Abrupt tropical vegetation response to rapid climate changes

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 304; no. 5679; pp. 1955 - 1959
• Main Authors: Hughen, K.A, Eglinton, T.I, Xu, L, Makou, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 25.06.2004; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Atmosphere; Biological and medical sciences; Biological markers; biomarkers; Biomass; Carbon - analysis; Carbon Isotopes - analysis; Climate; Climate change; Climate proxies; Climatic changes; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Exact sciences and technology; fatty acids; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geography; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Glaciers; leaves; Measurement; Methane; Organic Chemicals - analysis; Organic Chemistry; Paleobotany; Paleoclimatology; paleoecology; Paleontology; Plant Development; plant ecology; Plantae; Plants - metabolism; Reaction Time; Sediments; South America; Terrestrial environment, soil, air; Time; Trees; Tropical Climate; Tropical climates; Tropical regions; tropics; vascular plant biomarkers; Vegetation; vegetation types; Waxes; Younger Dryas period; South America; Caribbean Sea; Cariaco Venezuela; Venezuela; North Atlantic region; AN, North Atlantic; ASW, Caribbean Sea, Cariaco Basin; ASW, South America; Gray scale; Environment impact; Vegetation; Biological marker; Isotopic composition; Sediments; Tropical climate; Climate modification; Reflectance; Pleistocene
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1092995

Identifying leads and lags between high- and low-latitude abrupt climate shifts is needed to understand where and how such events were triggered. Vascular plant biomarkers preserved in Cariaco basin sediments reveal rapid vegetation changes in northern South America during the last deglaciation, 15,000 to 10,000 years ago. Comparing the biomarker records to climate proxies from the same sediment core provides a precise measure of the relative timing of changes in different regions. Abrupt deglacial climate shifts in tropical and high-latitude North Atlantic regions were synchronous, whereas changes in tropical vegetation consistently lagged climate shifts by several decades.