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Estimating the amount of compositional change in late-Quaternary pollen-stratigraphical data

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Abstract

Detrended canonical correspondence analysis is used to estimate the amount of palynological change or compositional turnover in ten Holocene pollen-stratigraphical sequences from Setesdal, southern Norway. The results, when the analyses are standardised for the same time interval, show that the highest amounts of change occurred at sites in the south of Setesdal where there is a richer tree flora. This primarily methodological study provides a robust approach to answering the question as to how much change is recorded within a pollen sequence, and to summarising the amount of change between sequences.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to Hans-Jürgen Beug on the occasion of his 75th birthday in recognition of his many contributions to European pollen morphology and to Quaternary vegetational history in Europe, the Mediterranean basin, West Africa and the Himalaya, and of his warm friendship and musical hospitality.

I thank Sylvia M. Peglar for providing the pollen-stratigraphical data, Einar Heegaard for assistance with the age-depth modelling, Mark Hill and Jim Ritchie for discussions about quantifying turnover, André Lotter and Karin Zonneveld for valuable reviews, and Cathy Jenks for help in preparing the manuscript. The work in Setesdal was supported by the Norwegian Research Council (NFR) and its NORPAST and NORPEC projects. This is publication A133 from the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, 5007, Bergen, Norway

    H. J. B. Birks

  2. Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    H. J. B. Birks

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  1. H. J. B. Birks
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Correspondence to H. J. B. Birks.

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Communicated by L. Dupont

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Birks, H.J.B. Estimating the amount of compositional change in late-Quaternary pollen-stratigraphical data. Veget Hist Archaeobot 16, 197–202 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-006-0079-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-006-0079-1

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