Climate of the Past Discussions www.clim-past-discuss.net 1814-9340 1814-9359 5 1 2009 10.5194/cpd-5-153-2009 http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/153/2009/ http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/153/2009/cpd-5-153-2009.html http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/153/2009/cpd-5-153-2009.pdf 153 202 2009-01-15 A reconstruction of Atlantic Central African biomes and forest succession stages derived from modern pollen data and plant functional types J. Lebamba judi@isem.univ-montp2.fr A. Ngomanda A. Vincens D. Jolly C. Favier H. Elenga I. Bentaleb ISE-M, UMR 5554 CNRS/Université Montpellier II, Place Eugène Bataillon, cc61, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale (IRET/CENAREST), BP 13354, Libreville, Gabon CEREGE, CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université/IRD/ CdF, BP 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 04, France Faculté des Sciences, Université Marien Ngouabi, BP 69, Brazzaville, Congo LSCE, UMR 5554 CNRS/CEA, 12 Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France New detailed vegetation reconstructions are proposed in Atlantic Central Africa from a modern pollen data set derived from 199 sites (Cameroon, Gabon and Congo) including 131 new sites. In this study, the concept of plant functional classification is improved with new and more detailed plant functional types (PFTs) and new aggregations of pollen taxa. Using the biomisation method, we reconstructed (1) modern potential biomes and (2) potential succession stages of forest regeneration, a new approach in Atlantic Central African vegetation dynamics and ecosystem functioning reconstruction. When compared to local vegetation, potential biomes are correctly reconstructed (97.5% of the sites) and tropical evergreen to semi-evergreen forest (TRFO biome) is well identified from semi-deciduous forest (TSFO biome). When the potential biomes are superimposed on the White's vegetation map, only 76.4% of the sites are correctly reconstructed. But using botanical data, correspondence and cluster analyses, the 43 sites from Congo (Mayombe) evidence more affinities with those of central Gabon and so they can also be considered as correctly reconstructed as TRFO biome and White's map must be revised. 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