Quantitative palaeoclimatic estimates from pollen data using bioclimatic profiles of extant taxa

This paper examines the potential of an approach which utilizes both range distributions and abundance from a relatively large number of taxa to derive palaeoclimatic estimates. The method has been made possible by the existence of a substantial data set on the floristics of Australian rainforests and on a newly devised bioclimatic prediction system. Bioclimatic envelopes for a number of climatic indices are constructed from overlapping climatic profiles of individual taxa from selected sites or fossil assemblages. The potential of the method is first examined on vegetation plot data and modern pollen spectra from north-east Queensland rainforests prior to its application on fossil pollen assemblages from Lake Euramoo. Results demonstrate that the method has great promise particularly in areas dominated by floristically diverse vegetation, and more limited applications elsewhere. -from Authors