Overview

During the past >15 years I have worked on three continents to develop time series, spatial, and qualitative data sets of human impacts on the environment. I study how human modifications to the environment have long term legacy effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, mostly freshwater lakes and wetlands and the surrounding watershed areas. My main study sites are in Africa, Europe, and arctic and western North America. I use a multidisciplinary approach by combining paleoenvironmental, archaeological, anthropological, historical, and remote sensing data to examine anthropogenic influences on ecosystems and landscapes; through fieldwork, laboratory analyses and data analysis. I am also interested in how scientific and other knowledge sources interact with societal values and rules toward ecosystem and public land management decisions and policy formulation.

Interactive map of study site locations and related publications.

Publication List

orcid.org/0000-0002-4439-2590

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

Knowles T, Stevens N, Ekua Amoako E, Armani M, Barbosa C, Beale C, Bond W, Chidumayo E, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Dintwe K, Dobson A, Donaldson J, Dziba L, Govender N, Hempson G, Humphrey GJ, Kimuyu D, Laris P, N’Dri AB, Parr CL, Probert J, Ruecker G, Smit I, Strydom T, Syampungani S, Archibald S. 2024. The viability and desirability of financing conservation in Africa through fire management. Nature Sustainability. in press

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Camara-Brugger SO, Ekblom A, Munishi L, Kariuki R, Shoemaker A, Lane P, Marchant R. 2024. Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 105240. Data: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/JGZTIK in press

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Platts PJ, Willcock S, Timberlake JR, Osborne J, Matimele H, Summer Osgood H, Muiruri V, Gehrels M, Bayliss J, Marchant R. 2024. Tree demographics and soil charcoal evidence of fire disturbances in an inaccessible forest atop the Mount Lico inselberg, Mozambique. Plants, People, Planet. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] Data: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EZIWDT Video context: [YouTube]

Gillson L, Seddon A, Mottl O, Zhang K, Kirsten K, Gell P, Marchant RA, Schwörer C, Razanatsoa E, Lane PJ, Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Dearing J. in revision. Exploring the interface between planetary boundaries and palaeoecology. Global Change Biology.

Blattner LA, Lapellegerie P, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Heiri O. 2024. Sediment core DNA-Metabarcoding and chitinous remain identification: Integrating complementary methods to characterise Chironomidae biodiversity in lake sediment archives. Molecular Ecology Resources, e14035. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] Data: NCBI SRA database under the BioProject accession PRJNA1062313

Von Eggers, J., Monchamp, M.-E., Capo, E., Giguet-Covex, C., Spanbauer, T., Heintzman, P. D., et al. 2024. Inventory of ancient environmental DNA from sedimentary archives: locations, methods, and target taxa [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13761348 [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Heiri O, Leuzinger U, Wick L, Brem H, Breu S, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Grudzinska I, Lapellegerie P, Rey F, Dubois N, Moser Z, Szidat S. 2024. Chapter 3. Umweltveränderungen im Thurgau während der vergangenen 17’000 Jahre: Synthese und Diskussion der Projekt-Resultate [in German]. In: Geisser, H., Leuzinger, U. (Eds.) Klima, Umwelt, Mensch im Thurgau (KUMIT) – hochaufgelöste Umweltrekonstruktionen der letzten 17’000 Jahre anhand von Sedimentkernen aus dem Bichelsee und Hüttwilersee, Kanton Thurgau (Schweiz). Band 72. Mitteilungen der Thurgauischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Frauenfeld, Thurgau, Schweiz. pp.27–50. ISBN 978-3-9524163-6-5 [ResearchGate]

Heiri O, Rey F, Wick L, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Dubois N, Moser Z, Szidat S. 2024. Chapter 4. Beprobung, Sedimentabfolge, XRF-Analysen und Datierung [in German]. In: Geisser, H., Leuzinger, U. (Eds.) Klima, Umwelt, Mensch im Thurgau (KUMIT) – hochaufgelöste Umweltrekonstruktionen der letzten 17’000 Jahre anhand von Sedimentkernen aus dem Bichelsee und Hüttwilersee, Kanton Thurgau (Schweiz). Band 72. Mitteilungen der Thurgauischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Frauenfeld, Thurgau, Schweiz. pp.51–72. ISBN 978-3-9524163-6-5 [ResearchGate]

Bremond L, Aleman JC, Favier C, Blarquez C, Colombaroli D, Connor SE, Cordova CE, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Dabengwa AN, Gil-Romera G, Gosling WD, Hamilton T, Montade V, Razafimanantsoa AHI, Power MJ, Razanatsoa E, Yabi I, Vannière B, GPD contributors. 2024 in press. Past fire dynamics in sub-saharan africa during the last 25,000 years: climate change and increasing human impacts. Quaternary International.

King L, Wienhues G, Misra P, Tylmann W, Lami A, Bernasconi S, Jaggi M, Muschick M, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Ngoepe N, Cohen A, Heiri O, Mwaiko S, Kishe MA, Seehausen O, Vogel H, Grosjean M, Matthews B. 2024. Anthropogenic eutrophication drives major food web changes in Mwanza Gulf, Lake Victoria. Ecosystems 27: 577–591. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Wienhues G, Temoltzin-Loranca Y, Vogel H, Morlock MA, Anselmetti FS, Bernasconi SM, Jaggi M, Tylmann W, Kishe M, King L, Ngoepe N, Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Muschick M, Matthews B, Mwaiko S, Seehausen O, Tinner W, Grosjean M. 2024. From desiccation to wetlands and outflow: rapid re-filling of Lake Victoria during the Late Pleistocene 14 – 13 ka. Journal of Great Lakes Research 50(3): 102246. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

King L, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Cuenca-Cambronero M, Wienhues G, Ngoepe N, Muschick M, Temoltzin-Loranca Y, Vogel H, Grosjean M, Tinner W, Cohen A, Kishe M, Heiri O, Seehausen O, Matthews B. 2024. Temporal dynamics of invertebrate community assembly in Lake Victoria since the Late Pleistocene based on chitinous remains. Freshwater Biology 69(5): 660–678. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Ngoepe N, Merz A, King L, Wienhues G, Kishe MA, Mwaiko S, Matthews B, Courtney Mustaphi C, Heiri O, Cohen A, Tinner W, Muschick M, Seehausen O. 2024. Testing alternative hypotheses for the decline of cichlid fish in Lake Victoria using fish fossils time series from sediment cores. Biology Letters 20(3): 20230604. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Wienhues G, Lami A, Bernasconi S, Jaggi M, Morlock MA, Vogel H, Cohen AS, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Heiri O, King L, Kishe MA, Misra P, Muschick M, Ngoepe N, Matthews B, Seehausen O, Temoltzin-Loranca Y, Tinner W, Grosjean M. 2024. Latest Pleistocene and Holocene primary producer communities and hydroclimate in Lake Victoria, eastern Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews 330: 108599. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Scaini A, Mulligan J, Berg H, Brangarí A, Bukachi V, Carenzo D, Thi Da C, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Ekblom A, Fjelde H, Fridahl M, Hansson A, Hicks L, Höjer M, Juma B, Kain J-H, Kariuki RW, Kim S, Lane P, Leizeaga A, Livsey J, Lyon SW, Marchant R, McConville JR, Munishi L, Nilsson D, Olang L, Olin S, Olsson L, Msumali Rogers P, Rousk J, Sandén H, Sasaki N, Shoemaker A, Smith B, Thai Huynh Phuong L, Varela Varela A, Venkatappa M, Vico G, Von Uexkull N, Wamsler C, Wondie M, Zapata P, Zapata Campos MJ, Manzoni S, Tompsett A. 2024. Pathways from research to sustainable development: insights from ten research projects in sustainability and resilience. Ambio 53: 517–533. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

von Allmen R, Brugger SO, Schleicher KD, Rey F, Gobet E, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Tinner W, Heiri O. 2024. Method development and application of object detection and classification to Quaternary fossil pollen sequences. Quaternary Science Reviews 327: 108521. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Newman RJS, Enns C, Capitani C, Thorn JPR, Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Buckton S, Om ES, Fazey I, Haji TA, Nchimbi AY, Kariuki R, Marchant RA. 2024. ‘Kesho’ scenario development for supporting water-energy-food security under uncertain future conditions in Zanzibar. Land 13(2): 195. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Courtney-Mustaphi C, Steiner E, von Fumetti S, Heiri O. 2024. Aquatic invertebrate mandibles and sclerotized remains in Quaternary lake sediments. Journal of Paleolimnology 71(1): 45–83. DOI:10.1007/s10933-023-00302-y [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]

Brugger SO, McWethy DB, Chellman NJ, Prebble M, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Eckhardt S, Plach A, Stohl A, Wilmshurst JM, McConnell JR, Whitlock C. 2024. Holocene black carbon in New Zealand lake sediment records. Quaternary Science Reviews 325: 108491. [Open access] [New Zealand Herald news]

Grudzinska I, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Rey F, Gobet E, Tinner W, Marchetto A, Heiri O. 2024. Neolithic human activity caused eutrophication in small central European lakes. Catena 236: 107738. [Open access]

Sayedi S, Abbott B, Vannière B, Leys B, Colombaroli D, Gil-Romera G, Słowiński M, Aleman J, Blarquez O, Feurdean A, Brown K, Aakala T, Alenius T, Allen K, Andric M, Bergeron Y, Biagioni S, Bradshaw R, Bremond L, Brisset E, Brooks J, Brugger S, Brussel T, Cadd H, Cagliero E, Carcaillet C, Carter V, Catry FX, Champreux A, Chaste E, Chavardès RD, Chipman M, Conedera M, Connor S, Constantine M, Courtney Mustaphi C, Dabengwa A, Daniels W, De Boer E, Dietze E, Estrany J, Fernandes P, Finsinger W, Flantua S, Fox-Hughes P, Gaboriau DM, Gayo EM, Girardin MP, Glenn J, Glückler R, González-Arango C, Groves M, Hamilton D, Jenner Hamilton R, Hantson S, Hapsari KA, Hardiman M, Hawthorne D, Hoffman K, Inoue J, Karp AT, Krebs P, Kulkarni C, Kuosmanen N, Lacourse T, Ledru M-P, Lestienne M, Long C, Antonio López-Sáez J, Loughlin N, Niklasson M, Madrigal J, Maezumi SY, Marcisz K, Mariani M, McWethy D, Meyer G, Molinari C, Montoya E, Mooney S, Morales-Molino C, Morris J, Moss P, Oliveras I, Miguel Pereira J, Boris Pezzatti G, Pickarski N, Pini R, Rehn E, Remy C, Revelles López J, Rius D, Robin V, Ruan Y, Rudaya N, Russell-Smith J, Seppä H, Shumilovskikh L, Sommers WT, Tavşanoğlu C, Umbanhowar C, Urquiaga E, Urrego DH, Vachula R, Wallenius TH, You C, Daniau A-L. 2024. Assessing changes in global fire regimes. Fire Ecology 20: 18. [Open Access CC BY 4.0]

Courtney Mustaphi C, Steiner E, Lapellegerie P, von Fumetti S, Heiri O. 2023. Artificially fossilized body parts of aquatic invertebrates as an identification aid for sclerotized chitin preserved in lacustrine, palustrine and deltaic sediments [A0 poster format]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QM1T5M, Harvard Dataverse, Version 3. [Open Access CC BY 4.0 printable poster]

Courtney Mustaphi CJ. 2023. Book review: North SJ, Europeans in British Administered East Africa, A Biographical Listing 1888–1910, 4th Edition. Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania 43(1): 129–131.DOI:10.56279/jgat.v43i1.188 [Open Access]

Temoltzin-Loranca Y, Gobet E, Vannière B, van Leeuwen JFN, Wienhues G, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Kishe M, Muschick M, King L, Misra P, Ngoepe N, Matthews B, Vogel H, Heiri O, Seehausen O, Grosjean M, Tinner W. 2023. Long-term ecological successions of vegetation around Lake Victoria (East Africa) in response to latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene climatic changes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 631: 111839. DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111839

Ngoepe N, Muschick M, Kishe MA, Mwaiko S, Temoltzin-Loranca Y, King L, Courtney Mustaphi C, Heiri O, Wienhues G, Vogel H, Cuenca-Cambronero M, Tinner W, Grosjean M, Matthews B, Seehausen O. 2023. A continuous fish fossil record reveals key insights into adaptive radiation. Nature 622(7982): 315–320. DOI:10.1038/s41586-023-06603-6

Popular Mechanics Darren Orf, 10 October 2023
Phys.org note
EAWAG press release
myScience post

Kulkarni C, Jara IA, Chevalier M, Isa AA, Alinezhad K, Brugger SO, Bunbury MME, Cordero-Oviedo C, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Echeverría-Galindo P, Ensafi Moghaddam T, Ferrara V, Garcia-Rodriguez F, Gitau P, Hannaford M, Herbert A, Hernández A, Jalali B, Jha DK, Kinyanjui RN, Koren G, Mackay H, Mansilla CA, Margalef O, Mukhopadhyay S, Onafeso O, Riris P, Rodriguez-Abaunza A, Rodríguez-Zorro P, Saeidi S, Ratnayake S, Seitz C, Spate M, Vásquez C, Benito X. 2023. pSESYNTH project: Community mobilization for a multi-disciplinary paleo database of the Global South. PAGES Past Global Changes Magazine 31(1): 30–31. DOI:10.22498/pages.31.1.30

Sayedi S, et al. 2023. Assessing changes in global fire regimes. bioRxiv 2023.02.07.527551 [open access preprint]. DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.07.527551 [Open Access Preprint]

Temoltzin-Loranca Y, Gobet E, Vannière B, van Leeuwen JFN, Wienhues G, Szidat S, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Kishe M, Muschick M, Seehausen O, Grosjean M, Tinner W. 2023. A chronologically reliable record of 17,000 years of biomass burning in the Lake Victoria area. Quaternary Science Reviews 301: 107915. DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107915

Rey F, Courtney Mustaphi C, Szidat S, Gobet E, Heiri O, Tinner W. 2023. Radiocarbon sampling efforts for high-precision lake sediment chronologies. The Holocene 33(5): 581–591. DOI:10.1177/09596836231151835

Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Rucina S, Marchant R. 2023. Late Pleistocene montane forest fire return interval estimates from Mount Kenya. Journal of Quaternary Science 38(2): 146–159. DOI:10.1002/jqs.3466

Kariuki RW, Capitani C, Munishi LK, Shoemaker A, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, William N, Lane PJ, Marchant R. 2022. Serengeti’s futures? Exploring land use and land cover change scenarios to craft pathways for meeting conservation and development goals. Frontiers in Conservation Science 3: 920143. DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.920143

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Vos HC, Marchant R, Beale C. 2022. Charcoal whirlwinds and post-fire observations in Serengeti National Park savannahs. Tanzania Journal of Science 48(2): 460–473. DOI: 10.4314/tjs.v48i2.20

Cuenca-Cambronero M, Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Greenway R, Heiri O, Hudson CM, King L, Lemmen KD, Moosmann M, Muschick M, Ngoepe N, Seehausen O, Matthews B. 2022. An integrative paleolimnological approach for studying evolutionary processes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 37(6): 488–496. DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2022.01.007

Githumbi EN, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Marchant R. 2021. Sedimentological, palynological and charcoal analysis of the hydric palustrine sediments from the Lielerai-Kimana wetlands, Kajiado, southern Kenya. Palaeoecology of Africa 35: 107–126.
DOI:10.1201/9781003162766-8

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Rucina SM, King L, Selby K, Marchant R. 2021. A palaeovegetation and diatom record of tropical montane forest fire, vegetation and hydroseral changes on Mount Kenya from 27000–16500 cal yr BP. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 581: 110625. DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110625

Courtney-Mustaphi C, Kariuki R, Shoemaker A, Munishi L, Ekblom A, Marchant R, Lane P. 2021. Understanding land use and land cover changes in northern Tanzania. Swiss Society for African Studies SSAS [Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Afrikastudien SSEA – SGAS] newsletter, 2021/1: 20–23. [PDF]

Githumbi E, Courtney Mustaphi C, Marchant R. 2021. Late Pleistocene and Holocene Afromontane vegetation variability at a headwater wetland within the Eastern Mau Forest, Kenya. Journal of Quaternary Science 36(2): 239–254. DOI: 10.1002/jqs.3267

Kariuki, RW, Munishi L, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Capitani C, Shoemaker A, Lane P, Marchant R. 2021. Integrating stakeholders’ perspectives and spatial modelling to develop scenarios of future land use and land cover change in northern Tanzania. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0245516. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245516 [Open Access] Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m63xsj417

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Kinyanjui R, Shoemaker A, Mumbi C, Muiruri V, Marchant L, Rucina S, Marchant R. 2021. A 3000-year record of vegetation changes and fire at a high-elevation wetland on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Quaternary Research 99: 34–62. doi: 10.1017/qua.2020.76 [Open Access version]

Phelps, L.N., Chevalier, M., Shanahan, T.M., Aleman, J.C., Courtney-Mustaphi, C., Kiahtipes, C.A., Broennimann, O., Marchant, R., Shekeine, J., Quick, L.J., Davis, B.A.S., Guisan, A., Manning, K. 2020. Asymmetric response of forest and grassy biomes to climate variability across the African Humid Period: influenced by anthropogenic disturbance? Ecography 43(8): 1118–1142. doi: 10.1111/ecog.04990 [Supplementary Materials https://www.ecography.org/appendix/ecog-04990]

Munishi, L.K., Courtney Mustaphi, C.J., Marchant, R. 2020. Observation of an adult female oribi with leucistic pelage in Lobo, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 58(1): 129–132.

Newman RJS, Capitani C, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Thorn JPR, Kariuki R, Enns C, Marchant R. 2020. Integrating insights from social‐ecological interactions into sustainable land use change scenarios for small islands in the western Indian Ocean. Sustainability 12(4): 1340. DOI: 10.3390/su12041340 [Open Access]

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Capitani C, Boles O, Kariuki R, Newman R, Munishi L, Marchant R, Lane P. 2019. Integrating evidence of land use and land cover change for land management policy formulation along the Kenya-Tanzania borderlands. Anthropocene 28: 100228.

Probert J, Parr C, Holdo RM, Anderson TM, Archibald S, Courtney Mustaphi C, Dobson A, Donaldson JE, Hempson G, Hopcraft JGC, Morrison TA, Beale CM. 2019. Anthropogenic modifications to fire regimes in the wider Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. Global Change Biology 25(10): 3406–3423.

Boles O, Shoemaker A, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Petek N, Ekblom A, Lane P. 2019. Historical ecologies of pastoralist overgrazing in Kenya: long-term perspectives on cause and effect. Human Ecology 47(3): 419–434.

Agricultural biodiversity weblog by Luigi Guarino, 19/08/2019

Courtney Mustaphi, C.J., Brahney, J., Aquino-López, M.A., Goring, S., Orton, K., Noronha, A., Czaplewski, J., Asena, Q., Paton, S., Brushworth, J.P. 2019. Guidelines for reporting and archiving ²¹⁰Pb sediment chronologies to improve fidelity and extend data lifecycle. Quaternary Geochronology 52: 77–87.

Davis EL, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Pisaric MFJ. 2018. Fire histories and futures of Columbian and Rocky Mountain forests, western Canada. Western Geography 23: 3–11. [ResearchGate] [free access]

Gallego-Sala A, Charman D, Brewer S, Page S, Prentice IC, Friedlingstein P, Moreton S, Amesbury M, Beilman D, Björck S, Blyakharchuk T, Bochicchio C, Booth R, Bunbury J, Camill P, Carless D, Chimner R, Clifford M, Cressey E, Courtney-Mustaphi C, De Vleeschouwer R, de Jong R, Fialkiewicz-Koziel B, Finkelstein S, Garneau M, Githumbi E, Hribjlan J, Holmquist J, Hughes P, Jones C, Jones M, Karofeld E, Klein E, Kokfelt U, Korhola A, Lacourse T, Le Roux G, Lamentowicz M, Large D, Lavoie M, Loisel J, Mackay H, MacDonald G, Makila M, Magnan G, Marchant R, Marcisz K, Martínez Cortizas A, Massa C, Mathijssen P, Mauquoy D, Mighall T, Mitchell FJG, Moss P, Nichols J, Oksanen PO, Orme L, Packalen M, Robinson S, Roland T, Sanderson N, Sannel AB, Silva-Sánchez N, Steinberg N, Swindles G, Turner TE, Uglow J, Väliranta M, van Bellen S, van der Linden M, van Geel B, Wang G, Yu Z, Zaragoza-Castells J, Zhao Y. 2018. Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming. Nature Climate Change 8: 907–913.

Shipton C, Roberts P, Archer W, Armitage SJ, Bita C, Blinkhorn J, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Crowther A, Curtis R, d’ Errico F, Douka K, Faulkner P, Groucutt HS, Helm R, Herries AIR, Jembe S, Kourampas N, Lee-Thorp J, Marchant R, Mercader J, Pitarch Marti A, Prendergast ME, Rowson B, Tengeza A, Tibesasa R, White TS, Petraglia MD, Boivin N. 78,000-year-old record of Middle and Later stone age innovation in an East African tropical forest. Nature Communications 9: 1832. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04057-3

Beale CM, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Morrison TA, Archibald S, Anderson TM, Dobson AP, Donaldson JE, Hempson GP, Probert J, Parr CL. 2018. Pyrodiversity interacts with rainfall to increase bird and mammal richness in African savannas. Ecology Letters 21(4): 557–567. [Eureka Alert article]

Githumbi E, Kariuki R, Shoemaker A, Courtney Mustaphi C, Chuhila M, Richer S, Lane P, Marchant R. 2018. Pollen, people and place: paleoenvironmental, archaeological, and ecological perspectives on vegetation change in the Amboseli landscape, Kenya. Frontiers in Earth Science 5: 113. DOI: 10.3389/feart.2017.00113

Marchant R, Richer S, Boles O, Capitani C, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Lane P, Prendergast M, Stump D, Wynne-Jones S, Ferro Vázquez C, Wright D, Boivin N, Lang C, Kay A, Phelps L, Fuller D, Widgren M, Punwong P, Lejju J, Gaillard-Lemdahl M-J, Morrison KD, Kaplan J, Benard J, Crowther A, Cuní-Sanchez A, de Cort G, Deere N, Ekblom A, Farmer J, Finch J, Gillson L, Githumbi E, Kabora T, Kariuki R, Kinyanjui R, Kyazike E, Muiruri V, Mumbi C, Muthoni R, Muzuka A, Ndiema E, Nzabandora C, Olago D, Onjala D, Pas Schrijver A, Petek N, Platts PJ, Rucina S, Shoemaker A, Thornton-Barnett S, van der Plas G, Watson L, Williamson D. 2018. Drivers and trajectories of land cover change in East Africa: human and environmental interactions from 6000 years ago to present. Earth-Science Reviews 178: 322–378.

Githumbi EN*, Courtney Mustaphi CJ*, Yun KJ, Muiruri V, Rucina SM, Marchant R. 2018. Late Holocene wetland transgression and 500 years of vegetation and fire variability in the semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya. Ambio – A Journal of the Human Environment 47(6): 682–696. *equal contribution [Phys.org summary]

Pfeifer M, Andrew B, Calders K, Cayuela L, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Cuní-Sanchez A, Deere N, Denu D, Gonsamo A, Gonzalez de Tanago J, Hayward R, Lau A, Macia MJ, Marchant R, Ledo A, Marshall AR, Olivier P, Paine CET, Pellikka P, Hamidu S, Shirima D, Trevithick R, Wedeux B, Wheeler C, Woodgate W, Platts PJ. 2018. Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance – results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements. Forest Ecosystems 5: 7. doi: 10.1186/s40663-017-0118-7

Seki HA, Shirima DD, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Marchant R, Munishi PKT. 2018. The impact of land use and land cover change on biodiversity within and adjacent Kibasira Swamp in Kilombero valley, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 53(6): 518–527. doi: 10.1111/aje.12488

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Gajewski K, Marchant R, Rosqvist G. 2017. A late Holocene pollen record from proglacial Oblong Tarn, Mount Kenya. PLOS One 12(9): e0184925. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0184925 [Data available from open access Harvard Dataverse]

Hempson G, Parr C, Archibald S, Anderson T, Courtney Mustaphi, CJ, Dobson A, Donaldson J, Morrison T, Probert J, Beale C. 2018. Continent-level drivers of African pyrodiversity. Ecography 42(6): 889–899. [Data available from Dryad]

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, and Pisaric MFJ. 2018. Forest vegetation change and disturbance interactions over the past 7500 years at Sasquatch Lake, Columbia Mountains, western Canada. Quaternary International 488: 95–106.

Hawthorne D*, Courtney Mustaphi CJ*, Aleman JC*, Blarquez O, Colombaroli D, Daniau A-L, Marlon JR, Power M, Vannière B, Han Y, Hantson S, Kehrwald N, Magi B, Yue X, Carcaillet C, Marchant R, Ayodele O, Githumbi EN, Muriuki RM. 2018. Global Modern Charcoal Dataset (GMCD): a tool for exploring proxy-fire linkages and spatial patterns of biomass burning. Quaternary International 488: 3–17.
*equal contribution

Patterson RT, Crann C, Cutts J, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Nasser N, Macumber A, Galloway J, Swindles G, Falck H. 2017. New occurrences of the White River Ash (east lobe) in Subarctic Canada and utility for estimating freshwater reservoir effect in lake sediment archives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 477: 1–9.

Sánchez Goñi, M. F., Desprat, S., Daniau, A.-L., Bassinot, F. C., Polanco-Martínez, J. M., Harrison, S. P., Allen, J. R. M., Anderson, R. S., Behling, H., Bonnefille, R., Burjachs, F., Carrión, J. S., Cheddadi, R., Clark, J. S., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Courtney-Mustaphi, C. J., Debusk, G. H., Dupont, L. M., Finch, J. M., Fletcher, W. J., Giardini, M., González, C., Gosling, W. D., Grigg, L. D., Grimm, E. C., Hayashi, R., Helmens, K., Heusser, L. E., Hill, T., Hope, G., Huntley, B., Igarashi, Y., Irino, T., Jacobs, B., Jiménez-Moreno, G., Kawai, S., Kershaw, P., Kumon, F., Lawson, I. T., Ledru, M.-P., Lézine, A.-M., Liew, P. M., Magri, D., Marchant, R., Margari, V., Mayle, F. E., McKenzie, M., Moss, P., Müller, S., Müller, U. C., Naughton, F., Newnham, R. M., Oba, T., Pérez-Obiol, R., Pini, R., Ravazzi, C., Roucoux, K. H., Rucina, S. M., Scott, L., Takahara, H., Tzedakis, P. C., Urrego, D. H., van Geel, B., Valencia, B. G., Vandergoes, M. J., Vincens, A., Whitlock, C. L., Willard, D. A., and Yamamoto, M. 2017. The ACER pollen and charcoal database: a global resource to document vegetation and fire response to abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period. Earth System Science Data 9: 679–695. doi: 10.5194/essd-9-679-2017. [Data available from PANGEA]

Outridge PM, Sanei H, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Gajewski K. 2017. Holocene climate change influences on trace metal and organic matter geochemistry in the sediments of an Arctic lake over 7,000 years. Applied Geochemistry 78: 35–48.

Finch J, Marchant R, Courtney Mustaphi CJ. 2017. Ecosystem change in the South Pare Mountain bloc, Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. The Holocene 27(6): 796–810. [ScienceDaily summary]

Davis EL, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Gall A, Pisaric MFJ, Vermaire JC, Moser KA. 2016. Determinants of fire activity during the last 3500 years at a wildland-urban interface, Alberta, Canada. Quaternary Research 86(3): 247–259.

Marlon JR, Kelly R, Daniau A-L, Vannière B, Power MJ, Bartlein P, Higuera P, Blarquez O, Brewer S, Brücher T, Feurdean A, Gil-Romera G, Iglesias V, Maezumi SY, Magi B, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Zhihai T. 2016. Reconstructions of biomass burning from sediment charcoal records to improve data-model comparisons. Biogeosciences 13: 3225–3244.

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Githumbi EN, Shotter LR, Rucina SM, Marchant R. 2016. Subfossil statoblasts of Lophopodella capensis (Sollas, 1908) (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata: Lophopodidae) in the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sediments of a montane wetland, Eastern Mau Forest, Kenya. African Invertebrates 7(1): 39–52. doi: 10.3897/afrinvertebr.57.8191. [Data available]

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Davis EL, Perreault JT, Pisaric MFJ. 2015. Spatial variability of recent macroscopic charcoal deposition in a small montane lake and implications for reconstruction of watershed-scale fire regimes. Journal of Paleolimnology 54 (1): 71–86. DOI: 10.1007/s10933-015-9838-2 [Video summary]

Coleman KA, Palmer MJ, Korosi JB, Kokelj SV, Jackson K, Hargan K, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Thienpont JR, Kimpe LE, Blais JM, Pisaric MFJ, Smol JP. 2015. Tracking the impacts of recent warming and thaw of permafrost peatlands on aquatic ecosystems: a multi-proxy approach using remote sensing and lake sediments. Boreal Environment Research 20: 363–377. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/228213

Courtney Mustaphi CJ and Pisaric MFJ. 2014. A classification for macroscopic charcoal morphologies found in Holocene lacustrine sediments. Progress in Physical Geography 38: 734–754. doi:10.1177/0309133314548886 [Data link]

Morris J, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Carter V, Watt J, Derr K, Pisaric MFJ. Anderson RS, Brunelle A. 2014. Do bark beetle remains in lake sediments correspond to severe outbreaks? A review of published and ongoing research. Quaternary International 387: 72–86. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.022

Courtney Mustaphi CJ and Pisaric MFJ. 2014. Holocene climate-fire-vegetation interactions at a subalpine watershed in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary Research 81(2): 228–239. DOI: 10.1016/j.yqres.2013.12.002

Courtney Mustaphi CJ and Pisaric MFJ. 2013. Varying influence of climate and aspect as controls of montane forest fire regimes during the late Holocene, south-eastern British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Biogeography 40(10): 1983–1996. DOI: 10.1111/jbi.12143

Vermaire JC, Pisaric MFJ, Thienpont JR, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Kokelj SV, Smol JP. 2013. Arctic climate warming and sea ice declines lead to increased storm surge activity. Geophysical Research Letters 40(7): 1386–1390. DOI: 10.1002/grl.50191

Selected as an Editor’s Research Highlight: Colin Schultz. 16 April 2013. Arctic climate warming leads to increased storm surge activity. EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union 94 (16): 156. DOI: 10.1002/2013EO160006
Altmetric

Courtney Mustaphi CJ and Gajewski K. 2013. Holocene sediments from a coastal lake on northern Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 50(5): 564–575. Doi:10.1139/cjes-2012-0143 Data: NOAA database https://doi.org/10.25921/q6vk-bh20

Read a review by CO2science.org

Reports:

Liz Storer, Anna Shoemaker, Annemiek Pas Schrijver, Geert W. van der Plas, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi (eds.). 2017. Field diary. Issue 2 Mar 2017. 45pp.

van der Plas, G., Githumbi, E.N., Courtney Mustaphi, C.J. 2016. Life of a pollen grain. In: Land and People. Volume 1, January 2016. pp 24-25. Printed at: Tiskarna Radovljica, Slovenia. ISBN: 978-0-9573771-5-8 [Link to full issue] DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2296.3609

Esther N. Githumbi, Rebecca Kariuki, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi, Rebecca Muriuki, Stephen M. Rucina, Rob Marchant. 2015. Recent environmental changes in Eastern Mau and Amboseli, Kenya. BIEA 2014-2015 annual report, pp 22.

Annemiek Pas Schrijver, Geert W. van der Plas, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi (eds.). 2015. Field diary. Issue 1 Jul 2015. 17pp.

Esther N. Githumbi, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi, Rob Marchant. 2014. Natural and anthropogenic causes of environmental change in the Amboseli and Mau Forest regions. BIEA 2013-2014 annual report, pp 11–12.

Courtney Mustaphi, C.J., Githumbi, E., Shoemaker, A., Degefa, A.Z., Petek, N., van der Plas, G., Muriuki, R.M., Rucina, S.M., Marchant, R. 2014. Ongoing sedimentological and palaeoecological investigations at Lielerai Kimana and Ormakau Swamps, Kajiado District, Kenya. A report to the local authorities of Kimana and Namelok, Olive Branch Mission Africa Operations, and the National Museums of Kenya Palaeobotany and Palynology Section. REAL contribution 001. 29 April, 2014. 32 p.
[PDF]

Courtney Mustaphi, C.J. 2013. An Assessment of Holocene Fire Regime Controls in Southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Foothills Research Institute research update. [PDF LINK]

Lori D. Daniels, Ze’ev Gedalof, Michael F.J. Pisaric, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi, Eric Da Silva, Helene Marcoux, Vesta Mather, John H. Nesbitt, Eugenie Paul-Limoges, Joelle Perreault, Courtney Steele. 2011. Historic climate-fire-vegetation interactions of the west versus east Kootenays: implications of climate change and fire suppression. Report to Tembec Industries, R.W. Consulting Inc., B.A. Blackwell and Associates, BC Ministry of Natural Resource Operations, and BC Parks. July 2011. 33p.

Lori D. Daniels, Ze’ev Gedalof, Michael F.J. Pisaric, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi, Eric Da Silva, Helene Marcoux, Vesta Mather, John H Nesbitt, Eugenie Paul-Limoges, Joelle Perreault, Courtney Steele. 2011. Historic climate-fire-vegetation interactions of the West versus East Kootenays: Implications of climate change and fire suppression. NSERC Strategic Report 2011. 57p.

Data sets:

Courtney Mustaphi C, Camara-Brugger S, Ekblom A, Munishi L, Kariuki R, Shoemaker A, Lane P, Marchant R. 2024, Replication Data for: Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/JGZTIK, Harvard Dataverse, V1. [CC-BY 4.0 open access] Data: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/JGZTIK

Courtney Mustaphi, C, et al. 2024. Soil pit data for “Tree demographics and soil charcoal evidence of fire disturbances in an inaccessible forest atop the Mount Lico inselberg, Mozambique”. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EZIWDT, Harvard Dataverse, V1. [CC-BY 4.0 open access]

CARD2.0 – radiocarbon dates (East Africa; lake DV09, Devon Island; Pyatts Lake, Sasquatch Lake, NEL01, NEL03, British Columbia).

Courtney Mustaphi, Colin; Gajewski, Konrad; Marchant, Rob; Rosqvist, Gunhild, 2017, “Radiocarbon dates, sedimentology, and pollen counts from the late Holocene sediments of Oblong Tarn, Mount Kenya”, doi:10.7910/DVN/BBDYUZ, Harvard Dataverse, V1. [R code]

Davis, Emma; Courtney Mustaphi, Colin J.; Gall, Amber; Pisaric, Michael F. J.; Vermaire, Jesse C.; Moser, Katrina A., 2016. Radiocarbon dating, macroscopic charcoal counts, pollen counts, and tree-establishment data from Little Trefoil Lake, Alberta, Canada. doi:10.7910/DVN/6O5BOI, Harvard Dataverse, V1.

Courtney Mustaphi, CJ. 2016. Radiocarbon dates from eastern Africa in the CARD2.0 format. Harvard Dataverse, V5.

Courtney Mustaphi, CJ. 2015. Paleoecological and sedimentological data from: “A classification for macroscopic charcoal morphologies found in Holocene lacustrine sediments”. Harvard Dataverse, V1.

Data from lake NEL01, British Columbia, Canada (Courtney Mustaphi et al, 2015 JoPL).

Data from lake NEL03, British Columbia, Canada (Courtney Mustaphi and Pisaric, 2014 QR).

Data from Lake DV09, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada (Courtney Mustaphi and Gajewski, 2013 CJES).

Contributions to research networks:

PAGES Global Paleofire Working Group

PAGES Ocean2K Working Group

Colombaroli D, J. Mistry, A. Milner, B. Vannière, C. Adolf, D. Hawthorne, the Global Paleofire Working Group (GPWG2). 2018. DiverseK: integrating paleoecology, traditional knowledge and stakeholders. Past Global Changes Magazine, vol. 26(2): 89. https://doi.org/10.22498/pages.26.2.89

Aleman, J.C., Hennebelle, A., Vannière, B., Blarquez, O., the Global Paleofire Working Group. 2018. Sparking New Opportunities for Charcoal-Based Fire History Reconstructions. Fire 1(1), 7. DOI: 10.3390/fire1010007

Tierney, J. E., Abram, N. J., Anchukaitis, K. J., Evans, M. N., Giry, C., Kilbourne, K. H., … & Zinke, J. (2015). Tropical sea surface temperatures for the past four centuries reconstructed from coral archives. Paleoceanography, 30(3), 226–252.

Theses:

Courtney Mustaphi, CJ. 2013. A Landscape-Scale Assessment of Holocene Fire Regime Controls in South-Eastern British Columbia, Canada. Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Canada. Supervisor: Michael Pisaric, Co-Supervisor: R. Timothy Patterson. [Supplemental Files – raw data]

Courtney Mustaphi, CJ. 2009. Analysis of Laminated Sediments from Lake DV09, Northern Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Canada. Supervisor: Konrad Gajewski.

Selected Conference Talks:

Courtney-Mustaphi C., Steiner E, Lapellegerie P, von Fumetti S, Bailey-Neale K, Heiri O. 2024. An Insect Identification Aid. 13th Basel Postdoc Network. 9–11 October 2024, Klosters, CH. 2024.

Courtney-Mustaphi C. 2024. Pollen! Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger, Norway. 19/02/2024.

Courtney-Mustaphi C. 2024. Archaeological Data and the pSESYNTH Project: an introduction to combining Paleoenvironmental and Archaeological datasets. IRTA La Rapita, Spain. 3 day hybrid workshop 24 to 26-01-2024 funded by INQUA.

Courtney-Mustaphi C., Rebecca Kariuki, Anna Shoemaker, Anneli Ekblom, Linus Munishi, Rob Marchant, Paul Lane, Claudia Capitani, Thomas Biginagwa, Peter Mwangi, Pamela Ochungo, Stefania Merlo, Benny Lwoga, Beny Lilawola, Simone Markoff, Nathan Chellman, Sam Muñoz, Sandra Brugger, Leighton King, Oliver Heiri, et al. 2024. Past, present, and future socio-ecological change across the Kenya–Tanzania borderlands: a multidisciplinary synthesis of land use and land cover change evidence. Advances in modelling past human ecosystems – bringing together traditional ecological knowledge, archaeological science and computational archaeology. Institute of Archaeology, University of Cologne, Germany, 22–24 May 2024.

Courtney Mustaphi CJ. 2024. Ancient Victoriasee. Current Studies in Biogeochemistry, Stable Isotope Ecology and Environmental Reconstruction, University of Basel.

Courtney Mustaphi CJ. 2024. Environmental change in and around Lake Victoria, eastern Africa. Current topics in Geoecology, University of Basel, Switzerland.

Misra, P, King L, Wienhues G, Ngoepe N, Temoltzin-Loranca Y, Muschick M, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Kishe M, Mwaiko S, Heiri O, Vogel H, Gilbert T, Grosjean M, Tinner W, Seehausen O, Matthews B. 2023. Spatio-temporal (In)coherence of the Lake Victoria Ecosystem in East Africa. ID#1275415. AGU23.

Courtney-Mustaphi C., Steiner E., von Fumetti S., Heiri O. 2023. Paleoenvironmental uses of chitinous remains assemblages – freshwater examples from Europe and Africa. Chironomid Talks webinar. Hosted by James Fielding, University of Nottingham, UK. 22 November 2023.

Courtney-Mustaphi C., Steiner E., von Fumetti S., Heiri O. 2023. Quaternary assemblages of aquatic invertebrate mandibles and other sclerotized remains. 21st Swiss Geoscience Meeting, Quaternary environments session. The Institute of Earth Sciences of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) and the Platform Geosciences of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). Mendrisio, TI, Switzerland, 17–19 November 2023.

Courtney Mustaphi CJ. Aquatic invertebrate remains and Quaternary paleoecology. Current topics in Geoecology, University of Basel, Switzerland. 14 November 2023.

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Heiri O, Pisaric M. 2023. Do past forest fires influence Daphnia abundances in small headwater lakes of British Columbia, Canada? INQUA 2023, 19 July 2023, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.

Markoff S, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Delzeit R. 2023. Integrating Biodiversity Objectives in Future Cropland Expansion and Intensification in Tanzania. 31st International Congress for Conservation Biology: The future is now: Sustaining biodiversity for today and tomorrow, Kigali, Rwanda, 07-2023.

Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Erni Cassola G, Abel S, Grudzinska-Elsberga I. 2023. Microplastics in freshwater sediments. Current topics in Geoecology, University of Basel, Switzerland. 4 April 2023.

King L, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Cuenca-Cambronero M, Wienhues G, Kishe M, Heiri O, Seehausen O, Matthews B. 2022. Aquatic invertebrate assemblage changes since the refilling of Lake Victoria. IAL IPA, Bariloche, Argentina. 27 Nov–1 December 2022.

Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Kinyanjui R, Kariuki R, Muiruri V, Shoemaker A, Mumbi C, Rucina SM, Marchant R. 2021. Vegetation change on Africa’s highest mountain. 79th International Conference of the University of Latvia – Ecosystems and fire. University of Latvia, Riga. 28 January 2021. via Zoom.

Beale CM, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Morrison TA, Archibald S, Anderson TM, Dobson AP, Donaldson JE, Hempson GP, Probert J, Parr CL. 2018. Pyrodiversity and the distribution of bird and mammal diversity in African savannahs. British Ecological Society (BES), Edinburgh, 19 December 2018.

Posters:

Courtney Mustaphi C, Steiner E, Lapellegerie P, von Fumetti S, Heiri O. 2024. Artificially fossilized body parts of aquatic invertebrates. 13th Basel Postdoc Network, Klosters CH, 09–11 October 2024.

Courtney Mustaphi C, Steiner E, Lapellegerie P, von Fumetti S, Heiri O. 2024. Artificially fossilized body parts of aquatic invertebrates. 15th international Subfossil chironomid “Deadhead” workshop (22nd International Symposium of the Chironomidae), Niš, Serbia, 14–16 June 2024.

Courtney Mustaphi C, Steiner E, Lapellegerie P, von Fumetti S, Heiri O. 2024. Artificially fossilized body parts of aquatic invertebrates. Swiss Society for Quaternary Research (CH-QUAT), 16 March 2024, Bern, Switzerland.

von Allmen R, Brugger SO, Schleicher KD, Rey F, Gobet E, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Tinner W, Heiri O. 2024. Method development and application of object detection and classification to Quaternary fossil pollen sequences. Swiss Society for Quaternary Research (CH-QUAT), 16 March 2024, Bern, Switzerland.

Markoff S, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Delzeit R. 2023. Integrating biodiversity objectives in future cropland expansion and intensification in Tanzania. British Ecological Society, 12–15 December. Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.

C. Courtney Mustaphi; R. Marchant; E. Githumbi; V. Muiruri; S. Rucina; S. Richer; P. Lane; A. Shoemaker. 2017. Wetland vegetation dynamics in he semi-arid Amboseli landscape of southern Kenya. PAGES OSM May 9–13 2017, Zaragoza, Spain.

Courtney Mustaphi, CJ; Deere, N; Githumbi, E; Marchant, R. 2014. Fire disturbance regimes and vegetation interactions in East Africa during the Late Quaternary [updated]. South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP) – Royal Society, London, UK, October 6–7, 2014. [PDF] [JPEG]

Courtney Mustaphi, CJ; Deere, N; Githumbi, E; Marchant, R. 2014. Fire disturbance regimes and vegetation interactions in East Africa during the Late Quaternary. Open PAGES Focus 4 Workshop Human-Climate-Ecosystem Interactions, University of Leuven, Belgium, February 3–7, 2014.

Githumbi, E; Courtney Mustaphi, CJ; Deere, N; Marchant, R. 2014.Long Term Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics in East Africa. University of York Environment Department Post Graduate Conference. York, UK. February, 20–21, 2014.

Human use of fire on the landscape has influenced vegetation composition, biomass abundance, and biodiversity in many ecosystems worldwide. Fire activity also has implications for carbon cycling and can result in a net carbon sink or source depending on the alteration of fire regimes and vegetation changes. The major controls of fire activity over centennial to millennial scales are dynamic and are further influenced by human land use and behavioral patterns and have shaped the modern ecosystems. It is often difficult to quantify the anthropogenic influence on biomass burning because the relative importance of natural controls of fire vary over multiple spatiotemporal scales and the analysis of detailed paleoecological data and human cultural information is necessary. Land use and burning practices have changed throughout the Holocene in East Africa and over the coming months we will be synthesizing multiple palaeoecological records of vegetation and fire activity to begin to disentangle the human influences on the environment. Modern biomass burning activity and rapid vegetation changes will be quantified using moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) land cover grids (500-m resolution).
Multiple records of biomass burning activity are needed to understand the natural controls on fire, such as climate, fuel types and abundance, and topography. The rise of pastoralist societies around 4000 cal yr BP represented a major shift in human impacts on vegetation, fuels, and ignition patterns. By analyzing the natural variability alongside archeological and historical data on human societies it may be possible to characterize the ecological impacts of human burning activities.
Demographic changes impacted the environment variably over space and reflected the intensity of land use and the values of those societies. Synthesis of multiple records of biomass burning can be used to understand the broad-scale controls of fire activity. Comparative analysis of fire records at sites across environmental gradients provides insights into the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic controls of fire. Examination of natural and anthropogenic variability on vegetation and disturbance regimes helps us understand the evolution of human-environmental interactions and the processes that have led to the present landscapes. This information is critical to developing sustainable trajectories for land management policy and conservation efforts crucial to the future of East African landscapes experiencing development pressure and rapid climate change.

Laboratory Protocols:

available here.

In The Media:

27 January 2015. Kazakh TV Kazakh-UK Sustainable Cities Workshop.

MacDonald, Sally. 2012. Scientists sample lakes to tell forests’ history. Daily Times [Trail, BC, Canada] 15 August 2012: A16.

MacDonald, Sally. 2012. Scientists sample lakes to tell forests’ history. Daily Townsman [Cranbrook, BC, Canada] 14 August 2012: 3.

Newman, J., Anand, M., Henry, H., Hunt, S., Gedalof, Z. 2011. Climate Change Biology. CAB International – Gutenberg Press, Malta. 289pp. [Featured in a fieldwork photo on page 7].

Videos:

Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Ebner J, Rey F, Wick L, Grudzinska-Elsberga I, Lapellegerie P, Dwileski A, Leuzinger U, Brem H, Heiri O. February 2021. Bohrkernuntersuchungen im Kanton Thurgau. Klima, Mensch und Umwelt im Thurgau (KUMiT) projekt. Forschungsgruppe Geoökologie, Departement Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Basel; Amt für Archäologie Kanton Thurgau, Schweiz. 2m46s.

Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Goldman N, Ebner J, Rey F, Wick L, Grudzinska-Elsberga I, Lapellegerie P, Dwileski A, Leuzinger U, Brem H, Heiri O. 2022. Lake sediment coring in Switzerland. KUMiT project: Geoecology, University of Basel; Office for Archaeology Canton Thurgau, Switzerland. 2m26s.

‘Grains of Truth’ AAREA project summary

JoPL 2015 video abstract

Fieldwork in East Africa

Introducing the University of York Institute for Tropical Ecosystems

Quadcopter flight over Ormakau wetland, near Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Colin Courtney Mustaphi Publication List

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