Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Reconstructing historical ranges with fossil data at continental scales

Publication ,  Journal Article
McLachlan, JS; Clark, JS
Published in: Forest Ecology and Management
August 11, 2004

Sedimentary records indicating the changing distribution of temperate tree species since the last ice age are widely used to understand the rates and patterns of population response to environmental change and the genetic consequences of such dynamics. It is well known that fossil pollen and plant macrofossil data provide limited information on distribution and abundance of small or diffuse tree populations. Nevertheless, the estimates of potential migration rates that are currently in use rely on assumptions about how fossil pollen and macrofossils record such populations. To better understand how such assumptions may influence estimates of spread rate, we related modern tree distributions to surface pollen abundance, using assumptions that are routinely applied to paleoecological data. We were unable to reconstruct the modern ranges of two species that are well represented in sediments using pollen and macrofossils from sediment surface samples. The ranges of American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) include large areas where these trees are not abundant, and these were impossible to identify using pollen and macrofossil data, respectively. Our analysis supports the view that populations of these and other species existed at low densities over extensive areas in the past, and such areas would not be accurately mapped using fossil data. If so, estimates of past migration rates could be inaccurate. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Forest Ecology and Management

DOI

ISSN

0378-1127

Publication Date

August 11, 2004

Volume

197

Issue

1-3

Start / End Page

139 / 147

Related Subject Headings

  • Forestry
  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
McLachlan, J. S., & Clark, J. S. (2004). Reconstructing historical ranges with fossil data at continental scales. Forest Ecology and Management, 197(1–3), 139–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2004.05.026
McLachlan, J. S., and J. S. Clark. “Reconstructing historical ranges with fossil data at continental scales.” Forest Ecology and Management 197, no. 1–3 (August 11, 2004): 139–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2004.05.026.
McLachlan JS, Clark JS. Reconstructing historical ranges with fossil data at continental scales. Forest Ecology and Management. 2004 Aug 11;197(1–3):139–47.
McLachlan, J. S., and J. S. Clark. “Reconstructing historical ranges with fossil data at continental scales.” Forest Ecology and Management, vol. 197, no. 1–3, Aug. 2004, pp. 139–47. Scopus, doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2004.05.026.
McLachlan JS, Clark JS. Reconstructing historical ranges with fossil data at continental scales. Forest Ecology and Management. 2004 Aug 11;197(1–3):139–147.
Journal cover image

Published In

Forest Ecology and Management

DOI

ISSN

0378-1127

Publication Date

August 11, 2004

Volume

197

Issue

1-3

Start / End Page

139 / 147

Related Subject Headings

  • Forestry
  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
  • 06 Biological Sciences
  • 05 Environmental Sciences