African palaeoenvironments and geomorphic landscape evolution

Abstract

I take pleasure in presenting the “jubilee” edition “30” of the new Palaeoecology of Africa. This meanwhile historic series started some 44 years ago in 1966 under the auspices of Eduard van Zinderen Bakker (1907–2002). In these early days research on former climates, ecosystem changes and landscape dynamics (palaeoecology) was still a new topic in South Africa. This was also true for other African regions in lower latitudes where less was known on the palaeoenvironmental conditions especially during the northern hemisphere glaciations. Professor van Zinderen Bakker started by introducing Palynology as a scientific tool for studying vegetation and climate evolution. However, it was soon realized that the study of fossil pollen and spores is so strongly connected to other scientific disciplines that it would be useful to include biogeography, archaeology, geology, geomorphology, pedology and related fields which have a bearing on the study of the past and present environment. In the course of the time the area covered by numerous articles has been extended from South Africa to the whole of the continent, its surrounding islands and Antarctica. Since then Palaeoecolgy of Africa has become an independent international medium for palaeoenvironmental studies in Africa, and one of the first multi- and interdisciplinary oriented journals. The growing awareness of potential threats by “Global Change” during recent years has emphasized once more the importance of palaeoecological research and knowledge. Aside from the past and present history of landscapes, predictions on future climate developments will be only possible when we know what had happened already once during earth history. With this in mind the past can be considered as to be the key to understand the nearby future