Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:18:42.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Wisconsinan Vegetation and Environment of the Tunica Hills Region, Louisiana/Mississippi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen T. Jackson  and
Charles R. Givens
Stephen T. Jackson
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011-5640
Charles R. Givens
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Science, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana 70310
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Pollen, plant macrofossil, and radiocarbon-dating studies of seven exposures of fluvial sediments in the Tunica Hills region of southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi provide new information on late Wisconsinan vegetation, flora, and environment of the region. The assemblages date between 25,250 and 17,530 yr B.P. Pollen and macrofossil assemblages are dominated by Picea, which comprises 40-70% of the pollen assemblages. Abies and Larix pollen and macrofossils are absent, in contrast to sites to the north in the central Mississippi Valley. Deciduous hardwoods (Quercus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Carya, Juglans nigra, Acer, Ulmus) are minor components of both pollen and macrofossil assemblages. Radiocarbon dates of Picea and Quercus wood indicate that these two genera grew contemporaneously in the region. Regional upland forests were dominated by Picea. Picea cones and cone fragments are not typical of any extant North American species, and probably represent either an extinct species or an extinct variety or subspecies of Picea glauca. Late Wisconsinan climate of the region was cooler than present, but not necessarily as cool as implied by P. glauca or other "boreal" taxa.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , May 1994 , pp. 316 - 325
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alford, J. J. Kolb, C. R., and Holmes, J. C. (1983). Terrace stratigraphy in the Tunica Hills of Louisiana. Quaternary Research 19, 55–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, J. T. (1987). The Late Wisconsin glaciation and deglaciation of the Laurentide ice sheet. In “North America and Adjacent Oceans during the Last Deglaciation” (Ruddiman, W. F. and Wright, H. E. Jr., Eds.), pp. 13–37. Geological Society of America, Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
Baker, R. G. Rhodes, R. S. II Schwert, D. R Ashworth, A. C. Frest, T. J. Hallberg, G. R., and Janssens, J. A. (1986). A full-glacial biota from southeastern Iowa, USA. Journal of Quaternary Science 1, 91–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, R, G. Sullivan, A. E. Hallberg, G. R., and Horton, D. G. (1989). Vegetational changes in western Illinois during the onset of late Wisconsinan glaciation. Ecology 70, 1363–1376.Google Scholar
Birks, H. H. (1973). Modem macrofossil assemblages in lake sediments in Minnesota. In “Quaternary Plant Ecology” (Birks, H. J. B. and West, R. G., Ed.), pp. 173–189. Blackwells, Oxford.Google Scholar
Birks, H. J. B. (1976). Late-Wisconsinan vegetational history at Wolf Creek, central Minnesota. Ecological Monographs 46, 395–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braun, E. L. (1950). “Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America.” Hafner Publishing, New York.Google Scholar
Braun, E. L. (1955). The phytogeography of unglaciated eastern United States and its interpretation. Botanical Review 21, 297–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, C. A. (1938). The flora of the Pleistocene deposits in the western Florida Parishes, Western Feliciana Parish, and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Louisiana (Department of Conservation) Geological Survey Bulletin 12, 59–96.Google Scholar
Camper, H. A. (1991). “Pollen analysis of Patschke Bog.” Unpublished M.S. thesis, Texas A&M University.Google Scholar
Chumbley, C. A. Baker, R. G., and Bettis, E. A. III. (1990). Midwestern Holocene paleoenvironments revealed by floodplain deposits in northeastern Iowa. Science 249, 272–274.Google Scholar
COHMAP Members. (1988). Climatic changes of the last 18,000 years: Observations and model simulations. Science 241, 1043–1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Critchfield, W. B. (1984). Impact of the Pleistocene on the genetic structure of North American conifers. In “Proceedings of the Eighth North American Forest Biology Workshop” (Lanner, R. M., Ed.), pp. 70–118. Utah State University, Logan.Google Scholar
Daubenmire, R. (1974). Taxonomic and ecologic relationships between Picea glauca and Picea engelmannii. Canadian Journal of Botany 52, 1545–1560.Google Scholar
Davis, R. B., and Webb, T. III. (1975). The contemporary distribution of pollen in eastern North America: A comparison with the vegetation. Quaternary Research 5, 395–434.Google Scholar
Deevey, E. S. (1949). Biogeography of the Pleistocene. I. Europe and North America. Geological Society of America Bulletin 60, 1315–1416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deevey, E. S. (1950). Hydroids from Louisiana and Texas, with remarks on the Pleistocene biogeography of the western Gulf of Mexico. Ecology 31, 334–367.Google Scholar
Delcourt, H. R. (1979). Late Quaternary vegetation history of the eastern Highland Rim and adjacent Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. Ecological Monographs 49, 255–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, H. R., and Delcourt, P. A. (1974). Primeval magnolia-holly beech climax in Louisiana. Ecology 55, 638–644.Google Scholar
Delcourt, P. A., and DeJcourt, H. R. (1977). The Tunica Hills, Louisj-ana-Mississippi: Late glacial locality for spruce and deciduous forest species. Quaternary Research 7, 218–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, P. A., and Delcourt, H. R. (1979). Late Pleistocene and Holocene distributional history of the decidious forest in the southeastern United States. Veroffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes der ETH, Stiftung Rubel 68, 79–107.Google Scholar
Delcourt, P. A. Delcourt, H. R. Brister, R. C., and Lackey, L. E.. (1980). Quaternary vegetation history of the Mississippi Embayment. Quaternary Research 13, 11–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, P. A. Delcourt, H. R., and Webb, T. III. (1984). “Atlas of Mapped Distributions of Dominance and Modern Pollen Percentages for Important Tree Taxa of Eastern North America.” Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Dallas, TX.Google Scholar
Dunwiddie, P. W. (1987). Macrofossi) and pollen representation of coniferous trees in modem sediments from Washington. Ecology 68, 1–11.Google Scholar
Fcegri, K., and Iversen, J. (1975). “Textbook of Pollen Analysis,” 3rd ed. MacMillan, New York.Google Scholar
Garry, C. E. Schwert, D. P. Baker, R. G. Kemmis, T. J. Horton, D. G., and Sullivan, A. E. (1990). Plant and insect remains from the Wisconsinan interstadial/stadial transition at Wedron, north-central Illinois. Quaternary Research 33, 387–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Givens, C. R., and Givens, F. M. (1987). Age and significance of fossil white spruce (Picea glauca), Tbnica Hills, Louisiana-Mississippi. Quaternary Research 27, 283–296.Google Scholar
Grimm, E. C. Jacobson, G. L. Jr. Watts, W. A. Hansen, B. C. S., and Maasch, K. A. (1993). A 50,000-year record of climate oscillations from Florida and its temporal correlation with the Heinrich events. Science 261, 198–200.Google Scholar
Griiger, J. (1973). Studies on the late Quaternary vegetation history of northeastern Kansas. Geological Society of America Bulletin 84, 239–250.Google Scholar
Hanski, I. (1991). Single-species metapopulation dynamics: concepts, models and observations. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 42, 17–38.Google Scholar
Hills, L. V., and Ogilvie, R. T. (1970). Picea banksii n. sp. Beaufort Formation (Tertiary), northwestern Banks Island, Arctic Canada. Canadian Journal of Botany 48, 457–464.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T. (1989). “Postglacial Vegetational Changes Along an Elevational Gradient in the Adirondack Mountains (New York): A Study of Plant Macrofossils.” New York State Museum Bulletin 465.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T. (1990). Pollen source area and representation in small lakes of the northeastern United States. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 63, 53–76.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T. (1991). Pollen representation of vegetational patterns along an elevational gradient. Journal of Vegetation Science 2, 613–624.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T., and Dunwiddie, P. W. (1992). Pollen dispersal and representation on an offshore island. New Phytologist 122, 187–202.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T., and Miller, N. G. (1983). Paleoecology of a fossil plant assemblage from a pre-Wisconsinan till in southern Illinois. American Midland Naturalist 109, 120–135.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T., and Smith, S. J. (1994). Pollen dispersal and representation on an isolated, forested plateau. New Phytololgist, in press.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T. Whitehead, D. R., and Davis, 0. K. (1986). Accelerator radiocarbon data indicates mid-Holocene age for hickory nut from Indiana late-glacial sediments. Quaternary Research 25, 257–258.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. T., and Wong, A. M. (1994). Using forest patchiness to determine pollen source areas of closed-canopy pollen assemblages. Journal of Ecology, in press.Google Scholar
King, J. E. (1973). Late Pleistocene palynology and biogeography of the western Missouri Ozarks. Ecological Monographs 43, 539–565.Google Scholar
Kolb, C. R., and Fredlund, G. G. (1981). “Palynological Studies Vacherie and Rayburn’s Domes North Louisiana Salt Dome Basin.” Institute for Environmental Studies, Louisiana State University, Topical Report E530-02200-T-2.Google Scholar
Long, A., and Rippeteau, B. (1974). Testing contemporaneity and averaging radiocarbon dates. American Antiquity 39, 205–215.Google Scholar
Panshin, A. J. de Zeeuw, C., and Brown, H. P. (1964). “Textbook of Wood Technology,” 2nd ed., Vol. 1. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Parker, W. H., and McLachlan, D. G. (1978). Morphological variation in white and black spruce: Investigation of natural hybridization between Picea glauca and P. mariana. Canadian Journal of Botany 56, 2512–2520.Google Scholar
Royall, P. D. Delcourt, P. A., and Delcourt, H. R. (1991). Late Quaternary paleoecology and paleoenvironments of the Central Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Geological Soceiiy of America Bulletin 103, 157–170.Google Scholar
Vidakovic, M. (1991). “Conifers: Morphology and Variation.” Graficki Zavod Hrvatske, Zagreb.Google Scholar
Watts, W. A. (1970). The full-glacial vegetation of northwestern Georgia. Ecology 51, 17–33.Google Scholar
Watts, W. A. (1980). The late Quaternary vegetation history of the southeastern United States. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11, 387–409.Google Scholar
Watts, W. A. (1983). Vegetational history of the eastern United States 25,000 to 10,000 years ago. In “Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States,” Vol. 1, “The Late Pleistocene” (Porter, S. C., Ed.), pp. 294–310. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Watts, W. A. Hansen, B. C. S., and Grimm, E. C. (1992). Camel Lake: A 40,000 year record of vegetational and forest history from northwest Florida. Ecology 73, 1056–1066.Google Scholar
Webb, T. III Bartlein, P. J. Harrison, S., and Anderson, K. H. (1993). Vegetation, lake levels, and climate in eastern North America for the past 18,000 years. In “Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum” (Wright, H. E. Jr. Webb, T. III, and Kutzbach, J. E., Eds.), pp. 415–467. Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Webb, T. III Howe, S. E. Bradshaw, R. H. W., and Heide, K. M. (1981). Estimating plant abundance from pollen percentages: The use of regression analysis. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 34, 269–300.Google Scholar
Webb, T. III, and McAndrews, J. H. (1976). Corresponding patterns of contemporary pollen and vegetation in central North America. Geological Society of America Memoir 146, 267–299.Google Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. (1965). Palynology and Pleistocene phytogeography of unglaciated eastern North America. In “The Quaternary of the United States” (Wright, H. E. Jr., and Frey, D. G., Eds.), pp. 417–432. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Whitehead, D. R. (1981). Late-Pleistocene vegetational changes in northeastern North Carolina. Ecological Monographs 51, 451–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkins, G. R. Delcourt, P. A. Delcourt, H. R. Harrison, F. W., and Turner, M. R. (1991). Paleoecology of central Kentucky since the last glacial maximum. Quaternary Research 36, 224–239.Google Scholar