Reconstructing Late Pleistocene Ecosystems in Northern Vietnam through Cave Sediment Pollen Records

Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương

Pollen analyses from cave and rockshelter sites in northern Vietnam, such as Con Moong cave, the Ngườm rockshelter, the Phứng Quyền rockshelter, and several other localities, have provided important palaeoecological proxies that help reconstruct the environmental context of the Late Pleistocene (~30-10 ka BP). Within the sedimentary sequences of these sites, changes in pollen composition and relative abundances reflect shifts in vegetation driven by large-scale climatic oscillations. The relative fluctuations between cold-dry adapted plant groups and warm-humid taxa indicate alternating cold and warm cycles, consistent with broader climatic trends in region and globally during the same period and clearly expressed in northern Vietnam. When pollen data are integrated with stratigraphic information and geochemical proxies, it becomes evident that the Late Pleistocene included episodes of cooler and drier climate, accompanied by a relative expansion of more drought-tolerant vegetation during cold phases whereas warmer phases promoted the development of mixed forests and moisture-dependent plant communities. Taken together, these proxies indicate pronounced climatic fluctuations in the Late Pleistocene prior to the transition into the more relatively stable conditions of the Holocene.