Southeast Australian palaeofloras of the late Pleistocene and their implications for glacial palaeoclimate reconstructions

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dc.contributor.authorMatley, KAen_AU
dc.contributor.authorSniderman, Ken_AU
dc.contributor.authorDrinnan, Aen_AU
dc.contributor.authorPorch, Nen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHua, Qen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2023-07-27T01:21:06Zen_AU
dc.date.available2023-07-27T01:21:06Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2019-07-29en_AU
dc.date.statistics2023-03-24en_AU
dc.description.abstractThe climatic extremes of the last glacial period (approximately 100,000 to 12,000 years ago) and particularly the last glacial maximum (approximately 20,000 years ago) are thought to have exerted a significant influence over the current distribution of mesic forest taxa in southeast Australia. However, limited taxonomic resolution afforded by fossil pollen has meant that the nature of glacial biotic communities remains poorly understood. Pollen-based palaeoclimate reconstructions of southeast Australia have invoked a mostly treeless, ‘glacial steppe’ environment characterised by cold, dry, windy conditions. But, in contrast with the Northern Hemisphere evidence of continental-scale migration to and from southern refugia during successive Pleistocene glaciations, contemporary patterns of species diversity and endemism suggest that forest taxa persisted widely in southeast Australia, in multiple, localised refugia. Resolving this conflict is the focus of this study. Based on species-level identifications of plant macrofossils, we will provide precise new insights into the southeast Australian glacial climate and biotic communities. Improvements to the taxonomic resolution of palaeobotanical records will allow for the use of bioclimatic niche models to quantitatively reconstruct palaeoclimate. Porch (2010) demonstrated this concept elegantly, but at Spring Creek, too few beetle taxa available for analysis resulted in an inconclusive finding. By applying this method to the plant macrofossil assemblage from this site, we hope to reconstruct the environmental parameters likely to have predominated at the time. Preliminary results suggest that the climatic tolerances of the late-Pleistocene flora of Spring Creek did not differ substantially from those of the modern-day assemblage. The results of this study will contribute to a globally significant debate about the role of the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles in the generation and maintenance of terrestrial biodiversity, and also to the increasingly urgent discussion of the degree of sensitivity of iconic Australian plant taxa to changing climate in general. © The Authors.en_AU
dc.identifier.articlenumberO-3069en_AU
dc.identifier.citationMatley, K., Sniderman, K., Drinnan, A., Porch, N., & Hua, Q. (2019). Southeast Australian palaeofloras of the late Pleistocene and their implications for glacial palaeoclimate reconstructions. Paper presented to the 20th INQUA Congress, 25th - 31st July 2019, Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved from: https://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/#/event/public/574/submission/2826en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate2019-07-31en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencename20th INQUA Congressen_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplaceDublin, Irelanden_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate2019-07-25en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/#/event/public/574/submission/2826en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/15079en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherInternational Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA)en_AU
dc.relation.urihttps://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/#/event/public/574/submission/2826en_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectGlaciersen_AU
dc.subjectPleistocene Epochen_AU
dc.subjectClimatesen_AU
dc.subjectFossilsen_AU
dc.subjectPollenen_AU
dc.subjectForestsen_AU
dc.subjectPlantsen_AU
dc.titleSoutheast Australian palaeofloras of the late Pleistocene and their implications for glacial palaeoclimate reconstructionsen_AU
dc.typeConference Presentationen_AU
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