Aim To track the peopling of the South Pacific and assess their impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Location Upolu, Samoa. Taxon Terrestrial and aquatic plants Methods A sedimentary record covering the last c . 10,500 years was recovered from the volcanic crater that contains Lake Lanoto'o near the centre of Upolu Island. Information on past ecological change was obtained from microscopic and macroscopic remains extr...

A 370 000‐year paleoecological record from Lake Titicaca provides a detailed record of past climate change in which interglacial periods are seen to have some elements of commonality, but also some key differences. We advance a conceptual feedback model to account for the observed changes that includes previously ignored lake effects. Today Lake Titicaca serves to warm the local environment by about 4–5 °C and also to increase...