TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards mapping the late Quaternary vegetation change of Europe
AU - Giesecke, Thomas
AU - Davis, Basil
AU - Brewer, Simon
AU - Finsinger, Walter
AU - Wolters, Steffen
AU - Blaauw, Maarten
AU - de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis
AU - Binney, Heather
AU - Fyfe, Ralph M.
AU - Gaillard, Marie Jose
AU - Gil-Romera, Graciela
AU - van der Knaap, W.O.
AU - Kuneš, Petr
AU - Kühl, Norbert
AU - van Leeuwen, Jacqueline F. N.
AU - Leydet, Michelle
AU - Lotter, Andre
AU - Ortu, Elena
AU - Semmler, Malte
AU - Bradshaw, Richard H.W.
N1 - Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - The number of well-dated pollen diagrams in Europe has increased considerably over the last 30 years and many of them have been submitted to the European Pollen Database (EPD). This allows for the construction of increasingly precise maps of Holocene vegetation change across the continent. Chronological information in the EPD has been expressed in uncalibrated radiocarbon years, and most chronologies to date are based on this time scale. Here we present new chronologies for most of the datasets stored in the EPD based on calibrated radiocarbon years. Age information associated with pollen diagrams is often derived from the pollen stratigraphy itself or from other sedimentological information. We reviewed these chronological tie points and assigned uncertainties to them. The steps taken to generate the new chronologies are described and the rationale for a new classification system for age uncertainties is introduced. The resulting chronologies are fit for most continental-scale questions. They may not provide the best age model for particular sites, but may be viewed as general purpose chronologies. Taxonomic particularities of the data stored in the EPD are explained. An example is given of how the database can be queried to select samples with appropriate age control as well as the suitable taxonomic level to answer a specific research question.
AB - The number of well-dated pollen diagrams in Europe has increased considerably over the last 30 years and many of them have been submitted to the European Pollen Database (EPD). This allows for the construction of increasingly precise maps of Holocene vegetation change across the continent. Chronological information in the EPD has been expressed in uncalibrated radiocarbon years, and most chronologies to date are based on this time scale. Here we present new chronologies for most of the datasets stored in the EPD based on calibrated radiocarbon years. Age information associated with pollen diagrams is often derived from the pollen stratigraphy itself or from other sedimentological information. We reviewed these chronological tie points and assigned uncertainties to them. The steps taken to generate the new chronologies are described and the rationale for a new classification system for age uncertainties is introduced. The resulting chronologies are fit for most continental-scale questions. They may not provide the best age model for particular sites, but may be viewed as general purpose chronologies. Taxonomic particularities of the data stored in the EPD are explained. An example is given of how the database can be queried to select samples with appropriate age control as well as the suitable taxonomic level to answer a specific research question.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=yv4JPVwI&eid=2-s2.0-84875127344&md5=c071f418c3269ea2211dd605dd7fc479
U2 - 10.1007/s00334-012-0390-y
DO - 10.1007/s00334-012-0390-y
M3 - Article
SN - 0939-6314
VL - 23
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
JF - Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
IS - 1
ER -