Vegetation analysis techniques applied to Late Tertiary fossil floras from the western United States

Three numerical techniques of vegetation-analysis--tabular comparison, cluster analysis and polar ordination--are applied in the study of twenty-seven Miocene and Pliocene fossil floras from the western United States. Each of the methods points to floristic relationships that are governed primarily...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of ecology 1977-07, Vol.65 (2), p.643-660
Main Authors: Robichaux, R.H, Taylor, D.W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cluster analysis
Coniferous forests
Creeks
Deciduous forests
Flora
Fossils
Geographic regions
Ordination
Taxa
Vegetation
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Summary:Three numerical techniques of vegetation-analysis--tabular comparison, cluster analysis and polar ordination--are applied in the study of twenty-seven Miocene and Pliocene fossil floras from the western United States. Each of the methods points to floristic relationships that are governed primarily by geographical position and secondarily by age. Tabular comparison also indicates the specific basis for the observed relationships, generating four palaeofloristic units, or groups of fossil species, that differentiate major groups of fossil floras. The complementary and reinforcing nature of the results of the three different techniques indicates the potential value of their combined use not only in the analysis of the fossil record but also in the analysis of modern vegetation.
ISSN:0022-0477
1365-2745
DOI:10.2307/2259506