RECONSTRUCTION OF VEGETATION COVER OF SOUTH-EASTERN ESTONIA DURING LAST 1000 YEARS

The vegetation/pollen relationship of patchy cultural landscape of boreo-nemoral forest zone was investigated using fossil pollen data, modern pollen and vegetation data, and a simulation approach involving models of pollen dispersal and deposition (Sugita et al. 1999). The modern data set consists of pollen data from 25 small (up to 500 m diameter) lakes and Corine map vegetation data. Based on modern pollen/vegetation relationship data the relevant pollen source area was estimated to ca. 1200 m. Palaeoecological dataset was derived from two palynologically investigated annually laminated lake sequences and the vegetation estimates from the historical maps digitised manually within a 2 km radius of the investigated lakes. The available historical, archaeological, climate, and edaphic data was used in order to calibrate models and evaluate the land-cover reconstructions. Reconstructions are presented as time-slice maps of the forested and open areas for the last 1000 years.

Sugita S., Gaillard M.-J. & Broström A., 1999: Landscape openess and pollen records: a simulation approach. The Holocene 9, 4, 409 – 421.