PROSPECTS AND LIMITS OF A PHYTOLITH KEY FOR GRASSES IN THE CENTRAL UNITED-STATES
PROSPECTS AND LIMITS OF A PHYTOLITH KEY FOR GRASSES IN THE CENTRAL UNITED-STATES
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DOI:
10.1016/0305-4403(84)90016-5
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发表时间:
1984-01-01
影响因子:
2.8
通讯作者:
BROWN, DA
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
BROWN, DA
A key for identification of opal phytoliths, based on 112 grass species common to central North America, presents a number of possibilities for interpretation of paleophytogeography of the grasslands. The methods of key development, together with a summary of the key, in the form of an outline supported by tables. The key divides all phytoliths into 8 major shape categories, which in turn are subdivided by minor shape characteristics. The variability of shapes among the major plant parts is large. Within-species variations for most of the species examined are primarily size variations that seem to be related to plant vigor. A striking exception to this rule is Bouteloua gracilis where root phytoliths exhibit extreme variability of shape. Within-tribe and within-subfamily variations in major phytolith classes are not great. Different tribes and subfamilies, however, differ considerably in the importance of 3 of the shape classes: bilobates, saddles and trapezoids. Ratios of certain trapezoid shapes to saddles or bilobates can provide information on the relative dominance of grasses possessing C4 and C3 pathways. Fluctuations in these ratios found in stratified deposits may reflect shifts in midsummer temperature through time, but there are several sources of error that must be examined separately. Phytoliths that fit in the festucoid class of Twiss et al. (1969) (now Pooicoideae) have been seen in the tribes Aristideae, Eragrosteae and Andropogoneae. Saddle shapes of Eragrosteae and Chlorideae are also common in Phragmites australis and bilobates (dumbbells) of the Panicoideae subfamily occur in species of Danthonia. There are sufficient differences among the most important taxonomic groups in the central North American grasslands to allow identification of the time of taxa arrival during the Holocene, if stratified and datable deposits are available. It is possible for phytolith analysis to provide a better understanding of migration rates and sources of major species.