Semanas Franco‑Uspianas 2025

Sessão 2: Changes in Atlantic Forest pollen assemblages through time

The Atlantic Forest biome spreads over more than 4000 km from northeastern to southern Brazil. A complex topography and varying climate conditions are partly responsible for the biological richness of the eco-physiognomies characterizing this biome. Spatial analysis of past vegetation dynamics documented by fossil pollen data reveals that this biome responds to global changes through time with strong differences between the different regions. Modern pollen assemblages allowed to identify seven eco-physiognomies of which four clusters of one or two eco-physiognomies were clearly distinguished, namely (1) Araucaria forest with high elevation grassland, (2) lowland rain forest, (3) semi-deciduous with riverine forests and (4) northeastern Atlantic rain forest. Based on different key paleoecological records located in the biome AF we will examine how the different pollen assemblages that characterized the AF physiognomies evolved during the Quaternary.