Mapping eastern North American vegetation change of the past 18 ka; no-analogs and the future

The method of modern analogs and an extensive data base of modern and fossil pollen data were used to generate a new series of paleovegetation maps for eastern North America spanning the past 18 ka. The maps illustrate the continuous nature of climate-induced vegetation change and the development, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 1992-12, Vol.20 (12), p.1071-1074
Main Authors: Overpeck, Jonathan T, Webb, Robert S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canada
Cenozoic
changes
Climate
data processing
Eastern Canada
Eastern U.S
Flowers & plants
microfossils
miospores
North America
paleoclimatology
paleoecology
Paleontology
palynomorphs
patterns
Plantae
pollen
Quaternary
Quaternary geology
statistical analysis
stratigraphy
terrestrial environment
time series analysis
United States
upper Quaternary
vegetation
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Summary:The method of modern analogs and an extensive data base of modern and fossil pollen data were used to generate a new series of paleovegetation maps for eastern North America spanning the past 18 ka. The maps illustrate the continuous nature of climate-induced vegetation change and the development, after about 10 ka, of modern regional vegetation patterns. Before the Holocene, vegetation biomes without modern analogs were widespread in response to climate conditions without modern analogs and, to a lesser extent, to the rapidity of climate change over the last glacial-interglacial transition. This geological perspective suggests that possible future climate changes could force similarly complex changes in natural vegetation, including the development of biomes without modern analogs.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<1071:MENAVC>2.3.CO;2