Cooling-induced expansions of Afromontane forests in the Horn of Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the changing plant ecosystems that existed in East Africa over the past millennia is crucial for identifying links between habitats and past human adaptation and dispersal across the region. In the Horn of Africa, this task is hampered by the scarcity of fossil botanical data. Here we present modelled past vegetation distributions in Ethiopia from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to present at high spatial and temporal resolution. The simulations show that, contrary to long-standing hypotheses, the area covered by Afromontane forests during the Late Glacial was significantly larger than at present. The combined effect of low temperatures and the relative rainfall contribution sourced from the Congo Basin and Indian Ocean, emerges as the mechanism that controlled the migration o

SUBMITTER: Casas-Gallego M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10293186 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature