Palaeoecological evidence for Holocene environmental change from the Virunga volcanoes in the Albertine Rift, central Africa

Abstract

This study presents two new, well-dated sedimentary pollen and charcoal records from high-altitude crater sites in the Virunga volcanoes, located in the Albertine Rift, central Africa, currently part of one of the world's most biodiverse areas. Here we argue that Holocene vegetation changes in a ca 8000-year palaeoenvironmental record from a crater swamp at an altitude of 3474 m and a ca 2800-year record from a crater lake at an altitude of 4127 m are linked to variations in both climate and human activity. Climatic changes during the mid- to late Holocene are reflected in the high-altitude sites and more widely in adjacent parts of the Albertine Rift. Vegetation changes, comprising a decline in Ericaceous vegetation at ca 5000 cal yrs BP and subsequent expansion of Afroalpine vegetation, together with a later increase in taxa associated with lower montane forest (particularly Podocarpus), reflect increasing aridity during the mid- to late Holocene. Human-induced environmental change in the Virunga volcanoes is apparent only within the last millennium, despite the long history of human occupation of the area. Both study sites record significant forest clearance at ca 900 cal yrs BP, involving a reduction in lower montane forest taxa and increases in disturbance indicators. Changes in the composition of upper montane forest, and particularly the expansion of Hagenia, are possibly linked to anthropogenic-induced changes in the fire regime, and are apparent from ca 900 cal yrs BP. Human-induced environmental modification from the early part of the last millennium, likely associated with onset of the Late Iron Age, appears to have extended to high altitudes. The importance of natural, long-term climate change as a major cause of environmental change in the Albertine Rift has been eclipsed within the last millennium by human-induced environmental effects.