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The analysis of vegetation history is one of the prime objectives for vegetation scientists. In order to understand the recent composition of local floras and plant communities a second knowledge of species com position during recent millenia is essential. With the present concern over climate changes, due to human activities, an understanding of past vegeta tion distribution becomes even more important, since the correlation between climate and vegetation can often be used to predict possible impacts to crops and forests. I was very fortunate to receive the help of Drs. Webb and Huntley to compile this volume on vegetation history. They have collated an impres sive set of papers which together give an account of the vegetation history of most of the continents during the late-Tertiary and Quaternery periods. There are, however, gaps in the coverage achieved, most notably Africa, and Asia apart from Japan. The information in this book will nonetheless certainly be used widely by vegetation scientists for the regions covered in the book and much of it has relevance to the areas not explicitly described. The authors of the individual chapters have done their best to cover recent topics of interest as well as established facts. It is intended that a separate volume will be produced in the near future covering the vegetation history of Africa and Asia. I thank the editors of It fits well into the this volume for their commendable achievement.
This book focuses on the vegetation history of the cultural landscape in southwestern Slovakia, which was established and adopted by mankind and has since constantly evolved in response to ongoing changes (in environmental conditions, biodiversity, land use, etc.). The book analyses four dominant ecosystems typical for the cultural landscape and affected by humans: woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and agricultural land. Each ecosystem is discussed in separate chapters. The chapters include (a) basic information, general aspects, development processes, trends and interpretations, (b) a published or non-published case study based on the author’s own research, and (c) an extensive bibliography. A set of maps on the vegetation history and indices of geographical names and plants names serve to round out the coverage. The work provides an essential point of departure for describing the typical regional characteristics of the cultural landscape, with an eye to its future preservatio n.
This Research Topic commemorates the centenary of the first quantitative pollen diagram by Lennart von Post, the founder of paleoecological palynology. The main aim is to provide a thorough view of the use of palynology in aspects such as the reconstruction of Quaternary vegetation and environmental changes, the role of natural and anthropogenic drivers in the development of the Quaternary vegetation, the shaping of present-day ecological and biogeographical patterns, the potential application of this knowledge in biodiversity conservation and landscape restoration and the development of new methods of pollen analysis and data management. The Research Topic is subdivided into four main conceptual parts, namely (1) modern analog studies; (2) land cover estimates from pollen data; (3) vegetation dynamics reconstructions from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Oceania; and (4) large-scale reviews and meta-analyses. Hopefully, this Research Topic will serve to appraise the state of the art of modern palynology and highlight the usefulness of this discipline in long-term ecological research.
The Australian vegetation is the end result of a remarkable history of climate change, latitudinal change, continental isolation, soil evolution, interaction with an evolving fauna, fire and most recently human impact. This book presents a detailed synopsis of the critical events that led to the evolution of the unique Australian flora and the wide variety of vegetational types contained within it. The first part of the book details the past continental relationships of Australia, its palaeoclimate, fauna and the evolution of its landforms since the rise to dominance of the angiosperms at the beginning of the Cretaceous period. A detailed summary of the palaeobotanical record is then presented. The palynological record gives an overview of the vegetation and the distribution of important taxa within it, while the complementary macrofossil record is used to trace the evolution of critical taxa. This book will interest graduate students and researchers interested in the evolution of the flora of this fascinating continent.
A new title in the series of high-quality illustrated accounts of fossils, representing the latest work in the field and presenting palaeontology through a wide-ranging, first-class selection of photographs accompanied by an authoritative text of interest at all levels. Also available: Graptolites, Trilobites.
This book is a unique and integrated account of the history of North American vegetation and paleoenvironments over the past 70 million years. It includes discussions of the modern plant communities, causal factors for environmental change, biotic response, and methodologies. The history reveals a North American vegetation that is vast, immensely complex, and dynamic.
"This completely new edition of Terrestrial Vegetation of California clearly documents the extraordinary complexity and richness of the plant communities and of the state and the forces that shape them. This volume is a storehouse of information of value to anyone concerned with meeting the challenge of understanding, managing or conserving these unique plant communities under the growing threats of climate change, biological invasions and development."—Harold Mooney, Professor of Environmental Biology, Stanford University "The plants of California are under threat like never before. Traditional pressures of development and invasive species have been joined by a newly-recognized threat: human-caused climate change. It is essential that we thoroughly understand current plant community dynamics in order to have a hope of conserving them. This book represents an important, well-timed advance in knowledge of the vegetation of this diverse state and is an essential resource for professionals, students, and the general public alike."—Brent Mishler, Director of the University & Jepson Herbaria and Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
The Middle Holocene epoch (8,000 to 3,000 years ago) was a time of dramatic changes in the physical world and in human cultures. Across this span, climatic conditions changed rapidly, with cooling in the high to mid-latitudes and drying in the tropics. In many parts of the world, human groups became more complex, with early horticultural systems replaced by intensive agriculture and small-scale societies being replaced by larger, more hierarchial organizations. Climate Change and Cultural Dynamics explores the cause and effect relationship between climatic change and cultural transformations across the mid-Holocene (c. 4000 B.C.). - Explores the role of climatic change on the development of society around the world - Chapters detail diverse geographical regions - Co-written by noted archaeologists and paleoclimatologists for non-specialists
Based on palaeoecological studies by many authors, this book gives an overview of the changing history of the European plant cover during the past 2.6 million years, characterized by numerous cold and warm periods. The period of the last 20 000 years (from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present) is presented in detail, with special emphasis on the vegetation dynamics of Europe, the history of selected woody plants, the development of lakes and bogs and the emergence of European cultural landscapes under the influence of humans over thousands of years. In the analysis of the glacial and interglacial periods, the focus is on the different vegetation developments and the progressive impoverishment of the European flora. Further important topics are the spatio-temporal patterns and causes of long-term vegetation changes, the legacies of disturbances and land use on vegetation composition, the role of palaeoecology in nature conservation and its contribution to ecology and environmental sciences. In addition to recent research results, the book provides an overview of the main palaeoecological research methods. It concludes with a summary of the history of palaeoecology and Quaternary botany. For the first time, a detailed synthesis is presented of the many findings on European vegetation dynamics, which are complex and increasingly difficult to summarize. Numerous figures and tables, many of them original, accompany the text. The bibliography includes over 3000 publications. This book is primarily intended for students, researchers and practitioners in plant ecology, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology, forestry, agronomy, Quaternary sciences, climate sciences, biogeography, geography and archaeology.