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NUMERIGAL METHODS IN QUATERNARY PALAEOECOLOGY
Author(s) -
GORDON A. D.,
BIRKS H. J. B.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1974.tb04621.x
Subject(s) - pollen , transect , assemblage (archaeology) , quaternary , geology , paleontology , geography , ecology , biology
S ummary Comparison of pollen diagrams is an important stage in pollen analytical Investigations as it is the basis for the recognition of regional pollen assemblage zones. Three numerical approaches to the problem of comparing stratigraphical sequences are presented. Their use is illustrated by two contrasting sets of data, one from two sites of Late‐Wisconsin age in central Minnesota, the other from a transect of sites in north‐west Minnesota extending from Late‐Wisconsin to present times. The first approach compares pollen zones at the different sites on two numerical criteria, information radius and concordance. The other two approaches compare sequences on a level by‐level basis; the second method by means of non‐metric multidimensional scaling and the third by a slotting procedure by which levels at one site are slotted between levels at another site on the basis of similarities in pollen composition. The advantages and disadvantages of the three approaches are discussed.