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The development of composite dispersal functions for estimating absolute pollen productivity in the Swiss Alps

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Abstract

Considering the complexity of real-world pollen dispersal, a single set of parameters may be inadequate to model pollen dispersal, especially as dispersal occurs on both local and regional scales. Here we combine more than one dispersal function into a composite dispersal function (CDF). The function incorporates multiple parameters and different modes of pollen transportation, and thus has the potential to better simulate the relationship between deposited pollen and the surrounding vegetation than would otherwise be possible. CDFs based on different dispersal functions and combinations of dispersal functions were evaluated using a pollen-trap dataset from the Swiss Alps. Absolute pollen productivity (APP) was estimated at 7,700 ± 2,000 grains cm−2 year−1 for Larix decidua, 13,500 ± 1,900 grains cm−2 year−1 for Picea abies and 95,600 ± 17,700 grains cm−2 year−1 for Pinus cembra (with 95% confidence level). The results are consistent with previous APP estimates made from the same dataset using different methods.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to Sheila Hicks for her inspiring work with both absolute pollen data and pollen/vegetation relationships, exemplified by her prominent role in both the PMP and POLLANDCAL. Jacqueline van Leeuwen analysed the pollen content of the original dataset and Antti Huusko provided a user-friendly Excel formula for Sutton’s equation, both prerequisites for the investigation. The reviewers Anne Birgitte Nielsen and Jane Bunting provided insightful comments and improved the final version of the paper. This research is part of the Pollen Monitoring Programme PMP (INQUA working group; http://pmp.oulu.fi/) and contributes to the European Union project Millennium—European climate of the last millennium (SUSTDEV-2004-3.1.4.1) and the Research Council of Norway project DYLAN—How to manage dynamic landscapes? (190044/S30).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Sciences, Tromsø University Museum, 9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Per Sjögren

  2. Centre for Marine and Environmental Research, FCT, University of the Algarve, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal

    Simon E. Connor

  3. Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013, Bern, Switzerland

    Willem O. van der Knaap

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  1. Per Sjögren
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  2. Simon E. Connor
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  3. Willem O. van der Knaap
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Correspondence to Per Sjögren.

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Communicated by T. Giesecke.

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Sjögren, P., Connor, S.E. & van der Knaap, W.O. The development of composite dispersal functions for estimating absolute pollen productivity in the Swiss Alps. Veget Hist Archaeobot 19, 341–349 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-010-0247-1

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