Holocene dynamics of tropical rainforest, climate, fire, human impact and land use in Sulawesi, Indonesia

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For understanding rainforest developments and dynamics and for sustainable land use management, an integrated study on environmental changes including past vegetation, biodiversity, climate, fire, human impact and land use dynamics is needed. We will study modern pollen rain, cores from different sediment archives (lakes, peat bogs, swamps, small basins) along elevational and moisture gradients of the joint research area and apply temporal high resolution pollen, charcoal and sediment analysis as well as radiocarbon dating. Further, we will research the pre-historical development of the megaliths culture, land use, and its impacts on rainforests, as well as historical settlement and land-use changes in central Sulawesi. Following main hypotheses will be tested: (1) Drought events (El Nino) and their consequences (e.g. fires) had marked effects on forest ecosystems and increased on elevational as well as wet to dry moisture gradients, (2) Holocene human settlements had a strong impact on rainforest ecosystems, and (3) drought events are a main driver for large scale forest regeneration in undisturbed forests.