Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:44:13.047Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Spatial Patterns of Atmospheric Pollen Transport in a Montane Region1,2

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Allen M. Solomon
Affiliation:
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA
Alison B. Silkworth
Affiliation:
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 USA

Abstract

Annual pollen deposition (pollen cm−2 yr−1) was sampled for 6 yr in the southern Sierra Nevada, the Owens Valley, and the Inyo Mountains of central California. Spatial pollen distributions were examined for anemophilous plants which are limited to growth sites (1) at high elevations on one or both mountain ranges, (2) on lower mountain slopes, and (3) on the Owens Valley floor, Pollen deposition values for high- and low-elevation plants changed by a factor of 5 to 10 between adjacent sample sites which straddle boundaries of the plant communities in which the source plants grow. Pollen deposition values were high and variable within communities in which the species grew. Pollen deposition beyond source populations was low and uniform despite great differences in distance of sites from pollen sources. The step function that seems to characterize pollen distribution patterns implies that pollen from distant populations may be of little value in interpreting vegetation stability and change reflected by fossil pollen stratigraphy. The physical isolation of pollen embedded in the local mountain-valley wind system from that in the prevailing westerlies may explain part of the spatial distribution of the pollen.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

3 Present address: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington Ind. 47405.
1

Research was supported by National Science Foundation Ecosystem Studies Program under Interagency Agreements DEB77-26722 and BSR81-15316 with the U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC05-840R21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.

2

Publication No. 2521, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

References

Adam, D. P. 1967 Late-Pleistocene and recent palynology in the central Sierra Nevada, California. Cushing, E. J. Wright, H. E. Jr. Quaternary Paleoecology Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Conn, 275301 Google Scholar
Andrews, J. T. Carrara, P. E. King, F. B. Stuckenrath, R. 1975 Holocene environmental changes in the alpine zone, Northern San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Evidence from bog stratigraphy and palynology. Quaternary Research, 5 173197 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. G. 1976 Late Quaternary Vegetation History of the Yellowstone Lake Basin, Wyoming U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 729-EGoogle Scholar
Baker, R. G. 1983 Holocene vegetation history of the western United States. Wright, H. E. Jr. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States, Vol. 2 Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 109127 “The Holocene”Google Scholar
Baker, R. G. Richmond, G. M. 1978 Geology palynology, and climatic significance of two pre-Pinedale lake sediment sequences in and near Yellowstone National Park. Quaternary Research, 10 226240 Google Scholar
Barbour, M. G. Major, J. 1977 Terrestrial Vegetation of California Wiley, New York Google Scholar
Barry, R. G. 1981 Mountain Weather and Climate Methuen, New York Google Scholar
Beyer, W. H. 1968 Handbook of Tables for Probability and Statistics 2nd ed. The Chemical Rubber Co.,, Cleveland, Ohio Google Scholar
Elford, C. R. 1970 The climate of California. Van der Leeden, F. Troise, F. L. Climates of the States. II. Western States Water Information Center, Inc.,, Port Washington, New York, 538594 Google Scholar
Erdtman, O. G. E. 1943 An Introduction to Pollen Analysis Chronica Botanica, Waltham, Mass Google Scholar
Faegri, K. Iversen, J. 3rd ed. 1975 Textbook of Pollen Analysis Hafner, New York Google Scholar
Geiger, R. 1966 The Climate Near the Ground Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass., Google Scholar
Greenland, D. E. 1979 Modeling Air Pollution Potential for Mountain Resorts Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder Occasional Paper 32Google Scholar
Griffin, J. R. Critchfield, W. B. 1972 The Distribution of Forest Trees in California U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Paper PSW-82, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Hansen, B. S. Cushing, E. J. 1973 Identification of pine pollen of late Quaternary age from Chuska Mountains, New Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84 11811200 Google Scholar
Hewson, E. W. 1945 The meterological control of atmospheric pollution by heavy industry. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meterological Society, 71 226 Google Scholar
Hinds, W. T. 1970 Diffusion over coastal mountains of southern California. Atmospheric Environment, 4 107124 Google Scholar
Holmboe, J. Klieforth, H. 1957 Investigation of Mountain Lee Waves and the Air Flow over the Sierra Nevada Geophysics Research Directorate, U.S. Air Force Cambridge Research Center, Bedford, Mass., AFCRC TR 57-204Google Scholar
Holzworth, G. C. 1972 Mixing Heights, Wind Speeds, and Potential for Urban Air Pollution throughout the Contiguous United States U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., Office of Air Programs Publication No. AP-101Google Scholar
Huber, A. H. Snyder, W. H. Thompson, R. S. Lawson, R. E. Jr. 1976 Plume behavior in the lee of a mountain ridge: A wind tunnel study. Ott, W. R. Proceedings of the Conference on Environmental Modeling and Simulation U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.,, 493498 EPA 600/9-76-016Google Scholar
Kuchler, A. W. 1977 The map of the natural vegetation of California. Barbour, M. G. Major, J. Terrestrial Vegetation of California Wiley, New York, 909938 Google Scholar
Lawrence, E. N. 1962 Atmospheric pollution (sulfur dioxide) in hilly terrain. International Journal of Air and Water Pollution, 6 526 Google Scholar
Maher, L. J. Jr. 1963 Pollen analysis of surface materials from the southern San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 74 14851504 Google Scholar
Maher, L. J. Jr. 1972 Absolute pollen diagram of Redrock Lake, Boulder County, Colorado. Quaternary Research, 2 531553 Google Scholar
Maher, L. J. Jr. 1981 Statistics for microfossil concentration measurements employing samples spiked with marker grains. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 32 153191 Google Scholar
Markgraf, V. 1980 Pollen dispersal in a mountain area. Grana, 19 127146 Google Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1963a Geochronology of pluvial Lake Conchise, Southern Arizona. H. Pollen Analysis of a 42-meter core. Ecology, 44 436444 Google Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1963b The Last 10,000 Years: A Fossil Pollen Record of the American Southwest Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson Google Scholar
Martin, P. S. Mehringer, P. J. Jr. 1965 Pollen analysis and biogeography of the Southwest. Wright, H. E. Jr. Frey, D. G. The Quaternary of the United States Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N.J.,, 433451 Google Scholar
Mehringer, P. J. Jr. Martin, P. S. Haynes, C. V. Jr. 1967 Murray Springs, a mid-postglacial pollen record from southern Arizona. American Journal of Science, 265 786797 Google Scholar
Munz, P. A. 1974 A Flora of Southern California Univ. of California Press, Berkeley Google Scholar
Nicholls, J. M. 1973 The Airflow over Mountains: Research, 1958–1972. World Meteorological Organization Technical Note 127 GenevaGoogle Scholar
Orgill, M. M. Cermak, J. E. Grant, L. O. 1971 Laboratory Simulation and Field Estimates of Atmospheric Transport-Dispersion over Mountainous Terrain Fluid Dynamics and Diffusion Laboratory, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins Technical Report CER70-71MMO-JEC-LOG40Google Scholar
Pasquill, F. 2nd ed. 1974 Atmospheric Diffusion Wiley, New York Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L. Mehringer, P. J. Jr. 1976 Postglacial timberline fluctuations, La Plata Mountains, southwestern Colorado. Arctic and Alpine Research, 8 275288 Google Scholar
Potter, L. D. Rowley, J. 1960 Pollen rain and vegetation, San Augustin Plains, New Mexico. Botanical Gazette, 122 125 Google Scholar
Prentice, I. C. 1985 Pollen representation, source area, and basin size: Toward a unified theory of pollen analysis. Quaternary Research, 23 7686 Google Scholar
Ryan, B. C. 1977 A mathematical model for diagnosis and prediction of surface winds in mountainous terrain. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 16 571584 Google Scholar
Sharp, R. P. 2nd ed. 1976 Geology Field Guide to Southern California Kendall/Hunt, Dubuque, Iowa Google Scholar
Solomon, A. M. 1979 Sources and characteristics of airborne materials: Pollen. Edmonds, R. L. Aerobiology: The Ecological Systems Approach Dowden Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pa.,, 4154 Google Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Blasing, T. J. Solomon, J. A. 1982 Interpretation of floodplain pollen in alluvial sediments from an arid region. Quaternary Research, 18 5271 Google Scholar
Solomon, A. M. Harrington, J. B. Jr. 1979 Palynology models. Edmonds, R. L. Aerobiology: The Ecological Systems Approach Dowden Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pa.,, 338361 Google Scholar
Spaulding, W. G. Leopold, E. B. Van Devender, T. R. 1983 Late Wisconsin paleoecology of the American Southwest. Porter, S. C. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States, Vol. 1 Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 159293 “The Late Pleistocene”Google Scholar
Start, G. E. Dickson, C. R. Wendell, L. L. 1974a Diffusion in a Canyon within Rough Mountainous Terrain National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air Research Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho Technical Memorandum ERL ARL-38Google Scholar
Start, G. E. Ricks, N. R. Dickson, C. R. 1974b Effluent Dilutions over Mountainous Terrain National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air Research Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho Technical Memorandum ERL ARL-51Google Scholar
Storer, T. I. Usinger, R. L. 1963 Sierra Nevada Natural History Univ. of California Press, Berkeley Google Scholar
Tauber, H. 1965 Differential pollen dispersion and the interpretation of pollen diagrams. Danmarks Geologiske Undersogelse Series II, 89 169 Google Scholar
Tauber, H. 1974 A static non-overload pollen collector. New Phytologist, 73 359369 Google Scholar
U.S. Department of the Interior, 1981 Bishop, California, Wind Data Tapes National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Asheville, N.C., Google Scholar
Vasek, F. C. Barbour, M. G. 1977 Mojave desert scrub vegetation. Barbour, M. G. Major, J. Terrestrial Vegetation of California Wiley, New York, 835867 Google Scholar
Whitney, S. 1979 The Sierra Nevada Sierra Club Books, San Francisco Google Scholar
Wright, H. E. Jr. Bent, A. M. Hansen, B. S. Maher, L. J. Jr. 1973 Present and past vegetation of the Chuska Mountains, northwestern New Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84 11551180 Google Scholar