Studies on late Quaternary environmental dynamics (vegetation, biodiversity, climate, fire and human impact) on Mt. Kilimanjaro, comparing the dry northern with the wet southern slopes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Environmental archives from different key areas on the drier northern slopes and one ice core of Mt. Kilimanjaro will be studied and compared with the results of the wetter southern slopes to reconstruct former and to predict future landscape dynamics on Mt. Kilimanjaro in order to better understand (1) local and regional ecosystems, climate and fire dynamics in a larger context, (2) ecosystem dynamics and their reaction on environmental changes, (3) connections and disjunctions of different ecosystems (afroalpine grasslands, Erica belt, mountain forests, home gardens and savannas) and their role for the development of the biodiversity hot spots in East Africa, and (4) future ecosystem, climate, fire and soil dynamics within the Global Change phenomena. (5) Based on the results palaeovegetation maps will be made. (6) Furthermore, transfer functions will be developed which allow the reconstruction of climate variables based on pollen assemblages in the environment archives. The results will contribute to a better understanding of modern and future ecosystem dynamics and to maintain and manage the high biodiversity in the East African biodiversity hot spots by governmental and non-governmental agencies.