Holocene pollen from swamp, cave and hyrax dung deposits at Blydefontein (Kikvorsberge), Karoo, South Africa

Pollen analysis of material from a variety of sediment types including those from ponds, streams, a rock-shelter and hyrax dung accumulations in the Blydefontein Basin (31°09′S, 25°05′E, Fig. 1b) provide a record of vegetation change in the eastern Karoo over the last 10,000 years. The pollen composition fluctuated as a result of different taphonomic processes inherent in the various sampled deposits. Results further demonstrate that long-term vegetation changes alternated between Karoo shrub and grassland plant communities. Karoo shrubs suggesting relatively dry conditions were generally prominent in the early Holocene until ca. 5400 yr BP when more grassy vegetation began to flourish presumably in response to increased summer-rain conditions. Pollen representation of the early Holocene is not detailed enough to trace millennial scale variations during this period but more detailed middle to late Holocene data show millennial or shorter scale shifts between grassland and drier karroid veld.