Holocene changes in vegetation composition in northern Europe: why quantitative pollen-based vegetation reconstructions matter
Marquer, Laurent LU ; Gaillard, Marie-Jose ; Sugita, Shinya ; Trondman, Anna-Kari ; Mazier, Florence ; Nielsen, Anne Birgitte LU
; Fyfe, Ralph M.
; Odgaard, Bent Vad
; Alenius, Teija
and Birks, H. John B.
, et al.
(2014)
In Quaternary Science Reviews
90.
p.199-216
- Abstract
- We present pollen-based reconstructions of the spatio-temporal dynamics of northern European regional vegetation abundance through the Holocene. We apply the Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model using fossil pollen records from eighteen sites within five modern biomes in the region. The eighteen sites are classified into four time-trajectory types on the basis of principal components analysis of both the REVEALS-based vegetation estimates (RVs) and the pollen percentage (PPs). The four trajectory types are more clearly separated for RVs than PPs. Further, the timing of major Holocene shifts, rates of compositional change, and diversity indices (turnover and evenness) differ between RVs and PPs. The... (More)
- We present pollen-based reconstructions of the spatio-temporal dynamics of northern European regional vegetation abundance through the Holocene. We apply the Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model using fossil pollen records from eighteen sites within five modern biomes in the region. The eighteen sites are classified into four time-trajectory types on the basis of principal components analysis of both the REVEALS-based vegetation estimates (RVs) and the pollen percentage (PPs). The four trajectory types are more clearly separated for RVs than PPs. Further, the timing of major Holocene shifts, rates of compositional change, and diversity indices (turnover and evenness) differ between RVs and PPs. The differences are due to the reduction by REVEALS of biases in fossil pollen assemblages caused by different basin size, and inter-taxonomic differences in pollen productivity and dispersal properties. For example, in comparison to the PPs, the RVs show an earlier increase in Corylus and Ulmus in the early-Holocene and a more pronounced increase in grassland and deforested areas since the mid-Holocene. The results suggest that the influence of deforestation and agricultural activities on plant composition and abundance from Neolithic times was stronger than previously inferred from PPs. Relative to PPs, RVs show a more rapid compositional change, a largest decrease in turnover, and less variable evenness in most of northern Europe since 5200 cal yr BP. All these changes are primarily related to the strong impact of human activities on the vegetation. This study demonstrates that RV-based estimates of diversity indices, timing of shifts, and rates of change in reconstructed vegetation provide new insights into the timing and magnitude of major human distribution on Holocene regional, vegetation, feature that are critical in the assessment of human impact on vegetation, land-cover, biodiversity, and climate in the past. (C) Elsevier Ltd.All tights reserved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4559249
- author
- Marquer, Laurent
LU
; Gaillard, Marie-Jose
; Sugita, Shinya
; Trondman, Anna-Kari
; Mazier, Florence
; Nielsen, Anne Birgitte
LU
; Fyfe, Ralph M.
; Odgaard, Bent Vad
; Alenius, Teija
and Birks, H. John B.
, et al. (More)
- Marquer, Laurent
LU
; Gaillard, Marie-Jose
; Sugita, Shinya
; Trondman, Anna-Kari
; Mazier, Florence
; Nielsen, Anne Birgitte
LU
; Fyfe, Ralph M.
; Odgaard, Bent Vad
; Alenius, Teija
; Birks, H. John B.
; Bjune, Anne E.
; Christiansen, Joerg
; Dodson, John
; Edwards, Kevin J.
; Giesecke, Thomas
; Herzschuh, Ulrike
; Kangur, Mihkel
; Lorenz, Sebastian
; Poska, Anneli
LU
; Schult, Manuela
and Seppa, Heikki
(Less)
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Holocene, Human impact, Northern Europe, Pollen, Quantitative regional, plant abundance, Rate of compositional change, REVEALS (Regional, Estimates of VEgetation, Abundance from Large Sites) model, Vegetation, diversity indices
- in
- Quaternary Science Reviews
- volume
- 90
- pages
- 199 - 216
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000336466800014
- scopus:84897853043
- ISSN
- 0277-3791
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.013
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d3ffefeb-04b4-4502-b8c8-137c0810cf74 (old id 4559249)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:20:42
- date last changed
- 2022-04-20 01:15:41
@article{d3ffefeb-04b4-4502-b8c8-137c0810cf74,
abstract = {{We present pollen-based reconstructions of the spatio-temporal dynamics of northern European regional vegetation abundance through the Holocene. We apply the Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model using fossil pollen records from eighteen sites within five modern biomes in the region. The eighteen sites are classified into four time-trajectory types on the basis of principal components analysis of both the REVEALS-based vegetation estimates (RVs) and the pollen percentage (PPs). The four trajectory types are more clearly separated for RVs than PPs. Further, the timing of major Holocene shifts, rates of compositional change, and diversity indices (turnover and evenness) differ between RVs and PPs. The differences are due to the reduction by REVEALS of biases in fossil pollen assemblages caused by different basin size, and inter-taxonomic differences in pollen productivity and dispersal properties. For example, in comparison to the PPs, the RVs show an earlier increase in Corylus and Ulmus in the early-Holocene and a more pronounced increase in grassland and deforested areas since the mid-Holocene. The results suggest that the influence of deforestation and agricultural activities on plant composition and abundance from Neolithic times was stronger than previously inferred from PPs. Relative to PPs, RVs show a more rapid compositional change, a largest decrease in turnover, and less variable evenness in most of northern Europe since 5200 cal yr BP. All these changes are primarily related to the strong impact of human activities on the vegetation. This study demonstrates that RV-based estimates of diversity indices, timing of shifts, and rates of change in reconstructed vegetation provide new insights into the timing and magnitude of major human distribution on Holocene regional, vegetation, feature that are critical in the assessment of human impact on vegetation, land-cover, biodiversity, and climate in the past. (C) Elsevier Ltd.All tights reserved.}},
author = {{Marquer, Laurent and Gaillard, Marie-Jose and Sugita, Shinya and Trondman, Anna-Kari and Mazier, Florence and Nielsen, Anne Birgitte and Fyfe, Ralph M. and Odgaard, Bent Vad and Alenius, Teija and Birks, H. John B. and Bjune, Anne E. and Christiansen, Joerg and Dodson, John and Edwards, Kevin J. and Giesecke, Thomas and Herzschuh, Ulrike and Kangur, Mihkel and Lorenz, Sebastian and Poska, Anneli and Schult, Manuela and Seppa, Heikki}},
issn = {{0277-3791}},
keywords = {{Holocene; Human impact; Northern Europe; Pollen; Quantitative regional; plant abundance; Rate of compositional change; REVEALS (Regional; Estimates of VEgetation; Abundance from Large Sites) model; Vegetation; diversity indices}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{199--216}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Quaternary Science Reviews}},
title = {{Holocene changes in vegetation composition in northern Europe: why quantitative pollen-based vegetation reconstructions matter}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.013}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.013}},
volume = {{90}},
year = {{2014}},
}