Pollen taphonomy of trees in a windy climate: Northbay plantation, barra, outer hebrides

Studies of the representaion of tree pollen on moss polsters within and around a mixed plantation on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides revealed that relatively high concentrations of tree pollen (>20per cent) occurred within the plantation, but that proportions fell to background levels at distances between 1 and 40m of the woodland margin. These very short distances imply that palynological studies of the vegetational history of the Outer Hebrides might fail to record patches of woodland that may, in the past, have existed within an overall open (moorland) environment. ‘Alnus’ and ‘Pinus’ were well represented; ‘Acer’, ‘Fraxinus’ and ‘Picea’ under‐represented.