Pollen, charcoal and plant macrofossil evidence of Neogene and Quaternary environments in southern Africa

Pollen and macrofossils are an integral part of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Here we discuss palaeobotanical evidence for vegetation and climate changes since the origins of modern biomes in southern Africa during the Miocene, and through the Pleistocene and Holocene. Examples of palaeobotanical records are provided from different biomes in different climate zones across southern Africa. These examples show that different biomes responded in different ways to climate changes throughout the Neogene and Quaternary, and that these environmental changes are also recorded in different ways though pollen, charcoal and macrofossils. In the latter part of the record, biome composition also reflects the impact of human activity.