z-logo
Premium
Pollen‐based reconstructions of Japanese biomes at 0, 6000 and 18,000  14 C  yr   bp
Author(s) -
Takahara Hikaru,
Sugita Shinya,
Harrison Sandy P.,
Miyoshi Norio,
Morita Yoshimune,
Uchiyama Takashi
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1365-2699
pISSN - 0305-0270
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00432.x
Subject(s) - biome , pollen , physics , botany , biology , ecology , ecosystem
A biomization method, which objectively assigns individual pollen assemblages to biomes ( Prentice et al. , 1996), was tested using modern pollen data from Japan and applied to fossil pollen data to reconstruct palaeovegetation patterns 6000 and 18,000  14 C yr  bp Biomization started with the assignment of 135 pollen taxa to plant functional types (PFTs), and nine possible biomes were defined by specific combinations of PFTs. Biomes were correctly assigned to 54% of the 94 modern sites. Incorrect assignments occur near the altitudinal limits of individual biomes, where pollen transport from lower altitudes blurs the local pollen signals or continuous changes in species composition characterizes the range limits of biomes. As a result, the reconstructed changes in the altitudinal limits of biomes at 6000 and 18,000  14 C yr  bp are likely to be conservative estimates of the actual changes. The biome distribution at 6000  14 C yr  bp was rather similar to today, suggesting that changes in the bioclimate of Japan have been small since the mid‐Holocene. At 18,000  14 C yr  bp the Japanese lowlands were covered by taiga and cool mixed forests. The southward expansion of these forests and the absence of broadleaved evergreen/warm mixed forests reflect a pronounced year‐round cooling.

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here