Pollen-based biomes for Beringia 18,000, 6000 and 0 14 C yr BP

The objective biomization method developed by Prentice et al. (1996) for Europe was extended using modern pollen samples from Beringia and then applied to fossil pollen data to reconstruct palaeovegetation patterns at 6000 and 18,000 14 C yr BP. The predicted modern distribution of tundra, taiga and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Biogeography
Main Authors: Edwards, M. E., Anderson, P. M., Brubaker, L. B., Ager, T. A., Andreev, A. A., Bigelow, N. H., Cwynar, L. C., Eisner, W. R., Harrison, S. P., Hu, F. S., Jolly, D., Lozhkin, A. V., MacDonald, G. M., Mock, C. J., Ritchie, J. C., Sher, A. V., Spear, R. W., Williams, J. W., Yu, G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2000
Subjects:
Alaska
Biomes
Climate changes
Eastern Siberia
Last glacial maximum
Mid-Holocene
Plant functional types
Pollen data
Vegetation changes
Canada
Mackenzie Delta
taiga
Tundra
Beringia
Siberia
Online Access:https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/d35335c5-5453-4773-81a5-817b20d8bf08
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00426.x
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034479172&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Description
Summary:The objective biomization method developed by Prentice et al. (1996) for Europe was extended using modern pollen samples from Beringia and then applied to fossil pollen data to reconstruct palaeovegetation patterns at 6000 and 18,000 14 C yr BP. The predicted modern distribution of tundra, taiga and cool conifer forests in Alaska and north-western Canada generally corresponds well to actual vegetation patterns, although sites in regions characterized today by a mosaic of forest and tundra vegetation tend to be preferentially assigned to tundra. Siberian larch forests are delimited less well, probably due to the extreme under-representation of Larix in pollen spectra. The biome distribution across Beringia at 6000 14 C yr BP was broadly similar to today, with little change in the northern forest limit, except for a possible northward-advance in the Mackenzie delta region. The western forest limit in Alaska was probably east of its modern position. At 18,000 14 C yr BP the whole of Beringia was covered by tundra. However, the importance of the various plant functional types varied from site to site, supporting the idea that the vegetation cover was a mosaic of different tundra types.

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