C J Courtney Mustaphi
Biographic Data
| ID | 27590 |
|---|---|
| NAME | C J Courtney Mustaphi |
| GIVEN NAMES | C J Courtney |
| FAMILY NAME | Mustaphi |
| SIGNATURE | MUSTAPHI C J C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of York |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4439-2590 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
High resolution multi-proxy analyses document Mid to Late-Holocene environmental change in arid Marsabit County, northern Kenya, East Africa
Pastoralism was first established in East Africa in the arid lowlands adjacent to Lake Turkana, northern Kenya, ~4800 years ago. Currently, there are limited palaeoecological records documenting the environmental conditions at the time of this transition, especially for areas east of Lake Turkana. To address this knowledge gap, sedimentary cores were recovered from the Chalbi Basin, Marsabit County, Kenya. These document a detailed environmental …
Viability and desirability of financing conservation in Africa through fire management
Multiple paleofire proxy metrics from tropical lake sediment and soil in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem
Black carbon is a paleofire proxy that has been measured from glacial ice, snow, soils and lake sediments, though relatively few comparisons have been made with other fire indicators in sedimentary geoarchives. Microscopic charcoal, quantified from palynological microscope slides and macroscopic charcoal, quantified from wet-sieved deposits, are the most commonly applied methods for paleofire interpretation of Quaternary sediments. This research …
Past fire dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa during the last 25,000 years
Pathways from research to sustainable development
Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowle…
Radiocarbon sampling efforts for high-precision lake sediment chronologies
High-resolution chronologies with the best time control are key for comparing palaeoenvironmental studies with independent high-precision historical, archaeological or climatic data. Precise chronologies are also essential for inter-site comparisons of palaeo records at decadal to centennial time scales. We present an updated sediment chronology from Burgäschisee, a small and well-studied lake in the Swiss lowlands. The new age-depth relationship…
A 3000-year record of vegetation changes and fire at a high-elevation wetland on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Kilimanjaro is experiencing the consequences of climate change and multiple land-use pressures. Few paleoenvironmental and archeological records exist to examine historical patterns of late Holocene ecosystem changes on Kilimanjaro. Here we present pollen, phytolith, and charcoal (>125 μm) data from a palustrine sediment core that provide a 3000-year radiocarbon-dated record collected from a wetland near the headwaters of the Maua watershed in th…
Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya
The spectre of ‘overgrazing’ looms large in historical and political narratives of ecological degradation in savannah ecosystems. While pastoral exploitation is a conspicuous driver of landscape variability and modification, assumptions that such change is inevitable or necessarily negative deserve to be continuously evaluated and challenged. With reference to three case studies from Kenya – the Laikipia Plateau, the Lake Baringo basin, and the A…
Integrating evidence of land use and land cover change for land management policy formulation along the Kenya-Tanzania borderlands
Year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Africa has been debated as a significant shift in human technological, cultural, and cognitive evolution. However, the majority of research on this transition is currently focused on southern Africa due to a lack of long-term, stratified sites across much of the African continent. Here, we report a 78,000-year-long archeological record from Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya. Fo…
Late Holocene wetland transgression and 500 years of vegetation and fire variability in the semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya
The semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya, is characterised by intermittent groundwater-fed wetlands that form sedimentary geoarchives recording past ecosystem changes. We present a 5000-year environmental history of a radiocarbon dated sediment core from Esambu Swamp adjacent to Amboseli National Park. Although radiocarbon dates suggest an unconformity or sedimentary gap that spans between 3800 and 500 cal year BP, the record provides a u…
Determinants of fire activity during the last 3500 yr at a wildland—urban interface, Alberta, Canada
Long-term records of wildfires and their controlling factors are important sources of information for informing land management practices. Here, dendrochronology and lake sediment analyses are used to develop a 3500-yr fire and vegetation history for a montane forest in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The tree-ring record (AD 1771-2012) indicates that this region historically experienced a mixed-severity fire regime, and that effective fir…
Ecosystem change in the South Pare Mountain bloc, Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania
Palaeoecological evidence is used to investigate climatic and anthropogenic drivers of vegetation and fire dynamics through the past ~1200 years in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania. Pollen and charcoal analyses are supported by a chronology derived from five accelerator mass spectrometry ages, a 137 Cs activity profile and marker horizons from two exotic pollen taxa. Pollen indicator taxa are used to develop a series of environmental indices, …
A Database of Radiocarbon Dates for Palaeoenvironmental Research in Eastern Africa
Radiocarbon dating is one of the most widely available and applied techniques to develop Late Quaternary chronologies of many ecosystems and is, thus, utilized in Quaternary studies, archaeology, hydrology, geomorphology, palaeoanthropology, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, palaeontology, and isotope analyses. A manual literature review search of published radiocarbon dates from eastern Africa was undertaken to store these data in the open-acces…
Do bark beetle remains in lake sediments correspond to severe outbreaks? A review of published and ongoing research
Paleoecological and Sedimentological Data from
This dataset contains sedimentological and paleoenvironmental measurements from a 351.5 cm sediment core that was collected from Pyatts Lake, south-east British Columbia, Canada. Sedimentological data include: radiocarbon dates and age-depth model, magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition values, and particle size distributions. Palaeoecological data include: macroscopic charcoal (>150 μm), charcoal morphotypes; aquatic macroremains; pollen spec…
Holocene climate–fire–vegetation interactions at a subalpine watershed in southeastern British Columbia, Canada
Vegetation assemblages and associated disturbance regimes are spatially heterogeneous in mountain ecosystems throughout the world due to the complex terrain and strong environmental gradients. Given this complexity, numerous sites describing postglacial vegetation and fire histories are needed to adequately understand forest development and ecosystem responses to varying climate and disturbance regimes. To gain insight into long-term historical c…
Ecosystem change in the South Pare Mountain bloc, Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania
Palaeoecological evidence is used to investigate climatic and anthropogenic drivers of vegetation and fire dynamics through the past ~1200 years in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania. Pollen and charcoal analyses are supported by a chronology derived from five accelerator mass spectrometry ages, a 137 Cs activity profile and marker horizons from two exotic pollen taxa. Pollen indicator taxa are used to develop a series of environmental indices, …
Viability and desirability of financing conservation in Africa through fire management
Pathways from research to sustainable development
Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowle…
Integrating evidence of land use and land cover change for land management policy formulation along the Kenya-Tanzania borderlands
Late Holocene wetland transgression and 500 years of vegetation and fire variability in the semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya
The semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya, is characterised by intermittent groundwater-fed wetlands that form sedimentary geoarchives recording past ecosystem changes. We present a 5000-year environmental history of a radiocarbon dated sediment core from Esambu Swamp adjacent to Amboseli National Park. Although radiocarbon dates suggest an unconformity or sedimentary gap that spans between 3800 and 500 cal year BP, the record provides a u…
A Database of Radiocarbon Dates for Palaeoenvironmental Research in Eastern Africa
Radiocarbon dating is one of the most widely available and applied techniques to develop Late Quaternary chronologies of many ecosystems and is, thus, utilized in Quaternary studies, archaeology, hydrology, geomorphology, palaeoanthropology, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, palaeontology, and isotope analyses. A manual literature review search of published radiocarbon dates from eastern Africa was undertaken to store these data in the open-acces…
Radiocarbon sampling efforts for high-precision lake sediment chronologies
High-resolution chronologies with the best time control are key for comparing palaeoenvironmental studies with independent high-precision historical, archaeological or climatic data. Precise chronologies are also essential for inter-site comparisons of palaeo records at decadal to centennial time scales. We present an updated sediment chronology from Burgäschisee, a small and well-studied lake in the Swiss lowlands. The new age-depth relationship…
Holocene climate–fire–vegetation interactions at a subalpine watershed in southeastern British Columbia, Canada
Vegetation assemblages and associated disturbance regimes are spatially heterogeneous in mountain ecosystems throughout the world due to the complex terrain and strong environmental gradients. Given this complexity, numerous sites describing postglacial vegetation and fire histories are needed to adequately understand forest development and ecosystem responses to varying climate and disturbance regimes. To gain insight into long-term historical c…
Do bark beetle remains in lake sediments correspond to severe outbreaks? A review of published and ongoing research
Paleoecological and Sedimentological Data from
This dataset contains sedimentological and paleoenvironmental measurements from a 351.5 cm sediment core that was collected from Pyatts Lake, south-east British Columbia, Canada. Sedimentological data include: radiocarbon dates and age-depth model, magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition values, and particle size distributions. Palaeoecological data include: macroscopic charcoal (>150 μm), charcoal morphotypes; aquatic macroremains; pollen spec…
Determinants of fire activity during the last 3500 yr at a wildland—urban interface, Alberta, Canada
Long-term records of wildfires and their controlling factors are important sources of information for informing land management practices. Here, dendrochronology and lake sediment analyses are used to develop a 3500-yr fire and vegetation history for a montane forest in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The tree-ring record (AD 1771-2012) indicates that this region historically experienced a mixed-severity fire regime, and that effective fir…
Ecosystem change in the South Pare Mountain bloc, Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania
Palaeoecological evidence is used to investigate climatic and anthropogenic drivers of vegetation and fire dynamics through the past ~1200 years in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania. Pollen and charcoal analyses are supported by a chronology derived from five accelerator mass spectrometry ages, a 137 Cs activity profile and marker horizons from two exotic pollen taxa. Pollen indicator taxa are used to develop a series of environmental indices, …
A Database of Radiocarbon Dates for Palaeoenvironmental Research in Eastern Africa
Radiocarbon dating is one of the most widely available and applied techniques to develop Late Quaternary chronologies of many ecosystems and is, thus, utilized in Quaternary studies, archaeology, hydrology, geomorphology, palaeoanthropology, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, palaeontology, and isotope analyses. A manual literature review search of published radiocarbon dates from eastern Africa was undertaken to store these data in the open-acces…
Year-old record of Middle and Later Stone Age innovation in an East African tropical forest
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in Africa has been debated as a significant shift in human technological, cultural, and cognitive evolution. However, the majority of research on this transition is currently focused on southern Africa due to a lack of long-term, stratified sites across much of the African continent. Here, we report a 78,000-year-long archeological record from Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya. Fo…
Late Holocene wetland transgression and 500 years of vegetation and fire variability in the semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya
The semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya, is characterised by intermittent groundwater-fed wetlands that form sedimentary geoarchives recording past ecosystem changes. We present a 5000-year environmental history of a radiocarbon dated sediment core from Esambu Swamp adjacent to Amboseli National Park. Although radiocarbon dates suggest an unconformity or sedimentary gap that spans between 3800 and 500 cal year BP, the record provides a u…
Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya
The spectre of ‘overgrazing’ looms large in historical and political narratives of ecological degradation in savannah ecosystems. While pastoral exploitation is a conspicuous driver of landscape variability and modification, assumptions that such change is inevitable or necessarily negative deserve to be continuously evaluated and challenged. With reference to three case studies from Kenya – the Laikipia Plateau, the Lake Baringo basin, and the A…
Integrating evidence of land use and land cover change for land management policy formulation along the Kenya-Tanzania borderlands
A 3000-year record of vegetation changes and fire at a high-elevation wetland on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Kilimanjaro is experiencing the consequences of climate change and multiple land-use pressures. Few paleoenvironmental and archeological records exist to examine historical patterns of late Holocene ecosystem changes on Kilimanjaro. Here we present pollen, phytolith, and charcoal (>125 μm) data from a palustrine sediment core that provide a 3000-year radiocarbon-dated record collected from a wetland near the headwaters of the Maua watershed in th…
Radiocarbon sampling efforts for high-precision lake sediment chronologies
High-resolution chronologies with the best time control are key for comparing palaeoenvironmental studies with independent high-precision historical, archaeological or climatic data. Precise chronologies are also essential for inter-site comparisons of palaeo records at decadal to centennial time scales. We present an updated sediment chronology from Burgäschisee, a small and well-studied lake in the Swiss lowlands. The new age-depth relationship…
Past fire dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa during the last 25,000 years
Pathways from research to sustainable development
Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowle…
Viability and desirability of financing conservation in Africa through fire management
Multiple paleofire proxy metrics from tropical lake sediment and soil in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem
Black carbon is a paleofire proxy that has been measured from glacial ice, snow, soils and lake sediments, though relatively few comparisons have been made with other fire indicators in sedimentary geoarchives. Microscopic charcoal, quantified from palynological microscope slides and macroscopic charcoal, quantified from wet-sieved deposits, are the most commonly applied methods for paleofire interpretation of Quaternary sediments. This research …
High resolution multi-proxy analyses document Mid to Late-Holocene environmental change in arid Marsabit County, northern Kenya, East Africa
Pastoralism was first established in East Africa in the arid lowlands adjacent to Lake Turkana, northern Kenya, ~4800 years ago. Currently, there are limited palaeoecological records documenting the environmental conditions at the time of this transition, especially for areas east of Lake Turkana. To address this knowledge gap, sedimentary cores were recovered from the Chalbi Basin, Marsabit County, Kenya. These document a detailed environmental …
Geography (16 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (12 works) · Physical geography (9 works) · Archaeology (7 works) · Ecology (7 works) · Environmental Science (7 works) · Holocene (7 works) · Biology (6 works) · Charcoal (6 works) · Climate change (6 works)