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The Holocene
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Middle-to late-Holocene moisture changes in the desert of northwest Namibia derived from fossil hyrax dung pollen

Graciela Gil-Romera

Department of Biology (Botany), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain; graciela.gil{at}uam.es

Louis Scott

Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State. P.O. Box 331, 9300 Bloemfontein, South Africa

Eugène Marais

National Museum of Namibia, P.O. Box 1203, Windhoek, Namibia

George A. Brook

Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens GA 30602, USA

New pollen results and radiocarbon dating from fossil hyrax middens derived from the edge of the northern Namib Desert address the shortage of continental palaeobotanical evidence in arid Namibia by providing evidence for the environmental conditions during the mid to late Holocene in the region. The results obtained reflect long-term stability in the area throughout most of the sequence. Higher than modern moisture availability is suggested between c. 6 and 1 ka BP by the increased abundance of Poaceae, Cyperaceae or Chenopodiaceae, which respond rapidly by flowering after modest quantities of rainfall. Around 1 ka and recently arid conditions seem to have prevailed, with a decrease in Poaceae and an increase in Acanthaceae. Other palaeoecological evidence from the local and regional surroundings that focused on fluvial deposits, marine palynology and mineralogy confirms this mid-Holocene increase in more effective rainfall.

Key Words: Palynology • vegetation history • palaeoenvironments • arid environments • Namib Desert • Namibia • hyrax dung • Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 16, No. 8, 1073-1084 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683606069397
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C.S. Bristow, G.A.T. Duller, and N. Lancaster
Age and dynamics of linear dunes in the Namib Desert
Geology, June 1, 2007; 35(6): 555 - 558.
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