Three Flandrian Pollen Profiles From the Teith Valley, Perthshire, Scotland

Abstract

SUMMARYLithostratigraphies and pollen stratigraphies are described for Flandrian deposits from three infilled kettle-holes near Callander, the Teith Valley, Perthshire. Differences between the sites, in terms of sediments and inferred hydroseral histories, are described, but broad similarities are recognized in inferred regional forest developments. The sites lie in a transitional zone between the Grampian Highlands, dominated by pine in the mid-Flandrian, and lowland southeast Scotland, where mixed deciduous woodlands prevailed. The data presented suggest that communities dominated by birch-hazel with oak and elm encroached into the Grampians along major valleys, such as that of the River Teith. The problem of defining the role of pine in Scottish vegetational history, and the implications of an ' Elm Decline' recognized at one of the sites, are discussed.

Three Flandrian Pollen Profiles From the Teith Valley, Perthshire, Scotland

“…The fluctuations in the curves of the more important contributors to the deteriorated pollen totals (section C) accord with major changes in the main pollen diagram (Lowe, 1982, fig. 4).…”

“…The marked increases in deteriorated pollen totals, especially of corroded grains, in zones Moe, Mof and Mog coincide with a loose Sphagnum peat (lithostratigraphic units 4 and 5). Although leaves and stems of Sphagnum were recorded in these units, the deposits are exceedingly poor in Sphagnum spores (Lowe, 1982, fig. 4).…”

“…(3) There are marked increases in the deterioration curves for Betula, Corylus, Gramineae and Cyperaceae at the Clh/Cli boundary. The relatively high frequency of deteriorated Alnus grains in zone Clh is problematic as it is thought to derive from contamination of the sediments during sampling (see Lowe, 1982).…”

“…grains with essential features so obscured by any of the defined classes of deterioration that they could not be assigned with confidence to any known pollen type. The diagrams presented here concentrate mainly on determinable deteriorated pollen grains, and these grains Were also included in the overall pollen counts for the main pollen diagrams presented in Lowe (1982).…”

“…This paper presents the results of analyses of deteriorated pollen grains encountered during routine pollen counting for the three Flandrian pollen profiles discussed in Lowe (1982). Certain aspects of the data recorded for Devensian late-glacial pollen spectra at Cambusbeg and Tynaspirit have been discussed elsewhere (Lowe and Walker, 1977;Lowe, 1978).…”