Palaeoecological changes from 580 to 1220 CE from the Indo-Burma region: A biotic assessment from the Barak Valley of Assam, northeast India

Pollen and non-pollen palynomorph depositional patterns in Kaziranga National Park, India: Implications for palaeoecology and palaeoherbivory analysis

“…Moreover, the dung of the megaherbivores like one horn rhino also include aquatic pollen and thus, the modern aquatic pollen preservation could act as a baseline for the coprolite studies for tracing the megafaunal extinction during the Quaternary (Basumatary et al, 2017). The generated pollen data would assist in distinguishing the natural forest vegetation from areas impacted by human activities in the region, based on the fossil marker pollen taxa like Poaceae and Brassicaceae (Basumatary et al, 2018; Tripathi et al, 2021).…”

Palynological response deduced through spatially distinct surface samples to reconstruct palaeoecology and palaeoclimate of the Barak Valley, Assam (Indo-Burma region), northeast India

“…km) (Figure 1). The Barak Valley's tectonic history and structural configuration has had a significant impact on the evolution of its terrain during the Pleistocene epoch (Tripathi et al, 2021). It encompasses a wide range of alluvial landforms, such as flowing river channels, dried-up river channels, meander cut-offs, bhur ridges and water bodies (lakes and ponds).…”

“…Assam has a rich vegetation cover due to its varied topography, climate and soil. The vegetation of the state can broadly be classified into (i) tropical evergreen and semievergreen forest, (ii) tropical moist and dry deciduous forest, (iii) tropical grassland, (iv) Swamp forest, (v) subtropical mixed forest and (vi) mixed bamboo forest (Tripathi et al, 2021). The Barak Valley is mainly characterised by tropical moist deciduous forests along with intermittent semi-evergreen tree taxa (Figure 2…”

“…The state of Assam situated in northeast India at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas is one of the most climatesensitive regions owing to its unique topographic features 1 Quaternary Palynology Laboratory, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India and ecosystem . The Barak valley in Assam is a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and is mainly characterised by tropical moist deciduous forest along with the scattered growth of semi-evergreen tree taxa under subtropical, warm and humid climate with an average rainfall of greater than 300 cm, most of which is received during the southwest monsoon season (June to September) (Tripathi et al, 2021). Fossil pollen plays a crucial role in deciphering palaeovegetation and past climate since it is a direct proxy record of past vegetation and an indirect proxy for past climate.…”

“…Nevertheless, qualitative studies of the pollen-vegetation relationship in northeast India have been carried out, especially from the lower Brahmaputra plain of Assam and Meghalaya (Basumatary et al, 2013;Dixit & Bera, 2011, 2012Tripathi & Bera, 2014;Tripathi et al, 2020). Moreover, the Late Holocene vegetation and climatic history of the Barak Valley region were interpreted based on pollen and diatom studies (Tripathi et al, 2021). However, despite the rich biodiversity, the existence of the endangered and endemic plant species and good pollen preservation, no modern pollen reference data have been documented to date from the Barak Valley region of South Assam.…”