Skip to main content

Abstract

Are retrospective studies useful as supplements to long-term ecological studies? Can they serve as substitutes? Retrospective studies have often addressed the same sorts of problems as long-term studies. These include obtaining baseline data for comparison with modern observations, observing very slow processes, and measuring community and ecosystem responses to rare events (Strayer et al., 1986).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allison, T.D., R.E. Moeller, and M.B. Davis (1986). Pollen in laminated sediments provides evidence fora mid-Holocene forest pathogen outbreak. Ecology 61(4): 1101–1105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, S.T. (1970). The relative pollen productivity and pollen representation of North European trees, and correction factors for tree pollen spectra. Danm. Geol. Unders. 96:99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, T.W. (1974). The Chestnut Pollen decline as a time horizon in lake sediments in eastern North America. Can. J. Earth Sci. 11:678–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behre, K.-E. (1981). The interpretation of anthropogenic indicators in pollen diagrams. Pollen et Spores 23:225–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bormann, F.H. and G.E. Likens (1979). Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, R.H. (1981). Modern pollen-representation factors for woods in southeast England. J. Ecol. 69:45–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, R.H. and T. Webb, III (1985). Relationships between contemporary pollen and vegetation data from Wisconsin and Michigan. Ecology 66(3):721–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brubaker, L.B. and S.K. Greene (1980). Differential effects of Douglas-Fir tussock moth and Western Spruce budworm defoliation on radial growth of grand fir and Douglas-Fir. Can. J. For. Res. 9:95–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brugam, R.B. (1978a). Human disturbance and the historical development of Linsley Pond. Ecol. 59(1): 19–36.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brugam, R.B. (1978b). Pollen indicators of land-use change in southern Connecticut. Quat. Res. 9:349–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carney, H.J. (1982). Algal dynamics and trophic interactions in the recent history of Frains Lake, Michigan. Ecology 63(6): 1814–1826.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y. (1986). “Early Holocene vegetation dynamics of Lake Barrine Basin, northeast Queensland, Australia.” Doctoral thesis, Australian Natural University, Canberra, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J.S. (1987). Climate, fire and forest dynamics during the last 400 yr at Lake Itasca Park, northwestern Minnesota. Ecol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 68:280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B. (1973). Pollen evidence of changing land use around the shores of Lake Washington. Northwest Sci. 47(3): 133–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B. (1976). Erosion rates and land-use history in Southern Michigan. Environ. Conserv. 3(2): 139–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B. (1981). Outbreaks of forest pathogens in Quaternary history. In: IV Int. Palynol. Conf., Lucknow, pp. 216–227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B. (1983). Holocene vegetational history of the eastern United States. In: Late-Quarternary Environments of the United States: Vol. 2, The Holocene (H.E. Wright, ed.). University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 116–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B. and M.S. (J.) Ford (1985). Late-glacial and Holocene sedimentation. In: An Ecosystem Approach to Aquatic Ecology: Mirror Lake and Its Environment (G.E. Likens, ed.). Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 346–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B., M.S. (J.) Ford, and R.E. Moeller (1985). Paleolimnology. In: An Ecosystem Approach to Aquatic Ecology: Mirror Lake and its Environment (G.E. Likens, ed.). Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 345–366.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, O.K. and R.M. Turner (1986). Palynological evidence for the historic expansion of juniper and desert shrubs in Arizona, U.S.A. Rev. of Paleobotany and Palynology 49:177–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, R.B., C.T. Hess, S.A. Norton, D.W. Hanson, K.D. Hoagland, and D.S. Anderson (1984). Cs-137 and Pb-210 dating of sediments from soft-water lakes in New England (U.S.A.) and Scandinavia, a failure of Cs-137 dating. Chemical Geology 44:151–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, R.B. and J.P. Smol (1986). The use of sedimentary remains of siliceous algae for inferring past chemistry of lake water—problems, potential and research needs. In: Diatoms and Lake Acidity (J.P. Smol, R.W. Batterbee, R.B. Davis, and J. Merilainen, eds.). Dr. W. Junk Publ, Dordrecht, pp. 291–300.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, R.B., S.A. Norton, C.T. Hess, and D.F. Brakke (1983). Paleolimnological reconstruction of the effects of atmospheric deposition of acids and heavy metals on the chemistry and biology of lakes in New England and Norway. Hydrobiologia 103:113–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Edmondson, W.T. (1974). The sedimentary record of the eutrophication of Lake Washington. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 71(12):5093–5095.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmondson, W.T. (1975). Microstratification of Lake Washington sediments. Verh. Internat. Verein. Umnol. 19:770–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmondson, W.T. and A.H. Litt (1982). Daphnia in Lake Washington. Limnol. & Oceanogr. 27(2): 272–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, M.S. (J.) (1984). “The influence of lithology on ecosystem development in New England: A comparative paleoecological study.” Doctoral Thesis, University of Minnesota.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.G. (1982). Fire and stability in the postglacial forests of southwest Nova Scotia. J. Biogeogr. 9:29–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, D.G. (1983). The ecological interpretation of fine resolution pollen records. New Phytol. 94:459–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M. and W.T. Edmondson (1975). Burial of oscillaxanthin in the sediment of Lake Washington. Limnol & Oceanogr. 20(6):945–952.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, M., P.S. Perrott, and W.T. Edmondson (1969). Oscillaxanthin in the sediment of Lake Washington. Limnol. & Oceanogr. 14(3):317–326.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, G.L. and R.H.W. Bradshaw (1981). The selection of sites for paleovegetation studies. Quat. Res. 16:80–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerfoot, W.C. (1974). Net accumulation rates and the history of Cladoceran communities. Ecology 55:51–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kershaw, A.P. (1986). Climatic change and Aboriginal burning in north-east Australia during the last two glacial/interglacial cycles. Nature 322:47–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaMarche, V.C. (1973). Holocene climatic variations inferred from treeline fluctuations in the White Mountains, California. Quat. Res. 3:632–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaMarche, V.C. (1974). Paleoclimatic inferences from long tree-ring records. Science 183:1043–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G.E. (ed) (1985). An Ecosystem Approach to Aquatic Ecology: Mirror Lake and Its Environment. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G.E., F.H. Bormann, N.M. Johnson, D.W. Fisher, and R.S. Pierce (1970). Effects of forest cutting and herbicide treatment on nutrient budgets in the Hubbard Brook watershed-ecosystem. Ecol. Monogr. 40:23–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G.E., F.H. Bormann, R.S. Pierce, J. Eaton, S., and N.M. Johnson (1977). Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Likens, G.E., J.S. Eaton, N.M. Johnson, and R.S. Pierce (1985). Flux and balance of water and chemicals. In: An Ecosystem Approach to Aquatic Ecology (G.E. Likens, ed.). Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 135–155.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mackereth, F.J.H. (1966). Some chemical observations on post-glacial lake sediments. Philosophical Trans, of the Royal Soc. London 250(765): 165–213.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, W. (1981). Sediment composition in relation to the interpretation of pollen data. In: IV Int. Palynol. Conf. Lucknow, pp. 188–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, W. (1984). Long-term natural acidification of upland sites in Cumbria: evidence from post-glacial lake sediments. Rep. Freshwater Biol. Assoc. 52:28–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, W., R.S. Cambray, J.D. Eakins, and D.D. Harkness (1976). Radionuclide dating of the recent sediments of Blelham Tarn. Freshwater Biol. 6:317–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, I. and P.D. Moore (1987). Dutch elm disease as an analogue of Neolithic elm decline. Nature 326:72–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, J., W.T. Edmondson, and D.E. Allison (1971). Changes in the chemical composition of sediments of Lake Washington, 1958–1970. Limnol. & Oceanogr. 16(2):437–452.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stockner, J.C. and W. Benson (1967). The succession of diatom assemblages in the recent sediments of Lake Washington. Limnol. & Oceanogr. 12:513–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer, D., J.S. Glitzenstein, C.G. Jones, J. Kolasa, G.E. Likens, M.J. MacDonnell, G.G. Parker, and S.T.A. Pickett (1986). Long-term ecological studies: An illustrated account of their design, operation and importance to ecology. Inst. of Ecosystem Studies, N.Y. Bot. Garden, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum (2). Occasional Publication of the Inst. of Ecosystem Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swain, A.M. (1973). A history of fire and vegetation in northeastern Minnesota as recorded in lake sediments. Quat. Res. 3:383–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wahl, E.W. and T.L. Larson (1970). The climate of the midnineteenth century United States. Monthly Weather Rev. 98.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1989 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Davis, M.B. (1989). Retrospective Studies. In: Likens, G.E. (eds) Long-Term Studies in Ecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7358-6_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7358-6_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7360-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7358-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics