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Palynological and Sedimentological Evidence for a Radiocarbon Chronology of Environmental Change and Polynesian Deforestation from Lake Taumatawhana, Northland, New Zealand1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

M. B. Elliot ,
B. Striewski ,
J. R. Flenley  and
D. G. Sutton
M. B. Elliot
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
B. Striewski
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
J. R. Flenley
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand
D. G. Sutton
Affiliation:
Centre for Archaeological Research, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
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Abstract

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We present pollen diagrams and sedimentological analyses from a lake site within an extensive dune system on the Aupouri Peninsula, Northland. Five thousand years ago, a regional Agathis australis–podocarp-broadleaf forest dominated the vegetation, which manifested an increasing preponderance of conifer species. Climate was cooler and drier than at present. From ca. 3400 bp, warmth-loving species such as A. australis and drought-intolerant species, Dacrydium cupressinum and Ascarina lucida, became common, implying a warm and moist climate. The pollen record also suggests a windier climate. The most significant event in the record, however, occurred after ca. 900 bp (800 cal bp) when anthropogenic deforestation commenced. A dramatic decline in forest taxa followed, accompanied by the establishment of a Pteridium–esculentum-dominated community. Fire almost certainly caused this, evidenced by a dramatic increase of charcoal. Sedimentological evidence for this site indicates a relatively stable environment before humans arrived and an increasingly unstable environment with frequent erosional events after human contact.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , 1995 , pp. 899 - 916
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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