The Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) writing workshop is currently in full swing in Kenya. Running from 3 June until the 6 June 2024 a diverse range of skills related to academic publishing is being delivered by our international team, including: structuring a scientific article, managing references and revision strategies. There is also plenty of time set aside for writing and getting feedback from more experienced academic writers. The manuscripts being developed at the workshop are being designed to be submitted to the MAA special issue of Quaternary International.
Hello Ecology of the Past readers, my name is Jelle Kraak and I’m currently doing a research project for my MSc Biological Sciences (University of Amsterdam) supervised by William Gosling (University of Amsterdam), Jemma Finch (University of KwaZulu-Natal), and Trevor Hill (University of KwaZulu-Natal). The project is entitled: “Assessing the effect of human induced fire regime changes on vegetation in the Drakensberg mountains”. During the project I will visit South Africa to work at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and visit field site thanks to partial funding from the Amsterdam University Funds.
Research project outline
As many of you know, humans have been interacting with the environment for millennia in various ways. One of the ways in which humans interact with the environment is through the ignition of fires. By doing so, humans may change fire regimes (fire frequency, severity and/or intensity), which in turn can cause changes in vegetation composition and structure. By using a combination of phytolith (local vegetation) and charcoal (fire) data from two sediment cores obtained from wetland environments in the Drakensberg mountains, we aim to assess the effect of fire regime changes on vegetation over the last 6000 years.
The phytoliths (biogenic silica microfossils) allow for the reconstruction of the past vegetation. Charcoal fragments characterize all aspects of past fire regimes: (i) frequency (time series analysis of charcoal data), (ii) severity (abundance of charcoal in samples reflecting biomass consumed), and (iii) intensity (spectral properties of individual charcoal fragments reflecting combustion temperature).
The most interesting part of this project (in my humble opinion) is that this study is the first to use micro-Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (µFTIR) to reconstruct fire temperatures from field samples ánd combine these accurately reconstructed temperatures with local vegetation data! It is important to accurately estimate fire temperatures, as the temperature of a fire dictates the type of plant materials which are consumed in a fire (the higher the temperature, the greater the proportion of woody material burning up). Similar studies have been conducted previously, however, these studies compared fire severity i.e. total burnt biomass with vegetation data. Although this works decently, total burnt biomass is not an accurate representation of fire intensity or temperature, as at very high temperatures biomass turns to ash, which cannot be detected in sediment cores. Through parameterizing both the vegetation changes and the fire regime we will provide a comprehensive picture of how changing human fire use practices modified the vegetation. We anticipate that: (i) a decrease in fire intensity resulted in woody encroachment of the surrounding vegetation, which was concomitant with the arrival of agropastoralists c. 600 years ago, and (ii) a shift in the proportion of C3 and C4 grass species in reaction to temperature changes in the Drakensberg mountains.
On Friday 24 May 2024 the Palynologische Kring (Dutch palynological society) held a seminar series and laboratory workshop at the Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam). During the afternoon we had the annual meeting of the society, the presentation of our MSc Thesis prize, four seminars and two laboratory demonstrations. The MSc thesis prize “Florschütz Award” was won by Caroline Goossens (VU Amsterdam) for her thesis entitle: “An Eemian-Early Weichselian sequence in the Amersfoort Basin, the Netherlands”; the project was supervised by Natalie Van der Putten, Cees Kasse and Jeroen Schokker. We hope that Caroline will present her thesis at a future Palynologishe Kring meeting.
Teye Aukes presenting on the diatoms of ancient Rome
The talk series was kicked off by Nina Witteveen (University of Amsterdam) who presented part of her PhD thesis (currently awaiting defense), entitled: “Long-term forest recovery in Amazonia insights from phytolith analysis”. Nina discussed the impact of past peoples on the vegetation of Suriname based on her work identifying phytoliths in soil samples collected at varying distances from an archaeological site. The second talk was given my Amanda Henry (Leiden University) who demonstrated how the analysis of starch grains extracted from archaeological context can provide insights in to past diets. She used these evidences to suggest that early humans and Neanderthals had a similar diversity of plants in their diets. The third talk was given by University of Amsterdam MSc researcher Teye Aukes and focused upon his identification of diatoms from an swampy lagoon environment near Ostia (Italy). He drew conclusions from these data about the antiquity of salt production in ancient Rome. The final talk was given online by Welmoed Out (Moesgaard Museum) who presented a detailed analysis of inter- and intra-analyst variability in phytolith morphometric analysis.
After the seminars we moved upstairs to the microscope laboratory where Nina Witteveen and Ana Smuk (University of Groningen) showed off phytoliths from their study site in South America and the Netherlands.
Some of the Palynologische Kring members enjoying some refreshment after the event.
The SASQUA congress will kick off next week (19-24 May 2024) in Cango Valley (South Africa). Sessions cover many aspects of Quaternary science and range from archaeology through palaeoclimate to geological topics. The full program is now available to download.
Quick, L.J & Asithandile, N. (2024) Proceedings of the XXIV Biennial Congress of the Southern African Society for Quaternary Research (SASQUA), Cango Valley, South Africa, 19-24 May 2024. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11125697
To find out more about the meeting and other SASQUA activities you can also visit the organizations web pages: https://sasqua.co.za/
Alfred Houngnon was awarded an INQUA Fellowship in 2024 to develop his work on past environmental change in the Dahomey Gap (western Africa). Through the project Alfred is making a series of videos about his fellowship journey. In the first video Alfred introduced his project and collaborators (click here to watch the first part). In the two latest instalments (below) Alfred explains: (i) one of his key methodological approaches (modern pollen trapping), and (ii) the modern vegetation of the region and current threats to the vegetation.
The pollen and phytolith identification quiz! Is that an Asteraceae phytolith I see…???
The University of Amsterdam “Palaeoecology” course commenced this week with lectures getting students up to speed with the fundamental principles and approaches to the subject, and laboratory practicals training students in the identification of micro- and macro-fossils. Once students have gained a basic understanding of pollen and phytolith identification – and demonstrated this by passing the ‘dreaded’ identification quiz – it is time to commence the group project work.
This year the students are trying to identify from which study site their ‘mystery slides’ come from on the basis of the micro-fossil assemblages (pollen and phytoliths) that they contain. The study sites all come from the area around Hilversum (Netherlands) and (could) include: heathland, pine forest, mix-deciduous forest, and birch woodlands. In addition, just to make it more interesting, one group has samples taken from the medieval palaeosol that is found locally.
Next week is field work week and the students will then need to parameterise the vegetation around the Hilversum area in such a way that they: (i) get a representative sample the variation across the landscape, and (ii) can compare the vegetation data with their micro-fossil data. Then, following the number crunching in the third week of the course, we will find out if the different groups can identify the correct study site from which there samples came…
The Palaeoecology course at the University of Amsterdam is part of the BSc Biology program, it is also frequently taken by students on the BSc Future Planet Studies degree. We also welcome students from other programs, such as BSc Béta-Gamma, and international exchange students.
During the Mapping Ancient Africa workshop in Rome I conducted short interviews with the scientists involved. The first of these, Alfred Houngnon can be viewed here, below are four more, and more will follow as I get them uploaded. I hope they provide interesting insights into the diverse range of skills and backgrounds our scientists have.
Interview 2: Busisiwe Hlophe (University of the Witwatersrand)
Interview 3: Angela Effion (University of the Witwatersrand)
Interview 4: Bahru Zinaye Asegahegn (University of Cologne)
Interview 5: Michela Leonardi (University of Cambridge)
To find out more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project click here.
The second part of the Mapping Ancient Africa session at the INQUA Rome congress contained eight talks. Busisiwe Hlophe (University of the Witwatersrand) kicked us off by showing us the power of looking at wood anatomy preserved in charcoal microfossils to determine the nature of past vegetation and climate. RahabKinyanjui (National Museums of Kenya) presented phytolith work from archaeological sites revealing a mixed woody and grassy vegetation associated with archaic Homo sapiens in Kenya.
Three talks from the Cape Region in South Africa then followed with Saul Manzano (University of Leon), StellaMoscher (University of Utah), and Asithandile Ntsondwa (Nelson Mandela University) using various palaeo ecological approaches to explore climate, vegetation and fire regime shifts during the Holocene. Adele Julier (University of Portsmouth) then took us a little further north to Namibia to think about the challenges of parameterising modern pollen-vegetation relationships in arid regions. The final southern African talk was given by Gemma Poretti (University of Cape Town) explored a new approache to tracking change in past rainfall patterns using charcoal material.
We invite you to join us on an incredible journey through the heart of Ecuador, where a group of adventurous students from Florida Institute of Technology embarked on a life-changing experience as part of the Neotropical Archaeoecology summer field course. Buckle up as we delve into the marvels of nature, indigenous cultures, and unforgettable experiences. Let’s dive right in!
Unveiling the Andes
Our adventure began with a breath-taking visit to the Paramo at Cayambe-Coca National Park. Paramos are high altitude (3000-4000 metres) wet grasslands above the tree line and below the snow line within the equatorial Andes. Our tour guides Patricio and Byron gave us information about the local vegetation, focusing on the Polylepis tree (locally known as “paper tree”), which is unique to this sort of habitat. They also told us about some of the fascinating wildlife that can be seen here, such as the Andean Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and the Andean Puma (Puma concolor).
We then descended through the cloud forest (3,600–3,400 meters) and lower montane rainforest (3,400–2,500 meters). Across these various habitats, we documented changes in hummingbird abundance and recorded their behaviour at four different feeder points: Guango Lodge, La Brisa, San Isidro Lodge, and Cascada el Hollin. The sheer diversity of hummingbird species left us in awe, and we marvelled at their iridescent feathers and incredible agility.
We explored a waterfall near San Isidro Lodge (https://cabanasanisidro.com), and we were able to observe pre-Inca pottery. At the lodge we also saw a diverse array of bird species, which was delightful! The forest’s nightlife brought us close encounters with a group of nocturnal monkeys, and to our surprise, we stumbled upon a very rare mountain tapir. The following morning we saw a small agouti (a small rodent) prowling around the lodge, and ended our adventures in the cloud forest on a high note.
San Isidro waterfall and some of the animal diversity we observed
My name’s Alfred Houngnon, native of Benin Republic in West Africa. I hold an agricultural engineering degree in “Rangeland Management and Conservation” (Abomey-Calavi University). After gaining relevant field experience, I obtained a French Government Bursary to pursue an MSc degree in “Tropical Plant Biodiversity” at Montpellier (France). There, I learned about how to use indicators of past environmental and climatic change to give insights into projected future change.
It was a great scientific experience to participate in-person at the XXI INQUA Congress 2023 in Rome (Italy). This opportunity came under the supervision of William Gosling, and with the support of the Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) project funded by INQUA’s Palaeoclimate commission (PALCOM). I have been working with Will for a number of years and published a first paper related to this work in 2021; a checklist of vascular plants from a ‘relict’ forest in Benin (Houngnon et al., 2021). A second manuscript is under development and was accepted for poster and oral presentation at INQUA 2023 congress that brought together around 4000 abstracts.
Interview 1: Alfred Houngnon (AGIR)
The bursary from the MAA project allowed me to also attend the MAA Rome workshops held at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (12-13 July 2023). During the workshops, I was trained in two novel approaches to palaeoclimate modeling. The first based on interfacing paleoclimate models through the “pastclim” R package (Michela Leonardi), and the second on reconstructing palaeoclimates on the basis of ancient pollen data using the “CREST” program (Manu Chevalier). The workshops helped me to sharpen the communication of my ideas and in so doing strengthened the manuscript in preparation for submission to an international journal for publication.
Ecology of the past 