Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1998, Page 327

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Preliminary Results of a study of Surface
Pollen Deposition in Western Spitsbergen
Fyribilsúrslit frá eini rannsókn av botnseting av yvirflatuflogsáð í
Vestursvalbarð
Heather Pardoe
Department of Biodiversity and Systematic Biology
National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CFl 3NP, U.K.
Phone: +44 1222 573294, fax: +44 1222 239829, e-mail: Heather.Pardoe@nmgw.ac.uk
Úrtak
Fyribilsúrslit verða løgd fram frá eini rannsókn av botn-
seting av yvirflatuflogsáð í fimm ólíkum plantusam-
feløgum í Vestursvalbarð. Fjølfráviksarbeiðshættir
sýna, at plantusamfeløgini kunnu vera ólík av bæði
floruni og flogsáðsamansetingini.
Extended Abstract
A detailed knowledge of the relationship
between modern pollen deposition and
vegetation is essential to fully understand
past pattems of vegetation change. There
have been few systematic studies of surface
pollen deposition in arctic areas (van der
Knaap 1990) although such environments
are potentially a good source of modern
analogues for Late-Glacial and early Holo-
cene pollen assemblages. Preliminary re-
sults are presented of a study of the rela-
tionship between arctic vegetation and sur-
face pollen assemblages in Kongsfjorden,
north west Spitsbergen. Five contrasting
plant communities were studied: Dryas-
octopetala heath; Salix polaris-Dryas oc-
topetala heath; herb-rich, bird-cliff vegeta-
tion; Cassiope tetragona heath; and sparse,
pioneer-type vegetation.
The presence and percentage cover of
vascular plant species within a 4 m2 quadrat
was estimated, at a total of 54 sampling
sites. A moss polster consisting of twenty
pinches of moss was collected from each
quadrat. The pollen was extracted and
counted using standard techniques. The
vegetation and pollen data were ordinated
independently by detrended correspon-
dence analysis (DCA) and subsequently the
two datasets were ordinated simultaneous-
ly, using canonical correspondence analy-
sis (CCA) to differentiate the plant commu-
nities.
The five plant communities produce
quite distinctive pollen spectra, although
pollen diversity is generally low. The re-
sults indicate a predominantly local source
area; dominant taxa in the vegetation, such
as Salix, Oxyria and Saxifraga oppositifo-
lia, are often well represented in the pollen
spectra. Frequently, more than 80% of the
pollen has a potential source within the 4
m2 quadrat sampled. Dryas, Cassiope and
Caryophyllaceae tend to be under-repre-
sented. The frequency of individual taxa
Fróðskaparrit 46. bók 1998: 333-334