1) Presentation of the first synthesis of pollen-inferred Holocene land-cover in Europe (Gaillard and collaborators) and Initiating data synthesis and land-cover reconstructions in the "tropical" areas using the methods widespread in Europe through the POLLANDCAL and LANDCLIM network (e.g. Gaillard et al. 2008, 2010).
2) Initiating, simultaneous to the above paleoecological approach, a synthesis of relevant historical and archeological data available in most of the "tropical" areas with the aim to get additional information on past anthropogenic land-cover.
3) Position the above in the context of studies of past regional to global land cover-climate feedbacks, which is an essential part in the development of climate models (e.g. Kaplan et al., 2009 ; Gaillard et al., 2010).
The Workshop
The Workshop
The three days are planned with a view to combine lectures with enough space for discussions and working in smaller thematic groups. The idea is to start applying the new approaches mentioned above in south India and south Asia. The timescale in focus will be the Holocene. This will be the first effort to apply these approaches and models in the tropics with a regional perspective. Similarly, despite the richness and ready availability of historical and archeological data, no systematic effort has been taken to use and synthesize them from this perspective. A good synthesis of historical data with a spatio-temporal perspective already exists (eg., Historical Atlas of South India) and will contribute to the planned historical and pre-historical database.
One point of departure may be the inclusion of the prehistoric periods, spanning the Pleistocene and Early Holocene, mainly because the regional emphasis requires that the time perspective is longer than that of the New World.
Confirmed participants include experts in South Indian and Sri Lankan Ecology, Paleoecology, History & Archeology and Earth Sciences (Drs. B. R. Ramesh, R. Premathilake, Shanti Pappu, Kumar Akhilesh, Subbarayalu Y, Rajan K, Selvakumar V, Balakrishnan S. & Pramod Singh), and experts from Europe and Australia in pollen-inferred vegetation/land-cover reconstructions (Marie-Jose Gaillard, Simon Haberle, Shinya Sugita), and in vegetation modelling (Christelle Hely) and in spatial analyses/ interpolation techniques (Cedric Gaucherel).
Ultimately, as the goal is to use new data-model comparison schemes for a better evaluation of model-predicted vegetation, land cover and climate, and hence future environmental changes, the idea is to have a good mix of researchers working with both data and models from diverse fields such as Ecology & Paleoecology, History & Archeology and Earth Sciences.
This workshop is an integral part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Laboratory of Palynology at the IFP the aim of which is to gather and catalyze new synergistic contacts between young and senior researchers from within and outside south Asia, to help review, synthesize and set future directions and also strategies for research from a tropical, south Asian perspective, using the lessons learned elsewhere.
WORKSHOP INTRODUCTORY
1. Introduction to the workshop theme and participants
2. Introduction to PAGES_PHAROS_HITE
3. Overarching introduction to the European data synthesis and Sugita's pollen-vegetation modeling approach
PART IA : AN OVERVIEW OF SOUTH INDIAN TERRAIN ; ITS VEGETATION AND HISTORY OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
The terrain in terms of its Chronology and Geomorphology Vegetation cover and climate in the south Indian topography The history of human occupation in south India – from the Palaeolithic to the Medieval periods– I & II PART IB_1 : Synthesis/Overview of palynological records from south India/ south Asia and Sri Lanka
PART IB_2 : Presentations from other tropical regions
PART II Vegetation and land-cover calibration : Models & Methods
The Sugita's Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) : the theory in simple words The need of pollen productivity estimates to apply LRA – considerations and advices on field-work design and data collections Presentation of the first pollen-inferred Holocene land-cover in NW Europe : the LANDCLIM project The application of LRA in other parts of the world Introduction to Dynamic Vegetation Models Introduction to tools for spatial analyses PART III MAJOR THEMES FOR DISCUSSION
Topics to be discussed will be based on the lectures under PARTS I and II, the posters, and the discussions that will emerge naturally after the presentations of PARTS I and II. It is expected that the discussion will be channeled along three major themes as below :
1. What is available and what is required from the southern (peninsular Indian) perspective to move towards quantitative reconstruction of Holocene land-cover and land use that are useful for questions relevant to regional-continental-global environmental and climate development ?– the point of view of geologists, archeologists, and ecologists.
2. Is it possible to interpolate (through various modeling approaches) point data such as, in particular, available archaeological and palaeoecological records ?
3. Application of LRA (& alternative approaches) to tropical regions :
Available experience : Africa (LRA) Other approaches : Australasia, Pacific &/South America How to go about this in southern (peninsular) India & Sri Lanka ? PART IV CONCLUSIONS : Workshop summary and future course(s) of action
