THREE FLANDRIAN POLLEN PROFILES FROM THE TEITH VALLEY, PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND

Abstract

SummaryLithostratigraphies and pollen stratigraphies are described for Flandrian deposits from three infilled kettle‐holes near Callander, the Teith Valley, Perthshire. Differences between the sites, in terms of sediments and inferred hydroseral histories, are described, but broad similarities are recognized in inferred regional forest developments. The sites lie in a transitional zone between the Grampian Highlands, dominated by pine in the mid‐Flandrian, and lowland southeast Scotland, where mixed deciduous woodlands prevailed. The data presented suggest that communities dominated by birch–hazel with oak and elm encroached into the Grampians along major valleys, such as that of the River Teith. The problem of defining the role of pine in Scottish vegetational history, and the implications of an ‘Elm Decline’ recognized at one of the sites, are discussed.