Postglacial vegetation

Repeated changes in climate throughout the Quaternary Period are thought to have had a significant impact on the current vegetation species diversity present today.

[5] Throughout Europe vegetation dynamics within the first half of the Holocene appear to have been influenced mainly by climate and the reorganization of atmospheric circulation associated with the disappearance of the North American ice sheet.

[8] As land became exposed following the glaciation of the last ice age, a variety of geographic settings ranging from the tropics to the Arctic and Antarctic became available for the establishment of vegetation.

A study of postglacial moraines conducted in the Canadian Arctic on Ellesmere Island have found that dwarf shrubs of Dryas integrifolia and Cassiope tetragona are often good indicators of vegetation development and progression.

[11] It is also suggested that part of the high proportions of polypoids occurring in arctic floras is the result of speciation as continental ice-sheets withdrew.

[14] Studies done by Reitalu, (2015) have found that human impact throughout much of Europe has negatively influenced plant diversity by suppressing the establishment of tall-growing, large seeded taxa.

[15] Many pollen diagrams around the world indicate that major climate changes caused the last continental ice sheets to retreat, leading to dramatic effects on the distribution and abundance of plants.

[17] Core sampling and analysis of lake sediments that contain pollen and other plant remains are often used to obtain good records of past pollination cycles.

[18] Lake sediments have an advantage over other core sampling sites, such as fen and bog peats, as they provide no overwhelming local pollen components.