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Late Pleistocene and Holocene History at Mubwindi Swamp, Southwest Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert Marchant ,
David Taylor  and
Alan Hamilton
Robert Marchant
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Environmental Science and Management, School of Geography and Earth Resources, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, England
David Taylor
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Environmental Science and Management, School of Geography and Earth Resources, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, England
Alan Hamilton
Affiliation:
World Wide Fund for Nature, Panda House, Weyside Park, Catteshall Lane, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1XR, England
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Abstract

Deposits beneath Mubwindi Swamp provide a partial record of vegetation history since at least 43,000 yr ago. We studied pollen from two cores and obtained nine radiocarbon ages from one of these cores and three radiocarbon ages from the other. Pollen deposited before and soon after the last glacial maximum represents vegetation very different from the modern vegetation of the Mubwindi Swamp catchment. Although species now associated with higher altitudes were dominant some elements of moist lower montane forest persisted, possibly because of favorable soils or topography. The pollen data provides evidence for a late glacial montane forest refuge near Mubwindi Swamp. Moist lower montane forest became much more widespread soon after the glacial maximum. The only irrefutably Holocene sediments from Mubwindi Swamp date to the past 2500 yr. During this time a combination of climatic and human-induced changes in vegetation can be seen in the pollen records.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , May 1997 , pp. 316 - 328
Copyright
University of Washington

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