NDLI: Challenges in the presentation and analysis of plant-macrofossil stratigraphical data

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Birks, H. John B.
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Plant-macrofossil analysis is being increasingly used in Quaternary science, particularly palaeoecology and vegetation history. Although the techniques of macrofossil analysis are well-tried and relatively simple, the resulting data consisting of qualitative binary presences and absences, ordinal classes, and quantitative counts are not simple from the viewpoint of numerical data-analysis. This essay reviews the nature of macrofossil data and discusses the problem of zero and non-zero values. Problems in the presentation of macrofossil data are outlined and possible solutions are discussed. The handling of such data is discussed in terms of data summarisation, data analysis, and data interpretation. Newly developed numerical methods that take account of the mixed nature and the stratigraphical ordering of macrofossil data are outlined, such as (distance-based) multivariate regression trees, canonical analysis of principal coordinates, principal curves, cascade multivariate regression trees, and RLQ analysis. These and other techniques outlined have the potential to help exploit the full potential of macrofossil stratigraphical data in Quaternary palaeoecology.
Starting Page	309
Ending Page	330
Page Count	22
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09396314
Journal	Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Volume Number	23
Issue Number	3
e-ISSN	16176278
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2014-03-04
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Beals smoothing Canonical analysis of principal coordinates Causative factors Constrained ordination Data analysis Data interpretation Data summarisation Data transformation Dissimilarity coefficients Ecological indicator values False absences Indicator species Mixed data Multivariate regression trees Numerical analysis Ordination Partitioning Plotting Principal curves Rate-of-change analysis Regression trees Trait analysis Zero values Paleontology Biogeosciences Climate Change Anthropology Archaeology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Plant Science Archeology (arts and humanities) Paleontology

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