The long-term effects of fire, climate and human impact in the highland and lowland ecosystems of Sumatra, Indonesia
The highland and lowland ecosystems of Kerinci in the Province of Jambi, are protected hotspots of biodiversity in Sumatra, Indonesia. In order to better understand the functions, resilience and sensitivity of these ecosystems against climate change and human activities, palaeoecological investigations are needed. With this PhD project, I aim at studying these archives, using multi-proxy analyses (pollen and spore, charcoal, non-pollen palynomorphs, biogeochemistry, XRF-scanning and sediments dating), in order to investigate the effects of disturbance (human, fire) and climate change on the highland and lowland ecosystems of Jambi.
The objective of this study is to investigate the Holocene climate dynamics, environmental change and human activities in the highland ecosystems of Kerinci, Jambi Province, Sumatra (Indonesia). The main aims are to:
- Reconstruct past climatic conditions and environmental change,
- Reveal the potential role of fires and drought on the ecosystem,
- Provide insight on the role of human in the dynamics of the landscape,
- Test which is the main driver of ecosystem change in time.
The overall results of this research will add a historical long-term perspective to the evaluation of current and future changes in the hotspots mountain rainforest ecosystems of Sumatra.