Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-lvwk9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-18T17:05:41.611Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Using a Forest Stand Simulation Model to Examine the Ecological and Climatic Significance of the Late-Quaternary Pine-Spruce Pollen Zone in Eastern Virginia, U.S.A.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gordon B. Bonan  and
Bruce P. Hayden
Gordon B. Bonan
Affiliation:
Earth Resources Branch/ Code 623, NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 USA
Bruce P. Hayden
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Full-glacial pollen records from southeastern United States are composed primarily of pine and spruce, with lesser amounts of fir, birch, and oak. A simulation model of forest dynamics was used to reconstruct the composition and structure of these forests on the Delmarva Peninsula of Virginia, where pollen data were available to test the model, and climate and soils data were available to drive the model. Reconstructed annual precipitation and summer air temperature were consistent with modern analog estimates from the pollen record. Annual precipitation was also consistent with climates simulated by atmospheric general circulation models, but summers were colder. Correcting these simulated climates for possible errors resulted in summer air temperature consistent with our estimate. However, two alternative parameter sets relating simulated tree growth to air temperature sums precluded robust forest reconstructions. With one parameter set, the species dominating the simulated forests were not consistent with the pollen record. The other parameter set produced forests more consistent with paleoecological data, indicating that the climate was correct. These differences in simulated forest composition reflected inadequacies in the parameterization of air temperature effects in forest models.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , March 1990 , pp. 204 - 218
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berger, A. L. Long-term variations of caloric insolation resulting from the Earth's orbital elements. Quaternary Research 9 1978 139 167 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birks, H. J. B. Peglar, S. M. Identification of Picea pollen of Late Quaternary age in eastern North America: A numerical approach. Canadian Journal of Botany 58 1980 2043 2058 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonan, G. B. A Simulation Model of Environmental Processes and Vegetation Patterns in Boreal Forests: Test Case Fairbanks, Alaksa 1988 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Laxenburg, Austria Working Paper WP-88-63 Google Scholar
Bonan, G. B. A computer model of the solar radiation, soil moisture, and soil thermal regimes in boreal forests. Ecological Modelling 45 1989 275 306 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonan, G. B. Environmental factors and ecological processes controlling vegetation patterns in boreal forests. Landscape Ecology 1989 in press CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryson, R. A. Wendland, W. M. Tentative climatic patterns from late-glacial and post-glacial episodes in central North America Mayer-Oakes, W. J. Life, Land, and Water 1967 Univ. of Manitoba Press Winnipeg 271 298 Google Scholar
Craig, A. J. Vegetational history of the Shenadoah Valley, Virginia Schumm, S. A. Bradley, W. C. United States Contributions to Quaternary Research Vol. 123 1969 283 296 Geological Society of America Special Paper Google Scholar
Curtis, J. T. The Vegetation of Wisconsin 1959 Univ. of Wisconsin Press Madison Google Scholar
Davis, M. B. Botkin, D. B. Sensitivity of cool-temperate forests and their fossil pollen record to rapid temperature change. Quaternary Research 23 1985 327 340 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, P. A. Delcourt, H. R. Long-Term Forest Dynamics of the Temperate Zone 1987 Springer-Verlag New York CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, P. A. Delcourt, H. R. Webb, T. III Atlas of Mapped Distributions of Dominance and Modern Pollen Percentages for Important Tree Taxa of Eastern North America 1984 American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Dallas Contribution Series Number 14 Google Scholar
Denny, C. S. Owens, J. P. Sand Dunes on the Central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware 1067-C 1979 U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper Google Scholar
Denny, C. S. Owens, J. P. Sirkin, L. A. Rubin, M. The Parsonburg Sand in the Central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware 1067-B 1979 U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper Google Scholar
Fowells, H. A. Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States 1965 U.S. Forest Service Handbook 271, Washington, DC Google Scholar
Green, D. G. Time series and post-glacial forest ecology. Quaternary Research 15 1981 265 277 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, W. Malloy, R. J. Rusnak, G. A. Terasmae, J. Possible late Pleistocene uplift: Chesapeake Bay entrance. Journal of Geology 73 1965 201 229 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hazel, J. E. Pleistocene ostracode zoogeography in Atlantic coast submarine canyons. Journal of Paleontology 42 1968 1264 1271 Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J. E. Model simulations of the climatic patterns during the deglaciation of North America Ruddiman, W. F. Wright, H. E. Jr. North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation 1987 Geological Society of America Boulder, Co 425 446 Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J. E. Guetter, P. J. The influence of changing orbital parameters and surface boundary conditions on climate simulations for the past 18,000 years. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 43 1986 1726 1759 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutzbach, J. E. Wright, H. E. Jr. Simulation of the cimate of 18,000 years B.P.: Results for the North American/North Atlantic/European sector and comparison with the geologic record of North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 4 1985 147 187 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manabe, S. Broccoli, J. The influence of continental ice sheets on the climate of an ice age. Journal of Geophysical Research 90 1985 2167 2190 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moran, J. M. An Analysis of Periglacial Climatic Indicators of Late Glacial Time in North America. Ph.D. dissertation 1972 Univ. of Wisconsin Madison Google Scholar
Pastor, J. Post, W. M. Response of northern forests to CO2-induced climate change. Nature (London) 334 1988 55 58 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prentice, I. C. Records of vegetation in time and space: The principles of pollen analysis Huntley, B. Webb, T. III Vegetation History 1988 Kluwer Academic Boston 17 42 Google Scholar
Prentice, I. C. Webb, T. III Pollen percentages, tree abundances and the Fagerlind effect. Journal of Quaternary Science 1 1986 35 43 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richie, J. C. Postglacial Vegetation of Canada 1987 Cambridge Univ. Press Cambridge Google Scholar
Shugart, H. H. Jr. A Theory of Forest Dynamics 1984 Springer-Verlag New York CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirkin, L. A. Denny, C. S. Rubin, M. Late Pleistocene environment of the central Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware-Maryland. Geological Society of America Bulletin 88 1977 139 142 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Transient response of forests to CO2-induced climate change: Simulation modeling experiments in eastern North America. Oecologia (Berlin) 68 1986 567 579 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Comparison of taxon calibrations, modern analogue techniques, and forest-stand simulation models for the quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: A critique. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 11 1986 681 685 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Delcourt, H. R. West, D. C. Blasing, T. J. Testing a simulation model for reconstruction of prehistoric forest-stand dynamics. Quaternary Research 14 1980 275 293 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Shugart, H. H. Jr. Integrating forest-stand simulations with paleoecological records to examine long-term forest dynamics Agren, G. I. State and Change of Forest Ecosystems: Indicators in Current Research 1984 Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Science Uppsala, Sweden 333 356 Google Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Tharp, M. L. West, D. C. Taylor, G. E. Webb, J. M. Trimble, J. L. Response of unmanaged forests to CO2-induced climate change: Available information, initial tests, and data requirements. Report TR009 1984 U.S. Department of Energy Washington, DC Google Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Webb, T. III Computer-aided reconstruction of late-Quaternary landscape dynamics. Annual Reviews of Ecology and Systematics 16 1985 63 84 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, A. M. West, D. C. Solomon, J. A. Simulating the role of climate change and species immigration in forest succession West, D. C. Shugart, H. H. Jr. Botkin, D. B. Forest Succession: Concepts and Applications 1981 Springer-Verlag New York 154 177 Google Scholar
Swain, A. M. A history of fire and vegetation in Northeastern Minnesota as recorded in lake sediments. Quaternary Research 3 1973 383 396 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swain, A. M. Landscape patterns and forest history in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota: A pollen study from Hug Lake. Ecology 61 1980 747 754 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W. A. The full-glacial vegetation of northwestern Georgia. Ecology 51 1970 17 33 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W. A. Late Quaternary vegetation of central Appalachia and the New Jersey coastal plain. Ecological Monographs 49 1979 427 469 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W. A. The late Quaternary vegetation history of the southeastern United States. Annual Reviews of Ecology and Systematics 11 1980 387 409 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, W. A. Late-Quaternary vegetation history at White Pond on the inner coastal plain of South Carolina. Quaternary Research 13 1980 187 199 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, T. III The appearance and disappearance of major vegatational assemblages: Long-term vegetational dynamics in eastern North America. Vegetatio 69 1987 177 187 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, T. III Eastern North America Huntley, B. Webb, T. III Vegetation History 1988 Kluwer Academic Boston 385 414 Google Scholar
Webb, T. III Bartlein, P. J. Kutzbach, J. E. Climatic change in eastern North America During the past 18,000 years: Comparisons of pollen data with model results Ruddiman, W. F. Wright, H. E. Jr. North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation 1987 Geological Society of America Boulder, CO 447 462 Google Scholar
Webb, T. III Howe, S. E. Bradshaw, R. H. W. Heide, K. M. Estimating plant abundances from pollen percentages: The use of regression analysis. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 34 1981 269 300 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. Fossil pine pollen and fullglacial vegetation in southeastern North Carolina. Ecology 45 1964 767 777 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. Developmental and environmental history of the Dismal Swamp. Ecological Monographs 42 1972 301 315 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. Late-Wisconsin vegetational changes in unglaciated eastern North America. Quaternary Research 3 1973 621 631 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. Late-Pleistocene vegetational changes in northeastern North Carolina. Ecological Monographs 51 1981 451 471 CrossRefGoogle Scholar