| Summary: | The relationship between the vegetation and modern pollen assemblages in eastern Canada is summarized and analyzed using isopoll maps, ordination, and cluster analysis. he major vegetation zones recognized in the region are the shrub tundra, forest tundra (divided into shrub and forest subzones), lichen woodland, closed black-spruce forest, mixed boreal forest, and coastal barrens. he pollen assemblages of the major vegetation zones are distinguished primarily by differences in the relative abundance of a few important pollen types rather than floristic differences. orthern vegetation zones are characterized by relatively high Cyperaceae and low Picea pollen percentages, and southern zones by high Picea and Abies pollen percentages. urface samples from each vegetation zone generally form distinctive groups in the ordination analysis. owever, samples from the shrub subzone of the forest tundra cluster with shrub tundra samples, and lichen woodland samples cluster with samples from the closed black-spruce forest and the forest subzone of the forest tundra. he cluster analysis separates the surface samples into geographically distinct groups. owever, these groups generally contain samples from several different vegetation zones. he surface sample data set analyzed here will prove useful in reconstructing the vegetation history of the region.
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