Cold and humid Atlantic Rainforest during the last glacial maximum, northern Espirito Santo state, southeastern Brazil

Author(s):Show less -

Francisquini, Mariah Izar ^[1] ; Lorente, Flavio Lima ^[1] ; Ruiz Pessenda, Luiz Carlos ^[1] ; Buso Junior, Antonio Alvaro ^[1] ; Mayle, Francis Edward ^[2] ; Lisboa Cohen, Marcelo Cancela ^[3] ; Franca, Marlon Carlos ^[4] ; Bendassolli, Jose Albertino ^[1] ; Fonseca Giannini, Paulo Cesar ^[5] ; Schiavo, JolimarAntonio ^[6] ; Macario, Kita ^[7]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Nucl Energy Agr, Ave Centenario 303, BR-13416000 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Reading, POB 217, Whiteknights - England

^[3] Fed Univ Para, R Augusto Correa 1, BR-66075110 Belem, Para - Brazil

^[4] Fed Inst Para Oceanog & Paleoenvironm Studies, BR-66090100 Belem, Para - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Geosci Inst, BR-05508080 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[6] Mato Grosso Do Sul State Univ, Soil Dept, Rodovia Aquidauana, Km 12, BR-79200000 Aquidauana, MS - Brazil

^[7] Fluminense Fed Univ, Phys Dept, LAC UFF AMS Lab, BR-24220900 Niteroi, RJ - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS; v. 244, SEP 15 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The Atlantic Rainforest, covering the area from northern Espirito Santo to Southern Bahia states, has been considered as a stable forest during Pleistocene Glacial times. Aside from modelling and phylogenetic studies, this hypothesis has never been tested with empirical, fossil pollen, paleo-vegetation data. By using palynology, radiocarbon dating, and carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic analyses of organic matter, we reconstructed the vegetation dynamics and inferred climatic changes since the Late Pleistocene in the centre of this global biodiversity hotspot. Our results show that the forest biome was resilient to Last Glacial Maximum - LGM conditions, but that the floristic composition differed from that of today. Since the late glacial, the floristic composition of the dense forest changed from cold- to warm-adapted taxa. Structural, as well as floristic, changes occurred during drier conditions of the early and middle Holocene, with an opening of the forest, providing insights into the type of vegetation impacts that might be expected under predicted future drought. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/15768-1 - Reconstruction of Atlantic Rainforest vegetation dynamics since the late Pleistocene at southeastern (Espírito Santo State coast and Minas Gerais eastern) and northeastern (Bahia southern) Brazil.
• Grantee: Mariah Izar Francisquini Correia
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate