Long-term woodland dynamics in West Glen Affric, northern Scotland

Citation

Tipping R & Davies A (2006) Long-term woodland dynamics in West Glen Affric, northern Scotland. Forestry, 79 (3), pp. 351-359. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpl022

Abstract
The former woodlands west of Loch Affric are described from pollen analyses. Related records of climate change from the analysis of lake-level change and peat growth are also presented to explore the importance of climate in driving woodland change. The woodlands were more diverse than extant pinewoods to the east, with a very considerable deciduous component. They developed in the early Holocene period, and brief periods of range expansion and contraction are recorded within a pattern of overall woodland stability over thousands of years, despite the high frequency and intensity of climatic excursions, until a final collapse in all woodland communities occurred at around 4000 calibrated years ago (BP). This collapse had a climatic origin, but the precise character of the climate change is ill-defined.

Journal
Forestry: Volume 79, Issue 3