The REVEALS model,a new tool to estimate past regional plant abundance from pollen data in large lakes: validation in southern Sweden |
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| Authors: | Sofie Hellman Marie‐José Gaillard Anna Broström Shinya Sugita |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences, Kalmar University, Kalmar, Sweden;2. Geobiosphere Science Centre, Lund University, Lund, Sweden;3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, USA |
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| Abstract: | The REVEALS model was developed to reconstruct quantitatively regional vegetation abundance (in a 104–105 km2 area) from pollen assemblages in large lakes (≥100–500 ha). This model corrects for biases in pollen percentages caused by inter‐taxonomic differences in pollen productivity and dispersal. This paper presents the first case study to validate REVEALS, using empirical data from southern Sweden. Percentage cover of modern regional vegetation in Skåne and Småland, two contrasting vegetation regions, was predicted with REVEALS for 26 key taxa, using pollen assemblages from surface sediments in 10 large lakes, and compared to the actual vegetation within 104 km2 compiled from satellite data, forestry inventories, crop statistics, aerial photographs, and vegetation inventories. REVEALS works well in predicting the percentage cover of large vegetation units such as total trees (wooded land), total herbs (open land), total conifers and total broad‐leaved trees, and it provides reasonable estimates for individual taxa, including Pinus, Picea, Betula, Corylus, Alnus, Tilia, Salix spp., Juniperus, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Cerealia and Secale. The results show great potential for REVEALS applications, including (1) quantitative reconstructions of past regional land cover important for palaeoclimatology and nature conservation, and (2) local‐scale reconstruction of vegetation (<1 km2 up to ～ 5 km2 area) relevant for palaeoecology and archaeology. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | Holocene south Sweden pollen dispersal and deposition model pollen‐inferred regional estimates of vegetation abundance |
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