20th Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA)
Abstract submission is now open for INQUA 2019 in Dublin Ireland (25-31 July 2019). Please consider submitting to the special session I am co-organizing on landscape change in the tropics. Submissions welcome from the fields of biogeography, palaeoecology, geomorphology, volcanology, and archaeology. Click here to submit your abstract.
TITLE: The changing tropical landscape
ORGANIZERS: William D. Gosling and Crystal N.H. McMichael (University of Amsterdam)
Eighteenth century explorers marveled at the diversity of tropical ecosystems seemingly untouched by human activity. As a result of these observations, the notion of tropical stability, in terms of vegetation and climate, came to underpin theories of evolution, ecology, and biogeography. Gradually, however, it has become apparent that tropical landscapes have changed markedly through time in response to global climate cycles, (a)biotic factors, and human activity. For example, palaeoecological, geomorphological and archaeological research has shown that hidden civilizations, mega-faunal extinctions, and land-cover changes have contributed to shaping modern diversity patterns. Interactions between these processes and events through time have led to the complex and diverse landscapes observed in the tropics today. Yet the relative influences driving this hyper-diversity remain unresolved. In this session we invite the submission of talks and posters focused on any avenue of research investigating the patterns and processes relating to changing tropical landscapes, including but not limited to biogeography, palaeoecology, geomorphology, volcanology, and archaeology.
Ecology of the past 