Abstract
Northern Australia is a region where limited information exists on environments at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Girraween Lagoon is located on the central northern coast of Australia and is a site representative of regional tropical savanna woodlands. Girraween Lagoon remained a perennial waterbody throughout the LGM, and as a result retains a complete proxy record of last-glacial climate, vegetation and fire. This study combines independent palynological and geochemical analyses to demonstrate a dramatic reduction in both tree cover and woody richness, and an expansion of grassland, relative to current vegetation at the site. The process of tree decline was primarily controlled by the cool-dry glacial climate and CO2 effects, though more localised site characteristics restricted wetland-associated vegetation. Fire processes played less of a role in determining vegetation than during the Holocene and modern day, with reduced fire activity consistent with significantly lower biomass available to burn. Girraween Lagoon's unique and detailed palaeoecological record provides the opportunity to explore and assess modelling studies of vegetation distribution during the LGM, particularly where a number of different global vegetation and/or climate simulations are inconsistent for northern Australia, and at a range of resolutions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 39-52 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Quaternary Research (United States) |
| Volume | 102 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CE170100015) and an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship to M.I.B. (FL140100044). L.H. is recipient of Discovery Project DP130100334. V.L. acknowledges the financial support from the Australian Government for the Centre for Accelerator Science at ANSTO, where the measurements were done, through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), and expresses gratitude to the radiocarbon laboratory staff who processed our samples. Rainy Comley's assistance within the JCU laboratories was greatly appreciated. Warm thanks to the Larrakia Nation, Larrakia Ranger group, and the wider Larrakia community for their support and local insights into the Girraween environment. Access assistance from Graham Churcher is also gratefully acknowledged. Thanks also to Ron Innes for engineering work on the raft and coring equipment. The authors also appreciate the feedback provided by two reviews on earlier drafts.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020.
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Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.