Modern pollen-vegetation relationships in western Tasmania, Australia

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a modern pollen survey of plant communities in western Tasmania, Australia. Sampled communities occur in the main vegetation types: alpine/subalpine, rainforest and moorland. We show that despite the over-representation of rainforest trees in the regional pollen rain, vegetation type and some communities can be distinguished using pollen analysis. Temperature (altitude) and fire frequency are significantly correlated with the ordination axes, consistent with the ecology of the region, indicating that pollen composition is a good reflection of vegetation and that pollen spectra can be effectively used to reconstruct changes in these environmental parameters..