Browsing by Author "Drinnan, AN"

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    A multi-proxy record of environmental change at a glacial Nothofagus refugium, Wyelangta, Victoria
    (Australasian Quaternary Association, 2022-12-06) Matley, KA; Drinnan, AN; Sniderman, JMK; Hua, Q; Porch, N
    Despite its widespread use in palaeoecology, pollen-based reconstructions are limited by coarse taxonomic resolution. Pollen of narrow-range species that might be used as ecological indicators, for example, can be difficult or impossible to distinguish from the pollen of geographically widespread, and therefore less informative, taxa. Plant macrofossils, by contrast, are routinely identified to species level, and a majority of the species present in Southeast Australia during the late Quaternary still exist today. These improvements to the taxonomic precision of palaeobotanical records allow for the use of bioclimatic niche models to quantitatively reconstruct palaeoclimate, based on fossil species’ modern day climatic niches. Combining these two proxies, we are able to produce a more nuanced interpretation of late-Quaternary vegetation and climate. We sampled for pollen and plant macrofossils at a known late Quaternary palynological site in the Otways, Victoria (McKenzie & Kershaw, 2000). Here, we present a detailed pollen record and use plant macrofossil remains to confirm species identifications and conduct bioclimatic niche modelling. Our study reveals that, although the site has remained a rare mainland refugium for Nothofagus cunninghamii throughout the entire period of the record, the regional vegetation has undergone significant environmental change. By employing a multi-proxy approach that encompasses both pollen and macrofossil analysis, this study provides precise new estimates of the composition of Southeast Australian biotic communities and climates. These results contribute to the globally significant debate around the influence of the late Quaternary climate over the generation and maintenance of terrestrial biodiversity, and to the increasingly urgent discussion of the degree of sensitivity of Australian plant taxa to changing climate in general.