The importance of plant macrofossils in the reconstruction of Lateglacial vegetation and climate: examples from Scotland, western Norway, and Minnesota, USA

Birks, Hilary H.

doi:10.1016/s0277-3791(02)00248-2

Cited by 137 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Further evidence in support of the hypothesis has come from the study of fossil pollen, plant macros including wood charcoal, and mammals (Birks 2003;Willis & van During the last glaciation, many cold-adapted species had a larger distribution than they have today. Furthermore, several studies on cold-adapted species have identified genetic signatures of increase in population size during the early stages of the last glaciation, suggesting that these species had small population sizes also during the last interglacial (Fedorov et al 1999;Flagstad & Røed 2003;Shapiro et al 2004;Dalén et al 2005).…”

Section: Spatial and Temporal Categories Of Refugiamentioning

confidence: 98%

Refugia revisited: individualistic responses of species in space and time

et al. 2009

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Climate change in the past has led to significant changes in species' distributions. However, how individual species respond to climate change depends largely on their adaptations and environmental tolerances. In the Quaternary, temperate-adapted taxa are in general confined to refugia during glacials while coldadapted taxa are in refugia during interglacials. In the Northern Hemisphere, evidence appears to be mounting that in addition to traditional southern refugia for temperate species, cryptic refugia existed in the North during glacials. Equivalent cryptic southern refugia, to the south of the more conventional high-latitude polar refugia, exist in montane areas during periods of warm climate, such as the current interglacial. There is also a continental/oceanic longitudinal gradient, which should be included in a more complete consideration of the interaction between species ranges and climates. Overall, it seems clear that there is large variation in both the size of refugia and the duration during which species are confined to them. This has implications for the role of refugia in the evolution of species and their genetic diversity.

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Section: Spatial and Temporal Categories Of Refugiamentioning

confidence: 98%

Refugia revisited: individualistic responses of species in space and time

et al. 2009

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“…This is the case, for instance, for Quercus (Brewer et al 2002). Unfortunately, for species such as birch or willow, the fossil pollen record is much less informative, and can even be rather misleading in the absence of macrofossils (Birks 2003). As stated in § 1, such discrepancies between these temperate species are in part related to the location of their glacial refugia that represent the starting points of the postglacial migrational process.…”

Section: Different Species Different Historiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, other species, such as birches, pines, spruces or willows are cold tolerant and were apparently able to survive the LGM at much higher latitudes. In birches or willows, the fossil pollen record provides very little information on possible LGM refugia and on the fate of the populations after the LGM, and all reliable information might have to come from serendipitous finds of macrofossils (Willis et al 2000;Stewart & Lister 2001;Birks 2003). As we shall see, in the absence of a fossil record, it will be very difficult to make any inference from genetic data alone and it will be difficult to justify the use of a specific demographic model in coalescent-based inferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Ice Ages on the genetic structure of trees and shrubs

Lascoux

Palmé

Cheddadi

et al. 2004

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B

116

101

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Data on the genetic structure of tree and shrub populations on the continental scale have accumulated dramatically over the past decade. However, our ability to make inferences on the impact of the last ice age still depends crucially on the availability of informative palaeoecological data. This is well illustrated by the results from a recent project, during which new pollen fossil maps were established and the variation in chloroplast DNA was studied in 22 European species of trees and shrubs. Species exhibit very different levels of genetic variation between and within populations, and obviously went through very different histories after Ice Ages. However, when palaeoecological data are non-informative, inferences on past history are difficult to draw from entirely genetic data. On the other hand, as illustrated by a study in ponderosa pine, when we can infer the species' history with some certainty, coalescent simulations can be used and new hypotheses can be tested.

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“…Although pollen analyses have been used successfully to determine tree lines (Hicks 2001;Seppä and Hicks 2006) and vegetation patterns Joosten 2009, 2012), dating the immigration of trees and the development of woods is not without difficulties (Van Dinter and Birks 1996;Birks 2003;Seppä et al 2004). Betula pubescens (tree birch) was the dominant tree taxon during the Lateglacial period in Denmark but the separation of tree birch pollen from that of B. nana (dwarf birch) is problematic (Birks 1968;Usinger 1977;Andersen 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A classic example of this effect can be seen in the immigration of birch reconstructed from pollen analysis, as opposed to plant macrofossil analysis. A significant time difference may be seen in comparative studies where pollen analyses indicate the presence of tree birch much earlier than that indicated by the presence of tree birch macrofossils (Birks 1993(Birks , 2003. Additionally, analyses of plant macrofossils can give a greater diversity and a more detailed reconstruction of vegetational development than from pollen analysis alone (Birks 1993(Birks , 2001Birks and Birks 2000;Bos et al 2006;Hofstetter et al 2006;Mortensen et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living on the good soil: relationships between soils, vegetation and human settlement during the late Allerød period in Denmark

Mortensen

Henriksen

Bennike

2014

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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The immigration of woody plants, especially Betula (tree birch), is examined in relation to geomorphological regions in a compilation of Late-glacial plant macrofossil records from Denmark. The immigration of trees led to a large ecological transformation of the landscape and had a major effect on the flora and fauna available to Palaeolithic people. We show that soil type was a controlling factor in the development of vegetation during the Allerød and Younger Dryas periods. Following the first immigration of trees during the Allerød period, woods became established in the eastern part of Denmark, where ice advances from the Baltic had deposited calcareous and clayey sediments. The western and northern parts of Denmark that are characterised by more sandy and noncalcareous sediments remained treeless throughout the whole Late-glacial period. Finds from the Bromme Culture are concentrated in the region which was wooded, suggesting that the regional variable environment allowed local adaptations using the diverse resources available.

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The importance of plant macrofossils in the reconstruction of Lateglacial vegetation and climate: examples from Scotland, western Norway, and Minnesota, USA

Cited by 137 publications

References 88 publications

Refugia revisited: individualistic responses of species in space and time

Refugia revisited: individualistic responses of species in space and time

Impact of Ice Ages on the genetic structure of trees and shrubs

Living on the good soil: relationships between soils, vegetation and human settlement during the late Allerød period in Denmark

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