TY - JOUR
T1 - Pollen productivity estimates of key European plant taxa for quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: a review
AU - Broström, Anna
AU - Nielsen, Anne Birgitte
AU - Gaillard, Marie-José
AU - Hjelle, Kari
AU - Mazier, Florence
AU - Binney, Heather
AU - Bunting, Jane
AU - Fyfe, Ralph
AU - Meltsov, Viveca
AU - Poska, Anneli
AU - Räsänen, Satu
AU - Soepboer, Welmoed
AU - von Stedingk, Henrik
AU - Suutari, Henna
AU - Sugita, Shinya
PY - 2008/9
Y1 - 2008/9
N2 - Information on the spatial distribution of past vegetation on local, regional and global scales is increasingly used within climate modelling, nature conservancy and archaeology. It is possible to obtain such information from fossil pollen records in lakes and bogs using the landscape reconstruction algorithm (LRA) and its two models, REVEALS and LOVE. These models assume that reliable pollen productivity estimates (PPEs) are available for the plant taxa involved in the quantitative reconstructions of past vegetation, and that PPEs are constant through time. This paper presents and discusses the PPEs for 15 tree and 18 herb taxa obtained in nine study areas of Europe. Observed differences in PPEs between regions may be explained by methodological issues and environmental variables, of which climate and related factors such as reproduction strategies and growth forms appear to be the most important. An evaluation of the PPEs at hand so far suggests that they can be used in modelling applications and quantitative reconstructions of past vegetation, provided that consideration of past environmental variability within the region is used to inform selection of PPEs, and bearing in mind that PPEs might have changed through time as a response to climate change. Application of a range of possible PPEs will allow a better evaluation of the results.
AB - Information on the spatial distribution of past vegetation on local, regional and global scales is increasingly used within climate modelling, nature conservancy and archaeology. It is possible to obtain such information from fossil pollen records in lakes and bogs using the landscape reconstruction algorithm (LRA) and its two models, REVEALS and LOVE. These models assume that reliable pollen productivity estimates (PPEs) are available for the plant taxa involved in the quantitative reconstructions of past vegetation, and that PPEs are constant through time. This paper presents and discusses the PPEs for 15 tree and 18 herb taxa obtained in nine study areas of Europe. Observed differences in PPEs between regions may be explained by methodological issues and environmental variables, of which climate and related factors such as reproduction strategies and growth forms appear to be the most important. An evaluation of the PPEs at hand so far suggests that they can be used in modelling applications and quantitative reconstructions of past vegetation, provided that consideration of past environmental variability within the region is used to inform selection of PPEs, and bearing in mind that PPEs might have changed through time as a response to climate change. Application of a range of possible PPEs will allow a better evaluation of the results.
KW - Herb taxa
KW - Lake sediments
KW - Landscape reconstruction algorithm (LRA)
KW - Moss polsters
KW - Pollen productivity estimates (PPE)
KW - Tree taxa
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=49549092000&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00334-008-0148-8
DO - 10.1007/s00334-008-0148-8
M3 - Article
SN - 0939-6314
VL - 17
SP - 461
EP - 478
JO - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
JF - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
IS - 5
ER -
