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A 10,300 14C yr Record of Climate and Vegetation Change from Haiti

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Antonia Higuera-Gundy ,
Mark Brenner ,
David A. Hodell ,
Jason H. Curtis ,
Barbara W. Leyden  and
Michael W. Binford
Antonia Higuera-Gundy
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611
Mark Brenner
Affiliation:
Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, 7922 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, Florida, 32653
David A. Hodell
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611
Jason H. Curtis
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611
Barbara W. Leyden
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 33620
Michael W. Binford
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611
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Abstract

Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation dynamics in the American tropics are inferred largely from pollen in continental lake sediments. Maritime influences may have moderated climate and vegetation changes on Caribbean islands. Stable isotope (δ18O) study of a 7.6-m core from Lake Miragoane, Haiti, provided a high-resolution record of changing evaporation/precipitation (E/P) since ∼10,300 14C yr B.P. The Miragoane pollen record documents climate influences and human impacts on vegetation in Hispaniola. The δ18O and pollen data near the base of the core indicate cool, dry conditions before ∼10,000 14C yr B.P. Lake Miragoane filled with water in the early Holocene as E/P declined and the freshwater aquifer rose. Despite increasing early Holocene moisture, shrubby, xeric vegetation persisted. Forest expanded ∼7000 14C yr B.P. in response to greater effective moisture and warming. The middle Holocene (∼7000–3200 14C yr B.P.) was characterized by high lake levels and greatest relative abundance of pollen from moist forest taxa. Climatic drying that began ∼3200 14C yr B.P. may have driven some mesophilic animal species to extinction. The pollen record of the last millennium reflects pre-Columbian (Taino) and European deforestation. Long-term, Holocene vegetation trends in southern Haiti are comparable to trends from continental, lowland circum-Caribbean sites, suggesting a common response to regional climate change.

Keywords

CaribbeandeforestationgeochemistryHaitilake sedimentpaleoclimatepaleoecologypollenstable isotopesTainovegetation dynamics
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , September 1999 , pp. 159 - 170
Copyright
University of Washington

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