Impacts of abrupt glacial and deglacial climate events on vegetation and fire regime in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

The lakes of the Middle Atlas have provided several valuable records of Holocene environmental change. Their potential to elucidate the timing and impacts of abrupt climate changes and millennial-scale climate variability prior to the Holocene has been little exploited, however. In a recent review of vegetation records of millennial-scale variability during the last glacial (73,500 - 14,700 calendar years ago, 73.4-14.7 ka BP), the paucity of records from North African Mediterranean borderlands was identified as a major limitation to the understanding of spatial variability in past climate dynamics associated with abrupt climate events evident in marine and ice core records (Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich variability). Research from the Alboran Sea raises several questions regarding the phasing of climate variability between the mountains of Northwest Africa and southwestern Europe, in particular regarding moisture availability during high-latitude cooling events, with important implications for the understanding of past air mass trajectories in the subtropics. New data are required to resolve the nature of the hydrological regime and the role of fire during abrupt climate events. This project will undertake high-resolution palaeoecological investigation of new deep-lake cores retrieved from Middle Atlas lakes. The coring mission, fully funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), is scheduled for September 2012. In this project, analysis of vegetation change and fire regime will be undertaken at centennial-scale resolution, supported by the development of a robust AMS radiocarbon chronological framework, in the framework of an international collaborative approach incorporating sedimentological, palaeolimnological, palaeohydrological and geochemical investigation. This project will advance the understanding of climate-vegetation-fire interactions in the Mediterranean region and the sensitivity of montane ecosystems to abrupt climate forcing. It will also contribute to the understanding of climate dynamics, notably air mass movements and hydrological regime, in the region of Atlantic-Mediterranean-Saharan climatological interaction.

Beneficiaries of the research:
1. International conservation and ecosystem management
Improved understanding of the long-term resilience and vulnerability of dryland mountain ecosystems is of key relevance to conservation and management efforts in North Africa and the Mediterranean region. A targeted beneficiary of the research is the IUCN-Med (International Union for Conservation of Nature - Mediterranean Commission). Through collaboration in the activities of the IUCN-Med, conservation and management practitioners will benefit from the exchange of knowledge, perspectives and expertise from the academic community.
2. UK-based geotourism
Geotourism is an important sector in the Moroccan and other Mediterranean economies. Several UK-based companies (e.g. Discover Ltd, Greentours, Naturetrek) run educational trekking and nature tours in the Atlas mountains. Issues of long-term environmental change and the sensitivity of montane vegetation and landscapes to rapid climatic change need to be incorporated within these tours. The principal investigator is in contact with one company (Discover Ltd) that organises walking holidays in Morocco (www.discover.ltd.uk) and hosts educational fieldcourses in Morocco. Engagement with the UK geotourism sector will enhance competiveness in the global tourism market.
3. UK public
Given current concern over climate change and habitat/biodiversity loss, the project will be of interest to the general public. In light of the polemical treatment of climate change in much of the media, there is a duty to convey in an accessible and engaging way the methods and findings of scientific projects investigating the impacts of past climatic changes.
4. Education
The aims and activities of scientists also need to be communicated to the educational sector in inspiring and informative ways. The Widening Participation activities of the University of Manchester provide avenues for engaging with local schools. Through the New Academics Programme at Manchester University, links have already been established between new members of staff and the Widening Participation programme, facilitating outreach activities in the Manchester area.

Impact milestones:
- Membership of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management within IUCN-Med
- Publication of an accessible, illustrated booklet, "History of the landscape and vegetation of the Middle Atlas" for geotourism sector
- Publication of a popular science article in Geographical Magazine or newspaper broadsheet magazine supplement for the general public
- National Science Week and Manchester Science Festival displays
- Sixth form lectures for schools in the Manchester area as part of Widening Participation program at the University of Manchester