ABSTRACT

Pollen, spores, and algae from a 4m-long sediment core at the Mboro-Baobab site (15°8′58.49″N, 16°54′34.37″W), in the Niayes region of Senegal were used to provide a record of the end of the African Humid Period (AHP) in the western Sahel. We show that the drying of the Mboro-Baobab landscape was gradual, starting from 3750 cal yr BP then culminating at 1300 cal yr BP. In contrast, the response of the lake system and the gallery forest developed in two main phases: the sharp decline of tropical humid forest elements at 3200 cal yr BP followed by the almost complete collapse of the gallery forests at 2500 cal yr BP. Our results are consistent with those from the central Sahel, which show a gradual transition from the AHP to the modern landscape.