Abstract
The long life and large size of trees make it unrealistic to use conventional methods of plant biology in the study of their populations 1. However, detailed radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams offer the opportunity for observing the behaviour of tree populations over long periods of time (102-104 yr) and to compare phases of expansion with simple mathematical models of population growth2. This produces information concerning tree populations which could not otherwise be collected. I report here a pollen-analytical study of the expansion of several tree taxa in the early and mid-postglacial of Norfolk, UK. Exponential and logistic growth models applied to the phases of expansion of these taxa show that their populations double every 35-175 yr.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 164-167 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 303 |
Issue number | 5913 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 1983 |