THE HISTORY AND PALEOCLIMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF SUBFOSSIL REMAINS OF PINUS-SYLVESTRIS IN BLANKET PEATS FROM SCOTLAND

The results of pollen-stratigraphic, radiocarbon and tree-ring evidence from several sites in the Loch Tulla area, southern Rannoch Moor, western Scottish Highlands, indicate the following regional pine history: 1) major expansion of pine woodland at c6800-6600 BP; 2) significant reduction in regional pine cover between 6600 and 4970 BP; 3) a second expansion of pine woodland throughout the region at c4970-4660 BP; 4) major differences between the sites in the representation of pine after c4660 BP. These data are compared with evieence from Scotland as a whole for radiocarbon-dated pine macrofossils obtained from Holocene peat deposits and for "pluvial' climatic episodes identified from previously published stable isotope studies. -from Authors