[Palaeostructures of vegetation at the upper limit of forests in the inner French Alps].
The comparison of six pollen diagrams from French Alps allows us to reconstruct the past changes of vegetation structure at the upper limit of Subalpine range. Dense populations of Pinus cembra developed between 6500 and 2400 cal. BP, both in the southern Alps and the northern ones. Southern Alps seem however to be characterised by higher altitudinal limits, as shown by the past development of fir forests at 2080 m a.s.l. in the Ubaye valley. This study highlights the importance of taking in account local parameters in regional or continental reviews.
Muller
Serge D
SD
Equipe Paléoenvironnement, Institut des sciences de l'évolution de Montpellier (Isem), case 061, université Montpellier-2, 34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France. smuller@univ-montp2.fr
Nakagawa
Takeshi
T
de Beaulieu
Jacques-Louis
JL
Court-Picon
Mona
M
Fauquette
Séverine
S
Genries
Aurélie
A
D000531:Altitude; D005580:Fossils; D005602:France; D010163:Paleontology; D028223:Pinus; D010944:Plants; D011058:Pollen / Q000502:physiology; D014197:Trees