Interpretation of the charcoal record in forest soils: forest fires and their production and deposition of macroscopic charcoal

The judicious selection of sites for paleovegetational and paleoclimatic studies permits paleoecologists to answer specific research questions that go beyond primary descriptions of past vegetation. We present a model that describes the relationship between basin size and pollen source area and predicts the proportions of local, extralocal, and regional pollen sampled by lake basins of different size. The distinctive sampling properties of lakes, peats, and small hollows can be exploited to provide details of pattern in paleovegetation so long as attention is given to the limitations and problems of these types of sites. Combinations of site types in a single study most fully exploit the information contained in sediments.