Variations in pollen deposition of the main taxa forming the land cover along a NW–SE transect in European Russia: results of a ten year Tauber trap monitoring period

• Published in: Vegetation history and archaeobotany Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 699 - 716
• Main Authors: Nosova, Maria B., Lisitsyna, Olga V., Volkova, Olga A., Severova, Elena E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-11-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accumulation; Anthropology; Archaeology; Betulaceae; Biogeosciences; Climate; Climate Change; Coniferous forests; Corylus; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Forests; Fraxinus; Human influences; Land cover; Mathematical models; Monitoring; Numerical methods; Original Article; Paleontology; Picea; Pinus; Pollen; Quercus; Regression analysis; Steppes; Tilia; Vegetation; Russia; Forest-steppe; Pollen deposition; Pollen accumulation rates; Annual pollen loading; Mixed forest; Broadleaved forest
• ISSN: 0939-6314; 1617-6278
• DOI: 10.1007/s00334-020-00775-1

Annual pollen accumulation rates of the main tree and shrub taxa of European Russia (
Picea
,
Pinus
,
Betula
,
Alnus
,
Quercus
,
Tilia
,
Fraxinus
,
Ulmus
and
Corylus
), as well as several herbaceous taxa (Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Chenopodiaceae and
Artemisia
), were obtained using Tauber pollen traps which were placed along a northwest to southeast transect in European Russia. The work was carried out within the framework of the Pollen Monitoring Programme (PMP). The data were analysed using both traditional interpretations of PAR (pollen accumulation rate) values and numerical methods (linear regressions and canonical correspondence analysis, CCA). The various vegetation zones: broadleaved-coniferous forest, broadleaved forest and forest-steppe, differ from each other by the absolute pollen values (PARs) of forest-forming taxa and several wind-pollinated herbs. However, no statistical support for zonal differentiation based on these PARs has been found. The only obvious difference was observed between the forest zone and the forest-steppe. The climatic gradient along the NW–SE transect is reflected by changes in pollen values, but is smoothed due to human influence during past centuries and as a consequence of the dominance of secondary vegetation formations. The highest total PAR, as well as PARs of all the forest-forming taxa, was observed in the southern part of the mixed broadleaved-coniferous forest zone (RU-ZV). The PARs of thermophilic taxa (
Tilia
,
Fraxinus
,
Acer
,
Ulmus
,
Quercus
and
Corylus
), as well as of
Picea
correspond to warmth availability which is under the influence of a combination of latitude, continentality of climate and microclimatic conditions. According to linear regressions,
Picea, Tilia, Quercus
and
Corylus
PARs correspond to T
jul
, the July temperature of the previous season. Canonical correspondence analysis indicates that temperature, in particular T
jul
, is the main climatic parameter controlling the variation of modern pollen rain.