@article{2a11ba8c217848afaadf164fd73ab140,
title = "The modern pollen–vegetation relationships of a tropical forest–savannah mosaic landscape, Ghana, West Africa",
abstract = "Transitions between forest and savannah vegetation types in fossil pollen records are often poorly understood due to over-production by taxa such as Poaceae and a lack of modern pollen-vegetation studies. Here, modern pollen assemblages from within a forest-savannah transition in West Africa are presented and compared, their characteristic taxa discussed, and implications for the fossil record considered. Fifteen artificial pollen traps were deployed for 1 year, to collect pollen rain from three vegetation plots within the forest-savannah transition in Ghana. High percentages of Poaceae and Melastomataceae/Combretaceae were recorded in all three plots. Erythrophleum suaveolens characterised the forest plot, Manilkara obovata the transition plot and Terminalia the savannah plot. The results indicate that Poaceae pollen influx rates provide the best representation of the forest-savannah gradient, and that a Poaceae abundance of >40% should be considered as indicative of savannah-type vegetation in the fossil record.",
keywords = "Bosumtwi, Ghana, palaeoecology, Poaceae, pollen, savannah, transitions, RCUK, NERC, NE/K005294/1, NE/1014705/1",
author = "Julier, {Adele C.M.} and Jardine, {Phillip E.} and Stephen Adu-Bredu and Coe, {Angela L.} and Akwasi Duah-Gyamfi and Fraser, {Wesley T.} and Lomax, {Barry H.} and Yadvinder Malhi and Sam Moore and Kennedy Owusu-Afriyie and Gosling, {William D.}",
note = "Funding Information: AKWASI DUAH-GYAMFI is a research scientist at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He is a project team member of the NERC-funded project {\textquoteleft}Carbon Use Efficiency{\textquoteright} being implemented in Ghana. Akwasi{\textquoteright}s areas of research interest include forest responses to global change, carbon and nutrient cycling, production ecology and biogeochemistry, forest population dynamics and restoration of degraded landscapes. Funding Information: This work was funded by a Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) studentship awarded to WDG, BHL and WTF [NE/K005294/1], and a Leverhulme Trust?Royal Society of UK grant (A130026). The vegetation plots at Kogyae were funded and maintained by grants to YM from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/1014705/1) and the European Research Council (GEM-TRAIT, Grant No ERC-2012-ADG_20120216). YM is supported by the Jackson Foundation. We would like to thank the Carbon Use Efficiency team, as well as the herbarium of the CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), for their support and assistance in collecting samples for this study. We also acknowledge the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission in Ghana as well as the many field assistants who helped with data collection from the field. We would also like to thank Encarni Montoya and one anonymous reviewer for their constructive feedback. Funding Information: This work was funded by a Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) studentship awarded to WDG, BHL and WTF [NE/K005294/1], and a Lever-hulme Trust–Royal Society of UK grant (A130026). The vegetation plots at Kogyae were funded and maintained by grants to YM from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/1014705/1) and the European Research Council (GEM-TRAIT, Grant No ERC-2012-ADG_20120216). YM is supported by the Jackson Foundation. Funding Information: STEPHEN ADU-BREDU is a principal research scientist at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana, and a former Deputy Director of the Institute. He is project partner to the projects {\textquoteleft}Carbon Use Efficiency{\textquoteright} and El Nino{\textquoteright} funded by NERC, and GEM Traits and SOFIA, funded, respectively, by Lever-hulme–Royal Society and Royal Society–DFID. Stephen{\textquoteright}s research interest is on productive ecology of forests and the impact of various anthropogenic activities on forest carbon stock, and his focus is on both artificial (tree plantation) and natural tropical forest. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, {\textcopyright} 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",
year = "2018",
month = jul,
day = "3",
doi = "10.1080/01916122.2017.1356392",
language = "English",
volume = "42",
pages = "324--338",
journal = "Palynology",
issn = "0191-6122",
publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",
number = "3",
}