Holocene mangrove dynamics and sea level changes: records from the Tanzanian coast

Tanzanian mangrove ecosystems have been, and are presently, influenced by changes in climate and sea level. Fluctuations in these environmental conditions lead to adaptations and changes in ecosystem structure and composition. In this thesis mangrove environments are investigated and used to unravel the Holocene environmental history of the Tanzanian coast. Palaeoecological data from sediments abstracted from three different mangrove locations (the Rufiji Delta, Makoba Bay and Unguja Ukuu) are analysed for fossil pollen and charcoal and combined with stratigraphical investigations and radiocarbon dating allow a detailed environmental reconstruction to be undertaken. The relationship between pollen in surface samples and the surrounding vegetation is used to interpret fossil pollen records. Changes in the relative proportions of mangrove pollen under different inundation regimes are used to reconstruct mangrove dynamics and provide estimates of past sea level changes and infer specific changes in sea level altitude. Palaeoecological records reveal that mangroves in the Rufiji Delta occurred at the central sites from at least ~5600 cal yr B.P. until the late Holocene when mangroves covered the landward site and were succeeded by terrestrial vegetation to the present day. The Zanzibar records reveal fluctuating mangrove compositions from ~8000 cal yr B.P. to the present day with noticeable changes in mangrove composition during the mid Holocene. A reconstructed sea level curve from the three sites document an early-mid to mid Holocene sea level rise from ~ 8000 cal yr B.P. to around 4600 cal yr B.P. with potential highstands at 5800 cal yr B.P. and 4700 cal yr B.P. Sea level fluctuations occurred in the last thousand years with a potential highstand at ~ 530 cal yr B.P. before falling to a lower than present level at ~140 cal yr B.P. The earliest intensive human interactions within the mangroves was recorded in Zanzibar after ~530 cal yr B.P; a time of increased settlements and overseas trade along the Swahili coast. The Rufiji Delta records also demonstrate the impacts of damming and the destruction of mangrove areas for rice cultivation during the last millennium. The palaecological data have helped unravel the environmental history of the Tanzanian coast and have the potential to assist in the development of policies and/or public awareness for the sustainable utilization and management of mangrove ecosystems under predicted future sea level and climate changes.