Long-term Vegetation Dynamics in Southwestern New Hampshire from 13000 BP to Present

The paleoecological record allows contemporary ecologists to put current phenomena into the context of a longer time-frame, thereby providing the opportunity to evaluate the importance of slowly operating processes, past cyclic or unusual events, disturbance regimes, and historically constrained phenomena. We briefly outline the environmental history of the Quaternary, discuss the spatial and temporal resolution of the paleoecological evidence for biotic change, and summarize data relevant to such current issues as the nature of the biotic community, the role of disturbance, stability versus rapid change, evolutionary theory, explanations of species diversity, and refugia theory. Finally, we offer examples of the utility of paleoecological techniques for ecologists and environmental scientists.当代生态学家可借助古生态学记录（paleoecological record），将当前研究现象置于更长时间尺度的背景框架中加以审视，从而得以评估缓慢运作的生态过程、过往周期性或异常事件、干扰制度（disturbance regime）以及受历史约束的现象的重要性。我们将简要概述第四纪（Quaternary）的环境演变历史，探讨用于指示生物变化的古生态学证据的时空分辨率，并总结与当前若干核心议题相关的研究数据——这些议题涵盖生物群落的本质特征、干扰的作用、稳定性与快速变化的辩证关系、进化理论、物种多样性的成因解释以及避难所理论（refugia theory）。最后，我们将举例说明古生态学技术在生态学家与环境科学家研究中的应用价值。