Vegetation and climatic variability in southeastern Madhya Pradesh, India since Mid-Holocene, based on pollen records
Pollen analysis of 1.75 m deep sediment core from Tula-Jalda (Amarkantak) in Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh shows that around 4500–3600 cal years BP, this region supported open mixed tropical deciduous forests comprising chiefly Madhuca indica followed by Terminalia, Mitragyna parvifolia, Haldina cordifolia, Emblica officinalis and Acacia, under a warm and relatively less humid climate. The retrieval of Cerealia and other cultural plants, viz. Artemisia, Cheno/Am and Caryophyllaceae signifies that the region was under cereal-based agricultural practice. The open mixed deciduous forests got enriched and dense around 3600–2761 cal years BP with the expansion of trees that already existed coupled with invasion of Symplocos, Diospyros, Lannea coromandelica and Radermachera with the inception of a warm and moderately humid climate in response to increased monsoon precipitation.