Mapping ecotone movements : Holocene dynamics of the forest tension zone in Central Lower Michigan, USA

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

HUPY, C.M.

Dep. of Geography and Anthropology, Univ. of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Etats-Unis

Description :
Pollen data for 9 lakes in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan were analyzed with discriminant analysis and spatially interpolated with inverse distance weighted to track ecotone movements of the forest tension zone. The forest tension zone has been in existence over the last 10,000 years and has been highly variable over space and time, with at least 3 major latitudinal shifts, as well as several less pronounced shifts. These shifts occurred primarily in response to millennial-scale oscillations in climate such as the warmer and dryer conditions associated with the mid-Holocene. A slighter shift was evident in association with the cooler and drier conditions of the Little Ice Age. This research demonstrates the sensitivity of Great Lakes forest communities to Holocene climate change and suggests a similar sensitivity of future ecotone dynamics in response to modern global warming.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Physical geography, issn : 0272-3646, 2012, vol. 33, n°. 5, p. 473-490, nombre de pages : 18, Références bibliographiques : 4 p.

Date :
2012

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Abingdon, Taylor and Francis

Langue :
Anglais