A new vegetation history documented by pollen analysis and C14 dating in the alder of Ain Khiar – El Kala wet complex, Algeria

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Research Paper 01/12/2017
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A new vegetation history documented by pollen analysis and C14 dating in the alder of Ain Khiar – El Kala wet complex, Algeria

Kahit Fatima Zahra, Zaoui Lilia, Danu Mihaela Aurelia, Romanescu Gheorghe, Benslama Mohamed
Int. J. Biosci. 11(6), 193-200, December 2017.
Copyright Statement: Copyright 2017; The Author(s).
License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Abstract

In order to trace the history of local and regional vegetation a pollen sequence of 260 cm of depth was extracted from alder-peatland of Ain-Khiar in the wet complex of El Kala which is situated in north–east of Algeria and considered as one of the most important wetlands in Mediterranean. A pollen diagram obtained from the study of the core which has been supported by tow A.M.S. radiocarbon dates. 66 taxa have been identified as following: local vegetation as hygrophilous and aquatic taxa which is dominated by Alnus, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae; regional vegetation as mesophilic taxa which is dominated by Quercus, Erica arborea and Myrtus; herbaceous taxa dominate the area which are represented by Poaceae, Apiaceae and Fabaceae and anthropogenic activity indices taxa as Eucalyptus and Cupressus. At the beginning of the record of 500 years, towards 420 ± 69 BP (1530 ± 69 AD) a cork oak forest and mesophilic vegetation were dominant at the Medieval Warm (MWP) Period as declared as in Mediterranean region by other authors, during the Little Ice Age (LIA) period the cork oak forest was replaced by the alder and hygrophilous vegetation, this landscape is kept till nowadays. Anthropogenic activity characterizes the modern epoch around 141 ± 97 BP (1809 ± 97 AD), by reforestation of Eucalyptus in sub-humid area and using Cupressus as a protective barrier for agricultural land in the surrounding area. These climate changes have been reported in the northern hemisphere as well as the Mediterranean by other authors.

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