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Pleistocene cave deposits usually provide ideal materials for the study of mammals. Karst caves in Chongzuo, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of south China are famous for numerous studies on their abundant mammalian fossils and most importantly, Homo sapiens. Unfortunately, the environmental backgrounds, e.g. vegetation and climate, that governed these faunas, are usually lacking because there is no appropriate proxy. In this work, we analysed the palynological assemblages from seven well-dated karst caves in Chongzuo. The ages of these seven caves (2.0–0.11 Ma) cover almost the entire Pleistocene. Though the number of pollen and spores is comparatively low, as expected, we managed to reconstruct the principle vegetation types. The results show that the individual vegetations were mainly warm temperate to subtropical evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests. The present study provides important background environmental information on the Pleistocene faunas and Homo sapiens in Guangxi, south China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palynological analysis of 24 samples from four types of natural pollen traps (Lugu Lake bottom sediments, surface soil, bark samples, and moss cushions) in four sites at different altitudes from the Lugu Lake area, southwest China, has been undertaken to investigate pollen dispersal and deposition in a mountainous area and assist with the interpretation of fossil pollen analysis. Detailed comparisons between the palynological assemblage and the modern vegetation in the Lugu Lake region have been carried out. Preliminary interpretations of the correlation between pollen assemblage and vegetation at the different vertical vegetational zones can be recognized by the percentages of the main taxa, and most of the pollen taxa except Pinus are expected to be underrepresented. Exotic pollen grains can be transported over mountains more than 70 km away by wind. Upslope or downslope transport of pollen grains is crucial when reconstructing palaeoclimate in mountainous areas. We summarize the altitudinal distributions of modern woody plants whose pollen grains are present at three sites, and reveal that pollen grains are more readily carried uphill than downhill. These findings have important implications regarding the reconstruction of vegetation in mountainous regions and the interpretion of palaeoelevations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palynomorphs extracted from the sediments in Queque Cave of the late Early Pleistocene in Chongzuo, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were investigated to reconstruct the paleoenvironment in the study area. While the sediments are pollen-poor, they are sufficiently productive to carry out a paleoenvironmental analysis. The source vegetation reflected by the palynomorphs from the unfossiliferous layer was temperate to warm temperate deciduous and evergreen broadleaved forest while it was warm temperate to subtropical deciduous and evergreen broadleaved forest from the mammalian horizons. Climatic parameters obtained using the Coexistence Approach indicate that the unfossiliferous layer (MAT = 11.3–15.4 °C, MAP = 601.1–1076.1 mm) was cooler and drier than that from the mammal-bearing layers (MAT = 12.6–18.6 °C, MAP = 784.7–1523.1 mm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]