A palynological study of Polynesian and European effects on vegetation in Coromandel, New Zealand, showing the variability between four records from a single swamp

Byrami, Mairie; Ogden, John C.; Horrocks, Mark; Deng, Yanbin; Shane, Phil; Palmer, Jonathan

doi:10.1080/03014223.2002.9517706

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Coniferous tree pollen and tree fern spores exhibited a gradual decline but remained abundant following evidence of Māori settlement, in approximately 1620 CE, despite disturbance indicated by the elevated levels of markers for Māori activity ( Pteridium esculentum and charcoal). The dominance of podocarp forest in the pollen record from Lake Oporoa contrasts with many other New Zealand palynological studies (Wilmshurst, McGlone & Partridge, 1997; McGlone & Wilmshurst, 1999; Horrocks et al, 2000; Byrami et al, 2002; Wilmshurst et al, 2004), suggesting that widespread forest clearance did not occur in the catchment immediately following human arrival. Rather, it was gradual and probably began locally around the lake, increasing approximately 100 years later (approx.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Discostella stelligera is often found in low-nutrient lakes with little to no human disturbance, including those in New Zealand (Tibby, 2004;Reid, 2005;Rühland, Paterson & Smol, 2008;Saros & Anderson, 2015). Its presence in Lake Oporoa New Zealand palynological studies (Wilmshurst, McGlone & Partridge, 1997;McGlone & Wilmshurst, 1999;Horrocks et al, 2000;Byrami et al, 2002;Wilmshurst et al, 2004) possible that it was introduced into the catchment as a product of crop cultivation (Lyver et al, 2015).…”

Section: Sedimentary Pigmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Short

Tibby

Vandergoes

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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Lakes are becoming degraded at an accelerating rate owing to human activity, and understanding their past ecology is necessary for lake management and rehabilitation. Palaeolimnology provides numerous methods that enable the historical state of lakes to be determined. New Zealand provides an ideal setting in which to do this as human modification of the landscape occurred later here than in most regions of the world (approx. 1300 CE). Lake Oporoa is a shallow lake that is highly significant to the local indigenous Māori community. This study used multiple proxy palaeolimnology to explore how lake ecology shifted following Māori and European settlement in the catchment, and how palaeolimnological data can be used to inform lake rehabilitation and conservation measures, alongside the desires of the indigenous community. Sedimentary pollen, diatoms, bacterial communities, and elemental and hyperspectral imaging scanning were used to infer ecological changes in the lake and catchment from pre‐human times to present. Following Māori settlement (approx. 1620 CE) there was gradual vegetation change and a rapid shift in diatom and bacterial assemblages, but not in phytoplankton pigments or sediment geochemistry. An increasing abundance of diatom taxa Discostella stelligera and Staurosirella cf. ovata indicates early nutrient enrichment. European pastoralism from approximately 1840 CE resulted in further deforestation, and all proxies show evidence for enhanced primary productivity driven by a combination of nutrient enrichment and changing lake levels, particularly since the 1960s. This has caused degradation in water quality and is likely to have contributed to the decline in populations of tuna (eel, Anguilla spp.). Conversations with local Māori, together with the palaeolimnological results, indicate that a culturally acceptable and realistic rehabilitation target for Lake Oporoa aligns with ecological conditions in the 1950s. The palaeoecological data provide information to guide catchment and lake revegetation and other methods of nutrient abatement, with the eventual aim of restoring culturally important tuna and native fish populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Sedimentary Pigmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Short

Tibby

Vandergoes

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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“…Taupo tephra and several 14 C ages provide earlier (pre-Polynesian) time-planes. After Newnham et al (1998b) and Lowe et al (2002) with additional data from Elliot et al (1997), Horrocks et al (2001Horrocks et al ( , 2007, Byrami et al (2002), and D.J. Lowe, R.M.…”

Section: Fig 26mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Lowe

2011

Quaternary Geochronology

650

535

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Tephrochronology (from tephra, Gk "ashes") is a unique stratigraphic method for linking, dating, and synchronizing geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences or events. As well as utilizing the Law of Superposition, tephrochronology in practise requires tephra deposits to be characterized (or "fingerprinted") using physical properties evident in the field together with those obtained from laboratory analyses. Such analyses include mineralogical examination (petrography) or geochemical analysis of glass shards or crystals using an electron microprobe or other analytical tools including laser-ablation-based mass spectrometry or the ion microprobe. The palaeoenvironmental or archaeological context in which a tephra occurs may also be useful for correlational purposes. Tephrochronology provides greatest utility when a numerical age obtained for a tephra or cryptotephra is transferrable from one site to another using stratigraphy and by comparing and matching inherent compositional features of the deposits with a high degree of likelihood. Used this way, tephrochronology is an age-equivalent dating method that provides an exceptionally precise volcanic-event stratigraphy. Such age transfers are valid because the primary tephra deposits from an eruption essentially have the same short-lived age everywhere they occur, forming isochrons very soon after the eruption (normally within a year).As well as providing isochrons for palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions, tephras through their geochemical analysis allow insight into volcanic and magmatic processes, and provide a comprehensive record of explosive volcanism and recurrence rates in the Quaternary (or earlier) that can be used to establish time-space relationships of relevance to volcanic hazard analysis.The basis and application of tephrochronology as a central stratigraphic and geochronological tool for Quaternary studies are presented and discussed in this review. Topics covered include principles of tephrochronology, defining isochrons, tephra nomenclature, mapping and correlating tephras from proximal to distal locations at metre-through to sub-3 millimetre-scale, cryptotephras, mineralogical and geochemical fingerprinting methods, numerical and statistical correlation techniques, and developments and applications in dating including the use of flexible depositional age-modelling techniques based on Bayesian statistics.Along with reference to wide-ranging examples and the identification of important recent advances in tephrochronology, such as the development of new geoanalytical approaches that enable individual small glass shards to be analysed near-routinely for major, trace, and rare-earth elements, potential problems such as miscorrelation, erroneous-age transfer, and tephra reworking and taphonomy (especially relating to cryptotephras) are also examined. Some of the challenges for future tephrochronological studies include refining geochemical analytical methods further, improving understanding of cryptotephra dis...

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“…The first major human impact on New Zealand resulted from the widespread forest clearance by the Polynesian settlers. Even though this vegetation change is well recorded in pollen-based paleoenvironmental reconstructions, the exact timing is still under debate and location dependent (McGlone 1983;Newnham et al 1998;Ogden et al 1998;McGlone and Wilmshurst 1999;Byrami et al 2002;Newnham et al 2018). South of the Coromandel peninsula (Waihi and Kopouatai), the onset of deforestation is dated to c. 1200-1300 CE (Newnham et al 1995a, b); in the following, 1300 CE is used to refer to this onset.…”

Section: Human Impacts On Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…South of the Coromandel peninsula (Waihi and Kopouatai), the onset of deforestation is dated to c. 1200-1300 CE (Newnham et al 1995a, b); in the following, 1300 CE is used to refer to this onset. Byrami et al (2002) give a detailed reconstruction of the vegetation composition from pollen records in the Kauaeranga valley, Coromandel Peninsula: (i) in pre-human times, the native forest was dominated by tall trees (e.g. Podocarpus spp.)…”

Section: Human Impacts On Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic development of heavy metal contamination into the Firth of Thames, New Zealand

et al. 2019

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Near-coastal marine sediments often provide high-resolution records of various anthropogenic influences such as the release of heavy metals, which pose a potentially negative influence on aquatic ecosystems because of their toxicity and persistence. In places, the gradual onset of man-made heavy metal emission dates back to~4500 years BP and is difficult to distinguish from potential natural sources. New Zealand offers a perfect setting for studies on anthropogenic impact due to its well-defined threestep development: pre-human era (until~1300 CE), Polynesian era (~1300-1800 CE) and European era (since~1840 CE). However, hardly any information exists about the degree of heavy metal input to New Zealand's coastal areas and the 'pristine' natural background values. This study determines the natural background contents of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in marine sediments of the Firth of Thames, a shallow marine embayment on New Zealand's North Island, and investigates anthropogenic inputs in historic times. Eight sediment cores were analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for their element composition and temporally resolved by a pollen and radiocarbon-based stratigraphic framework. Sharp increases in Pb and Zn contents occurred simultaneously with the onset of goldmining activities (1867 CE) in the nearby catchment area. The contents of Zn (Pb) increase from very stable values around 60 (13) ppm in the older sediments, interpreted to reflect the natural background values, to an average maximum of 160 (60) ppm near the core top, interpreted to reflect a significant anthropogenic input. These findings unravel the history of contamination in the Firth of Thames and provide an urgently needed database for the assessment of its current ecological state.

show abstract

A palynological study of Polynesian and European effects on vegetation in Coromandel, New Zealand, showing the variability between four records from a single swamp

Cited by 17 publications

References 21 publications

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Historic development of heavy metal contamination into the Firth of Thames, New Zealand

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