Palaeovegetation Reconstruction Research Articles

Early Eocene leaves of northwestern India and their response to climate change

Today the existence of tropical rainforests in the Indian subcontinent is restricted to the fringes of the Western Ghats, greater Assam region and some small places in Odisha. However, the palaeovegetation reconstruction in this study illustrates the existence of equatorial tropical forest in northwestern India (Bikaner, Rajasthan) during the early Eocene. Fossil leaves, described here, were collected from the Gurha lignite mine of Bikaner and showed affinities with Holigarna grahamii (Anacardiaceae), Pterygota alata (Malvaceae), Syzygium spp. (S. fruticosum and S. cumini) (Myrtaceae), and Gardenia spp. (G. lucida and G. gummiefra) (Rubiaceae). Contrary to the present-day dry and desertic conditions, the fossil records provide strong evidence of humid tropical and paratropical evergreen forest with monsoon seasonality existing in and around the study area during the depositional period. Any shift in climatic conditions has drastic effects on the vegetation cover of a region in time and space. This drastic change in climate has led to the extinction of tropical rain forest from this region. This might be due to the northward movement of the Indian subcontinent (away from the equator), formation of the Himalayas and monsoon or changes in monsoon pattern.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental changes recorded in deposits of the Bukovynka Cave (the East-Carpathian foreland, Ukraine)

A study of pollen, fossil mammals and lithology (including grain-size analysis) of the terrigenous deposits in the Bukovynka Cave enables the reconstruction of the environments of several geochronologic subdivisions of the Middle Pleniglacial, Late Glacial and Holocene. A comparison of pollen assemblages in surface samples from the cave deposits and from the soils prove the importance of cave palynology for palaeovegetation reconstruction. The same patterns were shown by a comparison of pollen from hyaena coprolites in the cave and their enclosing sediments. In the Trapeznyi Chamber record, the two interstadials and one stadial identified are correlated with those of the Moershoofd interval, and the following stadial (after 41,000 yrs BP) is compared with the Hosselo stadial of Western Europe. In the Sukhyi Chamber record, Late Glacial times (around 10,700 yrs BP) differed from the Holocene in having a much harsher climate (with the spread of boreal forest). During the Holocene, a relatively wet phase, transitional from Atlantic to Early Subboreal, was separated from the similar phase of the Late Subboreal (2800 yrs BP) by a drier Middle Subboreal (with the disappearance of water-loving trees and the existence of steppe rodents). The Subatlantic was the wettest time, with culmination of a broad-leaved flora in the Roman (2300–1800 yrs BP) and Medieval (1000 yrs BP) Warm Periods. The cultivation of Cerealia started from 2800 yrs BP, and forest clearances increased after the Medieval Warm Period.

Do soil phytoliths accurately represent plant communities in a temperate region? A case study of Northeast China

Modern soil phytoliths can potentially provide analogues for phytolith assemblages from archaeological and palaeoecological contexts. To assess the reliability of soil phytoliths for representing different plant communities, we analysed phytoliths in surface soils and parent plants at 65 sites representing five types of regional vegetation in Northeast China. The results demonstrated that surface soil phytolith assemblages could clearly differentiate samples from herbaceous and woody communities, and samples from Poaceae and non-Poaceae communities could be separated statistically. In addition, woody communities could be differentiated into a broadleaf-Poaceae community, a broadleaf-non-Poaceae community and a conifer and broadleaf-non-Poaceae community, except for some overlapping samples. Soil phytolith assemblages are thus able to differentiate regional vegetation types into different plant community types. In the present study, soil phytoliths represented about 30% of the phytoliths present in the aboveground vegetation. In addition, soil phytoliths from different communities reflected the aboveground vegetation with slightly different degrees of accuracy, and in addition different morphotypes exhibited different degrees of representational bias. Some morphotypes (e.g. rondel, elongate psilate, lanceolate) overrepresented the abundance of the associated plant taxa; morphotypes such as tracheid, conical epidermal, stomata and others under-represented the original plant richness; and other morphotypes, e.g. saddle, trapeziform sinuate, scutiform, were in good agreement with the numbers of plant taxa in the plot inventory. Thus, any quantitative palaeovegetation reconstruction using phytoliths should begin with the calibration of soil phytolith assemblages. We conclude that our findings provide improved phytolith analogues for different plant communities, with applications in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, and they also provide additional insights into the mechanisms of phytolith production and deposition.

Modern pollen deposition in wetlands of Majuli Island and its implication to decipher palaeoflood episodes in northeast India

The present study is the first attempt from any Indian wetland, where palynological data is assessed to understand the flooding histories of the Sakali and Duboi wetlands in the Majuli River Island, a part of the Indo-Burma hotspot. Palynological analyses of surface soil samples from these wetlands were carried out in order to explore the flooding histories of this island. The presence of extra-local taxa such as Rhododendron, Tsuga and Castanopsis, in the Sakali wetland is strongly suggestive of river water transportation and flooding on the Majuli Island in the recent past. In contrast, dominance of local arboreal taxa and low abundance or absence of extra-local pollen taxa in the Duboi wetland does not indicate flooding. Correspondence analysis (CA) was applied on the present dataset to reveal possible correlations between the surface samples of the wetlands and the major group of palynotaxa. The CA successfully discriminated the samples from the two wetlands and also marked strong correlations between flood indicators extra-local taxa with the samples of the Sakali wetland and local arboreal elements with the Duboi samples. The present result will not only provide a baseline for future palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate reconstructions, but will also help in deciphering palaeoflood episodes from these wetlands.

Characteristics of modern biotic data and their relationship to vegetation of the Alpine zone of Chopta valley, North Sikkim, India: Implications for palaeovegetation reconstruction

We examined the modern pollen palynomorphs (PP) distribution complemented with non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) and stable carbon isotopic data of soil organic matter (SOM) to explore relationships of...

Response of spatial vegetation distribution in China to climate changes since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).

Analyzing how climate change affects vegetation distribution is one of the central issues of global change ecology as this has important implications for the carbon budget of terrestrial vegetation. Mapping vegetation distribution under historical climate scenarios is essential for understanding the response of vegetation distribution to future climatic changes. The reconstructions of palaeovegetation based on pollen data provide a useful method to understand the relationship between climate and vegetation distribution. However, this method is limited in time and space. Here, using species distribution model (SDM) approaches, we explored the climatic determinants of contemporary vegetation distribution and reconstructed the distribution of Chinese vegetation during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 18,000 14C yr BP) and Middle-Holocene (MH, 6000 14C yr BP). The dynamics of vegetation distribution since the LGM reconstructed by SDMs were largely consistent with those based on pollen data, suggesting that the SDM approach is a useful tool for studying historical vegetation dynamics and its response to climate change across time and space. Comparison between the modeled contemporary potential natural vegetation distribution and the observed contemporary distribution suggests that temperate deciduous forests, subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests, temperate deciduous shrublands and temperate steppe have low range fillings and are strongly influenced by human activities. In general, the Tibetan Plateau, North and Northeast China, and the areas near the 30°N in Central and Southeast China appeared to have experienced the highest turnover in vegetation due to climate change from the LGM to the present.

Testing quantitative pollen dispersal models in animal-pollinated vegetation mosaics: An example from temperate Tasmania, Australia

Reconstructing past vegetation abundance and land-cover changes through time has important implications in land management and climate modelling. To date palaeovegetation reconstructions in Australia have been limited to qualitative or semi-quantitative inferences from pollen data. Testing pollen dispersal models constitutes a crucial step in developing quantitative past vegetation and land cover reconstructions. Thus far, the application of quantitative pollen dispersal models has been restricted to regions dominated by wind-pollinated plants (e.g. Europe) and their performance in a landscape dominated by animal-pollinated plant taxa is still unexplored. Here we test, for the first time in Australia, two well-known pollen dispersal models to assess their performance in the wind- and animal-pollinated vegetation mosaics of western Tasmania. We focus on a mix of wind- (6 taxa) and animal- (7 taxa) pollinated species that comprise the most common pollen types and key representatives of the dominant vegetation formations. Pollen Productivity Estimates and Relevant Source Area of Pollen obtained using Lagrangian Stochastic turbulent simulations appear to be more realistic when compared to the results from the widely used Gaussian Plume Model.

Late Triassic palaeoclimate and palaeoecosystem variations inferred by palynological record in the northeastern Sichuan Basin, China

The end-Triassic is characterized by enhanced rates of biotic turnover, but the terrestrial records of the Triassic-Jurassic transition are relatively rare in Asia. In this study, a detailed investigation of well-preserved palynomorphs of Late Triassic terrestrial deposit in northeastern Sichuan Basin, China, has been conducted to reconstruct the palaeoclimate and palaeoecosystem variations. The palynoflora of the Xujiahe Formation in Xuanhan of Sichuan shows a high diversity of spores and pollen grains, including 151 species of 64 genera. The palynological assemblage is characterized by a dominance of spores and abundance of gymnosperm pollen grains, dated as Norian-Rhaetian (Late Triassic) in age. Palaeovegetation reconstruction shows a predominance of fern floras, followed by gymnosperms represented by conifers. This palynoflora indicates that a tropical-subtropical humid and warm climate generally prevailed during the Late Triassic. However, further Sporomorph EcoGroup model (SEG) analysis suggests that the overall humid and warm climate condition was not static and unchanging throughout the Late Triassic episode, but was punctuated by several climatic and ecosystem variations: two warm and humid climate events, accompanied by a cool and dry trend in the end-Triassic episode. The study reveals the terrestrial ecosystem variations before the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in the Sichuan Basin, and thus provides important evidence for understanding the response of terrestrial vegetation to regional and global environmental changes across the Triassic/Jurassic transition.

An orthogonal experimental study of phytolith size of Phragmites communis in northeast China

Based on the widespread distribution and abundant phytoliths produced by Phragmites communis, phytoliths of P. communis in northeast China were investigated to identify the primary influencing factors on phytolith size using an orthogonal experimental method. Temperature and precipitation were found to be the prominent factors influencing the sizes of short‐cell phytoliths including the saddle and the rondel morphotypes, whereas there were no obvious variations in the width‐to‐length ratios of short‐cell phytoliths in response to environmental factors. These results indicate that short‐cell phytoliths are genetically stable, confirming that they can be used for the classification of grasses. Moreover, precipitation was the main factor influencing the sizes of the lanceolate phytoliths and silicified stomata, and their width‐to‐length ratios changed significantly in response to precipitation and habitat differences. These findings reveal that lanceolate and silicified stomata phytoliths are sensitive to environmental changes, indicating their usefulness for palaeoenvironment reconstruction. Moreover, variations in their width‐to‐length ratios and their sizes may provide some information for plant classification, even at species level. Finally, the results of a principal component analysis of the sizes of P. communis phytoliths further verify the reliability of the orthogonal experiment results, in that temperature and precipitation were the prominent factors influencing the size of all P. communis phytoliths except for the length of saddle and width of the saddle morphotypes. This research into the primary environmental significance of the sizes of P. communis phytoliths may contribute to improving the precision of plant classification and the model for quantitative reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment to aid in reconstructions of palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate.

A 5000-year pollen and plant macrofossil record from the Osogovo Mountain, Southwestern Bulgaria: Vegetation history and human impact

Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses were performed on a sequence 105cm deep obtained from a peat bog (1750m) that is located above the present timber-line in the Osogovo Mountain, Southwestern Bulgaria. The palaeovegetation reconstruction, supported by a radiocarbon chronology, revealed the vegetation dynamics and human impact during the last 5000years. The peat bog formed when a coniferous belt of Abies alba and Pinus (Pinus sylvestris, Pinus nigra) covered the high mountain slopes. Charcoal fragments indicate the presence of a broad-leaved tree community composed of Quercus, Corylus, Carpinus, Tilia, Acer and Ulmus at lower altitudes. Stands of Fagus sylvatica in places with higher air and soil humidity, like river valleys and deep ravines, became established. The pollen assemblages after c. 3200cal. BP record an important change in the forest composition that led to the replacement of the conifers, mostly A. alba, by the invading communities of F. sylvatica. The reasons for this replacement included factors related to both climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. During the last centuries a large-scale degradation of the woodlands in the mountain has occurred. On a regional scale the palaeoecological evidence is compared with information from palynological, archaeological and historical sources in Southwestern Bulgaria.

Multi-proxy records of Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes in the Varna Lake area, western Black Sea coast

High-resolution spore-pollen analysis of laminated sediments of newly taken Core-3 (870 cm long) from Varna Lake (northeastern Bulgaria) is combined with multiproxy micropalaeontological analyses of dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, and other non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP), including fossil algal and fungal remains. The location of the core is close to several submerged praehistorical sites and the Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis, and permits more precise palaeoecological correlations of obtained results with available archaeological and geochronological data. The established Age vs. Depth Model shows that the formation of the lake started after 7870 cal. BP due to a rise of the Black Sea level, also known as the First Phase of the Vityazevyan Black Sea Transgression. After ca. 94 y, the Second Phase of the Vityazevyan Black Sea Transgression is registered by a major change in the sedimentation and formation of molluscan shell hash layer of Mytilus galloprovincialis that covers the interval 7776 to 6183 cal. BP. Mixed oak and hornbeam forests dominated the vegetation cover during the Atlantic, Subboreal and Subatlantic chronozones of the Holocene. An important change in the forest composition occurs at ca. 5518 cal. BP, when Carpinus betulus reached its maximum spread due to a climate change. The high-resolution geoarchaeological reconstruction of palaeovegetation also reveals the extent of anthropogenic influence in the Varna Lake area, with deforestation and agricultural practice. Two periods of significant presence of pollen from cultivated cereals, and secondary anthropogenic indicators (weeds and ruderals) were identified. According to the available AMS-radiocarbon data, these periods correspond to the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. The Transitional period without human activities between these two archaeological periods lasted ca. 319 y and coincides with a rise of the Black Sea level, reflected by the increase of euryhaline marine dinoflagelate cysts Lingulodinium machaerophorum and Spiniferites belerius, and acritarchs Cymatiosphaera globulosa and Micrhystridium cf. ariakense during the First Phase of the Kalamitian Black Sea Transgression. The increased values of Corylus coincidently with decrease of Quercus and Ulmus suggest clearance of forests and enlargement of arable areas during the Late Eneolithic. The NPP-record of spores of coprophyllous fungi Cercophora, Sordaria, Podospora and Chaetomium indicates the presence of domestic animals during the Early Bronze Age. The maximum of Alnus, Ulmus, Fraxinus excelsior-type and Fagus pollen at 717 cal. BP suggests an increase of humidity and cooling of climate during the Subatlantic.

Characteristic pollen source area and vertical pollen dispersal and deposition in a mixed coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved woodland in the Changbai mountains, northeast China

Pollen influx (number of pollen grains cm−2 year−1) can objectively reflect the dispersal and deposition features of pollen within a certain time and space, and is often used as a basis for the quantitative reconstruction of palaeovegetation; however, little is known about the features and mechanisms of vertical dispersal of pollen. Here we present the results from a 5 year (2006–2010) monitoring program using pollen traps placed at different heights from ground level up to 60 m and surface soil samples in a mixed coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved woodland in the Changbai mountains, northeastern China. The pollen percentages and pollen influx from the traps have very similar characteristics to the highest values for Betula, Fraxinus, Quercus and Pinus, among the tree taxa and Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae among the herb taxa. Pollen influx values vary significantly with height and show major differences between three distinct layers, above-canopy (≥32 m), within the trunk layer (8 ≤ 32 m) and on the ground (0 m). These differences in pollen influx are explained by differences in (i) the air flows in each of these layers and (ii) the fall speed of pollen of the various taxa. We found that the pollen recorded on the ground surface is a good representation of the major part of the pollen transported in the trunk space of the woodland. Comparison of the pollen influx values with the theoretical, calculated “characteristic pollen source area” (CPSA) of 12 selected taxa indicates that the pollen deposited on the ground surface of the woodland is a fair representation with 85–90 % of the total pollen deposited at a wind speed of 2.4 m s−1 coming from within ca. 1–5 km for Pinus and Quercus, ca. 5–10 km for Ulmus, Tilia, Oleaceae and Betula, ca. 20–40 km for Fraxinus, Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Populus and Salix, and ca. 30–60 km for Artemisia; it is also a good representation with 90–98 % of the total pollen deposited coming from within 60 km at a wind speed of 2.4 m s−1, or 100 km at a wind speed: 6 m s−1, for the 12 selected taxa used in the CPSA calculation. Furthermore, comparison with the vegetation map of the area around the sampling site shows that the pollen deposited on the ground represents all plant communities which grow in the study area within 70 km radius of the sampling site. In this study, the pollen percentages obtained from the soil surface samples are significantly biased towards pollen taxa with good preservation due to thick and robust pollen walls. Therefore, if mosses are available instead, soil samples should be avoided for pollen studies, in particular for the study of pollen-vegetation relationships, the estimation of pollen productivities and quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation. The results also indicate that the existing model of pollen dispersal and deposition, Prentice’s model, provides a fair description of the actual pollen dispersal and deposition in this kind of woodland, which suggests that the application of the landscape reconstruction algorithm would be relevant for reconstruction of this type of woodland in the past.

Carbon isotope signatures from land snail shells: Implications for palaeovegetation reconstruction in the eastern Mediterranean

In this study we compare carbon isotope values in modern Helix melanostoma shell carbonate (δ13Cshell) from the Gebel al-Akhdar region of Libya with carbon isotope values in H. melanostoma body tissue (δ13Cbody), local vegetation (δ13Cplant) and soil (δ13Csoil). All vegetation in the study area followed the C3 photosynthetic pathway. However, the δ13Cplant values of different species formed two distinct isotopic groups. This can be best explained by different water use efficiencies with arid adapted species having significantly more positive δ13Cplant values than less water efficient species. The ranges and means of δ13Cbody and δ13Cplant were statistically indistinguishable from one another suggesting that δ13Cbody was primarily a function of local vegetation composition. H. melanostoma δ13Cshell reflected the δ13Cplant of local vegetation with a positive offset between body/diet and shell of 14.5 ± 1.4‰. Therefore, in the Gebel al-Akhdar where only C3 plants are present, higher mean δ13Cshell values likely reflect greater abundances of water-efficient C3 plants in the snails diet and therefore in the landscape, whilst lower mean δ13Cshell values likely reflect the consumption of less water-efficient C3 plants. The distribution of these plants is in turn affected by environmental factors such as rainfall. These findings can be applied to archaeological and geological shell deposits to reconstruct late Pleistocene to Holocene vegetation change in the southeast Mediterranean.

Climate-driven past fires in central Sicily

Wildfires in the Mediterranean basin are very important even if their causes and dynamics are not always fully understood. Fire occurrence is driven by several factors, such as the availability of fuel and the amount of biomass. In the Mediterranean basin, the seasonality of climate and its influence on vegetation plays an important role on flammability. Short-term fire dynamics and its relationship with vegetation is the subject of many present-day studies from local to global scales. Long-term fire dynamics can be investigated studying the residues of past plant burnings, such as microcharcoals. Microcharcoals extracted from lacustrine sediments are considered as a fire proxy and pollen as the best one for palaeovegetation reconstruction. We use pollen and microscopic charcoal data from a well-known Holocene sediment record from Lago di Pergusa (Sicily) to analyse their long-term relationships and to gain insights into environmental versus human-induced changes of fire behaviour. At a local scale, the fuel for wildfire is mainly provided by deciduous oaks. On the contrary, irrespective of the regional or local scale of analysis, Mediterranean vegetation seems not particularly fire-prone. Our data show that the largest fires occurred when the precipitation amount in the study area was sufficiently high to allow the development of all vegetation belts, from the Mediterranean to the montane one. Even if no doubt is left on the role of anthropogenic pressure in Sicily in the last few millennia, nonetheless our data highlight the relevant role of climate forcing on wildfires, which is mainly related to regional forest cover and, hence, to biomass and fuel availability.

Palaeoecology and Geoarchaeology of Varna Lake, Northeastern Bulgaria

Palaeoenvironmental data from the high-resolution spore-pollen analysis of laminated sediments from newly-taken Core 3 ‐ Varna Lake were combined with analyses of dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs and other non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP), including fossil algal and fungal remains. The location of the core is close to submerged prehistorical sites and permits the palaeoenvironmental correlations of obtained results with available archaeological and geochronological data. The established Age Model shows that the accumulation of lake sediments started after 7870 cal. BP and is connected with a rise of the Black Sea level. One-hundred-ninety-cm-long molluskan shell hash layer of Mytilus galloprovincialis covers the interval from 7776 to 6183 cal. BP. The mixed oak and hornbeam forests dominated the vegetation cover during the Atlantic, Subboreal and Subatlantic chronozones of the Holocene. An important change in the forest composition occurred at ca 5598 cal. BP, when Carpinus betulus increased its spreading due to climatic changes. The high-resolution reconstruction of palaeovegetation also reveals the extent of anthropogenic influence in Varna Lake area. Two periods of significant presence of pollen from cultivated cereals, weeds and ruderals were identified. According to the available AMS-radiocarbon data, these periods are attributed to the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. The anthropogenic impact on the natural vegetation has been identified by deforestation and agricultural practice. The Transitional period without human activities between these two periods lasted ca 319 years

Palaeovegetational reconstruction of the Krios valley, northern Achaea (Greece): archaeobotanical analysis conducted as part of the Aegialia Survey Project

Since 2001 the Aegialia Survey Project (A.S.P.) has sought to reconstruct the dynamics of human occupation in Aegialia, northern Achaea (Greece). In doing so it has followed a multidisciplinary approach, with the involvement of various skills and institutions.

Over-representation of Picea pollen induced by water transport in arid regions

Picea pollen plays an important role for reconstructing a cold-humid climate or palaeo-elevations. However, research has not yet taken into account the pollen transportation pathways within rivers in arid regions. A sporopollen study of surface (the uppermost) river sediments and surface soils from the Heihe and Shiyang Rivers (originating in the Qilian Mountains) suggests that significant differences exist between Picea pollen percentages within these two different sediment types. In surface soils the Picea pollen fractions are low, representing transportation by wind. However, percentages of Picea pollen reach up to 15.9% of total pollen counts in surface river sediments, as far as about 120 km away from the lower spruce forest line. This result, together with the demonstrated enrichment of Picea pollen in water bodies that lie along those observed rivers, indicate an over-representation within fluvial and lacustrine sediments. Knowledge about these relationships provides fundamental information for the reconstruction of palaeo-vegetation, palaeo-climate or palaeo-elevations.

Early Oligocene plant taphocoenoses of the Haselbach megafloral complex and the reconstruction of palaeovegetation

In this article, vegetational reconstructions of leaf floras from the early Oligocene Haselbach megafloral complex, which have been published by several authors since the 1960s, are compiled, summarised, reconsidered and partly revised. The geological setting of the fossil material is updated based on the most recent monographs on stratigraphy and geology of the mid-German Paleogene. An annotated list of the leaf component of the Haselbach complex floras is given using the most recent nomenclature and taxonomy. Reconstructions previously illustrated as vegetational schemes are redrawn, with slight modifications to the original versions. Original captions of the schemes are revised with special attention given to the fossil plant names and sediment facies types. Typical fossil specimens that characterise the corresponding plant taphocoenoses quite well are included to complement the drawings. The importance of phytotaphonomic and palaeoecological data for the reconstructions of palaeoenvironments is emphasised.

209 Palaeovegetation reconstruction in monsoonal regions

209 Palaeovegetation reconstruction in monsoonal regions

Charcoal identification in species-rich biomes: A protocol for Central Africa optimised for the Mayumbe forest

Direct evidence for Central African vegetation history is mostly derived from palynology and palaeolimnology. Although anthracology has proven worthwhile for palaeovegetation reconstructions in temperate regions and South America, charcoal analysis has hardly been applied for Central Africa. Moreover, a transparent charcoal identification procedure using large databases and well defined characters has never been developed. Therefore, we present a Central African charcoal identification protocol within an umbrella database of species names and metadata, compiled from an on-line database of wood-anatomical descriptions (InsideWood), the database of the world's largest reference collection of Central African wood specimens (RMCA, Tervuren, Belgium) and inventory and indicator species lists. The 2909 Central African woody species covered by this database represent a large fraction of the total woody species richness of Central Africa. The database enables a directed search taking into account metadata on (1) anatomical features, (2) availability of thin sections within the reference collection, (3) species distribution and (4) synonymy. The protocol starts with an anatomical query within this database, focussing on genus rather than species level, proceeds with automatic extension and reduction phases of the resulting species list and ends with a comparative microscopic study of wood reference thin sections and charcoal anatomy. In total, 76.2% of the Central African species in the database are taken into consideration, focussing on indicator and inventory species. The protocol has a large geographical applicability, as it can be optimised for every research area within Central Africa. Specifically, the protocol has been optimised for the Mayumbe region and applied to radiocarbon dated (2055–2205 14Cyr BP) charcoal collections from a pedoanthracological excavation. The validity of the protocol has been proven by the mutual consistency of charcoal identification results and the consistency of these identification results with vegetation history based on phytogeographical and palynological research within and around the Mayumbe. As such, anthracology complements palynology and a combination of both can lead to stronger palaeobotanical reconstructions.