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Climate-driven ecosystem succession in the Sahara: the past 6000 years

(2008) SCIENCE. 320(5877). p.765-768
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Abstract
Desiccation of the Sahara since the middle Holocene has eradicated all but a few natural archives recording its transition from a "green Sahara" to the present hyperarid desert. Our continuous 6000- year paleoenvironmental reconstruction from northern Chad shows progressive drying of the regional terrestrial ecosystem in response to weakening insolation forcing of the African monsoon and abrupt hydrological change in the local aquatic ecosystem controlled by site- specific thresholds. Strong reductions in tropical trees and then Sahelian grassland cover allowed large- scale dust mobilization from 4300 calendar years before the present ( cal yr B. P.). Today's desert ecosystem and regional wind regime were established around 2700 cal yr B. P. This gradual rather than abrupt termination of the African Humid Period in the eastern Sahara suggests a relatively weak biogeophysical feedback on climate.
Keywords
AFRICAN HUMID PERIOD, LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM, NORTHERN AFRICA, VEGETATION, HOLOCENE, DUST, MIDHOLOCENE, FEEDBACKS, MONSOON, SIMULATIONS

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Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Kröpelin, S., et al. “Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara: The Past 6000 Years.” SCIENCE, vol. 320, no. 5877, 2008, pp. 765–68, doi:10.1126/science.1154913.
APA
Kröpelin, S., Verschuren, D., Lézine, A.-M., Eggermont, H., Cocquyt, C., Francus, P., … Engstrom, D. (2008). Climate-driven ecosystem succession in the Sahara: the past 6000 years. SCIENCE, 320(5877), 765–768. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1154913
Chicago author-date
Kröpelin, S, Dirk Verschuren, A-M Lézine, Hilde Eggermont, Christine Cocquyt, P Francus, J-P Cazet, et al. 2008. “Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara: The Past 6000 Years.” SCIENCE 320 (5877): 765–68. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1154913.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Kröpelin, S, Dirk Verschuren, A-M Lézine, Hilde Eggermont, Christine Cocquyt, P Francus, J-P Cazet, Maureen Fagot, Bob Rumes, JM Russell, F Darius, DJ Conley, M Schuster, H von Suchodoletz, and DR Engstrom. 2008. “Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara: The Past 6000 Years.” SCIENCE 320 (5877): 765–768. doi:10.1126/science.1154913.
Vancouver
1.
Kröpelin S, Verschuren D, Lézine A-M, Eggermont H, Cocquyt C, Francus P, et al. Climate-driven ecosystem succession in the Sahara: the past 6000 years. SCIENCE. 2008;320(5877):765–8.
IEEE
[1]
S. Kröpelin et al., “Climate-driven ecosystem succession in the Sahara: the past 6000 years,” SCIENCE, vol. 320, no. 5877, pp. 765–768, 2008.
@article{411497,
  abstract     = {{Desiccation of the Sahara since the middle Holocene has eradicated all but a few natural archives recording its transition from a "green Sahara" to the present hyperarid desert. Our continuous 6000- year paleoenvironmental reconstruction from northern Chad shows progressive drying of the regional terrestrial ecosystem in response to weakening insolation forcing of the African monsoon and abrupt hydrological change in the local aquatic ecosystem controlled by site- specific thresholds. Strong reductions in tropical trees and then Sahelian grassland cover allowed large- scale dust mobilization from 4300 calendar years before the present ( cal yr B. P.). Today's desert ecosystem and regional wind regime were established around 2700 cal yr B. P. This gradual rather than abrupt termination of the African Humid Period in the eastern Sahara suggests a relatively weak biogeophysical feedback on climate.}},
  author       = {{Kröpelin, S and Verschuren, Dirk and Lézine, A-M and Eggermont, Hilde and Cocquyt, Christine and Francus, P and Cazet, J-P and Fagot, Maureen and Rumes, Bob and Russell, JM and Darius, F and Conley, DJ and Schuster, M and von Suchodoletz, H and Engstrom, DR}},
  issn         = {{0036-8075}},
  journal      = {{SCIENCE}},
  keywords     = {{AFRICAN HUMID PERIOD,LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM,NORTHERN AFRICA,VEGETATION,HOLOCENE,DUST,MIDHOLOCENE,FEEDBACKS,MONSOON,SIMULATIONS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5877}},
  pages        = {{765--768}},
  title        = {{Climate-driven ecosystem succession in the Sahara: the past 6000 years}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1154913}},
  volume       = {{320}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}

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