Organizers: Marie-José Gaillard, Sonia Fontana, Ralph Fyfe, Konrad Gajewski, Ulrika Herschuh, Anupama Krishnamurthy, Anne-Marie Lézine, Rob Marchant, Jack Williams & Qinghai Xu.

You can submit an abstract on your research at http://www.ipciopcbrazil.com/sessions/
SESSION DESCRIPTION

Adequate incorporation of land cover in global and regional climate models is still one of the major priorities in the climate modeling community. The scenarios of past ALCC, e.g. HYDE (Klein Goldewijk et al. 2011), KK (Kaplan et al. 2009) used as descriptions of ALCC in climate modelling, show very large differences (Gaillard et al. 2010). LandCover6k is a PAGES working group that addresses land-cover change during the last ca. 10000 cal. years across the globe for the purpose of climate modelling studies (http://www.pages-igbp.org/ini/wg/landcover6k/intro). LandCover6k brings together palaeoecologists, historians, archaeologists, and modelers to explore and provide new information about ALCC and create products suitable to study land-use change as one of the human-induced climate forcings. This session invites contributions on pollen-based reconstructions of past land-cover characteristics useful for climate modelling (in conjunction with archaeological and historical data if available) at the regional to global spatial scales.