Abstract
This chapter discusses numerical methods that can aid in the summarisation and analysis of patterns in complex multivariate palaeolimnological data. These methods are constrained cluster analysis and constrained partitioning for zonation, partitioning of individual stratigraphical sequences for exploring patterns within and between taxa, ordination techniques for summarising trends within stratigraphical data, rate-of-change analysis for estimating rates of biotic change through time, and dissimilarity analysis and ordination techniques for quantifying the magnitude of recent change. Availability of appropriate computer software is outlined and possible future developments are discussed.
Keywords
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Acknowledgements
I am extremely grateful to Keith Bennett for generously providing an extensive first draft of this chapter. I also thank Hilary Birks, Eric Grimm, Steve Juggins, Pierre Legendre, Andy Lotter, Gavin Simpson, John Smol, and Kathy Willis for their thoughtful and helpful comments and advice, and Cathy Jenks for her invaluable help in preparing this chapter. This is publication A211 from the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research.
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Birks, H.J.B. (2012). Analysis of Stratigraphical Data. In: Birks, H., Lotter, A., Juggins, S., Smol, J. (eds) Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2745-8_11
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