Ancient tree remains and pollen discovered in the Falkland Islands indicate the existence of rainforests in the past; these are radically different from the current grassy plains, which date back 30 million years. From the University of Southampton (England), Dr. A team of scientists led by Zoe Thomas has found evidence that the barren, rugged, grassland landscape of the Falkland Islands was home to lush, diverse rainforest as far back as 30 million years ago.

A published study Antarctic ScienceIt shows that the South Atlantic archipelago was once covered with cool, moist forests similar to the modern-day rainforests of Tierra del Fuego near the border of South America.

First Clues and Excavations

Scientists conducted the research after the close-knit community of Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, received information about the location of buried remains of an ancient forest. Casual conversations led them to the fact that they found perfectly preserved prehistoric wood and sawdust remains at a construction site in early 2020.

Physical geography expert from the University of Southampton, Dr. “While we were doing research for another project in the Falkland Islands,” explains Thomas, “a fellow researcher who lived on the island remembered hearing that a builder he knew was digging something interesting.”

He continues: “Diggers at the site of the new care home in Stanley dug into a deep layer of peat filled with large tree trunks and branches. They were so well preserved they looked as if they had been buried the day before, but in fact they were very old.”

“Finding tree remains here was alarming, so our interest was immediately piqued. For at least thousands, possibly millions of years, the Falkland Islands were unable to support trees. The weather was very windy and the soil very acidic. This raised the interesting question of how old the wood in this forest bed was.”

Analysis of ancient pollen and tree remains

With the help of members of the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) in Port Stanley, peat layers and sediment samples were extracted from a site at Tussack House near Stanley Harbor. These were carefully transported to Australia for laboratory research at the University of New South Wales; Here sediment samples were carefully taken and the wood analyzed using special scanning electron microscopes.

The remains of the trees were too old to be reliably radiocarbon dated, so pollen spores were used instead. Scientists analyzed different spores that were compressed and sealed in the same layers of peat as the wood. Pollen records allowed them to conclude that the tree trunks and branches were between 15 and 30 million years old.

Historical climate of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are a British territory located in the South Atlantic, 8,000 miles from Great Britain. Made up of two main islands and 778 smaller islands, it covers just over half of Wales and is known for its rapidly changing weather conditions, which are wet, cold and windy. The views are not unlike Dartmoor in the UK.

Tens of millions of years ago, the climate in the South Atlantic was much warmer and wetter than today and could have supported a rainforest environment. It would be cooler than tropical rainforests we might normally think of, such as the Amazon rainforest, but could still support a rich, diverse ecosystem of plant and animal life.

Results of the study

Most of the tree species growing on the Falkland Islands at the time the Tussac House sample was taken are now extinct; but they may have spread to the islands due to prevailing westerly winds from the rainforests that cover most of the southern hemisphere. mainland. South America.

Scientists aren’t sure what caused the island’s rainforest to eventually disappear and become peatland, but it’s reasonable to assume it was due to climate change and the shift to colder, drier conditions.

Dr. Thomas comments: “It is surprising to think that we would never have obtained these pristine wood specimens if we had not had the opportunity to interact and communicate with people in such a close community at that moment.

“Until we visited the builder and discovered it, no one had any idea that six meters below their feet, the remains of an ancient rainforest and exquisite fossilized pollen were perfectly preserved. We are so grateful to the friendly islanders for being hospitable and open-minded who gave us this unique opportunity to explore.” I am grateful.”

As for the future, Dr Thomas says the islands are unlikely to see a return to forestland in the near future: “Current forecasts suggest the region will become warmer but also drier, raising concerns about the risk of erosion of peatlands that are sensitive to climate change.”