Palaeodataset Orange Kloof

Fynbos and afrotemperate forest exist as alternate stable states in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. In parts of Table Mountain National Park, afrotemperate forest has expanded in recent decades. The aim of this project was to explore the drivers of this change and distinguish whether this expansion represents a recovery of forest after previous clearance during the 18^th century or is a novel expansion of forest range that resulted from policies of fire suppression in the 20^th century. To determine the relationships between forest and fynbos and its key drivers, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal, stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C) and major and trace elements were analysed from Late Holocene sediments extracted from Orange Kloof.