VEGETATIONAL CHANGES FOLLOWING VOLCANIC ERUPTIVE EVENTS FROM PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS FROM LAKE POUKAWA CORE, HAWKES BAY, NEW ZEALAND
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Abstract:
New information on the response of vegetation to air-fall volcanic ash is provided by analysis of phytolithsfrom sediments containing major tephra beds. The top 50 m of a 197-m core in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand provide a continuousvegetation record spanning the time period from approximately 50 ka BP to the present. Significant changes in phytolithassemblages occur at the same depth as four major tephra, indicating a sharp decline in trees and shrubs and a surge in grassand Cyperaceae. A series of successional changes follow each major tephra fall. Initially the woody taxa are killed off andreplaced by grass and Cyperaceae that rapidly colonise the fresh surface. Trees and or shrubs succeed the grass and Cyperaceaeafter a significant lag.
