Title: Forest history of the last 12,000 years based on plant macrofossil analysis of lake sediment from Southwestern B.C.
Abstract: The forest history around Marion Lake in southwestern B.C. is reconstructed using plant macrofossil analysis, and compared to a previous reconstruction based on pollen and spore analysis by R.W. Mathewes. Thirty mud surface samples were collected in order to establish the distribution of modern macrofossils. Conifer needles were more abundant than their seeds, while, for most other taxa, reproductive structures were more common than vegetative ones. Needle fragments of Pinus monticola are overrepresented in the sediments. A proportional relationship between the log of the average concentration and the frequency at which macrofossils were encountered suggests a good dispersion within the basin. The sample sites are separated into three groups on the basis of their macrofossil floras; offshore samples, west shore samples and east shore samples. A sediment core spanning 12,000 years was collected from a site as close as possible to Mathewes' core. The results of macrofossil analysis are presented as a percentage diagram for conifer needles and as an influx diagram for all taxa. There is good correspondence between macrofossil and pollen zones, although the start of each pollen zone predates its macrofossil analogue. Needles of Pinus contorta are found at the base of the core, followed by a period, 11,500 to 9000 B.P.,
Publication Year: 1986
Publication Date: 1986-01-01
Language: en
Type: dissertation
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Cited By Count: 4
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