Pollen records, postglacial: Southeastern North America

Pollen records from the unglaciated southeastern region of North America provide an overview of biogeographic changes associated with vegetational migration northward following the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Changing insolation during the Holocene affected forest composition on the Coastal Plain, and rising sea level controlled the distribution of marsh and forested wetlands throughout the middle and late Holocene. Land clearance and management since European colonization had significant impacts on vegetation during the last few centuries. This article summarizes spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation in southeastern North America during the last 22.5 cal ka BP.