1. The European Pollen Database: past efforts and current activities
- Author
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Pavel E. Tarasov, Jacques-Louis de Beaulieu, Petr Kuneš, Heather Binney, André F. Lotter, Thomas Giesecke, Walter Finsinger, Marie-José Gaillard, Eric C. Grimm, Ralph Fyfe, Norbert Kühl, Spassimir Tonkov, Anne Le Flao, Graciela Gil-Romera, Richard H. W. Bradshaw, Simon Brewer, Brian Huntley, Michelle Leydet, School of Geography, Plymouth University-Plymouth University, Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UMR237-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Avignon Université (AU), Palaeoecology Laboratory, University of Southampton-University of Southampton, Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Utrecht University Palaeoecology, Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology (UTRECHT UNIVERSITY), Utrecht University [Utrecht], Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Department of Geography, University of Liverpool, Freie Universität Berlin, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Collège de France (CdF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Avignon Université (AU)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UMR237-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) more...
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,Group method of data handling ,Computer science ,Earth Sciences ,Archaeology ,Anthropology ,Climate Change ,Biogeosciences ,Paleontology ,[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes ,Climate change ,Plant Science ,medicine.disease_cause ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Task (project management) ,[SDV.SA.SF]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Silviculture, forestry ,Pollen ,medicine ,[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment ,Pollen count ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,database ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Palynology ,Palaeontology ,EPD ,European Pollen Database ,Data accuracy ,Data archive ,Vegetation ,15. Life on land ,[SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics ,Data science ,[SDV.BIBS]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Quantitative Methods [q-bio.QM] ,[SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society ,Europe ,pollen analysis ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology - Abstract
Pollen stratigraphies are the most spatially extensive data available for the reconstruction of past land-cover change. Detailed knowledge of past land-cover is becoming increasingly important to evaluate the present trends in, and drivers of, vegetation composition. The European Pollen Database (EPD) was established in the late 1980s and developed in the early 1990s to provide a structure for archiving, exchanging, and analysing Quaternary pollen data from Europe. It provides a forum for scientists to meet and engage in collaborative investigations or data analysis. In May 2007 several EPD support groups were developed to assist in the task of maintaining and updating the database. The mapping and data accuracy work group (MADCAP) aims to produce an atlas of past plant distributions as detected by pollen analyses in Europe, in order to meet the growing need for this data from palaeoecologists and the wider scientific community. Due to data handling problems in the past, a significant number of EPD datasets have errors. The initial task of the work group, therefore, was a systematic review of pollen sequences, in order to identify and correct errors. The EPD currently (January 2009) archives 1,032 pollen sequences, of which 668 have age-depth models that allow chronological comparison. Many errors have been identified and corrected, or flagged for users, most notably errors in the pollen count data. The application of spatial analyses to pollen data is related to the number of data points that are available for analysis. We therefore take this opportunity to encourage the submission of pollen analytical results to the EPD or other relevant pollen databases. Only in this way will the scientific community be able to gain a better understanding of past vegetation dynamics. peerReviewed more...
- Published
- 2009
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