Vegetation and Pollen Relationships in Eastern Canada

摘要

The relationship between the vegetation and modern pollen assemblages in easternCanada is summarized and analyzed using isopoll maps, ordination, and cluster analysis. The major vegetation zones recognized in the region are the shrub tundra, forest tundra (divided into shrub and forest subzones), lichen woodland, closed black-spruce forest, mixed boreal forest, and coastal barrens. The pollen assemblages of the major vegetation zones are distinguished primarily by differences in the relative abundance of a few important pollen types rather than floristic differences. Northern vegetation zones are characterized by relatively high Cyperaceae and low Picea pollen percentages, and southern zones by high Picea and Abies pollen percentages. Surface samples from each vegetation zone generally form distinctive groups in the ordination analysis. However, samples from the shrub subzone of the forest tundra cluster with shrub tundra samples, and lichen woodland samples cluster with samples from the closed black-spruce forest and the forest subzone of the forest tundra.