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Quarternary palaeoecology
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 34 (1981): 407--412 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam --Printed in The Netherlands
407
Bookre~ews
Quaternary Palaeoecology. H.J.B. Birks and Hilary H. Birks. Edward Arnold, London, 1980, 289 pp., £28.00. Drs. H.J.B. Birks and Hilary H. Birks, who work in Cambridge and have strong connections with the Minnesota school, have been in the forefront in developing the palaeoecological study of the Quaternary. We can, therefore, be grateful to them that t h e y have produced a book on this subject for undergraduate and research students as well as research workers. The authors have restricted themselves almost entirely to terrestrial and freshwater environments because o f their own experience. In reading the book it soon becomes evident that this experience is great. It is natural that m a n y examples used are from Britain and North America, because modern palaeoecological studies by the authors and m a n y others have been made particularly in these areas. What immediately becomes obvious in reading the book is the strong emphasis on numerical methods, because, as the authors stress, " t h e c o m p u t e r age is here to stay, and numerical methods have become essential in m a n y palaeoecological investigations". The usefulness of these methods is apparent from the examples given. The approach in the book is suitably didactic, but then the idea for it originated in a lecture course. In the first chapter the similarities and differences between ecology and palaeoecology are discussed. Here, as later in the book, the meaning of c o m m o n l y used terms is explained and clearly defined. Each chapter has its own list of references, classified under different headings. The principles of palaeoecology are given in the second chapter, first describing geological stratigraphy and units of stratigraphy before going into details about palaeoecology, as, for instance, the reconstruction of communities or past environments and ecosystems. Numerical analysis of fossil data is also treated in this chapter. A short chapter describes the sampling and description of organic sediments, i.e. lake muds and peats. Their use in palaeoecology is described in the fourth chapter, where examples are given of studies such as a study of the degree of humification or the well-known study of the Somerset Levels, where the stratigraphy was correlated with archaeological finds and radiocarbon dates. The chapter on plant macrofossils gives several examples of how past communities can be reconstructed, also here by using numerical analysis. Palaeolimnology is treated in a separate chapter, with examples of the use of diatoms in widely different regions,.such as England, Scotland, Mexico, U.S.A., Africa, and the use of cladocerans and other organisms, such as fish, chironomid larvae and ostracods. The sedimentary structures, especially laminations, and the chemical composition o f lake sediments are also discussed, with a mention of recent changes in lakes as a result of h u m a n activity. The chapter ends with examples of h o w various methods have been combined in studies of some lakes, as in the studies of Lake Zeribar in Iran or Linsley Pond in Connecticut. Molluscs, insects and verte-
408
brates are dealt with in chapter seven, including a description of the palaeoecology of molluscs and beetles in Britain, where they have been particularly well studied. The chapter includes a summary of vertebrates as fossils. A detailed account of pollen analysis and how it can be used in palaeoecology begins from chapter eight, about halfway through the book. Comparisons with the present vegetation have been increasingly important in order to understand what, in terms of vegetation, pollen diagrams mean. The book is, with its well chosen examples from various studies, perhaps the most m o d e m book on pollen analysis, at the same time as it contains all the above-mentioned chapters. The last chapter, twelve, discusses ways of reconsizucting past environments, mentioning stable isotope studies, the use of indicator species and global reconstructions. The b o o k is a suitable mixture of t e x t b o o k and advanced book, and with its occasional informal remarks pleasant to read. The authors have found a gap in the profuse flora of textbooks and successfully filled it. The book can be highly recommended. J.J. DONNER (Helsinki)
Upper Carboniferous Fossil Flora o f Nova Scotia. E.L. Zodrow and K. McCandlish. In the Collections of the Nova Scotia Museum: with Special Reference to the Sydney Coalfield. The Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, N.S., 1980, 274 pp. There have been a number of pictorial books on Coal Measure (Upper Carboniferous) plants published in the past few years including a general key (Chaloner and Collinson, 1975), a photographic atlas (Gillespie et al., 1978) as well as a well-illustrated text b o o k (Remy and Remy, 1977) and more specialised monographs. This present volume reflects a rather different approach as it illustrates photographically specimens from one recent collection from a specific coalfield housed in the Nova Scotia Museum. There have been numerous previous monographs of floras of this region including ones by Dawson, Stopes and Bell, the later author being the most recent. This current work illustrates some 100 species in 150 photographic plates. The text (115 pp.) consists of a general introduction which includes c o m m e n t s concerning the nomenclature and classification of the plants. The catalogue itself consists of an alphabetical arrangement of the species followed by the details of the specimens, which includes their intimate associations, sample locations, range and remarks, arranged systematically as are the plates. As a record of a collection I am sure that other specialists working on Upper Carboniferous compression floras will find this volume useful as a record, but it is clear from the text t h a t it is aimed at a wider audience than just those wishing to use it as such. As no price has been given, it is difficult to assess the likely demand for such a volume. I feel that the authors have fallen between two stools in t h a t at times I felt t h a t the volume was intended
407
Bookre~ews
Quaternary Palaeoecology. H.J.B. Birks and Hilary H. Birks. Edward Arnold, London, 1980, 289 pp., £28.00. Drs. H.J.B. Birks and Hilary H. Birks, who work in Cambridge and have strong connections with the Minnesota school, have been in the forefront in developing the palaeoecological study of the Quaternary. We can, therefore, be grateful to them that t h e y have produced a book on this subject for undergraduate and research students as well as research workers. The authors have restricted themselves almost entirely to terrestrial and freshwater environments because o f their own experience. In reading the book it soon becomes evident that this experience is great. It is natural that m a n y examples used are from Britain and North America, because modern palaeoecological studies by the authors and m a n y others have been made particularly in these areas. What immediately becomes obvious in reading the book is the strong emphasis on numerical methods, because, as the authors stress, " t h e c o m p u t e r age is here to stay, and numerical methods have become essential in m a n y palaeoecological investigations". The usefulness of these methods is apparent from the examples given. The approach in the book is suitably didactic, but then the idea for it originated in a lecture course. In the first chapter the similarities and differences between ecology and palaeoecology are discussed. Here, as later in the book, the meaning of c o m m o n l y used terms is explained and clearly defined. Each chapter has its own list of references, classified under different headings. The principles of palaeoecology are given in the second chapter, first describing geological stratigraphy and units of stratigraphy before going into details about palaeoecology, as, for instance, the reconstruction of communities or past environments and ecosystems. Numerical analysis of fossil data is also treated in this chapter. A short chapter describes the sampling and description of organic sediments, i.e. lake muds and peats. Their use in palaeoecology is described in the fourth chapter, where examples are given of studies such as a study of the degree of humification or the well-known study of the Somerset Levels, where the stratigraphy was correlated with archaeological finds and radiocarbon dates. The chapter on plant macrofossils gives several examples of how past communities can be reconstructed, also here by using numerical analysis. Palaeolimnology is treated in a separate chapter, with examples of the use of diatoms in widely different regions,.such as England, Scotland, Mexico, U.S.A., Africa, and the use of cladocerans and other organisms, such as fish, chironomid larvae and ostracods. The sedimentary structures, especially laminations, and the chemical composition o f lake sediments are also discussed, with a mention of recent changes in lakes as a result of h u m a n activity. The chapter ends with examples of h o w various methods have been combined in studies of some lakes, as in the studies of Lake Zeribar in Iran or Linsley Pond in Connecticut. Molluscs, insects and verte-
408
brates are dealt with in chapter seven, including a description of the palaeoecology of molluscs and beetles in Britain, where they have been particularly well studied. The chapter includes a summary of vertebrates as fossils. A detailed account of pollen analysis and how it can be used in palaeoecology begins from chapter eight, about halfway through the book. Comparisons with the present vegetation have been increasingly important in order to understand what, in terms of vegetation, pollen diagrams mean. The book is, with its well chosen examples from various studies, perhaps the most m o d e m book on pollen analysis, at the same time as it contains all the above-mentioned chapters. The last chapter, twelve, discusses ways of reconsizucting past environments, mentioning stable isotope studies, the use of indicator species and global reconstructions. The b o o k is a suitable mixture of t e x t b o o k and advanced book, and with its occasional informal remarks pleasant to read. The authors have found a gap in the profuse flora of textbooks and successfully filled it. The book can be highly recommended. J.J. DONNER (Helsinki)
Upper Carboniferous Fossil Flora o f Nova Scotia. E.L. Zodrow and K. McCandlish. In the Collections of the Nova Scotia Museum: with Special Reference to the Sydney Coalfield. The Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax, N.S., 1980, 274 pp. There have been a number of pictorial books on Coal Measure (Upper Carboniferous) plants published in the past few years including a general key (Chaloner and Collinson, 1975), a photographic atlas (Gillespie et al., 1978) as well as a well-illustrated text b o o k (Remy and Remy, 1977) and more specialised monographs. This present volume reflects a rather different approach as it illustrates photographically specimens from one recent collection from a specific coalfield housed in the Nova Scotia Museum. There have been numerous previous monographs of floras of this region including ones by Dawson, Stopes and Bell, the later author being the most recent. This current work illustrates some 100 species in 150 photographic plates. The text (115 pp.) consists of a general introduction which includes c o m m e n t s concerning the nomenclature and classification of the plants. The catalogue itself consists of an alphabetical arrangement of the species followed by the details of the specimens, which includes their intimate associations, sample locations, range and remarks, arranged systematically as are the plates. As a record of a collection I am sure that other specialists working on Upper Carboniferous compression floras will find this volume useful as a record, but it is clear from the text t h a t it is aimed at a wider audience than just those wishing to use it as such. As no price has been given, it is difficult to assess the likely demand for such a volume. I feel that the authors have fallen between two stools in t h a t at times I felt t h a t the volume was intended