A spatial and temporal Eocene palaeoenvironmental study, focusing on the Proteaceae family, from Kambalda, Western Australia

Abstract

The spatial and temporal vegetation and environmental dynamics of an Eocene sequence from south-western Australia, based on pollen and geochemical analyses, is presented here. The vegetation was dominated by Nothofagus species with other gymnosperms such as Araucaria and Podocarpus intermixed with Myrtaceae, Proteaceae and Casuarinaceae. Pollen of Proteaceae were an important and consistent component of the vegetation; as much, or more so than at present. Results from this study show that the Proteaceous component is up to 42% of the total pollen counts. Removing data for the dominant Nothofagus taxon did not alter the apparent dominance of Proteaceae species, though the abundance and types of species changed. The abundance and diversity of the flora here supports the view that there are differences between the flora in eastern and western parts of Australia at this time. In addition, a main finding of this research is that there can be considerable spatial and temporal variability in the abundance and diversity of taxa, and specifically Proteaceous taxa, in landscapes in the Eocene.