Modern pollen deposition in and around woodland fragments in a largely open cultural landscape in northwest Scotland is investigated using moss polsters and surface sediment samples from small lakes. The percentage of local arboreal (tree and shrub) pollen types declines rapidly with distance from the woodland edge, generally reaching background levels in less than 100 m. Even at the woodland edge or under the canopy, some samples contain less than 30% local arboreal pollen. The relationship between percentage of local arboreal pollen and distance from the woodland edge does not vary with changing topographic relationship between sample location and the woodland edge, but does differ according to the vegetation community outside the woodland. Comparison of pollen assemblages from 11 small lake basins (mean size 1.0 hectare) with assemblages from moss polsters collected near the lake edge suggests that the pollen source area for arboreal pollen types is in the order of 300 m for peat samples and over 400 m for lake sediments. Implications for interpretation of palaeorecords are considered.
Andersen, S.1970: The relative pollen productivity and pollen representation of north European trees, and correction factors for tree pollen spectra . Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse, II, Række Nr.96, 1–96 .
2.
Andersen, S.1973: The differential pollen productivity of trees and its significance for the interpretation of a pollen diagram from a forested region. In Birks, H.J.B. and West, R.G. , editors, Quaternary plant ecology, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications , 109–116.
3.
Bennett, K.D.1992: psimpoll – a QuickBASIC program that generates PostScript page description files of pollen diagrams . INQUA Commission for the Study of the Holocene: Working Group on Data-Handling Methods Newsletter8, 11–12 .
4.
Bennett, K.D.1995: Post-glacial dynamics of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and pine-woods in Scotland. In Aldhous, J.H. , editor, Our pinewood heritage, Farnham: Forestry Commission, RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage , 23–39.
5.
Bennett, K.D.1998: http://www.kv.geo.uu.se/pc-dicot-notes.html%23note24. As updated 26 November.
6.
Bennett, K.D. , Whittington, G. and Edwards, K.J.1994: Recent plant nomenclatural changes and pollen morphology in the British Isles . Quaternary Newsletter74, 1–6 .
7.
Berglund, B.E. and Ralska-Jasiewicsowa, M.1986: Pollen analysis and pollen diagrams. In Berglund, B.E. , editor, Handbook of Holocene palaeo-ecology and palaeohydrology, Chichester: John Wiley , 455–483.
8.
Birks, H.J.B.1980: Quaternary vegetational history of west Scotland. Cambridge: Fifth International Palynological Conference Excursion Guide C8 .
9.
Birks, H.J.B.1988: Long-term ecological change in the British uplands. In Usher, M.B. and Thompson, D.B.A. , editors, Ecological change in the uplands, Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications , 37–53.
10.
Boyd, W.E. and Dickson, J.H.1987a: A postglacial pollen sequence from Loch a'Mhuilinn, north Arran: a record of vegetation history with special reference to the history of endemic Sorbus species . New Phytologist107, 221–244 .
11.
Boyd, W.E. and Dickson, J.H.1987b: The pollen morphology of four Sorbus species, with special reference to two Scottish local endemic species, S. arranensis Hedl. and S. pseudofennica E.F. Warb . Pollen et Spores24, 59–72 .
12.
Bradshaw, R.H.W.1981: Modern pollen-representation factors for woods in south-east England . Journal of Ecology69, 45–70 .
13.
Bradshaw, R. and Holmqvist, B.H.1999: Danish forest development during the last 3000 years reconstructed from regional pollen data . Ecography22, 53–62 .
14.
Broström, A. , Gaillard, M.-J. , Ihse, M. and Odgaard, B.1998: Pollen-landscape relationships in modern analogues of ancient cultural landscapes in southern Sweden – a first step towards quantification of vegetation openness in the past . Vegetation History and Archaeobotany7, 189–201 .
15.
Bunting, M.J. , Warner, B.G. and Morgan, C.R.1998: Interpreting pollen diagrams from wetlands: pollen representation in surface samples from Oil Well Bog, southern Ontario . Canadian Journal of Botany76, 1780–1797 .
16.
Calcote, R.1995: Pollen source area and pollen productivity: evidence from forest hollows . Journal of Ecology83, 591–602 .
17.
Caseldine, C.L.1981: Surface pollen studies across Bankhead Moss, Fife, Scotland . Journal of Biogeography8, 7–25 .
18.
Cundill, P.R.1979: Contemporary pollen spectra on the North York Moors . Journal of Biogeography6, 127–131 .
19.
Dumayne, L. and Barber, K.E.1994: The impact of the Romans on the environment of northern England: pollen data from three sites close to Hadrian's Wall . The Holocene4, 165–173 .
20.
Dunwiddie, P.W.1987: Macrofossil and pollen representation of coniferous trees in modern sediments from Washington . Ecology68, 1–11 .
21.
Edwards, K.J.1981: The separation of Corylus and Myrica pollen in modern and fossil samples . Pollen et Spores23, 205–218 .
22.
Edwards, K.J.1983: Quaternary palynology: multiple profile studies and pollen variability . Progress in Physical Geography7, 587–609 .
23.
Fossitt, J.A.1994: Modern pollen rain in the northwest of the British Isles . The Holocene4, 365–376 .
24.
Gaillard, M.J. , Birks, H.J.B. , Emanuelsson, U. and Berglund, B.E.1992: Modern pollen/land-use relationships as an aid in the reconstruction of past land-uses and cultural landscapes: an example from south Sweden . Vegetation History and Archaeobotany1, 3–17 .
25.
Gaillard, M.J. , Birks, H.J.B. , Emanuelsson, U. , Karlsson, S. , Lageras, S. and Olausson, D.1994: Application of modern pollen/land-use relationships to the interpretation of pollen diagrams – reconstructions of land-use history in south Sweden, 3000–0 BP . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology82, 47–73 .
26.
Gaillard, M.J. , Birks, H.J.B. , Ihse, M. and Runborg, S.1998: Pollen/landscape calibrations based on modern pollen assemblages from surface-sediment samples and landscape mapping – a pilot study in south Sweden. In Gaillard, M.J. and Berglund, B. , editors, Quantification of land surfaces cleared of forests during the Holocene – modern pollen/vegetation/landscape relationships as an aid to the interpretation of fossil pollen data, Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag , 31–52.
27.
Gearey, B. and Gilbertson, D.1997: Pollen taphonomy of trees in a windy climate: Northbay Plantation, Barra, Outer Hebrides . Scottish Geographical Magazine113, 113–120 .
28.
Jackson, S.T.1990: Pollen source area and representation in small lakes of the north-eastern United States . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology63, 53–76 .
29.
Jackson, S.T.1994: Pollen and spores in Quaternary lake sediments as sensors of vegetation composition: theoretical models and empirical evidence. In Traverse, A. , editor, Sedimentation of organic particles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 253–286.
30.
Jacobson, G.L. Jr and Bradshaw, R.H.W.1981: The selection of sites for paleovegetational studies . Quaternary Research16, 80–96 .
31.
Janssen, C.R.1984: Modern pollen assemblages and vegetation in the Myrtle Lake Peatland, Minnesota . Ecological Monographs54, 213–252 .
32.
Kent, M. and Coker, P.1992: Vegetation description and analysis. Chichester: John Wiley .
33.
Maher, L.J. Jr1972: Nomograms for computing 0.95 confidence limits of pollen data . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology13, 85–93 .
34.
Moore, P.D. , Webb, J.A. and Collinson, M.E.1991: Pollen analysis (second edition). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications .
35.
Mosimann, J.E.1965: Statistical methods for the pollen analyst: multi-nomial and negative multinomial techniques. In Kummel, B. and Raup, D. , editors, Handbook of paleontological techniques, San Francisco: Freeman , 636–673.
36.
Nobel, R.1997: Changes in native woodland in Assynt, Sutherland, since 1774. In Smout, T.C. , editor, Scottish woodland history, Edinburgh: Scottish Cultural Press , 126–134.
37.
Prentice, I.C.1985: Pollen representation, source area, and basin size: towards a unified theory of pollen analysis . Quaternary Research23, 76–86 .
38.
Stace, C.1997: New flora of the British Isles (second edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
39.
Steven, G. and Dickson, J.H.1991: The vegetational history of Glen Diomhanm North Arran, site of endemic whitebeams, Sorbus arranensis Hedl. and S. pseudofennica E.F. Warb . New Phytologist117, 501–506 .
40.
Sugita, S.1993: A model of pollen source area for an entire lake surface . Quaternary Research39, 239–244 .
41.
Sugita, S.1994: Pollen representation of vegetation in Quaternary sediments: theory and method in patchy vegetation . Journal of Ecology82, 881–897 .
42.
Sugita, S. , Gaillard, M.-J. and Broström, A.1999: Landscape openness and pollen records: a simulation approach . The Holocene9, 409–421 .
43.
Tauber, H.1967: Investigations of the mode of pollen transfer in forested areas . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology3, 277–286 .
44.
Tinsley, H.M. and Smith, R.T.1974: Surface pollen studies across a woodland/heath transition and their application in the interpretation of pollen diagrams . New Phytologist73, 547–565 .
45.
Turner, J.1964: Surface sample analyses from Ayrshire, Scotland . Pollen et Spores6, 583–592 .
46.
Webb, T. III , Howe, S.E. , Bradshaw, R.H.W. and Heide, K.M.1981: Estimating plant abundances from pollen percentages: the use of regression analysis . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology34, 269–300 .
47.
Wright, H.E. Jr1980: Cores of soft lake sediments . Boreas9, 107–114 .
