South Florida Pollen Data

This calibration dataset makes it possible to infer past trends in hydrology and disturbance regime based on pollen assemblages preserved in sediment cores. Pollen assemblages from sediment cores collected in different vegetation types throughout the Everglades provide evidence on wetland response to natural fluctuations in climate as well as impacts of human alteration of Everglades hydrology.

Sediment cores were located primarily in sawgrass marshes, cattail marshes, tree islands, sawgrass ridges, sloughs, marl prairies, and mangroves. The datasets contain raw data on pollen abundance as well as pollen concentration (pollen grains per gram dry sediment). Terrestrial ecosystems of south Florida have undergone numerous human disturbances, ranging from alteration of hydroperiod, fire history, and drainage patterns from the introduction of the canal system to expansion of agricultural activity to the introduction of exotic species, Over historical time, dramatic changes in the ecosystem have been documented and these changes have been attributed to various human activities.