This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (21) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Sugita, S. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Theory of quantitative reconstruction of vegetation I: pollen from large sites REVEALS regional vegetation composition

Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA, sugita{at}umn.edu

Quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation is one of the primary goals in Quaternary palynology and palaeoecology but still remains difficult. This paper proposes a model, REVEALS, that estimates regional vegetation composition using pollen from ‘large lakes’ that have small site-to-site variations of pollen assemblages even if vegetation is highly heterogeneous. Once these data have been used to quantify regional vegetation composition within 10⁴ -10⁵ km², background pollen, one of the parameters crucial for vegetation reconstruction, can be estimated for smaller-sized sites, and incorporated into the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), a multistep framework for quantitative reconstruction of vegetation in smaller areas ( 10⁴ ha). Simulations using the POLLSCAPE modelling show that REVEALS can provide accurate estimates of regional vegetation composition in various landscapes and under different atmospheric conditions. If pollen assemblages from lakes that are much smaller than ‘large lakes’ are used, estimates of regional vegetation at individual sites could be significantly different from the expected values, and their site-to-site variation could be large. However, when pollen data from multiple lakes 100-500 ha in size are available, REVEALS can provide accurate estimates of the regional vegetation with relatively small standard errors. Quantitative reconstruction of regional landscape and vegetation change will be critical for testing some of the controversial hypotheses and concepts in global change and conservation research, such as the impacts of agricultural activities on global climate over the last 8000 years and the open-woodland hypothesis in northern Europe in the early Holocene.

Key Words: Quantitative reconstruction of vegetation • REVEALS model • Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm • POLLSCAPE modelling • regional vegetation • pollen analysis

The Holocene, Vol. 17, No. 2, 229-241 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683607075837


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M.J. Bunting and R. Middleton Equifinality and uncertainty in the interpretation of pollen data: the Multiple Scenario Approach to reconstruction of past vegetation mosaics The Holocene, August 1, 2009; 19(5): 799 - 803. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F. Mazier, D. Galop, M.J. Gaillard, C. Rendu, C. Cugny, A. Legaz, O. Peyron, and A. Buttler Multidisciplinary approach to reconstructing local pastoral activities: an example from the Pyrenean Mountains (Pays Basque) The Holocene, March 1, 2009; 19(2): 171 - 188. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. von Stedingk and R. M. Fyfe The use of pollen analysis to reveal Holocene treeline dynamics: a modelling approach The Holocene, March 1, 2009; 19(2): 273 - 283. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. K. Mclauchlan Reconstructing Nutrient and Energy Flows Through Terrestrial Ecosystems Of the Holocene Palaios, November 1, 2008; 23(11): 721 - 723. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Colombaroli, B. Vanniere, C. Emmanuel, M. Magny, and W. Tinner Fire--vegetation interactions during the Mesolithic--Neolithic transition at Lago dell'Accesa, Tuscany, Italy The Holocene, August 1, 2008; 18(5): 679 - 692. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Giesecke and S. L. Fontana Revisiting pollen accumulation rates from Swedish lake sediments The Holocene, February 1, 2008; 18(2): 293 - 305. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. von Stedingk, R. M. Fyfe, and A. Allard Pollen productivity estimates from the forest--tundra ecotone in west-central Sweden: implications for vegetation reconstruction at the limits of the boreal forest The Holocene, February 1, 2008; 18(2): 323 - 332. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. W. Battarbee, H. J. B. Birks, K. E. Barber, R. Thompson, J. A. Dearing, and J. A. Matthews Frank Oldfield and his contributions to environmental change research The Holocene, January 1, 2008; 18(1): 3 - 17. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. K. McLauchlan, A. J. Elmore, W. Wyatt Oswald, and S. Sugita Detecting open vegetation in a forested landscape: pollen and remote sensing data from New England, USA The Holocene, December 1, 2007; 17(8): 1233 - 1243. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Sugita Theory of quantitative reconstruction of vegetation II: all you need is LOVE The Holocene, February 1, 2007; 17(2): 243 - 257. [Abstract] [PDF]