A record of Lateglacial and early Holocene environmental and ecological change from southwestern Connecticut,USA

Analyses of a sediment core from Highstead Swamp in southwestern Connecticut, USA, reveal Lateglacial and early Holocene ecological and hydrological changes. Lateglacial pollen assemblages are dominated by Picea and Pinus subg. Pinus, and the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) cold interval is evidenced by higher abundance of Abies and Alnus viridis subsp. crispa. As climate warmed at the end of the YD, Picea and Abies declined and Pinus strobus became the dominant upland tree species. A shift from lacustrine sediment to organic peat at the YD–Holocene boundary suggests that the lake that existed in the basin during the Lateglacial interval developed into a swamp in response to reduced effective moisture. A change in wetland vegetation from Myrica gale to Alnus incana subsp. rugosa and Sphagnum is consistent with this interpretation of environmental changes at the beginning of the Holocene. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国蓼科花粉类型的地理分布格局及其与生态因子的关系

从蓼科植物的孢粉类型角度,研究了中国蓼科花粉类型的地理分布格局及其与生态因子的关系。根据中国蓼科植物赖以生存的生态因子,得出中国蓼科花粉类型分布区的主要生态因子,包括地理位置(分布中心)、海拔高度、年降水量、年积温及生境数量。在此基础上,根据同一区域内相同或相似的生态环境条件下分布的现代蓼科各种花粉类型,确定一定花粉类型组合所指示的现代气候和环境,为利用地层中蓼科化石花粉重建古气候、古环境及气候变迁提供了现代孢粉学证据。     

Late Quaternary speleothem pollen in the British Isles

As with many terrestrial areas, the British Quaternary sequence is characterised by incomplete, fragmentary records, whose correlation is based on stratigraphic or biostratigraphic techniques due to the lack of radiometric ages beyond the ～40 kyr limit of ¹⁴C dating. Speleothems (secondary cave calcite deposits) offer a significant advantage over many sources of palaeoenvironmental information; they can be dated to a high precision and accuracy by uranium‐thorium (²³⁸U‐²³⁰Th) thermal ionisation and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry in the time period back to 500 kyr. They may also contain sufficient well‐preserved pollen representative of contemporary vegetation above the cave to allow palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. This study adopts the novel approach of combining pollen and thermal ionisation mass spectrometric (TIMS) U‐Th dating of British speleothems to produce well‐constrained palaeoenvironmental records. We report for the first time precisely dated records of pollen assemblages from speleothems suggesting the presence of thermophilous arboreal species in phases previously considered to have been consistently cool or cold and devoid of trees. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of the Laacher See Tephra on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Black Forest,southern germany

Late-glacial lake sediments containing the Laacher See Tephra (LST, 11000 yr BP) have been analysed for pollen and diatoms at two sites (Hirschenmoor, Rotmeer) in the montane belt of the Black Forest (southern Germany) in order to detect the possible impact of this major volcanic eruption on terrestrial and aquatic biota. The pollen assemblages at both sites show a minor increase in grasses and sedges following the tephra deposition, whereas the pollen of aquatic macrophytes do not show any consistent pattern. Partial redundancy analysis and Monte Carlo permutation tests suggest, however, that the LST had no statistically significant effect either on the terrestrial or aquatic pollen assemblages at either site when the effects of time and climatic change are allowed for statistically. The diatom assemblages at both sites changed after the deposition of the LST and diatominferred pH estimates suggest a short but non-significant excursion towards lower values. Multivariate analyses of the diatom data indicate a statistically significant impact of the deposition of the LST and associated changes in sediment lithology on the diatom assemblages when the effects of climatic change and time are allowed for statistically. However, owing to the interaction between tephra and lithology it is not possible to conclude if the diatom changes were caused by the deposition of the LST or by lithological changes.     

The Würmian Late-glacial in Iowland Switzerland

A synthesis is provided of Late-glacial (14-9 ka BP) environmental changes in lowland Switzerland (the ‘Swiss Plateau’). The chronology of deglaciation and subsequent developments in vegetation cover in the area are summarised. The sequence of climatic variations experienced in the region during the Late-glacial is then described and a curve representing the main palaeotemperature variations is presented.     

European vegetation history: Palaeovegetation maps from pollen data - 13 000 yr BP to present

Pollen data are the most important source of information with respect to late Quaternary vegetation history. Broad-scale palaeovegetation patterns have been subjectively inferred from mapped pollen data by previous authors. In this study, multivariate classification was applied to European pollen data for the last 13 000 yr. The resulting clusters are mapped at millennial intervals and can be equated with vegetation units. The maps portray the changing vegetation of Europe since the last glacial. They reveal the impermanence of the assemblages of species that ecologists recognise as communities. The dominant patterns in the maps also change through time, indicating important changes in palaeoenvironmental conditions and in the alignment of major environmental gradients. Human impact upon European vegetation history is seen to be relatively unimportant when the vegetation is viewed at a continental scale.     

基于条件期望的全概率公式及其应用

基于条件期望和随机事件A的示性函数IA，推导了离散型和连续型随机变量的全概率公式，要解决诸如离散型和连续型等一类随机问题时，若采用传统的全概率公式来解，势必带来很大的困难。但是，运用本文所研究的全概率公式。结果令人满意，具有较强的实用性，从而拓展了全概率公式的应用范围和解题思路，值得推广应用，同时该公式在可靠性理论研究中也有重要应用。     

干旱区石羊河终闾湖泊孢粉组合中云杉圆柏属环境指示意义探讨

河西走廓东段、石羊河终闾湖泊边缘的三角城剖面下部全新世早期至末次冰消期的292-600cm处155个样孢粉组合显示云杉、圆柏属含量极高，两者之和达40%-60%左右，且百分比互为消长，通过对云杉、圆柏属生态习性、传播性能、与其它组分关系、当地特殊的自然地理条件和表土花粉记录的综合分析，笔者认为剖面中高含量的云杉、圆柏属来自流域上游祁连山，是石羊河搬运的结果，两者含量与区域有效湿度关系密切，云杉丰值指示湿润，圆柏丰值指示干旱。     

A discontinuous Late Cenozoic vegetation record from a maar crater in Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract:  Presented here are results of analyses of sediments from a maar crater at Matukutureia, south Auckland. The record is discontinuous, reflecting formation of peat on the tuff surface after the eruption. The tuff section of the profile (3–7 million years old) has pollen of numerous extinct taxa and suggests broad-leaf beech ( Brassospora ) forest with Casuarina and Agathis , and warm temperate conditions. A date of 15 051 ± 80 ¹⁴C yr BP from the base of the overlying peat provides a minimum date for the eruption of McLauchlins Hill volcano. We cannot determine the timing of early Polynesian activities.