Holocene dynamics of tropical montane rainforest, climate, fire, human impact and land use in Sulawesi, Indonesia
Present-day tropical montane rainforests in the area of the Lore Lindu National Park are rich in biodiversity, as well as an important source of ecosystem services for local population inhabiting the area. Most of the montane rainforests are considered to be untouched old-growth forests. However at the centennial to millennial scales there might have been changes in forest composition caused both by climate and human activities which are not visible anymore.
While the intrannual climate in montane areas of Central Sulawesi is characterized by perhumid conditions with no distinctive dry seasons, the interannual conditions are influenced by the occurrence of El Niño events which can lead to severe reduction in rainfall. In which way has the vegetation responded to past El Niño occurrences? How will changes in drought period frequency and intensity affect the montane rainforests?
Prehistory and more recent history of human-landscape interaction in this region is poorly known. In the southern part of the park (Besoa valley) human activities are attested already since 3500 years ago (Kirleis et al., 2010 and Kirleis et al., 2011).
 | 3000 BC - 1300 AD (?) Megaliths are found in Central Sulawesi indicating the presence of a well organized culture |
Less well-known megaliths are also found in the northern mountainous part of the Park where human presence is well documented only from the 20th century. So, when did the megalith people arrive in the area? How did they interact with the environment?
Specific research objectives:
- Investigating the impact of past climate (El Niño) disturbances on montane forest plant communities along an altitudinal and moisture gradient, in order to identify the pattern of vegetation dynamics in the past;
- Reconstructing the history of human-landscape interaction in isolated montane areas of Central Sulawesi;
- Providing valuable information on the long-term ecology of this ecosystem, useful to develop sustainable management strategies for the national park.
A multi-sites multi-proxies approach:
To better identify the dynamics and vegetation community responses to different conditions (e.g. climate change, human land-use change) a multi-sites approach was chosen and sediment cores were taken from three sites:
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Sites description:
The sites differ in altitude, forest composition and they share similar age scales
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Proxies applied:
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