Table Of ContentBLUMEA 43 (1998) 121-127
Thatelm again!
Ulmus at Pea Bullok, North Sumatra,
and regional comparisons
B.K.Maloney
PalaeoecologyCentre,Queen'sUniversity, Belfast,Northern Ireland
Summary
Details ofapalynologicalrecord ofUlmusinNorth Sumatra extendingfrom c. 21,250B.P.are
presentedand comparedwith recent findingsfromJava and Sulawesi (Table 1).
Thereappearto benorecords ofUlmuspre-dating thePleistocene inSoutheastAsia
(Muller, 1981;Caratini&Tissot, 1985;Watanasak, 1990).Four-pored Ulmuspollen
wasfirstreportedby Maloney (1984) fromtheradiocarbondatedsitesofPeaSimsim
andTao Sipinggan andthe thenundatedPeaSijajap record.Itwassubsequently also
foundatSibisaSwamp (Maloney, 1985).Morerecently, fossilUlmuspollen was dis-
coveredatsites inWest Java(Stuijts, 1993;VanderKaars &Dam, 1995).Two cores
fromPeaBullok, NorthSumatra,havenowbeenanalysed andUlmusoccurredintwo
samples,onesamplefromeach core.With 18radiocarbondates,thePeaBullokcores
are nowthebest dated deposits fromIndonesia(Maloney & McCormac, 1996)and
theolder ofthetwo cores, CoreA, fromthe edge ofthe site, datesback to about
30,000B.P. atitsbase,while thesectionofthecore fromthecentre (Core B) isabout
20,000yearsoldat3.50m depthandthereisanotherhalfmetre intactwhichremains
to beanalysed andradiocarbondatedatsome futuretime.
FourradiocarbondateshavenowbeenobtainedfromtheshortPeaSijajap core.Its
base isabout4000yearsoldandthesingle occurrence ofUlmuspollendatestoaround
2135 B.P. Insufficientorganic materialis availableto date Sibisa.
Torecap briefly on the earlierfindings, all theNorthSumatran sitesreported upon,
including PeaBullok, are on thehigh Toba Plateau.Sibisa Swamp is nearParapat,
northofthelake,buttheothersites aresouthofLakeToba.PeaSim-sim,TaoSipinggan
and Pea Bullok are all atc. 1400m altitude.Pea Sijajap is at about one hundred
metres lowerinthedownfaultedSimamoravalleytothewestofPeaSim-simandTao
Sipinggan whicharenearLintongnihutaPardolaan(the newvillageofLintongnihuta).
SibisaSwamp isalso atabout 1300maltitude.
PeaBullokislocatedapproximately 2km northofSiborongborong ontheeastside
oftheroadtoBalige. Thesiteappearsto beanextinct volcaniccrateranditisinfilled
totherimwithpeats. Unfortunately,becauseoftheamountofwoodinthestratigraphy,
itwas impossible toobtainacomplete core tothebase ofthe depositeitherfrom the
122 BLUMEA—VoI.43, No. 1, 1998
Fig. 1.Locationofpollensitesmentioned inthetextandmajorareasofseasonal drought(hatched)
and drypockets (dots).Base map adaptedfrom Van Steenis (1979: 107,fig. 5).
centreor theedge butsincethereis approximately 30,000yearsofpeataccumulation
attheedge, it is likely that thecraterformed duringthelast majoreruption ofToba
whichhasbeendated(Chesneretal„ 1990)atc. 74,000B.P.
Onespecies ofelm, UlmuslanceifoliaRoxb.ex Wall.(Touw &Van Steenis, 1968)
hasbeenreported fromtheTobaareabutnoUlmushasbeenfoundinJava(Backer &
Bakhuizen van den Brink, 1965), although it does occur in Flores and Sulawesi
(Soepadmo, 1977).VanSteenis (1979: 145) statedthatwhere Ulmus was presentin
theLesser SundaIslandsitwasinlocalisedwetpockets andmay bea chancerelictof
aformermuchricherandmoreextensiverainforestfloraratherthan anewinvader.
Therecord fromPeaSim-sim,theolderofthepreviously analysed sitesfromNorth
Sumatra,showedthatUlmuspollen wascontributing sporadically tothefossilpollen
record fromabout 16,100B.P. (this is arevisionofthe 15,700B.P.estimate forthe
6.75m depth given in Maloney, 1984)andto theTaoSipinggan record fromthebe-
ginning ofdeposition slightly over 12,000years ago.
AtPeaBullokonepollengrainwas presentinasamplewhichisabout21,250years
old from CoreA and anotherfrom alevel dating to approximately 17,850B.P. in
B.K.Maloney: Ulmus atPea Bullok,North Sumatra 123
CoreB sample. Vander Kaars& Dam(1995: 69) dismisslong-distance transportof
pollen in theirexplanation ofthe findings from Lake Bandung but a sample from
CoreB containedapollen grainofAbies(identification confirmedbyDr.V.A.Hall).
This is extremely unlikely to bea contaminantas no samples containing firpollen
wereprepared inour laboratoryaroundthetimeatwhichthismaterialwaspretreated
andsampletubes arerigorously cleanedafteruse. Thepollengrainmust,presumably,
havebeen transported out ofmainlandAsia by theNE monsoon and demonstrates
thattherehasbeensomelong-distance transportofpollen. Schmidt(1974: 187)stated
that Abies is only foundabove 22° N in Vietnam (it is present at altitudesofover
2000 mintheFan Si Pan massif).
Turning to the Javanesereports, Stuijts(1993) found Ulmuspollen attwo of her
sites: RancaUpas (c. 1750m), whichhasa 10,000yearoldpollenrecord, andKawah
Putih(2200 m),whichis undatable.Ulmus was presentinfive samples fromRanca
Upasincluding oneofprobableveryrecent ageandintwo samples fromKawahPutih.
However,intheseinstancesthepollengrains hadbetweenfourandsixpores,notjust
fourpores as inthecaseofall the Sumatranelm pollen grains, so thepossibility of
laboratory contaminationbypollen grainsfromaEuropean sourcecannotbeexcluded1,
butRancaUpas is locatedonly 55km southwestofBandung whileKawahPutih is
situatedabout 10km northeastofGunung Pangrango. As faras long-distance trans-
port is concerned,Stuijts (1993: 32) foundelmpollen inamodernsample fromthe
topofGunung Pangrango ata heightof3020m,i.e. whereitcouldhavebeentrans-
portedeitherfrommainlandAsiaor,perhaps, Floresor Sulawesi.Interestingly, Ulmus
(pollen morphology undescribed) has only been reported once (Gremmen, 1990:
fig.2)fromSulawesi(ithasa0.1%representation inspectrum27,whichpost-dates a
radiocarbondateof2610±50B.P. atRawaLampulung). Itwas not foundin any of
the20 surfacesamples analysed fromhighland NorthSumatrabutoccurred attrace
levels(Beuning, 1996:16)in two lakes fromEast Java.Thiswriteris inclinedto sug-
gestthathereweareprobably dealing withlong-distance transportofpollen, andthis
is analternativeexplanation foralltheNorthSumatranfinds. Beuning lists thispos-
sibilityas oneofthreeforherfinds.Theothertwo are thatelmdoesgrowinEastJava
andcontaminationwithNorthAmericanUlmusduringchemicalpre-treatmentofsam-
ples. She discountsthelatterbecauseofStuijts' finds.
Thesamecannotbesaidconcerning thereportbyVanderKaars& Dam(1995)from
theBandung area. They triedtomaketotal tree pollen counts ofapproximately 300,
but sometimes it was not possible to count beyond 100.Where Ulmusoccurred, it
ranged upto5-10% oftotaltree pollen incoresDPDR-I andDPDR-II,andupto20%
insamples froma quarrysection (Van derKaars&Dam, 1995:69). Herethelikeli-
hoodoflong-distance transportisremote.
1) Data onthe distribution ofelm and onthe pollenmorphologyofAsian-Southeast Asianelm
speciesisnotplentiful, soitis notpossibleto statedefinitivelythat 5-or6-pored pollengrains
areabsent.However,Nair (1965:39,pi. XIV,fig. 177)states thatUlmuswallichiana Planch, is
(4-)5-porateandHuang(1972:235,pi. 154:25-30)showsthatUlmusparvifloraJacq.has4or
5 pores.
124 BLUMEA Vol.43, No. 1,1998
Table 1a.Finds offossil Ulmus from SoutheastAsiaand theirestimated ages.
LLooccaattiioonn AAllttiittuuddee DDeepptthh PPeerrcceennttaaggeeooff NNuummbbeerr EEssttiimmaatteedd aaggee
((mm)) ((ccmm)) ppoolllleennssuumm ooffggrraaiinnss ((yyeeaarrssBB..PP..))
SSUuMmAaTtRraA
PPeeaaBBuullllookkCCoorreeAA 11440000 446655 00..1188 1 2211225500
PPeeaaBBuullllookkCCoorreeBB 11440000 223355 00..2277 1 1177885599
PPeeaaSSiimm--ssiimm 11440000 667755 00..2299 1 1155770000
447755 11..0022 1 1122220044
226600 00..6655 1 88558888
111100 00..1133 1 33990000
TTaaooSSiippiinnggggaann 11440000 992200 00..4499 1 1122113300
447700 11..0033 1 33550000
225555 00..8833 1 11550000
PPeeaaSSiijjaajjaapp 11330000 6655 00..2200 11 22113355
SSiibbiissaa cc.. 11330000 114455 00..1188 22 uunnddaatteedd
JJAaVvAa
SSiittuuGGuunnuunngg::
UUllmmaacceeaaee cc.. 11005500 662255 00..7700 33 66557744
552255 00..2200 11 55666655
551100 00..4400 11 55552288
225500 00..6600 22 44665500
115500 00..1100 11 22779900
110000 00..2200 11 11886600
TTeellaaggaaSSaaaatt 11445500
UUllmmuuss 2211(01 11..9900 22 22222211
SSiittuuBBaayyoonnggbboonngg 11330000
UUllmmuuss 552255 00..2200 11 1111880066
UUllmmaacceeaaee 773300 00..3300 11 1155882299
RRaannccaa UUppaassIIII cc.. 11775500
UUllmmaacceeaaee 667755 00..5500 11 88667722
662255 00..3300 11 88334455
33S8O0 00..3300 11 55991177
222200 00..3300 11 44226622
RRaannccaa UUppaassddiiaaggrraamm
UUllmmuuss 7755 994400
117700 33664477
338800 55991177
662255 88334455
880000 99449900
884400 99889955
997755 1100116622
11002255 1100336600
11007700
11112200
11116600
11220000
11227755 1100338800
11330000
TTeellaaggaaPPaatteennggaannII 11557755
UUllmmaacceeaaee 334400 00..3300 11 11992222
333300 11..0000 66 11886644
B.K.Maloney: Ulmus atPea Bullok,North Sumatra 125
(Tablelacontinued)
LLooccaattiioonn AAllttiittuuddee DDeepptthh PPeerrcceennttaaggeeooff NNuummbbeerr EEssttiimmaatteeddaaggee
((mm)) ((ccmm)) ppoolllleennssuumm ooffggrraaiinnss ((yyeeaarrssBB..PP..))
TTeellaaggaaPPaatteennggaannIIII::aabbsseenntt
TTeellaaggaaPPaatteennggaannIIIIII
UUllmmaacceeaaee 11007755 00..3300 1 44881144
UUltmmuuss 11006600 00..3300 1 44773366
UUllmmaacceeaaee 11004400 00..3300 1 44663300
UUllmmuuss 669900 00..2200 1 22774411
UUllmmaacceeaaee 772200 00..3300 1 33000000
UUllmmuuss 221100 00..4400 1 11005500
UUllmmaacceeaaee 116600 00..2200 1 880000
KKaawwaahhPPuuttiihn 22220000
UUllmmuuss 225500 ttrraaccee
115500 ttrraaccee
((SShhoowwnnoonnddiiaaggrraamm,,nnoottttaabbuullaatteedd))
SSiittuuCCiihhaarruuss II 11552255
UUllmmuuss 11550000 00..1100 11((7?)) 99004411
SSiittuuCCiihhaarruuss IIII
UUllmmuuss 337700 00..1100 11((7?)) 11339911
UUllmmaacceeaaee 335500 00..1100 11((7?)) 11228899
UUllmmuuss 330000 00..1100 11((7?)) 11003366
SSUuLlaAwWeEsSiI
RRaawwaaLLaammppuulluunngg
UUllmmuuss 554400 00..1100 11((7?)) 11990000
Table 1b. FindsofmodernUlmuspollenfrom SoutheastAsia.
Location Altitude Percentageof Number
(m) pollensum ofgrains
GunungPangrango 3010 1.00 1
RancaUpas c. 1750 0.40 1
Waduk Wlingi,southofGunungKelud 110 trace
RanuLading,southwestsideofGunungLamongan 350 trace
Thepollensumusedtocalculatethe Sumatranfigureswastotaldrylandpollenplus Cyatheaceae
whilethatusedfor the Javanand Sulawesi sampleswastotalarboreal pollen.Ulmus mayhave
beenexcludedfromthe SituCiharuspollensumbecauserecalculationusingStuijts' published
arborealpollentotals givespercentageshigherthan 0.10. The number ofpollengrainsfoundis
solow thatthe differenceinmethodofcalculatingtheresults is notvery important.Raw data
fromVan derKaars&Dam's diagramshave notbeenpublishedand accuratepercentagescould
notbe derived from Stuijts' Ranca Upaspublisheddiagram so tabulationwas not possible.
Estimatedages werecalculatedusingthe depthofthe centre ofthe sampleand disregarding
the errorofthe determination.
126 BLUMEA—V01.43, No. 1, 1998
Ulmus mainly occurs in thelowlandandsubmontaneforests of seasonally dryareas
between200-1450maltitude(Soepadmo, 1977),although, according toVanderKaars
& Dam(1995)itispresentinriparianforestinThailand(no source given, elmhasnot
yetbeenconsideredinFloraofThailand).FourvernacularnamesforUlmuslanceifolia
Roxb.are listed by Smitinand(1980), andall ofthem northern.Santisuk (1988: 29)
hasreported itfromthe middletree layerofseasonalforest and(I.e.: 33) thecanopy
layer oflowermontane forest.It is amongtaxareplacing fagaceous trees in shady
ravinesofthelowermontaneforestarea(1.c.:34) althoughitisnot statedtoberiverine,
butitdoesgrowonvalleyslopes. Smitinand(1966: 115)foundwhatmaybeU. lancei-
foliaatc. 1800maltitudeonanopenlimestoneridge atDoiChiengdao. Stuijts(1993:
32)recordsapersonal communicationfromthelateProfessor vanSteeniswhichstated
that Ulmus grows in regions subject to some extent to a seasonal climate: Flores,
Sulawesi and northern Sumatra. Nevertheless, Van Steenis (1979: 145) notedthat
Ulmuswas amongrainforesttaxa whichoccurred inlocalwet pockets intheLesser
SundaIslands andthatthesewere probably chancerelictsofaoncemuchricher and
moreextensiverainforestfloraratherthannewinvaders. NorthSumatra,exceptthe
rainshadowarea atc.900maltitudearoundLakeToba,cannotberegarded as season-
ally dry.
A pollen indicator forseasonal dryness in island Southeast Asia wouldgreatly aid
palaeoclimatic reconstruction. Ulmushasrelatively highpercentagesintheBandung
area betweenabout81,000-74,000B.P., a drierperiod, but it is also frequent in a
humidperiod pre-dating 81,000B.P.Thehighpercentagessuggestlocaloccurrence,
but, becauseofpossible overlapping dryland-riparian ecologies, theelm onitsown
cannot be regarded as areliableindicatorofseasonal dryness while itspresence at
background frequencies during theperiod ofLatePleistocene coolerconditionsin
NorthSumatradonotjustifyarguingacase forincreasedseasonality ofclimatethere,
especially as Pea Bullok must have been in the cloud forest belt (Maloney &
McCormac, 1996)for atleast partofthistime.Indeed, ifVan Steenis(1979) is cor-
rect, itmay beabetterindicatorfortheoccurrence oflocalisedwetter areas.
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