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17 - Terrestrial ecosystem changes in the late Quaternary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2016

By
Michael E. Meadows  and
Lynne J. Quick
Edited by
Jasper Knight  and
Stefan W. Grab
Jasper Knight
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Stefan W. Grab
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
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Summary

Abstract

This chapter provides a perspective on vegetation changes (as a proxy for overall terrestrial ecosystem changes) within southern Africa’s summer and winter rainfall zones. While climate is a major determinant on southern African ecosystems, topography, geology and fire also play critical roles in ecosystem pattern and processes. Late Quaternary climate changes impacted on southern African ecosystems but did not result in wholesale migration of these biomes. Instead, the palaeoenvironmental record reveals that community dynamics within biomes or at their ecotonal boundaries changed as individual species were favoured or disadvantaged by changing conditions (e.g. climate, fire regimes and/or human impacts) over time.

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Chapter
Information
Quaternary Environmental Change in Southern Africa
Physical and Human Dimensions
 , pp. 269 - 283
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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