Ea. Lynch, THE ABILITY OF POLLEN FROM SMALL LAKES AND PONDS TO SENSE FINE-SCALE VEGETATION PATTERNS IN THE CENTRAL ROCKY-MOUNTAINS, USA, Review of palaeobotany and palynology, 94(3-4), 1996, pp. 197-210
Pollen ratios and linear discriminant analysis were used to detect fin
e-scale vegetation patterns in the subalpine zone of the central Rocky
Mountains, USA. The vegetation of this zone is a mosaic of conifer fo
rests and treeless parks dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and g
rasses. Previous work with pollen surface samples in the region has co
rrelated modern pollen rain to broad-scale vegetation zones (e.g. step
pe, montane forest, subalpine forest, and tundra), but little effort h
as been made to detect fine-scale (hundreds to thousands of meters) pa
tterns within these vegetation zones. Previous theoretical studies sug
gest that vegetation patterns on the scale of hundreds of meters shoul
d be recorded in the pollen deposited in small ponds. Pollen surface s
amples were collected from small ponds and lakes (30-350 m diameter) f
rom subalpine vegetation in Colorado and Wyoming. An additional set of
samples was collected from small ponds in a park and the surrounding
forest in the Wind River Range of northwest Wyoming. Pollen percentage
s were not dramatically different in park and forest assemblages, but
the ratio of conifer to herb and Artemisia pollen (C:H) and the linear
discriminant score were successful in separating park and forest poll
en assemblages.