Geology topics

K. H. Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to K. H. Anderson.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2008

Quantitative estimation of bioclimatic parameters from presence/absence vegetation data in North America by the modern analog technique

The method of modern analogs is widely used to obtain estimates of past climatic conditions from paleobiological assemblages, and despite its frequent use, this method involved so-far untested assumptions. We applied four analog approaches to a continental-scale set of bioclimatic and plant-distribution presence/absence data for North America to assess how well this method works under near-optimal modern conditions. For each point on the grid, we calculated the similarity between its vegetation assemblage and those of all other points on the grid (excluding nearby points). The climate of the points with the most similar vegetation was used to estimate the climate at the target grid point. Estimates based the use of the Jaccard similarity coefficient had smaller errors than those based on the use of a new similarity coefficient, although the latter may be more robust because it does not assume that the "fossil" assemblage is complete. The results of these analyses indicate that presence/absence vegetation assemblages provide a valid basis for estimating bioclimates on the continental scale. However, the accuracy of the estimates is strongly tied to the number of species in the target assemblage, and the analog method is necessarily constrained to produce estimates that fall within the range of observed values. We applied the four modern analog approaches and the mutual overlap (or "mutual climatic range") method to estimate bioclimatic conditions represented by the plant macrofossil assemblage from a packrat midden of Last Glacial Maximum age from southern Nevada. In general, the estimation approaches produced similar results in regard to moisture conditions, but there was a greater range of estimates for growing-degree days. Despite its limitations, the modern analog technique can provide paleoclimatic reconstructions that serve as the starting point to the interpretation of past climatic conditions.

Quaternary Science Reviews↗

USGS2005

Topographic, bioclimatic, and vegetation characteristics of three ecoregion classification systems in North America: Comparisons along continent-wide transects

Ecoregion classification systems are increasingly used for policy and management decisions, particularly among conservation and natural resource managers. A number of ecoregion classification systems are currently available, with each system defining ecoregions using different classification methods and different types of data. As a result, each classification system describes a unique set of ecoregions. To help potential users choose the most appropriate ecoregion system for their particular application, we used three latitudinal transects across North America to compare the boundaries and environmental characteristics of three ecoregion classification systems [Ku??chler, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Bailey]. A variety of variables were used to evaluate the three systems, including woody plant species richness, normalized difference in vegetation index (NDVI), and bioclimatic variables (e.g., mean temperature of the coldest month) along each transect. Our results are dominated by geographic patterns in temperature, which are generally aligned north-south, and in moisture, which are generally aligned east-west. In the west, the dramatic changes in physiography, climate, and vegetation impose stronger controls on ecoregion boundaries than in the east. The Ku??chler system has the greatest number of ecoregions on all three transects, but does not necessarily have the highest degree of internal consistency within its ecoregions with regard to the bioclimatic and species richness data. In general, the WWF system appears to track climatic and floristic variables the best of the three systems, but not in all regions on all transects. ?? 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

Environmental Management↗

USGS2001

Biomes of western North America at 18,000, 6000 and 0 14C yr BP reconstructed from pollen and packrat midden data

A new compilation of pollen and packrat midden data from western North America provides a refined reconstruction of the composition and distribution of biomes in western North America for today and for 6000 and 18,000 radiocarbon years before present (14C yr BP). Modern biomes in western North America are adequately portrayed by pollen assemblages from lakes and bogs. Forest biomes in western North America share many taxa in their pollen spectra and it can be difficult to discriminate among these biomes. Plant macrofossils from packrat middens provide reliable identification of modern biomes from arid and semiarid regions, and this may also be true in similar environments in other parts of the world. However, a weighting factor for trees and shrubs must be used to reliably reconstruct modern biomes from plant macrofossils. A new biome, open conifer woodland, which includes eurythermic conifers and steppe plants, was defined to categorize much of the current and past vegetation of the semiarid interior of western North America. At 6000 14C yr BP, the forest biomes of the coastal Pacific North-west and the desert biomes of the South-west were in near-modern positions. Biomes in the interior Pacific North-west differed from those of today in that taiga prevailed in modern cool/cold mixed forests. Steppe was present in areas occupied today by open conifer woodland in the northern Great Basin, while in the central and southern Rocky Mountains forests grew where steppe grows today. During the mid-Holocene, cool conifer forests were expanded in the Rocky Mountains (relative to today) but contracted in the Sierra Nevada. These differences from the forests of today imply different climatic histories in these two regions between 6000 14C yr BP and today. At 18,000 14C yr BP, deserts were absent from the South-west and the coverage of open conifer woodland was greatly expanded relative to today. Steppe and tundra were present in much of the region now covered by forests in the Pacific North-west.

Journal of Biogeography↗

USGS1999

Quantitative paleoclimatic reconstructions from late Pleistocene plant macrofossils of the Yucca Mountain region

Plant macrofossil assemblages recovered from packrat (Neotoma) middens of late Pleistocene age from the present-day Mojave Desert of southern Nevada contain plant species that today live at higher elevations and/or farther north than the midden collection sites. Previous reconstructions of late Pleistocene climates from packrat midden assemblages in this region (Spaulding, 1985) assessed the minimum climatic differences from today by estimating the present-day climatic differences between the fossil midden sites and the nearest current occurrences of key plant species recovered from the Pleistocene middens. From this approach Spaulding (1985) concluded that although late Pleistocene temperatures were considerably below those of today, only modest increases in precipitation (relative to today) were necessary for these plant species to survive in the current Mojave Desert during the late Pleistocene. Spaulding's approach provided "state-of-the-art" results from an intensive careful examination of the best data available at the time. However, data and techniques developed since the mid-1980s suggest that there are two possible short-comings to this approach: 1) the use of lowest elevational and (frequently) most southerly occurrences of key plant species results in minimal estimates of the differences between Pleistocene and present-day climates, and 2) the instrumental climate data set available to Spaulding was limited in duration, non-standard in its method of collection, and indicated a modern climate wetter than the long-term historic mean, which resulted in relatively small apparent differences between late Pleistocene and present-day mean annual precipitation levels. In this report we use a more standard (close to the long-term mean) modern calibration period and a modern plant distribution data set that permits us to identify modern analogues for the Pleistocene vegetation. This reexamination permits a more robust reconstruction of the past climate, and results in estimates of mean annual temperature for the glacial maximum at Yucca Mountain that are 1.0° to 1.4° C warmer than those of Spaulding, and estimates of mean annual precipitation that are 60 mm or more higher than his.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1998

Paleoclimate simulations for North America over the past 21,000 years: Features of the simulated climate and comparisons with paleoenvironmental data

Maps of upper-level and surface winds and of surface temperature and precipitation illustrate the results of a sequence of global paleoclimatic simulations spanning the past 21,000 yr for North America. We review (a) the large-scale features of circulation, temperature, and precipitation that appear in the simulations from the NCAR Community Climate Model Version 1 (CCM 1), (b) the implications of the simulated climate for the past continental-scale distributions of three plant taxa ( Picea spp., Pseudotsuga menziesii , and Artemisia tridentata ), which are broadly representative of the vegetation across the continent, and (c) the potential explanations in terms of atmospheric circulation or surface energy- and water-balance processes for mismatches between the simulations and observations. Most of the broad-scale features of previous paleoclimatic simulations with the NCAR CCM 0 for North America are present in the current simulations. Many of the elements of a conceptual model (based on previous climate simulations) that describes the controls of paleoclimatic variations across North America during the past 21,000 yr are found in simulations reviewed here. These include (1) displacement of the jet stream by the Laurentide Ice Sheet to the south of its present position in both winter and summer, (2) generation of a ‘glacial anticyclone’ over the ice sheet at the LGM, and the consequent induction of large-scale sinking motions induced over eastern North America, (3) changes in the strength of surface atmospheric circulation features through time, including weakening of the Aleutian low in winter, and strengthening of the eastern Pacific and Bermuda high-pressure systems in summer as the ice sheet decreased in size, (4) development of a ‘heat low’ at the surface and a strengthened ridge in the upper-atmosphere over the continent at the time of the maximum summer insolation anomaly, (5) increases in summer temperature earlier in regions remote from the ice sheet (these increases appear earlier in the present (CCM 1) simulations than in the previous (CCM 0) ones, however), and (6) continuation of negative winter temperature anomalies into the middle Holocene. In general, simulated surface conditions that are discordant with paleoenvironmental observations can be attributed to the simulation of particular atmospheric circulation patterns (e.g. those that suppress precipitation or advect warm air into a region), with these mismatches amplified in Beringia and the southeastern United States by surface energy- and water-balance processes.

Quaternary Science Reviews↗

USGS1983