The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Karl Ljung

Karl Ljung

Lecturer

Karl Ljung

A pollen record of the last 450 years from a lowland peat bog on Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic, implying early anthropogenic influence

Author

  • Karl Ljung
  • Svante Björck

Summary, in English

A pollen diagram from a small peat bog on the island of Tristan da Cunha in the central South Atlantic (37 degrees 05'S, 12 degrees 17'W) is presented. The pollen diagram contains data from both introduced and native plant taxa. The earliest pollen grains from introduced Plantago lanceolata are dated to around AD 1570, and probably represent unintentional introductions of weeds by the earliest Portuguese explorers visiting the islands. After AD 1600, a greater abundance of pollen from introduced plants and declining tree pollen values indicate opening of the lowland vegetation and more intense land use, probably attributable to the effect of seasonal seal and whale hunters. After AD 1800, evidence of increased erosion and more intense land use are inferred from the pollen diagram, reflecting permanent settlement. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Department/s

  • Quaternary Sciences
  • MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2011

Language

English

Pages

688-693

Publication/Series

Journal of Quaternary Science

Volume

26

Issue

7

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Geology

Keywords

  • human impact
  • palaeoecology
  • pollen analysis
  • peat
  • Tristan da Cunha

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1099-1417