Climate of the Past www.clim-past.net 1814-9324 1814-9332 5 4 2009 10.5194/cp-5-725-2009 http://www.clim-past.net/5/725/2009/ http://www.clim-past.net/5/725/2009/cp-5-725-2009.html http://www.clim-past.net/5/725/2009/cp-5-725-2009.pdf 725 767 2009-12-01 Pollen-based biome reconstructions for Latin America at 0, 6000 and 18 000 radiocarbon years ago R. Marchant rm524@york.ac.uk A. Cleef S. P. Harrison H. Hooghiemstra V. Markgraf J. van Boxel T. Ager L. Almeida R. Anderson C. Baied H. Behling J. C. Berrio R. Burbridge S. Björck R. Byrne M. Bush J. Duivenvoorden J. Flenley P. De Oliveira B. van Geel K. Graf W. D. Gosling S. Harbele T. van der Hammen B. Hansen S. Horn P. Kuhry M.-P. Ledru F. Mayle B. Leyden S. Lozano-García A. M. Melief P. Moreno N. T. Moar A. Prieto G. van Reenen M. Salgado-Labouriau F. Schäbitz E. J. Schreve-Brinkman M. Wille The York Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Dynamics (KITE), Environment Department, University of York, York, Heslington, YO10 5DD, UK Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94062, 1090 GB Amsterdam, The Netherlands Bristol Research Initiative for the Dynamic Global Environment (BRIDGE), School of Geographical Sciences, University Road, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA USGS, National Centre, MS 970, Reston, VA 22092, USA Laboratorio Biogeografía, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Aptdo Postal 70-296, 04510 México D.F., Mexico Department of Geography, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812-1018, USA Environmental Studies Program, University of Montana, Missoula Montana 59812, USA Georg-August-Universität, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institut für Pflanzenwissenschaften, Abteilung Palynologie und Klimadynamik, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany Department of Geography, University Road, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK Geological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Volgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4740, USA Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32905, USA Department of Geography, Massey University, Palmerston, New Zealand Instituto de Geociencias-DPE, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 11348, São Paulo, SP 05422-970, Brazil Geographisches Institut der Universität, Winterthürerstra{ß}e 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CEPSA, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK Department of Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia Fundación Tropenbos Colombia, Carrera 21 # 39-35, Santafe de Bogotá, Colombia Limnological Research Centre, University of Minnesota, 220 Pillsbury Hall, 310 Pillsbury Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0219, USA Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, PL 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, 408 G&G Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-1420, USA Equipe Paléoenvironements, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution Institut de Recherche pour le Developement, Montpellier, France Geography Building, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, UK Department of Geology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, SCA 203, Tampa, FL 33620-5200, USA Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología, Aptdo Postal 70-296, 04510 México D.F., Mexico 2E Oosterparkstraat 163A, 1092 BE Amsterdam, The Netherlands Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile Botany Division, D.S.I.R., Private Bag, Christchurch, New Zealand Laboratorio de Palinologia, National Universidad Mar del Plata, Dept. de Biologia, Funes 3250, 7600 Mar del Plata, Argentina Inst. de Geociencias, Fundação Universidade do Brazilia, Campus Universitario, Asa Norte, 0910-900, DF Brazilia, Brazil Geographisches Institut, Universität Bamberg, Am Kranen 1, 96045 Bamberg, Germany Welbergsweg 8, 7495 SZ Delden, The Netherlands Geographisches Institut, Universität Essen, Essen, Germany The biomisation method is used to reconstruct Latin American vegetation at 6000&plusmn;500 and 18 000&plusmn;1000 radiocarbon years before present (¹⁴C yr BP) from pollen data. Tests using modern pollen data from 381 samples derived from 287 locations broadly reproduce potential natural vegetation. The strong temperature gradient associated with the Andes is recorded by a transition from high altitude cool grass/shrubland and cool mixed forest to mid-altitude cool temperate rain forest, to tropical dry, seasonal and rain forest at low altitudes. Reconstructed biomes from a number of sites do not match the potential vegetation due to local factors such as human impact, methodological artefacts and mechanisms of pollen representivity of the parent vegetation. <br><br> At 6000&plusmn;500 ¹⁴C yr BP 255 samples are analysed from 127 sites. Differences between the modern and the 6000&plusmn;500 ¹⁴C yr BP reconstruction are comparatively small; change relative to the modern reconstruction are mainly to biomes characteristic of drier climate in the north of the region with a slight more mesic shift in the south. Cool temperate rain forest remains dominant in western South America. In northwestern South America a number of sites record transitions from tropical seasonal forest to tropical dry forest and tropical rain forest to tropical seasonal forest. Sites in Central America show a change in biome assignment, but to more mesic vegetation, indicative of greater plant available moisture, e.g. on the Yucatán peninsula sites record warm evergreen forest, replacing tropical dry forest and warm mixed forest presently recorded. <br><br> At 18 000&plusmn;1000 ¹⁴C yr BP 61 samples from 34 sites record vegetation reflecting a generally cool and dry environment. Cool grass/shrubland is prevalent in southeast Brazil whereas Amazonian sites record tropical dry forest, warm temperate rain forest and tropical seasonal forest. Southernmost South America is dominated by cool grass/shrubland, a single site retains cool temperate rain forest indicating that forest was present at some locations at the LGM. Some sites in Central Mexico and lowland Colombia remain unchanged in the biome assignments of warm mixed forest and tropical dry forest respectively, although the affinities that these sites have to different biomes do change between 18 000&plusmn;1000 ¹⁴C yr BP and present. The "unresponsive" nature of these sites results from their location and the impact of local edaphic influence. Abbot, M. B., Sletzer, G., Kelts, K. R., and Southon, J.: Holocene paleohydrology of the tropical Andes from lake records, Quatern. Res., 47, 70–80, 1997. Absy, M. L.: A palynolgical study of Holocene sediments in the Amazon basin. Dissertation, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1979. Absy, M. L., Cleef, A., Fournier, M., Servant, M., Siffedine, A., Da Silva, M. F., Soubies, F. Suguio, K., Turcq, B., and van der Hammen, T.: Mise en évidence de quatre phases d'ouverture de la forêt dense dans la sud-east de l'Amazonie au cours des 60 000 dernières années. Première comparison avec d'autres regions tropicales, Competes Rendues Academie Science Paris, 313, 673–678, 1991. Alexandre, A., Meunier, J. D., Mariotti, A., and Soubies, F.: Late Holocene phytolith and carbon-isotope record from a latosol at Salitre, South-Central Brazil. Quatern. Res., 51, 187–194, 1999. Almeida, L.: Vegetación, fitogeographica y paleoecologíca del zacatonal alpine y bosques montanos de la región central de México, PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam, 1997. Armesto, J. J., Villágran, C. Aravena, J. C., Pérez, C., Smith-Ramirez, C., Cortés, M., and Hedin, L.: Conifer forests of the Chilean coastal ranges, Ecology of Southern Conifers, edited by: Enright, N. J. and Hill, R. S., Melbourne University Press, 1995. Ashworth, A. C. and Markgraf, V.: Climate of the Chilean Channels between 11,000 and 10,000 yr B.P. based on fossil pollen and beetle analysis, Revista Chilena de Historia Natural., 62, 61–74, 1989. Ashworth, A. C., Markgraf, V., and Villagran, C.: Late Quaternary climatic history of the Chilean channels based on fossil pollen and beetle analyses, with an analysis of the modern vegetation and pollen rain, Jn Quatern. Sci., 6, 279–291, 1991. Argollo, J. and Mourguiart, P.: Late Quaternary climate history of the Bolivian Altiplano, Quatern. Int., 72, 37–51, 2000. Baied, C. A. and Wheeler, J. C.: Evolution of high Andean Puna ecosystems: environment, climate, and cultural change over the last 12,000 years in the central Andes, Mount. Res. Dev., 13, 145–156, 1993. Barry, P. and Chorley, L.: Mountain weather and climate, Methuen, London and New York, 1990. Beard, J. S.: The classification of tropical American vegetation, Jn. Ecol., 36, 89–100, 1955. Behling, H.: Untersuchungen zur spätpleistozänen und Holozänen Vegetations und Klimageschichte der tropische Kustenwälder und der Araukarienwälder in Santa Catarina (Süd Brazilien), Dissertations Botanicae Band 206, J. Cramer, Berlin Stuttgart, 1993. Behling, H.: First report on new evidence for the occurrence of \textitPodocarpus and possible human presence at the mouth of the Amazon during the Late-glacial, Veg. His. Archaeobot., 5, 241–246, 1996. Behling, H.: Late Quaternary vegetation, climate and fire history from the tropical mountain region of Morro de Itapeva, SE Brazil, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol. 129, 407–422, 1997a. Behling, H.: Late Quaternary vegetation, climate and fire history of the Araucaria forest and campos region from Serra Campos Gerais, Paraná State (South Brazil), Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 97, 109–121, 1997b. Behling, H., Berrio, J. C., and Hooghiemstra, H.: Late Quaternary pollen records from the middle Caquetá River basin in central Colombian Amazon. Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 145, 193–213, 1999. Behling, H. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Late Quaternary palaeoecology and palaeoclimatology from pollen records of the savannas of the Llanos Orientales in Colombia, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 139, 251–267, 1998. Behling, H. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Environmental history of the Colombian savannas of the Llanos Orientales since the Last Glacial Maximum from lake records El Piñal and Carimagua, Jn. Paleolim., 21, 461–476, 1999. Behling, H. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Holocene Amazon rain forest-savanna dynamics and climatic implications: high-resolution pollen record from Laguna Loma Linda in eastern Colombia, Jn Quatern. Sci., 15, 687–695, 2000. Behling, H. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Neotropical savanna environments in space and time: Late Quaternary inter-hemispheric comparisons, in: Inter-hemispheric climate linkages, edited by: Markgraf, V., Academic Press, pp. 307–323, 2001. Behling, H., Hooghiemstra, H., and Negret, A. J.: Holocene history of the Chocó rain forest from Laguna Piusbi, Southern Pacific Lowlands of Colombia, Quatern. Res., 50, 300–308, 1999. Behling, H., Keim, G., Irion, G., Junk, W., and Nunes de Mello, J.: Holocene changes in the Central Amazon Basin inferred from Lago Calado (Brazil), Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 173, 87–101, 2001. Behling, H. and Lima da Costa, M.: Holocene vegetational and environmental changes from the Lago Crispim record in northeastern Para State, eastern Amazonia, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 114, 145–155, 2001. Behling, H., Negrelle, R. B., and Colinvaux, P.: Modern pollen rain from the tropical Atlantic rain forest, Reserve Volta Velha, South Brazil, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 97, 287–299, 1997. Behling, H., Negret, A. J., and Hooghiemstra, H.: Late Quatrnary vegeteational and climatic change in the Popayan region, southern Colombian Andes, Jn Quatern. Sci., 13, 43–53, 1999. Bennet, K. D., Haberle, S., and Lumley, S. H.: The Late Glacial-Holocene transition in southern Chile, Science, 290, 325–327, 2000. Berrio, J. C., Hooghiemstra, H., Behling, H., and Van der Borg, K.: Late Holocene history of savanna gallery forest from Carimagua area, Colombia, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 111, 295–308, 2000. Berrio, J. C., Behling, H., and Hooghiemstra, H.: Tropical rain forest history from the Colombian Pacific area: a 4200-yr pollen record from Laguna Jotaordó, The Holo., 10, 749–756, 2000. Berrio, J. C., Hooghiemstra, H., Behling, H., Botero, P., and Van der Borg, K.: Late Quaternary savanna history of the Colombian Llanos Orientales from Lagunas Chenevo and Mozambique: a transect synthesis, The Holo., 12, 35–48, 2002. Berrio, J. C., Boom, A., Botero, P., Herrera, L., Hooghiemstra, H., Romero, F., and Sarmiento, G.: Multi-interdisciplinary evidence of The Holocene history of a cultivated floodplain area in the wetlands, Veg. His. Archaeobot., 10, 161–174, 2002. Berrio, J. C., Hooghiemstra, H., Marchant, R., and Rangle, O.: Late glacial and Holocene history of dry forest in the Cauca Valley from sites Quilichao and La Teta, Jn Quatern. Sci., 17, 667–682, 2002. Bigelow, N. H., Brubaker, L. B., Edwards, M. E., Harrison, S. P., Prentice, I. C., Anderson, P. M., Andreev, A. A., Bartlein, P. J., Christensen, T. R., Cramer, W., Kaplan, J. O., Lozhkin, A. V., Matveyeva, N. V., Murray, D. V., McGuire, A. D., Razzhivin, V. Y., Ritchie, J. C., Smith, B., Walker, D. A., Gajewski, K., Wolf, V., Holmqvist, B. H., Igarashi, Y., Kremenetskii, K., Paus, A., Pisaric, M. F. J., and Vokova, V. S.: Climate change and Arctic ecosystems I. Vegetation changes north of 55&deg; N between the last glacial maximum, mid-Holocene and present, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 1–17, 2003. Binford, M. W., Brenner, M., Whitmore, T. J., Higuera-Gundy, A., Deevey, E. S., and Leyden, B. W.: Ecosystems, palaeoecology and human disturbance in subtropical and tropical America, Quatern. Sci. Rev., 6, 115–128, 1987. Birkland, P. W., Rodbell, D. T., and Short, S. K.: Radiocarbon dates on deglaciation, Cordillera Central, Northern Peruvian Andes, Quatern. Res., 32, 111–113, 1989. Björck, S., H&aring;kansson, H., Olsson, S., Barnekow, L., and Janssens, J.: Palaeoclimatic studies in South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, based on numerous stratigraphic variables in lake sediments, J. Palaeolim., 8., 233–272, 1993. Boom, A., Marchant, R. A., Hooghiemstra, H., and Sinninghe Damste, J. S.: CO₂ and temperature-controlled altitudinal shifts of C₄- and C₃- dominated grasslands allow reconstruction of $\rho $CO₂, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 177, 29–45, 2002. Braconnot, P., Otto-Bliesner, B., Harrison, S., Joussaume, S., Peterchmitt, J.-Y., Abe-Ouchi, A., Crucifix, M., Driesschaert, E., Fichefet, Th., Hewitt, C. D., Kageyama, M., Kitoh, A., Laîné, A., Loutre, M.-F., Marti, O., Merkel, U., Ramstein, G., Valdes, P., Weber, S. L., Yu, Y., and Zhao, Y.: Results of PMIP2 coupled simulations of the Mid-Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum – Part 1: experiments and large-scale features, Clim. Past, 3, 261–277, 2007. Bradbury, J. P., Leyden, B., Salgado-Labouriau, M. L., Lewis Jr., W. M., Schubert, C., Binford, M. W., Schubert, C. Binford, M. W., Frey, D. G., Whitehead, D. R., and Weibezahn, F. H.: Late Quaternary environmental History of Lake Valencia, Venezuela, Science, 214, 1299–1305, 1981. Brown, B.: A summary of Late Quaternary pollen records from México west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Pollen records of Late Quaternary North American Sediments, edited by: Bryant, V. M. and Holloway, R. G., American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation, Dallas, Texas, 1985. Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: Tropical secondary forests, Jn. Trop. Ecol., 6, 1–32, 199. Bush, M. B.: Modern pollen-rain data from South and Central America: a test of the feasibility of fine-resolution lowland tropical palynology, The Holo., 1, 162–167, 1991. Bush, M. B.: Neotropical plant reproductive strategies and fossil pollen representation, The American Naturalist, 145, 594–609, 1995. Bush, M. B. and Colinvaux, P.: A 7000-year pollen record from the Amazon lowlands, Ecuador. Vegetatio., 76, 141–154, 1988. Bush, M., Colinvaux, P., Wiemann, M. C., Piperno, D. R., and Liu, K.: Late Pleistocene temperature depression and vegetation change in Ecuadorian Amazonia, Quatern. Res., 34, 330–345, 1990. Bush, M. B., Miller, M., de Oliveira, P. E., and Colinvaux, P.: Two histories of environmental change and human disturbance in eastern lowland Amazonia, The Holo., 10, 543–553, 2000. Bush, M., Piperno, D. O., Colinvaux, P., Oliveria, P. E., Krissek, L. A., Miller, M. C., and Rowe, W. E.: A 14,300-yr palaeoecological profile of a lowland tropical lake in Panama, Ecol. Mono., 62, 251–275, 1992. Bush, M. and Rivera, M.: Pollen dispersal and representation in a Neotropical rain forest, Global Ecol. Biogeog. Lett., 7, 379–392, 1998. Björck, S., H&aring;kansson, S. H., Olsson, S., Barnekow, L., and Janssens, J. A.: Palaeoclimatic studies in South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, based on numerous stratigraphic variables in lake sediments, J. Paleolim., 8, 233–272, 1993. Byrne, R. and Horn, S. P.: Prehistoric agriculture and forest clearance in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México, Palynology, 13, 181–194, 1989. Cavelier, J., Aide, T. M., Santos, C., Eusse, A. M., and Dupuy, J. M.: The savannization of moist forests in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, J. Biog., 25, 901–912, 1998. Cerverny, R. S.: Present climates of South America, in: Climates of the Southern Continents: Present, Past and Future, edited by: Hobbs, J. E., Lindesay, J. A., and Bridgeman, H. A., J. Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 1998. Clapperton, C. M.: Quaternary geology and geomorphology of South America. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993. Claussen, M.: On coupling global climate models with climate models, Clim. Res., 4, 203–221, 1994. Claussen, M. and Esch, M.: Biomes computed from simulated climatologies, Clim. Dynam., 9, 235–243, 1994. Cleef, A. M. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Present vegetation of the area of the high plain of Bogotá, in: Vegetation and Climatic History of the High Plain of Bogotá, Colombia, edited by: Hooghiemstra, H., Ganter Verlag, Vaduz. Dissertationes Botanicae, 79, 1–368, 1984. CLIMAP Project Members: The surface of ice-age Earth, Science, 191, 1131–1137, 1976. Colinvaux, P. A.: Ice-age Amazon revisited, Nature, 340, 188–189, 1989. Colinvaux, P. A.: Quaternary Environmental History and Forest Diversity in the Neotropics, in: Evolution and Environment in Tropical America, edited by: Jackson, B. C., Budd, A. F., and Coates, A. G., The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London, 1996. Colinvaux, P. A., Bush, M., Steinitz-Kannan, M., and Miller, M. C.: Glacial and postglacial pollen records from the Ecuadorian Andes and the Amazon, Quatern. Res., 48, 69–78, 1997. Colinvaux, P. A., De Oliveira, P. E., Moreno, J. E., Miller, M. C., and Bush, M.: A long pollen record from Lowland Amazonia: Forest and cooling in glacial times, Science, 274, 85–88, 1996. Colinvaux, P. A., de Oliveira, P. E., and Bush, M. B.: Amazonian and neotropical communities on glacial time-scales: the failure of the aridity and refuge hypothesis, Quatern. Sci. Rev., 19, 141–169, 2000. Colinvaux, P. A., Frost, M., Frost, I., Liu, K.-B., and Steinitz-Kannan, M.: Three pollen diagrams of forest disturbance in the western Amazon basin, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 55, 83–99, 1988. Cuatrecasas, J. and Barreto, A. J.: Pàramos. Villegas editores, Bogotá, Colombia, 1988. De Oliveira, P. E.: A palynological record of Late Quaternary vegetation and climatic change in southeastern Brazil, PhD Thesis, Ohio State University, Colombus, OH, 1992. De Oliveira, P. E., Barreto, A. M. F., and Suguio, K.: Late Pleistocene/Holocene climatic and vegetational history of the Brazilian caatinga: the fossil dunes of the middle Sao Francisco River, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 152, 319–337, 1999. Dawson, A. G.: Ice Age Earth: Late Quaternary Geology and Climate, Routledge, 1992. Desjardins, T., Carneiro-Filho, A., Mariotti, A., Chauvel, A., and Girardin, C.: Changes of the forest-savanna boundary in Brazilian Amazonia during The Holo. revealed by stable isotope ratios of soil organic carbon, Oecologia, 108, 749–187, 1996. Dominquez, G., Rojo-Vazquez, J. R., Galvan-Pina, V., and Aguilar-Palomino, B.: Changes in the structure of a coastal fish assemblage exploited by a small scale gillnet fishery during an El Niño-La Niña event, Est. Coast. Shelf Sci., 51, 773–787, 2000. Dov Par, F.: Sooretama: The Atlantic rain forest of Brazil, SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, 1992. Doherty, R., Kutzbach, J., Foley, J., and Pollard, D.: Fully coupled climate/dynamical vegetation model simulations over northern Africa during the mid-Holocene, Clim. Dynaam., 16, 561–573, 2000. Duivenvoorden, J. F. and Cleef, A. M.: Amazonian savanna vegetation on the sandstone near Araracuara, Colombia, Phytocoenesis, 24, 197–232, 1994. Edwards, M. E., Anderson, P. M., Brubaker, L. B., Ager, T., Andreev, A. A., Bigelow, N. H., Cwynar, L. C., Eisner, W. R., Harrison, S. P., Hu, F.-S., Jolly, D., Lozhkin, A. V., MacDonald, G. M., Mock, C. J., Ritchie, J. C., Sher, A. V., Spear, R. W., Williams, J., and Yu, G.: Pollen-based biomes for Beringia 18,000, 6000 and 0 $^14$C yr B.P, J. Biog., 27, 521–554, 2000. Eidt, R. C.: The climatology of South America, in: Biogeography and ecology in South America, edited by: Fittkau, E. J., 1, 54–81, Junk, The Hague, 1968. Eiten, G.: The cerrado vegetation of Brazil, Bot. Rev., 2, 210–341, 1972. Elenga, H., Peyron, O., Bonnefille, R., Prentice, I. C., Jolly, D., Cheddadi, R., Guiot, J., Andrieu, V., Bottema, S., Buchet, G., de Beaulieu, J. L., Hamilton, A. C., Maley, J., Marchant, R., Perez-Obiol, R., Reille, M., Riollet, G., Scott, L., Straka, H., Taylor, D., Van Campo, E., Vincens, A., Laarif, F., and Jonson, H.: Pollen-based reconstruction for southern Europe and Africa 18,000 years ago, J. Biog., 27, 621–634, 2000. Ellis, E. C. and Ramankutty, N.: Putting people in the map: anthropgenic biomes of the world, Front Ecol. Environ., 6, 18–25, 2008. Farrera, I., Harrison, S. P., Prentice, I. C., Ramstein, G., Guiot, J., Bartlein, P. J., Bonnefille, R., Bush, M., Cramer, W., von Grafenstein, U., Holmgren, K., Hooghiemstra, H., Hope, G., Jolly, D., Lauritzen, S. E., Ono, Y., Pinot, S., Stute, M., and Gu, Y.: Tropical climates at the last glacial maximum: a new synthesis of terrestrial palaeoclimate data. I. Vegetation, lake-levels and geochemistry, Clim. Dynam., 11, 823–856, 1999. Flenley, J. R.: Tropical forests under the climates of the last 30,000 years, Climate Change, 39, 177–197, 1998. Flenley, J. R. and King, S. M.: Late Quaternary pollen records from Easter Island, Nature, 307, 47–50, 1984. Flenley, J. R., King, S. M., Jackson, J., Chew, C., Teller, J. T., and Prentice, M. E.: The late Quaternary vegetation and climatic history of Easter Island, J. Quat. Sci., 6, 85–115, 1991. Fjelds&aring;, J. A.: Un analisis biogeografico de la avifauna de los bosques de quenoa (\textitPolylepis) de los Andes y su relevancia para establecer prioridades de conservacion, Memorias del Museo de Historia Natural, U.N.M.S.M. (Lima), 21, 207–221, 1992. Fjelds&aring;, J. A.: The avifauna of the \textitPolylepis woodlands of the Andean highlands: the efficiency of basing conservation priorities on patterns of endemism, Bird Conservation International, 3, 3–55, 1993. Fjelds&aring;, J. A., Ehrlich, D., Lambin, E., and Prins, E.: Are biodiversity `hot spots' correlated with current ecoclimatic stability? A pilot study using the NOAA-AVHRR remote sensing data, Biodiv. Conserv., 6, 399–420, 1997. Foley, J. A., Prentice, I. C., Ramankutty, N., Levis, S., Pollard, D., Sitch, S., and Haxeltine, A.: An integrated biosphere model of land surface processes, terrestrial carbon balance and vegetation dynamics, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 10, 603–628, 1996. Gilli, A., Anselmetti, F. S., Ariztegui, D., Beres, M., McKenzie, J. A., and Markgraf, V.: Seismic stratigraphy, buried beach ridges and contourite drifts: the Late Quaternary history of the closed Lago Cardiel basin, Argentina (49&deg; S), Sedimentology, 52, 1–22, 2004. Gentry, A. H.: A field guide to the families and genera of woody plants of South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Per\'u), Conservation International, Washington, D.C., 1993. Godinez-Domínquez, M., Rojo-Vazquez, J. R., Galvan-Pina, V., and Aguilar-Palomino, B.: Changes in the structure of a coastal fish assemblage exploited by a small scale gillnet fishery during an El Niño-La Niña event, Est. Coast. Shelf Sci., 51, 773–787, 2000. Godley, E. J. and Moar, N. T.: Vegetation and pollen analysis of two bogs on Chiloé, New Zea. J. Bot., 11, 255–268, 1973. Gnécco, C.: An archaeological perspective on the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in northern South America, Quatern. Int., 53, 3–9, 1999. Gnécco, C. and Mohammed, A.: Technologia de cazadores-recolectores subandinos: Analisis functional y organización tecnologica, Rev. of Colombian Anthropol., 31, 6–31, 1994. Gnécco, C. and Mora, S.: Early occupations of the tropical forests of northern South America by hunter-gatherers, Antiquity, 71, 683–690, 1997. Grabandt, R. J.: Pollen rain in relation to arboreal vegetation in the Colombian Cordillera Oriental, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 29, 65–147, 1980. Graf, K.: Palinologiadel cuaternario reciente en los Andes del Ecuador, del Peru, y de Bolivia, Boletin Servicio Geologico Bolivia, 4, 69–91, 1989. Graf, K.: Pollen diagramme aus den Anden: Eine Synthese zur Klimageschichte und Vegetationsentwicklung seit der letzen Eiszeit. Physiche Geographie vol 34 University of Zurich, Switzerland, 72–94, 1992. Graherr, G.: Farbatlas Ökosysteme der Erde: natürliche, naturnahe bund künstliche Land-Ökosysteme aus geobotanischer Sicht, Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany, 1997. Hansen, B. C. S. and Rodbell, D. T.: A glacial/Holocene pollen record from the eastern Andes of northern Peru, Quat. Res., 44, 216–227, 1995. Hansen, B. C. S., Seltzer, G. O., and Wright Jr., H. E.: Late Quaternary vegetational change in the central Peruvian Andes, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 109, 263–285, 1994. Haberle, S. and Maslin, M.: Late Quaternary vegetation and climate change in the Amazon Basin based on a 50,000 year pollen record from the Amazon fan, ODP site 932, Quatern. Res., 51, 27–38, 1999. Harley, R. M.: Introduction to the vegetation, in: Flora of the Pico das Almas. Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, edited by: Stannards, B. L., Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1995. Harrison, S. P., Kutzbach, J. E., Liu, Z., Bartlein, P. J., Otto-Bliesner, B., Muhs, D., Prentice, I. C., and Thompson, R. S.: Mid-Holocene climates of the Americas: a dynamical response to changed seasonality, Clim. Dynam., 20, 663–668, 2003. Haxeltine, A. and Prentice, I. C.: BIOME3: an equilibrium terrestrial biosphere model based on ecophysiological constraints, resource availability, and competition among plant functional types, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 10, 693–709, 1996. Heine, K. K.: Late Quaternary glacial sequences in Bolivia, Ecuador and México-data and palaeoclimatic implications. Abstracts, 14 th INQUA Congress, Berlin, 1995. Heine, K. K.: Tropical South America during the Last Glacial maximum: evidence from glacial, periglacial and fluvial records, Quatern. Int., 72, 7–21, 2000. Helmens, K. F. and Kuhry, P.: Middle and late Quaternary vegetational and climatic history of the Páramo de Agua Blanca (Eastern Cordillera Colombia), Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 56, 291–335, 1986. Heusser, C. J.: Quaternary palynology of Chile, Quaternary of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, 1, 5–22, 1982. Heusser, C. J.: Three late Quaternary pollen diagrams from Southern Patagonia and their palaeoecological implications, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 118, 1–24, 1995. Heusser, C. J., Denton, G. H., Hauser, A., Anderson, B., and Lowell, T.: Quaternary pollen records from the Archipelago de Chiloe in the context of glaciation and climate, Revista Geologica de Chile, 22, 25–46, 1995. Heusser, C. J., Lowell, T., Heusser, L., Moreira, A., and Moreira, S. M.: Pollen sequence from the Llanquihue glaciation in marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 4-2, J. Quat. Sci., 15, 115–125, 2000. Hollis, J. H. T. and Schilling, D. H.: Late Wisconsin-Weichselian mountain glaciers and small ice caps, in: The last great ice sheets, edited by: Denton, G. H. and Hughes, T. J., Wiley, New York, 1981. Hooghiemstra, H.: Vegetation and climate history of the high plain of Bogotá, Columbia: a continuous record of the last 3.5 million years, Ganter Verlag, Vadiz, 1984. Hooghiemstra, H. and Cleef, A. M.: Development of Vegetational and Climatic Sequence of the Area of the High Plain of Bogotá, in: Vegetation and climate history of the high plain of Bogotá, Columbia: a continuous record of the last 3.5 million years, edited by: Hooghiemstra, H., Ganter Verlag, Vadiz, 1984. Hooghiemstra, H., Cleef, A. M., Noldus, G. W., and Kappelle, M.: Upper Quaternary vegetation dynamics and palaeoeclimatology of the La Chonta bog area (Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica), J. Quat. Sci., 7, 205–225, 1992. Hooghiemstra, H. and van der Hammen, T.: Neogene and Quaternary development of the neotropical rain forest : the forest refugia hypothesis, and a literature overview, Earth Sci. Rev., 44, 147–103, 1998. Horn, S. P.: Prehistoric fires in the highlands of Costa Rica: sedimentary charcoal evidence, Rev. Bio. Trop., 37, 139–148, 1989. Horn, S. P.: Postglacial vegetation and fire history in the Chirripó Páramo of Costa Rica, Quatern. Res., 40, 107–116, 1993. Hück, K.: Die waldgeographische Regionen und Unterregionen von Südamerika (with map 1:55,000,000), Geographische Taschenbuch, 1960. Huntingford, C., Cox, P. M., and Lenton, T. M.: Contrasting response of a simple terrestrial ecosystem model to global change, Ecol. Mod., 134, 41–58, 2000. International Plant Names Project: International Plant Names Index, http://www.ipni.org, 2009. Iselbe, G. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Recent pollen spectra of highland Guatemala, J. Biog., 22, 1091–1099, 1995. Iselbe, G. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Vegetation and the Climate History of Montane Costa Rica since the Last Glacial, Quat. Sci. Rev., 16, 589–604, 1997. Iselbe, G., Hooghiemstra, H., and van der Borg, K.: A cooling event during the Younger Dryas Chron in Costa Rica, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 117, 73–80, 1995a. Iselbe, G., Hooghiemstra, H., and van der Borg, K.: The Younger Dryas in the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica, Geologie en Mijnbouw, 74, 281–283, 1995b. Iselbe, G., Hooghiemstra, H., Brenner, M., Curtis, J. H., and Hodell, D. A.: A Holocene vegetation history from lowland Guatemala, The Holo., 6, 265–271, 1996. Jolly, D., Harrison, S. P., Damnati, B., and Bonnefille, R.: Simulated climate and biomes of Africa during the Late Quaternary: comparisons with pollen and lake status data, Quat. Sci. Rev., 17, 629–657, 1998b. Jolly, D. and Haxeltine, A.: Effect of low glacial atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> on tropical African montane vegetation, Science, 276, 786–788, 1997. Jolly, D., Prentice, I. C., Bonnefille, R., Ballouche, A., Bengo, M., Brenac, P., Buchet, G., Burney, D., Cazet, J-P., Cheddadi, R., Edorh, T., Elenga, H., Elmoutaki, S., Guiot, J., Laarif, F., Lamb, H., Lezine, A.-M., Maley, J., Mbenza, M., Peryon, O., Reille, M., Reynaud-Farrera, I., Riollet, G., Ritchie, J. C., Roche, E., Scott, L., Ssemmanda, I., Straka, H., Umer, M., Van Campo, E., Vilimumbalo, S., Vincens, A., and Waller, M.: Biome reconstruction from pollen and plant macrofossil data for Africa and the Arabian peninsula at 0 and 6 ka, J. Biog., 25, 997–1005, 1998a. Kahn, F. and de Granville, J. J.: Palms in the forest ecosystems of Amazonia, Springer Verlag, Germany, 1992. Kappelle, M.: Structural and floristic differences between western Atlantic and moist Pacific montane \textitMyrsine-\textitQuercus forest in Costa Rica. Academic Press, 1992. Kappelle, M.: Ecology of mature and recovering Talamancan Montane Quercus forests, Costa Rica, PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1995. Kershaw, A. P. and McGlone, M.: The Quaternary history of the southern conifers, in: Ecology of Southern Conifers, edited by: Enright, N. J. and Hill, R. S., Melbourne University Press, 1995. Kewensis: Index Kewensis version 2.0, Developed by systems simulations Ltd, Oxford University Press. Kubatzki, C. and Claussen, M.: Simulation of the global biogeophysical interactions during the Last Glacial Maximum, Clim. Dynam., 14, 461–471, 1997. Kuhry, P.: A Paleobotanical and palynological study of Holocene peat from the El Bosque Mire, located in a volcanic area of the Cordillera Central of Colombia, 1988a. Kuhry, P.: Palaeobotantical-palaeoecological studies of tropical high Andean peatbog sections (Cordillera Oriental, Colombia), Dissertationes Botanicae 116, J. Cramer, Berlin-Stuttgart, 1988. Kuhry, P., Salomons, J. B., Riezebos, P. A., and Van der Hammen, T.: Paleoecologia de los ultimos 6.000 anos en el area de la Laguna de Otun-El Bosque. In T. van der Hammen, P.A. Perez, and P. Pinto (eds.) Studies on Tropical Andean Ecosystem, Vol 1: La Cordillera Central Colombiana transecto Parque Los Nevados, Cramer, Vaduz, 1983. Latin American Pollen Database (LAPD): http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/lapd.html, last access 4 November 2009. Ledru, M.-P.: Modifications de la vegetation du Brazil entre la dernieier epoque glaciaire et línterglaciaire ectuel, Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Paris, 314, 117–123, 1992. Ledru, M.-P.: Late Quaternary environmental and climatic changes in Central Brazil, Quatern. Res., 39, 90–98, 1993. Ledru, M.-P., Behling, H., Fournier, M. L., Martin, L., and Servant, M.: Localisation de la fôret d'Acaucaria du Brazil au cours de l'Holocène. Implications paleoclimatiques, C.R. Acadamie Science Paris, 317, 517–521, 1994. Ledru, M.-P., Bertaux, J., and Sifeddine, A.: Absence of Last Glacial Maximum records in lowland tropical forests, Quatern. Res., 49, 233–237, 1998. Ledru, M.-P, Corderio, R. C., Dominquez, J. M. L., Martin, L., Mourguiart, P., Sifeddine, A., and Turcq, B.: Late-glacial cooling in Amazonia inferred from pollen at Lagoa de Caco, northern Brazil, Quatern. Res., 55, 47–56, 2001. Ledru, M.-P. and Lorscheitter, M. L.: Vegetation dynamics in southern and Central Brazil during the last 10,000 yr B.P, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 99, 131–142, 1998. Ledru, M.-P., Soares Braga, P. I., Soubies, F., Fournier, M. L., Martin, L., Suguio, K., and Turcq, B.: The last 50,000 years in the Neotropics (southern Brazil): evolution of vegetation and climate, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 123, 239–257, 1996. Leemans, R. and Cramer, W. P.: The IISA database for mean monthly values of temperature, precipitation and cloudiness on a global terrestrial grid. Rep IIASA Research RR-91-18, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, 1991. Leyden, B. W.: Guatemalan forest synthesis after Pleistocene aridity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 81, 4856–4859, 1984. Leyden, B. W.: Late Quaternary aridity and Holocene moisture fluctuations in the Lake Valencia Basin, Venezuela, Ecol., 66, 1279–1295, 1985. Leyden, B. W.: Man and climate in Maya lowlands, Quatern. Res., 28, 407–414, 1987. Leyden, B. W., Brenner, M., Hodell, D. A., and Curtis, J. H.: Late Pleistocene climate in the central American lowlands, in: American Geophysical Union Geophys. Mono., 78, edited by: Swar, P. K., Washington, D.C., USA, 1993. Leyden, B. W., Brenner, M., Hodell, D. A., and Curtis, J. H.: Orbital and internal forcing of the climate on the Yucatán peninsula for the past ca 36 ka, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 109, 193–210, 1994. Leyden, B. W., Brenner, M., Whitmore, T., Curtis, J. H., Piperno, D. R., and Dahlin, B. H.: A record of long and short-term climatic variation from northwest Yucatán: Cenote San Jose Chulchaca, in: The managed mosaic: Ancient Maya agriculture and resource use, edited by: Fedick, S. L., University of Utah Press, USA, 1995. Liu, K. and Colinvaux, P.: Forest changes in the Amazon Basin at the LGM, Nature, 318, 556–577, 1985. Lozano-Garcial, M. S. and Ortega-Guerroero, B.: Palynological and magnetic susceptibility records of Lake Chalco, central México, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 109, 177–191, 1994. Lozano-Garcial, M. S., Ortega-Guerroero, B., Caberallero-Mirandan, M., and Urrutia-Fucugauchi, F.: Late Holocene Paleoenvironments of Chalco Lake, Central México, Quatern. Res., 40, 332–342, 1993. Lozano-Garcial, M. S. and Xelhuantzi-Lopéz, M. S.: Some problems in the late Quaternary pollen records of Central México: Basins of México and Zacapu, Quatern. Int., 43, 117–123, 1993. Lumley, S. H. and Switsur, R.: Late Quaternary of the Taitao Peninsula, southern Chile, J. Quatern. Sci., 8, 161–165, 1993. Maberly, D. J.: The Plant Book: A portable dictionary of the higher plants, Cambridge University Press, 1993. Mancini, M. V.: Recent pollen spectra from forest and steppe of South Argentina: a comparison with vegetation and climate data, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 77, 129–142, 1993. Marchant, R. A., Almeida, L., Behling, H., Berrio, J. C., Bush, M., Cleef, A., Duivenvoorden, J., Kappelle, M., De Oliveira, P.E., Hooghiemstra, H., Teixeira de Oliveira-Filho, A., Ledru, M-P., Lozano-García, M. S., Ludlow-Wiechers, B., Mancini, V., Paez, M., Markgraf, V., Prieto, A., Rangel, O., and Salgado-Labouriau, M. L.: Distribution and ecology of parent taxa of pollen lodged within the Latin American Pollen Database, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 121, 1–75, 2002c. Marchant, R. A., Behling, H., Berrio, J. C., Cleef, A., Duivenvoorden, J., van Geel, B, van der Hammen, T., Hooghiemstra, H., Kuhry, P., Melief, B. M., van Reenen, G., and Wille, M.: Late Holocene Colombian vegetation dynamics, Quat. Sci. Rev., 20, 1289–1308, 2001a. Marchant, R. A., Behling, H., Berrio, J. C., Cleef, A., Duivenvoorden, J., van Geel, B, van der Hammen, T., Hooghiemstra, H., Kuhry, P., Melief, B. M., van Reenen, G., and Wille, M.: A reconstruction of Colombian biomes derived from modern pollen data along an altitude gradient, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 117, 79–92, 2001b. Marchant, R. A., Behling, H., Berrio, J. C., Cleef, A., Duivenvoorden, J., van Geel, B, van der Hammen, T., Hooghiemstra, H., Kuhry, P., Melief, B. M., van Reenen, G., and Wille, M.: Colombian vegetation derived from pollen data at 0, 3000, 6000, 9000, 12,000, 15,000 and 18,000 radiocarbon years before present, J. Quatern. Sci., 17, 113–129, 2002a. Marchant, R. A., Behling, H., Berrío, J. C., Cleef, A., Duivenvoorden, J., van Geel, B., van der Hammen, T., Hooghiemstra, H., Kuhry, P., Melief, B. M., van Reenen, G., and Wille, M.: Mid to Late Holocene vegetation disturbance in Colombia – a regional reconstruction, Antiquity, 78, 828–838, 2004b. Marchant, R. A., Berrío, J. C., Behling, H., Boom, A., and Hooghiemstra, H.: Colombian dry moist forest transitions in the Llanos Orientales – a comparison of model and pollen-based biome reconstructions, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 234, 28–44, 2006. Marchant, R. A., Boom, A., Behling, H., Berrío, J. C., van Geel, B., van der Hammen, T., Hooghiemstra, H., Kuhry, P., and Wille, M.: Colombian vegetation at the Late Glacial Maximum – a comparison of model and pollen-based biome reconstructions, J. Quat. Sci., 19, 721–732, 2004. Marchant, R. A., Boom, A., and Hooghiemstra, H.: Pollen-based biome and $\delta ^13$C reconstructions for the past 450,000 years from the Funza II core, Colombia - ecosystem relationships to late Quaternary CO<sub>2</sub> change as detected in the Vostok ice core record, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 177, 29–45, 2002b. Marchant, R. A. and Hooghiemstra, H.: Rapid environmental change in tropical Africa and Latin America about 4000 years before present: a review, Earth Sci. Rev., 66, 217–260, 2004. Marchant, R. A. and Hooghiemstra, H.: `Letter to the Editor' Climate of East Africa 6000 $^14$C Yr B.P. as inferred from pollen data, By Odile Peyron, Dominique Jolly, Raymonde Bonnefille, Annie Vincens and Jo\"el Guiot, Quatern. Res., 56, 133–135, 2001b. Marchant, R. A. and Taylor, D. M.: Numerical analysis of modern pollen spectra and in situ montane forest – implications for the interpretation of fossil pollen sequences from tropical Africa, New Phytol., 146, 505–515, 2000. Markgraf, V.: Late and postglacial vegetational and paleoclimatic changes in sub-Antarctic, temperate, and arid environments in Argentina, Palynol., 7, 43–52, 1983. Markgraf, V.: Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation history of temperate Argentina: Lago Morenito, Bariloche, Diss. Bot., 72, 235–254, 1984. Markgraf, V.: Late Pleistocene faunal extinction in southern Patagonia, Science, 228, 1110–1112, 1985a. Markgraf, V.: Paleoenvironmental history of the last 10,000 years in northwestern Argentina, Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontolgie, 11/12, 1739–1749, 1985b. Markgraf, V.: Paleoenvironmental changes at the northern limit of the sub-Antarctic \textitNothofagus forest, latitude 37S, Argentina, Quatern. Res., 28, 119–129, 1987. Markgraf, V.: Fells cave: 11,000 years of changes in paleoenvironments, fauna, and human occupation. In J. Hyslop (ed.) Travels in Archaeology in South Chile, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA, 1988. Markgraf, V.: Late Pleistocene/Holocene paleoclimates from sub-Antarctic latitudes, Antarctic Journal of the United States, 24, 1–2, 1989. Markgraf, V.: Palaeoclimates in Central and South America since 18,000 BP based on pollen and lake-level records, Quat. Sci. Rev., 8, 1–24, 1989. Markgraf, V.: Climatic history of Central and Southern America since 18,000 yr B.P., in: Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum, edited by: Wright, H. E., Kutzbach, J. E., Webb III, T., Ruddiman, W. F., Street-Perrot, F. A., and Bartlein, P. J., University of Minnesota Press, USA, 1993. Markgraf, V.: Younger Dryas in southern South America?, Boreas, 20, 63–69, 1991. Markgraf, V.: Paleoenvironments and paleoclimates in Tierra del Fuego and southernmost Patagonia, South America. Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol. 102, 53–68, 1993. Markgraf, V.: Past climates of South America, in: Climates of the Southern Continents: Present, Past and Future, edited by: Hobbs, E., Lindesay, J. A., and Bridgman, H. A., Wiley, Chichester, 1998. Markgraf, V., Baumgartner, T. R., Bradbury, J. P., Diaz, H. F., Dunbar, R. B., Luckman, B. H., Seltzer, G. O., Swetman, T. W., and Villalba, R.: Paleoclimate reconstruction along the Pole-Equator-Pole transect of the Americas (PEP 1), Quat. Sci. Rev., 19, 125–140, 2000. Markgraf, V., Bradbury, J. P., and Fernández, P.: Bajada de Rahue, Province Neuquen, Argentina: an interstadial deposit in northern Patagonia, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 56, 251–258, 1986. Martin, L., Fournier, M., Mourguiart, P., Sifeddine, A., and Turcq, B.: Southern Oscillation signal in South American palaeoclimatic data of the last 7000 years, Quatern. Res., 39, 338–346, 1993. Martin, L., Bertaux, J., Correge, T., Ledru, M.-P., Mourguiart, P., Sifeddine, A., Soubiès, F., Wirrmann, D., Suguio, K., and Turcq, B.: Astronomical forcing of contrasting rainfall changes in tropical South America between 12,400 and 8800 cal yr BP, Quatern. Res., 47, 117–122, 1997. Mayle, F. E., Burbridge, R., and Killeen, T. J.: Millennial-scale dynamics of southern Amazonian rain forest, Science, 290, 2291–2294, 2000. Melief, A. B. M.: Late Quaternary palaeoecology of the Parque National los Nevados Cordillera Central, and Sumapaz Cordillera Oriental areas, Colombia, Dissertation University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1985. Mercer, J. H. and Ager, T. A.: Glacial and floral changes in southern Argentina since 14,000 years ago, National Geographic Science Reports, 15, 457–477, 1983. Moreno, P. I.: Vegetation and climate near Lago Llanquihue in the Chilean Lake District between 20,200 and 950 $^14$C yr BP, J. Quat. Sci., 12, 485–500, 1994. Metclafe, S. E., O'Hara, S. L., Caballero, M., and Davies, S. J.: Records of late Pleistocene-Holocene climate change in México – a review, Quat. Sci. Rev., 19, 699–721, 2000. Monsalve, J. G.: A pollen core from the Hacienda Lusitania, Pro Calima, 4, 40–44, 1985. Mourguiart, P. H., Argollo, J., and Wirrmann, D.: Evoucioun del lago Titicaca desde 25,000 nos BP, in: Climas cuaternarios en America del Sur, edited by: Argollo, J. and Mourguiart, Ph., Editions ORSTOM-La Paz, Bolivia, p. 157–171, 1995. Noblet-Docoudré, N., Claussen, M., and Prentice, C.: Mid-Holocene greening of the Sahara: first results of the GAIM 6000 year BP experiment with two asynchronously coupled atmosphere/biome models, Clim. Dynam., 16, 643–659, 2000. Northrop, L. A. and Horn, S. P.: Precolombian agriculture and forest disturbance in Costa Rica: palaeoecological evidence from two lowland rain forest lakes, The Holo., 6, 289–299, 1996. Ortega-Guerrero, B.: Paleomagnestismo, magnetoestrtifia y paleoecologia del Cuaternario tardio en el Lago de Chalco, Cuenca de México, Dissertation, National University of México, 1992. Ortega-Rosas, C. I., Guiot, J., Peñalba, M. C., and Ortiz-Acosta, M. E.: Biomization and quantitative climate reconstruction techniques in northwestern Mexico – with an application to four Holocene pollen sequences, Glob. Plan. Cha., 61, 242–266, 2008a. Ortega-Rosas, C. I., Peñalba, M. C., and Guiot, J.: Holocene altitudinal shifts in vegetation belts and environmental changes in the Sierra Madre Occidental, northwestern Mexico based on modern and fossil pollen data, Rev. Paleobot. Palynol., 151, 1–20, 2008b. Páez, M. M. and Prieto, A. R.: Paleoenvironmental reconstruction by pollen analysis from loess sequences from the Southeast of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Quatern. Int., 17, 139–153, 1993. Pendall, E., Markgraf, V., White, J. W. C., and Dreier, M.: Multiproxy record of late Pleistocene-Holocene climate and vegetation changes from a peat bog in Patagonia, Quatern. Res., 55, 168–178, 2001. Peng, C. H., Guiot, J., and van Campo, E.: Estimating changes in terrestrial vegetation and carbon storage: using palaeoecological data and models, Quatern. Sci. Rev., 17, 719–735, 1998. Pereira, B. A. S., de-Mendonça, R. C., Filgueiras, T. S., de-Paula, J. E., and Heringer, E. P.: Levantamento florístico da área de proteção ambiental (APA) da bacia do Rio São Bartolomeu, Distrito Federal, Anais XXXVI Congresso Brazileiro de Botânica, Socied. Bot. Brazil, 1985, edited by: IBAMA, Curitiba, vol. 1, 1990. Peyron, O., Jolly, D., Bonnefille, R., Vincens, A., and Guiot, J.: Climate of East Africa 6000 $^14$C yr B.P. as inferred from pollen data, Quatern. Res., 54, 90–101, 2000. Pickett, E. J., Harrison, S. P., Hope, G., Harle, K., Dodson, J. R., Kershaw, A. P., Prentice, I. C., Backhouse, J., Colhoun, E. A., D'Costa, D., Flenley, J., Grindrod, J., Haberle, S., Hassell, C., Kenyon, C., Macphail, M., Martin, H., Martin, A. C., McKenzie, M., Newsome, J. C., Penny, D., Powell, J., Raine, J. I., Southern, W., and Stevenson, J.: Pollen-based reconstructions of biome distributions for Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific (SEAPAC region) at 0, 6000 and 18,000 C-14 yr BP, J. Biogeog., 31, 1381–1444, 2004. Piperno, D. R., Bush, M., and Colinvaux, P. A.: Palaeoenvironments and human occupation in Late Glacial Panama, Quatern. Res., 33, 108–116, 1990. Piperno, D. R., Bush, M., and Colinvaux, P. A.: Palaeoecological perspectives on human adaption in Central Panama. I: The Pleistocene, Geoarchaeol., 6, 201–226, 1991a. Piperno, D. R., Bush, M., and Colinvaux, P. A.: Palaeoecological perspectives on human adaption in Central Panama. II: The Holo., Geoarchaeol., 6, 227–250, 1991b. Piperno, D. R., Ranere, A. J., Holst, I., and Hansell, P.: Starch grains reveal early root crop horticulture in the Panamanian tropical forest, Nature, 407, 894–897, 2000. Pires, J. M. and Prance, G. T.: The vegetation types of the Brazilian Amazon, in: Key Environments Amazonia, edited by: Prance, G. T. and Lovejoy, T., Pergamon Press, 1985. Prance, G. T.: The changing forest, in: Key Environments Amazonia, edited by: Prance, G. T. and Lovejoy, T., Pergamon Press, 1985. Prentice, I. C., Cramer, W., Harrison, S. P., Leemans, R., Monserud, R. A., and Solomon, A. M.: A global biome model based on plant physiology and dominance, soil properties and climate, J. Biog., 19, 117–134, 1992. Prentice, I. C., Sykes, M. T., Lautenschlager, M., Harrison, S. P., Denissenko, O., and Bartlein, P.: Modelling global vegetation patterns and terrestrial carbon storage at the last glacial maximum, Glob. Ecol. Biogeog. Lett., 3, 67–76, 1993. Prentice, I. C., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly, D., and Cheddadi, R.: Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka., Clim. Dynam., 12, 185–194, 1996a. Prentice, I. C., Harrison, S. P., Jolly, D., and Guiot, J.: The climate and biomes of Europe at 6000 yr BP: comparison of model simulations and pollen-based reconstructions, Quat. Sci. Rev., 17, 659–668, 1996b. Prentice, I. C. and Webb III, T.: BIOME 6000: reconstructing global mid-Holocene vegetation patterns from palaeoecological records, J. Biog., 25, 997–1005, 1998. Prentice, I. C., Jolly, D., and BIOME 6000 Participants: Mid-Holocene and glacial-maximum vegetation: geography of the northern continents and Africa, J. Biog., 27, 507–519, 2000. Prieto, A. R.: Late Quaternary vegetation and climatic changes in the Pampa grassland of Argentina, Quatern. Res., 45, 73–88, 1996. Prieto, A. R. and Páez, M. M.: Pollen analysis of discontinuous stratigraphical sequences: Holocene at Cerro La China locality (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Quaternary of South America and Antarctica Peninsula, 7, 219–236, 1989. Rodgers, J. C. and Horn, S. P.: Modern pollen spectra from Costa Rica, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 124, 53–71, 1996. Rull, V.: A palynological record of a secondary succession after fire in Gran Sabana, Venezuela, J. Quat. Sci., 14, 137–152, 1999. Rull, V., Salgado-Labouriau, M. L., Schubert, C., and Valastro Jr., S.: Late Holocene temperature depression in the Venezuelan Andes: Palynological evidence, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 60, 109–121, 1987. Rzedowski, V.: Vegetacion de México, Editorial Lémusa, México, 1983. Salami, M.: Additional information on the findings in the Mylodo cave at Ultima Esperanza, Acta Geografica, 14, 314–333, 1955. Salgado-Labouriau, M. L.: Sequence of colonisation by plants in the Venezuelan Andes after the Pleistocene glaciation, J. Palynol., 23–24, 189–204, 1988. Salgado-Labouriau, M. L.: Late Quaternary palaeoclimate in the savannas of South America, J. Quatern. Sci., 12, 371–379, 1997. Salgado-Labouriau, M. L., Barberi, M., Ferraz-Vicentini, K. R., and Parizzi, M. G.: A dry climatic event during the late Quaternary of tropical Brazil, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 99, 115–129, 1998. Salgado-Labouriau, M., Ferraz-Vicentini, K. R., and Parizzi, M. G.: A dry climatic event during the late Quaternary of tropical Brazil, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 99, 1515–129, 1998. Saporito, M. S.: Chemical and mineral studies of a core from Lake Patzcuaro, México, MSc thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 1975. Sarmiento, G.: The dry plant formations of South America and their floristic connections, J. Biog., 2, 233–251, 1975. Schäbitz, F.: Untersuchungen zum aktuellen Pollenniederschlag und zur Holozänen Klima-und Vegetationsentwicklung in den Anden Nord-Neuquéns, Argentinien, Bamberger Geographische Schriften, 8, 1–131, 1989. Schäbitz, F.: Holocene vegetation and climate in southern Santa Cruz, Argentina, Bamberger Geographische Schriften [Bd.] 11, 235–244, 1991. Schäbitz, F.: Holocene climatic variations in northern Patagonia, Argentina, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 109, 287–294, 1994. Schreve-Brinkman, E. J.: A palynological study of the upper Quaternary sequence in the El Abra corridor and rock shelters Colombia, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 25, 1–109, 1978. Schmithüsen, J.: Atlas zur Biogeographie, Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim/Wien/Zürich, 1976. Schofield, K.: Plants of the Galapagos Islands, Universe Books, 1984. Seibert, P.: Farbatlas Südamerika – Landschaften und Vegetation, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Mannheim, 1996. Seltzer, G. O.: Recent glacial history and palaeoclimate of the Peruvian-Bolivian Andes, Quatern. Sci. Rev., 9, 137–152, 1990. Servant, M., Maley, J., Turcq, B., Absy, M., Brenac, P. Furnier, M., and Ledru, M.-P.: Tropical Forest changes during the late Quaternary in African and South American lowlands, Glob. Planet. Cha., 7, 25–40, 1993. Sifeddine, A., Martin, L., Turcq, B., Volkermer-Ribero, C., Soubies, F., Cordeiro, R. C., and Suguio, K.: Variations in the Amazonian rain forest environment: a sedimentological record covering 30,000 years, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 168, 221–235, 2001. Steege, H. T.: The use of forest inventory data for a National Protected Area Strategy in Guyana, Biodiv. Conserv., 7, 1457–1483, 1998. Takahara, H., Sugita, S., Harrison, S. P., Miyoshi, N., Morita, Y., and Uchiyama, T.: Pollen-Based Reconstruction of Japanese Biomes at 0, 6000 and 18,000 yr B.P., J. Biog., 27, 665–683, 2001. Tarasov, P. E., Webb III, T., Andreev, A. A., Afanas'eva, N. B., Berezina, N. A., Bezusko, L. G., Blyakharchuk, T. A., Bolikhovskaya, N. S., Chernavskaya, M. M., Chernova, G. M., Dorofeyuk, N. I., Dirksen, V. G., Elina, G. A., Filimonova, L. V., Glebov, F. Z., Guiot, J., Gunova, V. S., Harrison, S. P., Jolly, D., Khomutova, V. I., Kvavadze, E. V., Osipova, I. M., Panova, N. K., Prentice, I. C., Saarse, L., Sevastyanov, C. S., Volkova, V. S., and Zernitskaya, V. P.: Present day and mid-Holocene Biomes Reconstructed from Pollen and Plant Macrofossil Data from the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia, J. Biog., 25, 1029–1053, 1998a. Tarasov, P. E., Cheddadi, R. Guiot, J., Sytze, B., Peyron, O., Belmonte, J., Ruiz-Sanchez, V, Saadi, F., and Brewer, S.: A method to determine warm and cool steppe biomes from pollen data; application to the Mediterranean and Kazakhstan regions, J. Quatern. Sci., 13, 335–344, 1998b. Texier, D., de Noblet, N., Harrison, S. P., Haxeltine, A., Joussaume, S., Jolly, D., Laarif, F., Prentice, I. C., and Tarasov, P. E.: Quantifying the role of biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks in climate change: a coupled model simulation for 6000 yr B.P. and comparison with palaeodata for Northern Eurasia and northern Africa, Clim. Dynam., 13, 865–881, 1997. Thompson, L. G., Mosely-Thompson, E., Davis, E. M., Lin, P. E., Henderson, K. A., Cole-Dai, B., and Liu, K.: Late glacial stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascaren, Peru, Science, 269, 46–50, 1995. Thompson, R. S. and Anderson, K. H.: Biomes of Western North America at 18,000, 6,000 and 0 $^14$C yr B.P. Reconstructed from Pollen and Packrat Midden Data, J. Biog., 27, 655–664, 2000. Thouret, J., van der Hammen, T., Salomons, B., and Juvigne, E.: Late Quaternary glacial studies in the Cordillera Central, Colombia, based on glacial geomorphology, tephra-soil stratigraphy, palynology and radiocarbon dating, J. Quatern. Sci., 12, 347–369, 1997. Thomas, M. F.: Late Quaternary environmental changes and the alluvial record in humid tropical environments, Quatern. Int., 72, 23–36, 2000. Tuomisto, H. and Ruokolainen, K.: The role of ecological knowledge in explaining biogeography, and biodiversity in Amazonia, Biodiv. Conserv., 6, 347–357, 1997. Valencio, A. A., Creer, K. M., Sinito, A. M., Mazzoni, M. M., Alonso, M. S., and Markgraf, V.: Palaeomagnetism, sedimentology, radiocarbon age determinations and palynology of the Llao area, southwestern Argentina (lat. 41 S, long. 71.3 W): paleolimnological aspects, Quaternary of South America and Antarctic Peninsular., 3, 109–148, 1985. Van der Hammen, T.: Palinología de la region de Laguna de los Bobos, Historia de su clima, vegetacion y agricultura durante los \'ultimos 5000 anos. Revista Acad Colombiana Ciencias Exactas Fisicas Naturales, 11, 359–361, 1962. Van der Hammen, T.: A Palynological Study on the Quaternary of British Guyana, Leidse Geologische Mededelingen, 29, 126–168, 1963. Van der Hammen, T.: Changes in vegetation and climate in the Amazon Basin and surrounding areas during the Pleistocene, Geologie en Mijnbouw, 51, 641–643, 1972. Van der Hammen, T.: The Pleistocene changes of vegetation and climate in tropical South America, J. Biog., 1, 3–26, 1974. Van der Hammen, T. and Absy, M.: Amazonia during the last glacial Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 109, 247–261, 1994. Van der Hammen, T., Barelds, T. J., de Jong, H., and de Veer, A. A.: Glacial sequence and environmental history in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Colombia, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 32, 247–340, 1980. Van der Hammen, T. and González, E.: Upper Pleistocene and Holocene climate and vegetation of the Saban de Bogotá, Leides Geologische Mededelingen, 25, 261–315, 1960. Van der Hammen, T. and González, E.: A Late glacial and Holocene pollen diagram from Cienaga del Vistador Dep. Boyaca, Colombia, Leids Geologische Mededelingen, 32, 193–201, 1965. Van Geel, B. and Van der Hammen, T.: Upper Quaternary vegetation and climatic sequence of the Fuquene area Eastern Cordillera, Colombia, Palaeogeog., Palaeoclim., Palaeoecol., 14, 9–92, 1973. Valdes, P.: South American palaeoclimate model simulations: how reliable are the models, J. Quat. Sci., 15, 357–368, 2000. Veblen, T. T., Burns, B. R., Kitzberger, T., Lara, A., and Villalba, R.: The Ecology of the Conifers of southern South America, in: Ecology of southern Conifers, edited by: Enright, N. J. and Hill, R. S., Melbourne University Press, 1995. Vernet J.-L., Wengler, L., Solari, M.-E., Ceccantini, G., Fournier, M., Fournier, M., Ledru, M.-P., and Soubies, F.: Feux, climats et végétations au Brésil central durant l'Holocène: les donnees d\'un profil de sol a charbons de bois (Salitre, Minas Gerais), CRAS, Paris, 319, 1391–1397, 1994. Villagran, C.: Expansion of Megallanic Moorland during the Late Pleistocene: palynological evidence from Northern Isla de Chiloé, Chile, Quatern. Res., 30, 304–314, 1988. Watts, W. A. and Bradbury, J. P.: Palaeoecological studies on Lake Patzcuaro on the wets-central Mexican Plateau and at Chalco in the Basin of México, Quatern. Res., 17, 56–70, 1982. Webb III, T.: A global paleoclimatic data base for 6000 yr BP, DOE/EV/10097-6, US Department of Energy, Washington, 1985. Wijmstra, T. A. and van der Hammen, T.: Palynological data on the history of tropical savannas in northern South America, Leides Geologische Mededelingen, 38, 71–90, 1966. Wille, M., Hooghiemstra, H., Behling, H., Van der Borg, K., and Negret, A. J.: Environmental change in the Colombian subandean forest belt from 8 pollen records: the last 50 kyr, Veg. His. Archaeobot., 10, 61–77, 2001. Wille, M., Negret, J. A., and Hooghiemstra, H.: Paleoenvironmental history of the Popayan area since 27000 yr BP at Timbio, Southern Colombia, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 109, 45–63, 2000. Wijmstra, T. A. and van der Hammen, T.: Palynological data on the history of tropical savannas in northern South America, Leidse Geologische Mededelingen, 38, 71–90, 1966. Wijmstra, T. A.: The Palynology of the Guiana coastal Basin, University of Amsterdam, 72 pp, 1971. Whitmore, T. C.: Quaternary History of tropical America, in: Biogeography and Quaternary History in Tropical America, edited by: Whitmore, T. C. and Prance, G. T., Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1987. Williams, J. W., Summer, R. S., and Webb III, T.: Applying Plant Functional types to construct biome maps from eastern North American Pollen Data: Comparisons with model results, Quat. Sci. Rev., 17, 607–627, 1998. Williams, J. W., Webb III, T., Richard, P. J. H., and Newby, P.: Late Quaternary Biomes of Canada and the Eastern United States, J. Biog., 27, 523–538, 2000. Wingenroth, M. and Suarez, J.: Flores de los Andes – Alta montaña de Mendoza. IANIGLA (Instituto Argentino de Nivolgia y Glacologia, Argentina, 1984. Witte, H. J. L.: Present and past vegetation and climate in the North Andes (Cordillera Central, Colombia); a quantitative approach. PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1994. Woodward, F. I.: Climate and plant distribution, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987. Wu, H., Guiot, J., Brewer, S., and Guo, Z.: Climatic changes in Eurasia and Africa at the last glacial maximum and mid-Holocene: reconstruction from pollen data using inverse vegetation modelling, Clim. Dynam., 29, 211–229, 2007a. Wu, H., Guiot, J., Brewer S., Guo, Z., and Peng, C.: Dominant factors controlling glacial and interglacial variations in the treeline elevation in tropical Africa, PNAS 104, 9720–9724, 2007b Yu, G. and Harrison, S. P.: Lake status records from Europe: data base documentation. NOAA Paleoclimatology Publication Series, report, 3, 1–451, NOAA, Boulder, Colorado, 1995. Yu, G., Prentice, I. C., Harrison, S. P., and Sun, X.: Pollen-based biome reconstruction for China at 0 and 6000 years, J. Biog., 25, 1055–1069, 1998. Yu, G., Xudong, C., Jian, N., Cheddadi, R., Guiot, J., Huiyou, H., Harrison, S. P., Ci-xuan, H., Jolly, D., Manhong, K., Zhaochen, K., Shengfeng, L., Wen-yi, L., Liew, P. M., Gunagxu, L., Jinling, L., Liu, K-B., Prentice, I. C., Guoyu, R., Changqing, S., Sugita, S., Xiangjun, S., Lingyu, T., Van Campo, E., Yumei, X., Qinghai, X., Shun, Y., Xiangdong, Y., and Zhuo, Z.: Palaeovegetation of China: a pollen data-based synthesis for the mid-Holocene and last glacial maximum, J. Biog., 27, 635–664, 2001. Xelhuantzi-López, M. S.: Palynologie et paléoenvironment du bassin de Zacapu, Michoancán, Mexique, depuis 8000 ans, Geofisica Internacional., 34, 239–248, 1995.