ABSTRACT
The island of New Guinea has been a major focus of palynological research over the last thirty years. Quaternary sediments in New Guinea have produced over fifty pollen records of vegetation change (Fig. 8.1), making it one of the most intensely studied tropical regions in the world. Emphasis has been placed on the past 30,000 years of vegetation change, during which time human influence has played a varied but important role in the development of vegetation. The most marked changes occurred within the last glacial cycle when climatic fluctuations resulted in a maximum depression of the treeline to c. 1500 m below its present level of 4000 m at 18,000 BP. Evidence of anthropogenic influences is strongly indicated in pollen diagrams from at least 7000 BP through to the present. This represents one of the earliest and most striking palynological indications of forest clearance in the world (Flenley 1979, p. 122), interpreted as due to agriculture.
