Ecological thresholds and patterns of millennial-scale climate variability: The response of vegetation in Greece during the last glacial period
- 1School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
- 2Department of Geography, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK
- 3Department of Geography and Environment, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
- 4Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
- 5Grup de Recerca Consolidat (GRC) Geociències Marines, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- 6Godwin Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3SA, UK
Abstract
The regional expression of millennial-scale climate variability during the last glacial is examined with particular reference to the vegetation response in Greece. Inspection of three pollen records from contrasting bioclimatic areas suggests that differences in the magnitude of cold events as recognized in the North Atlantic and western Mediterranean are expressed in terms of tree population changes only in areas with a range of favorable habitats. By contrast, records from sites where populations approach their tolerance threshold do not appear to resolve differences in the amplitude of the climate oscillations. Understanding the importance of local factors in modulating the biological response to climate change is critical when attempting to establish the spatial pattern of millennial variability.
Footnotes
-
- Accepted October 16, 2003.
- Received August 12, 2003.
- Revision received October 14, 2003.
- Geological Society of America
