Environmental change in Greater Australia

Antiquity ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (265) ◽  
pp. 656-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Peter Kershaw

Australia, a dry island continent in mid latitude, spans from tropical to cold temperate regions; long isolation has given it its own flora and fauna. Environmental changes in the late Quaternary have had their own and special courses in the continent and its several regions. The role of fires set by people is an important issue in the changing ‘natural’ landscape.

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Nielsen ◽  
S. Helama

Abstract. Christian Theodor Vaupell (1821–1862) was a Danish scholar with pioneering investigations particularly on the late Quaternary development of bog forests, but also microscopy of plant anatomy and vegetative reproduction. His studies contributed to the early scientific thinking of the Quaternary environmental changes. Before his academic efforts, he had already survived the war between Prussia and Denmark albeit he became severely wounded and his left arm was amputated. The drama of his academic efforts, on the other hand, lies in the more or less suspicious dispute of his first doctoral thesis and his dismissal from the academic world during the following years. At the same time, he earned praise for his first thesis (never accepted as thesis but published as a regular book) from abroad; he was also able to attract private foundations for financial support of his scientific work. Following the enthusiasm of his time, Vaupell became attracted to the pine megafossils known to have been preserved in the bogs in north-west Europe. The megafossils led him to study not only the life systems of the ancient and modern bog forests but also their associations with Earth processes. As an interesting detail of his research, Vaupell made compound interpretations on the occurrence of megafossil stumps and their tree-ring growth patterns. In the course of the 20th century, Vaupell's studies have been cited as a general reference of post-glacial vegetation change and plant succession rather than clearly pioneering investigations of palaeoecology, an angle that we would like put into a contrasting perspective. To do so, we provide a brief portrait of Christian Vaupell and his research career. In conclusion, we wish to emphasize the comprehensiveness of Vaupell's views on the late Quaternary vegetation changes and the role of plant succession in that development.


2021 ◽  
pp. SP515-2020-122
Author(s):  
Yama Dixit ◽  
Sravani Biswas

AbstractThe Indian subcontinent today houses about one- third of the global population and is one of the most vulnerable regions to future climate variability. This region has seen changes in civilizations, kingdoms and more recently political regimes, that were intricately linked to changing environment over mid-late Holocene. A comparative analysis of human-environment interaction within different regions at different time scales of the Quaternary is however lacking. In this paper we discuss the human-environment interactions taking case studies from two diverse time periods and geographically different regions from the Indian sub-continent. First, we review and analyze the role of environmental change in the evolution of Indus civilization on the northwestern Indian subcontinent during the mid-late Holocene and secondly, we discuss the role of both the anthropogenic activities and environmental change during the Anthropocene in shaping up the Bengal delta. Overall, during the mid-late Holocene, Indus cultural transformations were driven by natural environmental changes, whereas the anthropogenic activities in the last few centuries modified the Bengal deltaic landscape which intensified the impacts of natural disasters - in both cases a change in socio-political scenarios occurred. Such studies can be used as benchmarks to understand the future response of societies to environmental changes.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. McGlue ◽  
◽  
Valdir Felipe Novello ◽  
Francisco W. Cruz ◽  
Rudney de Almeida Santos ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Machiel Lamers ◽  
Jeroen Nawijn ◽  
Eke Eijgelaar

Over the last decades a substantial and growing societal and academic interest has emerged for the development of sustainable tourism. Scholars have highlighted the contribution of tourism to global environmental change and to local, detrimental social and environmental effects as well as to ways in which tourism contributes to nature conservation. Nevertheless the role of tourist consumers in driving sustainable tourism has remained unconvincing and inconsistent. This chapter reviews the constraints and opportunities of political consumerism for sustainable tourism. The discussion covers stronger pockets and a key weak pocket of political consumerism for sustainable tourism and also highlights inconsistencies in sustainable tourism consumption by drawing on a range of social theory arguments and possible solutions. The chapter concludes with an agenda for future research on this topic.


1993 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Socorro Lozano-Garcı́a ◽  
Beatriz Ortega-Guerrero ◽  
Margarita Caballero-Miranda ◽  
Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi

AbstractIn order to establish paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Quaternary, four cores from the Basin of Mexico (central Mexico) were drilled in Chalco Lake, located in the southeastern part of the basin. The upper 8 m of two parallel cores were studied, using paleomagnetic, loss-on-ignition, pollen, and diatom analyses. Based on 11 14C ages, the analyzed record spans the last 19,000 14C yr B.P. Volcanic activity has affected microfossil abundances, both directly and indirectly, resulting in absence or reduction of pollen and diatom assemblages. Important volcanic activity took place between 19,000 and 15,000 yr B.P. when the lake was a shallow alkaline marsh and an increase of grassland pollen suggests a dry, cold climate. During this interval, abrupt environmental changes with increasing moisture occurred. From 15,000 until 12,500 yr B.P. the lake level increased and the pollen indicates wetter conditions. The highest lake level is registered from 12,500 to ca. 9000 yr B.P. The end of the Pleistocene is characterized by an increase in humidity. From 9000 until ca. 3000 yr B.P. Chalco Lake was a saline marsh and the pollen record indicates warmer conditions. After 3000 yr B.P. the lake level increased and human disturbance dominates the lacustrine record.


1998 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 275-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Nishimura ◽  
Toru Nakasone ◽  
Chikara Hiramatsu ◽  
Manabu Tanahashi

Based on sedimenlological and micropaleontological work on three sediment cores collected at about 167° Ε in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica, and accelerator mass spectrometer l4C ages of organic carbon, we have reconstructed environmental changes in the area during the late Quaternary. Since 38 ka BP at latest, this area was a marine environment with low productivity. A grounded ice sheet advanced and loaded the sediments before about 30-25 ka BP. After 25 ka BP, the southernmost site (76°46'S) was covered by floating ice (shelf ice), preventing deposition of coarse terrigenous materials and maintaining a supply of diatom tests and organic carbon until 20 ka BP. The northernmost site (74°33'S) was in a marine environment with a moderate productivity influenced by shelf ice/ice sheet after about 20 ka BP. Since about 10 ka BP, a sedimentary environment similar to the present-day one has prevailed over this area.


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