The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland: Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness

Ralph M. Fyfe; Claire Twiddle; Shinya Sugita; Marie José Gaillard; Philip Barratt; Christopher J. Caseldine; John Dodson; Kevin J. Edwards; Michelle Farrell; Cynthia Froyd; Michael J. Grant; Elizabeth Huckerby; James B. Innes; Helen Shaw; Martyn Waller

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014

The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland: Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness

Ralph M. Fyfe^*
, Claire Twiddle
, Shinya Sugita
, Marie José Gaillard
, Philip Barratt
, Christopher J. Caseldine
, John Dodson
, Kevin J. Edwards
, Michelle Farrell
, Cynthia Froyd
, Michael J. Grant
, Elizabeth Huckerby
, James B. Innes
, Helen Shaw
, Martyn Waller

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography & Environment

University of Plymouth
Tallinn University
Linnaeus University
Queen's University Belfast
University of Exeter
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
University of Hull
Swansea University
Kingston University
Oxford Archaeology North
Durham University
Lancaster University
Wessex Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

141 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The vegetation of Europe has undergone substantial changes during the course of the Holocene epoch, resulting from range expansion of plants following climate amelioration, competition between taxa and disturbance through anthropogenic activities. Much of the detail of this pattern is understood from decades of pollen analytical work across Europe, and this understanding has been used to address questions relating to vegetation-climate feedback, biogeography and human impact. Recent advances in modelling the relationship between pollen and vegetation now make it possible to transform pollen proportions into estimates of vegetation cover at both regional and local spatial scales, using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), i.e. the REVEALS (Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites) and the LOVE (LOcal VEgetation) models. This paper presents the compilation and analysis of 73 pollen stratigraphies from the British Isles, to assess the application of the LRA and describe the pattern of landscape/woodland openness (i.e. the cover of low herb and bushy vegetation) through the Holocene. The results show that multiple small sites can be used as an effective replacement for a single large site for the reconstruction of regional vegetation cover. The REVEALS vegetation estimates imply that the British Isles had a greater degree of landscape/woodland openness at the regional scale than areas on the European mainland. There is considerable spatial bias in the British Isles dataset towards wetland areas and uplands, which may explain higher estimates of landscape openness compared with Europe. Where multiple estimates of regional vegetation are available from within the same region inter-regional differences are greater than intra-regional differences, supporting the use of the REVEALS model to the estimation of regional vegetation from pollen data.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	132-148
Number of pages	17
Journal	Quaternary Science Reviews
Volume	73
Early online date	19 Jun 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2013

Bibliographical note

This paper is a contribution to the LANDCLIM (LANDcover–CLIMate interactions in NW Europe during the Holocene) project and research network, supported by the Swedish (VR) and Nordic (Nordforsk) Research Councils, co-ordinated by Marie-José Gaillard. The authors are grateful to all members of the LANDCLIM network for fruitful discussions through the course of the network. Much of the data used in this paper were drawn from the European Pollen Database, and we are grateful to those authors who have contributed data for the benefit of the wider community. We would like to thank Rob Marchant and Fraser Mitchell for help accessing records from Ireland and Bas van Geel for allowing us to use data from Carbury Bog. Neil Roberts and the reviewers are thanked for providing valuable constructive criticism on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

British Isles
Holocene
Landscape openness
Pollen analysis
REVEALS
Vegetation

Access to Document

10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

Fyfe, R. M., Twiddle, C., Sugita, S., Gaillard, M. J., Barratt, P., Caseldine, C. J., Dodson, J., Edwards, K. J., Farrell, M., Froyd, C., Grant, M. J., Huckerby, E., Innes, J. B., Shaw, H., & Waller, M. (2013). The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland: Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness. Quaternary Science Reviews, 73, 132-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014

Fyfe, RM, Twiddle, C, Sugita, S, Gaillard, MJ, Barratt, P, Caseldine, CJ, Dodson, J, Edwards, KJ, Farrell, M, Froyd, C, Grant, MJ, Huckerby, E, Innes, JB, Shaw, H & Waller, M 2013, 'The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland: Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 73, pp. 132-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014

@article{bf43cc0f0d1a400ba9234f4bb15ae4b2,

title = "The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland: Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness",

abstract = "The vegetation of Europe has undergone substantial changes during the course of the Holocene epoch, resulting from range expansion of plants following climate amelioration, competition between taxa and disturbance through anthropogenic activities. Much of the detail of this pattern is understood from decades of pollen analytical work across Europe, and this understanding has been used to address questions relating to vegetation-climate feedback, biogeography and human impact. Recent advances in modelling the relationship between pollen and vegetation now make it possible to transform pollen proportions into estimates of vegetation cover at both regional and local spatial scales, using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), i.e. the REVEALS (Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites) and the LOVE (LOcal VEgetation) models. This paper presents the compilation and analysis of 73 pollen stratigraphies from the British Isles, to assess the application of the LRA and describe the pattern of landscape/woodland openness (i.e. the cover of low herb and bushy vegetation) through the Holocene. The results show that multiple small sites can be used as an effective replacement for a single large site for the reconstruction of regional vegetation cover. The REVEALS vegetation estimates imply that the British Isles had a greater degree of landscape/woodland openness at the regional scale than areas on the European mainland. There is considerable spatial bias in the British Isles dataset towards wetland areas and uplands, which may explain higher estimates of landscape openness compared with Europe. Where multiple estimates of regional vegetation are available from within the same region inter-regional differences are greater than intra-regional differences, supporting the use of the REVEALS model to the estimation of regional vegetation from pollen data.",

keywords = "British Isles, Holocene, Landscape openness, Pollen analysis, REVEALS, Vegetation",

author = "Fyfe, \{Ralph M.\} and Claire Twiddle and Shinya Sugita and Gaillard, \{Marie Jos{\'e}\} and Philip Barratt and Caseldine, \{Christopher J.\} and John Dodson and Edwards, \{Kevin J.\} and Michelle Farrell and Cynthia Froyd and Grant, \{Michael J.\} and Elizabeth Huckerby and Innes, \{James B.\} and Helen Shaw and Martyn Waller",

note = "This paper is a contribution to the LANDCLIM (LANDcover{\textendash}CLIMate interactions in NW Europe during the Holocene) project and research network, supported by the Swedish (VR) and Nordic (Nordforsk) Research Councils, co-ordinated by Marie-Jos{\'e} Gaillard. The authors are grateful to all members of the LANDCLIM network for fruitful discussions through the course of the network. Much of the data used in this paper were drawn from the European Pollen Database, and we are grateful to those authors who have contributed data for the benefit of the wider community. We would like to thank Rob Marchant and Fraser Mitchell for help accessing records from Ireland and Bas van Geel for allowing us to use data from Carbury Bog. Neil Roberts and the reviewers are thanked for providing valuable constructive criticism on an earlier draft of the manuscript.",

year = "2013",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014",

language = "English",

volume = "73",

pages = "132--148",

journal = "Quaternary Science Reviews",

issn = "0277-3791",

publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland

T2 - Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness

AU - Fyfe, Ralph M.

AU - Twiddle, Claire

AU - Sugita, Shinya

AU - Gaillard, Marie José

AU - Barratt, Philip

AU - Caseldine, Christopher J.

AU - Dodson, John

AU - Edwards, Kevin J.

AU - Farrell, Michelle

AU - Froyd, Cynthia

AU - Grant, Michael J.

AU - Huckerby, Elizabeth

AU - Innes, James B.

AU - Shaw, Helen

AU - Waller, Martyn

N1 - This paper is a contribution to the LANDCLIM (LANDcover–CLIMate interactions in NW Europe during the Holocene) project and research network, supported by the Swedish (VR) and Nordic (Nordforsk) Research Councils, co-ordinated by Marie-José Gaillard. The authors are grateful to all members of the LANDCLIM network for fruitful discussions through the course of the network. Much of the data used in this paper were drawn from the European Pollen Database, and we are grateful to those authors who have contributed data for the benefit of the wider community. We would like to thank Rob Marchant and Fraser Mitchell for help accessing records from Ireland and Bas van Geel for allowing us to use data from Carbury Bog. Neil Roberts and the reviewers are thanked for providing valuable constructive criticism on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

PY - 2013/8/1

Y1 - 2013/8/1

N2 - The vegetation of Europe has undergone substantial changes during the course of the Holocene epoch, resulting from range expansion of plants following climate amelioration, competition between taxa and disturbance through anthropogenic activities. Much of the detail of this pattern is understood from decades of pollen analytical work across Europe, and this understanding has been used to address questions relating to vegetation-climate feedback, biogeography and human impact. Recent advances in modelling the relationship between pollen and vegetation now make it possible to transform pollen proportions into estimates of vegetation cover at both regional and local spatial scales, using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), i.e. the REVEALS (Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites) and the LOVE (LOcal VEgetation) models. This paper presents the compilation and analysis of 73 pollen stratigraphies from the British Isles, to assess the application of the LRA and describe the pattern of landscape/woodland openness (i.e. the cover of low herb and bushy vegetation) through the Holocene. The results show that multiple small sites can be used as an effective replacement for a single large site for the reconstruction of regional vegetation cover. The REVEALS vegetation estimates imply that the British Isles had a greater degree of landscape/woodland openness at the regional scale than areas on the European mainland. There is considerable spatial bias in the British Isles dataset towards wetland areas and uplands, which may explain higher estimates of landscape openness compared with Europe. Where multiple estimates of regional vegetation are available from within the same region inter-regional differences are greater than intra-regional differences, supporting the use of the REVEALS model to the estimation of regional vegetation from pollen data.

AB - The vegetation of Europe has undergone substantial changes during the course of the Holocene epoch, resulting from range expansion of plants following climate amelioration, competition between taxa and disturbance through anthropogenic activities. Much of the detail of this pattern is understood from decades of pollen analytical work across Europe, and this understanding has been used to address questions relating to vegetation-climate feedback, biogeography and human impact. Recent advances in modelling the relationship between pollen and vegetation now make it possible to transform pollen proportions into estimates of vegetation cover at both regional and local spatial scales, using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), i.e. the REVEALS (Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites) and the LOVE (LOcal VEgetation) models. This paper presents the compilation and analysis of 73 pollen stratigraphies from the British Isles, to assess the application of the LRA and describe the pattern of landscape/woodland openness (i.e. the cover of low herb and bushy vegetation) through the Holocene. The results show that multiple small sites can be used as an effective replacement for a single large site for the reconstruction of regional vegetation cover. The REVEALS vegetation estimates imply that the British Isles had a greater degree of landscape/woodland openness at the regional scale than areas on the European mainland. There is considerable spatial bias in the British Isles dataset towards wetland areas and uplands, which may explain higher estimates of landscape openness compared with Europe. Where multiple estimates of regional vegetation are available from within the same region inter-regional differences are greater than intra-regional differences, supporting the use of the REVEALS model to the estimation of regional vegetation from pollen data.

KW - British Isles

KW - Holocene

KW - Landscape openness

KW - Pollen analysis

KW - REVEALS

KW - Vegetation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84879426617

U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014

DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.05.014

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84879426617

SN - 0277-3791

VL - 73

SP - 132

EP - 148

JO - Quaternary Science Reviews

JF - Quaternary Science Reviews

ER -

The Holocene vegetation cover of Britain and Ireland: Overcoming problems of scale and discerning patterns of openness

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this