TWIG - WOOD ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS AS PALEOECOLOGICAL INDICATORS

Authors
Citation
I. Poole, TWIG - WOOD ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS AS PALEOECOLOGICAL INDICATORS, Review of palaeobotany and palynology, 81(1), 1994, pp. 33-52
Citations number
38
Categorie Soggetti
Paleontology,"Plant Sciences
ISSN journal
00346667
Volume
81
Issue
1
Year of publication
1994
Pages
33 - 52
Database
ISI
SICI code
0034-6667(1994)81:1<33:T-WACA>2.0.ZU;2-M
Abstract
The predictive value of the vessel element features of fossilized, sma ll diameter dicotyledonous angiosperm axes for palaeoecological recons tructions is investigated. The Vulnerability Index and Mesomorphy Rati o have been employed. Anatomical distinctions between young twigs, bra nches, main axes and roots of Betula pendula Roth, Aesculus hippocasta num L. and Poplus nigra L. were established so that the problems in ex trapolating such formulae, based on branch wood, to twig wood could be overcome. The variations in anatomy and thus discrepancies in the val ues obtained from these two parameters, between mature and juvenile wo od, are discussed and correction factors devised to enable the derivat ion of these parameters directly from the twig material. Modified vers ions of the Vulnerability Index and Mesomorphy Ratio have then been ap plied to the pyritized ''twigs'' of the London Clay. A palaeoclimatic signal for the southeast of England has been obtained and its reliabil ity is then discussed.