A postglacial paleoenvironmental dataset from New England

W Wyatt Oswald; David R Foster; Bryan N Shuman; Brian R Hall

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2022.108414

A postglacial paleoenvironmental dataset from New England

Data Brief. 2022 Jun 25:43:108414. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108414. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Authors

W Wyatt Oswald^{1

2}, David R Foster², Bryan N Shuman³, Brian R Hall²

Affiliations

¹ Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, Emerson College.
² Harvard Forest, Harvard University.
³ Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming.

Abstract

This paleoenvironmental database features postglacial lake-sediment records from 31 study sites located across New England. The study sites span an environmental gradient from the cooler, northern and inland part of the region to the warmer, southern and coastal areas of New England. Sediment-core chronologies were determined using ¹⁴C dating, ²¹⁰Pb analysis, and pollen evidence. Detailed analyses of sediment lithology, pollen, and charcoal were used to reconstruct changes in climate, vegetation, and fire at centennial temporal scales and subregional spatial scales for the last 14,000 years. Analyses of paleoenvironmental data provide insights into the rates, patterns, and drivers of ecosystem change, helping us anticipate future ecosystem dynamics and guiding present-day conservation strategies and land management.

Keywords: Charcoal; eastern North America; fire; forest ecology; lake sediments; paleoclimate; paleoecology; pollen.