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John Birks

Emeritus, Professor Emeritus in Quantitative Palaeoecology and Ecology
  • E-mailjohn.birks@uib.no
  • Visitor Address
    HIB - Thormøhlens gate 55
    5006 Bergen
  • Postal Address
    Postboks 7803
    5020 Bergen

Quaternary palaeoecology, pollen analysis, vegetation history, quantitative palaeoecology and palaeolimnology, quantitative environmental reconstructions, community ecology, plant geography, bryology, alpine plant ecology.

ORCiD: H. John B. Birks

Google Scholar: H John B Birks

Invited lectures in Bio-250 Palaeoecology

Selected publications (a more complete list can be found here)

Books

Birks, H.J.B., Lotter, A.F., Juggins, S. and Smol, J.P. (eds.) (2012) Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Volume 5: Data Handling and Numerical Techniques. Springer, Dordrecht, 745 pp.

Averis, A.M., Averis, A.B.G., Birks, H.J.B., Horsfield, D., Thompson, D.B.A. and Yeo, M.J.M. (2004) An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough, 454 pp

Birks, H.J.B. and Gordon, A.D. (1985) Numerical Methods in Quaternary Pollen Analysis. Academic Press, 317 pp. (translated into Chinese by Shen Caiming and published by Nanjing University Press, China, 239 pp).

Huntley, B. and Birks, H.J.B. (1983) An Atlas of Past and Present Pollen Maps for Europe: 0‑13000 years ago. Cambridge University Press, 667 pp.

Birks, H.J.B. and Birks, H.H. (1980) Quaternary Palaeoecology. Edward Arnold, 289 pp.

Birks, H.J.B. (1973) Past and Present Vegetation of the Isle of Skye ‑ a Palaeoecological Study. Cambridge University Press, 415 pp.

Papers

Birks, H.J.B.,  Birks, H.H. & Ammann, B. 2016. The fourth dimension of vegetation. Science 354: 412-413. 10.1126/science.aai8737

Birks, H.J.B., Felde, V.A. & Seddon, A.W.R. 2016. Biodiversity trends within the Holocene. The Holocene 26: 994-1001. 10.1177/095968361562256

Birks, H.J.B., Felde, V.A., Bjune, A.E., Grytnes, J.-A., Seppä, H. & Giesecke, T. 2016. Does pollen-assemblage richness reflect floristic richness? A review of recent developments and future challenges. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 228: 1-25. 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.12.011

Felde, V.A., Hooghiemstra, H., Torres, V. & Birks, H.J.B. 2016. Detecting patterns of change in a long pollen-stratigraphical sequence from Funza, Colombia – a comparison of new and traditional numerical approaches. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 234: 94-109. 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2016.08.003

Herzschuh, U., Birks, H.J.B., Laepple, T., Andreev, A., Melles, M. & Brigham-Grette, J. 2016. Glacial legacies on interglacial vegetation at the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition in Asia. Nature Communications 7: 11967. 10.1038/ncomms11967

Steinbauer, M.J., Field, R., and 33 co-authors including Grytnes, J.-A., Birks, H.J.B. & Vetaas, O.R. 2016. Topography-driven isolation, speciation and a global increase of endemism with elevation. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25: 1097-1107. 10.1111/geb.12469

Birks, H.J.B. 2015. Some reflections on the refugium concept in historical biogeography, contemporary ecology, and global-change biology. Biodiversity 16: 196-212. 10.1080/14888386.2015.1117022

Wasof, S., Lenoir, J. and 46 co-authors including Birks, H.J.B., Grytnes, J.-A. & Vandvik, V. 2015. Disjunct populations of European vascular plant species keep the same climatic niches. Global Ecology and Biogeography 24: 1401-1412. 10.1111/geb.12375

Birks, H.J.B. and Willis, K.J. (2008) Alpines, trees, and refugia in Europe. Plant Ecology and Diversity 1: 147-160.  10.1080/17550870802349146

Birks, H.H. and Birks, H.J.B. (2000) Future uses of pollen analysis must  include plant macrofossils. Journal of Biogeography 27, 31-35.  10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00375.x

Birks, H.J.B. and Line, J.M. (1992) The use of rarefaction analysis for estimating palynological richness from Quaternary pollen-analytical data. The Holocene 2, 1-10.  10.1177/095968369200200101

Birks, H.J.B., Line, J.M., Juggins, S., Stevenson, A.C. and ter Braak, C.J.F. (1990) Diatoms and pH reconstruction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 327, 263‑278.  10.1098/rstb.1990.0062

Birks, H.J.B. (1989) Holocene isochrone maps and patterns of tree‑spreading in the British Isles. Journal of Biogeography 16, 503‑540.  10.2307/2845208

Academic article
  • Show author(s) (2010). What caused the mid-Holocene forest decline on the eastern Tibet-Qinghai Plateau? Global Ecology and Biogeography. 278-286.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Quantifying recent ecological changes in remote lakes of North America and Greenland using sediment diatom assemblages. PLOS ONE.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Oribatid mite assemblages across the tree-line in western Norway and their representation in lake sediments. Journal of Paleolimnology. 361-374.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Holocene land-cover changes on the Tibetan Plateau. The Holocene. 91-104.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Holocene climate and environmental history of Brurskardstjørni, a lake in the catchment of Øvre Heimdalsvatn, south-central Norway. Hydrobiologia. 13-34.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Evaluating the indicator value of Tibetan pollen taxa for modern vegetation and climate. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 197-208.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Early-Holocene temperature variability inferred from chironomid assemblages at Hawes Water, northwest England. The Holocene. 943-954.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Developing a modern pollen-climate calibration data set for Norway. Boreas. 674-688.
  • Show author(s) (2010). A modern pollen–climate calibration set based on lake sediments from the Tibetan Plateau and its application to a Late Quaternary pollen record from the Qilian Mountains. Journal of Biogeography. 752-766.
  • Show author(s) (2010). 4 ◦C and beyond: what did this mean for biodiversity in the past? Systematics and Biodiversity. 3-9.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Variability in thermal and UV-B energy fluxes through time and their influence on plant diversity and speciation. Journal of Biogeography. 1630-1644.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Svend Th Anderssen (1926-2009). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 189-191.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Quantitative summer-temperature reconstructions for the last 2000 years based on pollen-stratigraphical data from northern Fennoscandia. Journal of Paleolimnology. 43-56.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Evaluation of transfer functions in spatially structured environments. Quaternary Science Reviews. 1309-1316.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Exploring Holocene continentality changes in Fennoscandia using present and past tree distributions. Quaternary Science Reviews. 1296-1308.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Alpines, trees, and refugia in Europe. Plant Ecology & Diversity. 147-160.
  • Show author(s) (2005). A multi-proxy study of lake-development in response to catchment changes during the Holocene at Lochnagar, north-east Scotland. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
  • Show author(s) (2003). Recent increases in species richness and shifts in altitudinal distributions of Norwegian mountain plants. The Holocene. 1-6.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Surface-sediment and epilithic diatom pH calibration sets for remote European mountain lakes (AL:PE Project) and their comparison with the Surface Waters Acidification Programme (SWAP) calibration set. Journal of Paleolimnology. 291-317.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Predicting heavy metal concentrations in the surface sediments of Norwegian headwater lakes from atmospheric deposition: an application of a simple sediment-water partitioning model. Water, Air and Soil Pollution. 27-51.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Plant species richness in Fennoscandia: evaluating the relative importance of climate and history. Nordic Journal of Botany (NJB). 489-503.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Frode Berge (1938-1997). Journal of Paleolimnology. 259-261.
  • Show author(s) (1999). Early Holocene atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Science. 1815-1816.
  • Show author(s) (1999). An expanded calibration model for inferring lakewater and air temperatures from fossil chironomid assemblages in northern Fennoscandia. The Holocene. 279-294.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Variation in the geochemistry of recent lake sediments along a west-east pollution gradient in the Bergen area, Norway. Water, Air and Soil Pollution. 47-81.
  • Show author(s) (1996). The Kråkenes Late-glacial Palaeoenvironmental Project. Journal of Paleolimnology. 281-286.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Statistical approaches to interpreting diversity patterns in the Norwegian mountain flora. Ecography. 332-340.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Spatial and environmental components of variation in the distribution patterns of subarctic plant species at Kevo, N Finland - A case study the meso-scale level. Ecography. 341-351.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Quantitative relationships of invertebrates to pH in Norwegian river systems. Hydrobiologia. 57-74.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Quantitative Reconstruction of Past Land-use and Soil Conditions Using the Modern Analogue Approach - A Case Study in South Sweden. PACT (Strasbourg). 431-442.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Numerical analysis of modern and fossil pollen spectra as a tool for elucitating the natureof fine-scale human activities in boreal areas. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 257-272.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Factors influencing inter-population variation in Ranunculus acris seed production in an alpine area of southwestern Norway. Ecography. 269-270.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Diatom-based water chemistry reconstructions from northern Sweden: A comparison of reconstruction techniques. Journal of Paleolimnology. 65-77.
  • Show author(s) (1996). Contributions of Quaternary palaeoecology to nature conservation. Journal of Vegetation Science (JVS). 89-98.
  • Show author(s) (1995). Long-term chemical and biological trends in Scottish streams and lochs. Water, Air and Soil Pollution. 701-706.
  • Show author(s) (1995). Late-glacial pollen and diatom changes in responses to two different environmental perturbations: volcanic eruption and the Younger Dryas cooling. Journal of Paleolimnology. 23-47.
  • Show author(s) (1995). Briksdalsbreen, western Norway: climatic effects on the terminal response of a temperate glacier between AD 1901 and 1994. The Holocene. side 343-347.
  • Show author(s) (1994). When did acid-sensitive Adirondack lakes (New York, USA) begin to acidify and are they still acidifying? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 1550-1568.
  • Show author(s) (1994). The importance of pollen and diatom taxonomic precision in quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 107-117.
  • Show author(s) (1994). The impact of the Laacher See Volcano (11000 yr B. P.) on terrestrial vegetation and diatoms. Journal of Paleolimnology. 313-322.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Sequence splitting of pollen accumulation rates from the Holocene and Devensian late-glacial of Scotland. Dissertationes Botanicae. 145-160.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Recurrent groups of pollen types in time. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 165-173.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Quantitative studies on saxicolurs bryophyte-environment relationships in western Norway. Journal of Bryology. 579-612.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Plants of the Serra da Estr#^ela. Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society. 457-464.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Patterns of variation in late-glacial pollen stratigraphy along a northwest-southeast transect through Switzerland - a numerical analysis. Quaternary Science Reviews. 277-286.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Is the hypothesis of survival on glacial nunataks necessary to explain the present-day distributions of Norwegian mountain plants? Phytocoenologia. 399-426.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Examples of recurrent groups of pollen and macrofossils in space and time delimited by simple discriminant functions. Dissertationes Botanicae. 337-351.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Discussion of D. Borcard and P. Legendre's Environmental control and spatial structure in ecological communities: an example using oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatei). Environmental and Ecological Statistics. 55-57.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Did Icelandic volcanic eruptions influence the post-glacial vegetational history of the British Isles? Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 312-314.
  • Show author(s) (1994). Application of moedern/pollen/land-use relationships to the interpretation of pollen diagrams - reconstructions of land-use history in south Sweden, 3000 - 0 BP. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 47-73.
  • Show author(s) (1993). The mid-Holocene Ulmus decline at Diss Mere, south-east England - disease and human impact? Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 61-68.
  • Show author(s) (1993). The impact of the Laacher Sea Tephra on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Black Forest (Southern Germany). Journal of Quaternary Science. 263-276.
  • Show author(s) (1993). The ecology and conservation of the Killarney Fern (Trichomanes speciosum Willd.) in Britain and Ireland. Biological Conservation. 231-247.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Quaternary palaeoecology and vegetation science - current contributions and possible future developments. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 153-177.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Quantitative studies on saxicolous bryophyte-environment relationships in western Norway. Journal of Bryology. 579-611.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Prehistoric increases in the pH of acid-sensitive Swedish lakes caused by land-use changes. Nature. 824-827.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Impact of computer-intensive procedures in testing palaeoecological hypotheses. INQUA - Commission for the Study of the Holocene - Working Group on Data-Handling Methods Newsletter. 1-5.
  • Show author(s) (1993). How to maximise bioloigical diversity in nature reserve selection: vascular plants and breeding birds in deciduous woodlands, western Norway. Biological Conservation. 131-138.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Glacial refugia of European trees - a matter of change? Dissertationes Botanicae. 283-291.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Diatom assemblages from Adirondac lakes (New York, USA) and the development of predictive models for retrospective environmental assessment. Journal of Paleolimnology. 27-47.
  • Show author(s) (1993). Assessing the representativeness of nature reserves using multivariate analyses: vascular plants and breeding birds in deciduous forests, western Norway. Biological Conservation. 121-132.
  • Show author(s) (1993). A numerical analysis of the distribution patterns of Salix species in Europe. Journal of Biogeography. 1-32.
  • Show author(s) (1993). A new biogeographical classification of the Scottish Uplands II. Vegetation-environment associations. Journal of Ecology. 231-251.
  • Show author(s) (1992). The use of rarefraction analysis for estimating palynological richness from Quaternary pollen-analytical data. The Holocene. 1-10.
  • Show author(s) (1992). The use of rarefraction analysis for estimating palynological richness from Quaternary pollen-analytical data. The Holocene. 1-10.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Scaled chrysophytes (Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae) from Adirondac drainage lakes and their relationships to environmental variables. Journal of Phycology. 162-178.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Modern pollen/land-use relationships as an aid in the reconstruction of past land-use and cultural landscape: an example from South Sweden. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 3-17.
  • Show author(s) (1992). How much acidification has occured in Adirondack (New York, USA) lakes since pre-industrial times? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 128-141.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Assessing damaged fishery resources and lake water aluminum trends using paleolimnological analyses of siliceous algae. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 116-127.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Aquatic invertebrates, climate, scale, and statistical hypothesis testing; a response to Hann, Warner and Warwick. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 1276-1280.
  • Show author(s) (1992). Anoectangium warburgii in western Norway. Lindbergia. 67-68.
Academic lecture
  • Show author(s) (2020). A Humboldt Legacy – High-elevational limits of vascular plants: Europe, North America, Himalaya, East Africa, Andes.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Lennart von Post and Quaternary palynology since the 1960s.
  • Show author(s) (2015). A brief history of climate – the northern seas from the Last Glacial Maximum to global warming.
  • Show author(s) (2014). 52 glaciers and one lake: how to reconstruct past regional glacier variability.
  • Show author(s) (2013). The Fagus sylvatica forests in the Larvik region, southern Norway – their history and origin.
  • Show author(s) (2013). North-Atlantic Holocene climate variability reflected in the dynamical response of Norwegian maritime glaciers.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Diversity relationships between vegetation and modern pollen samples in the Setesdal valley of south-central Norway.
  • Show author(s) (2012). The Fagus sylvatica forests in the Larvik region, southern Norway - their history and origin.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Land-cover and ecological changes in Tibet during the last 15,000 years.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Ecosystem changes at the time of the establishment of beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests in the Larvik region, southern Norway.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Ecological and land-cover thresholds, inertia, and responses to climate change during the last 15,000 years on the Tibet Plateau – A case study.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Biodiversity relationships between vegetation and modern pollen samples in the Setesdal valley of south-central Norway.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Ancient DNA from lake sediments - Fact or fiction?
  • Show author(s) (2011). Vegetation responses to rapid climate change at the late-glacial/Holocene transition.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Towards an integrated valuation of mountain landscapes.
  • Show author(s) (2011). The evolutionary legacies of the Quaternary ice ages.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Significance tests for transfer function-derived quantitative reconstructions.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Plant life in the cold - arctic and alpine environments.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Ongoing research and future perspectives- the Bergen palaeoecology group’s work in the Arctic.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Long-term ecology and conservation biology - controversies, challenges, and compromises.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Introduction to Quaternary palaeoecology.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Inferring past environments from biological data: progress, problems, and potentialities.
  • Show author(s) (2011). DYNAWARM: Dynamics of Past Warm Climates.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Can the secrets of the past help us make future predictions: Controversies, challenges, and compromises.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Biotic responses to rapid climate chagnes 10000-12000 years ago - ecological processes, thresholds, resilience, and novel ecosystems.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Towards a new Framework for the Management of Cultural and Natural Heritage in upland Landscape Conservation Areas (LCA) in Norway.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Summer temperature trends during the last 2000 years innorthern Fennoscandia and the Kola Peninsula.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Long-Term Ecology and Conservation Biology – Controversies, Challenges, and Compromises.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Long-Term Ecology and Conservation Biology – Controversies, Challenges, and Compromises.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Introduction and Overview of Major Numerical Methods.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Introduction and Overview of Major Numerical Methods.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Indirect Gradient Analysis.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Hypothesis Testing and Time-Series Analysis.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Direct Gradient Analysis.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Calibration, Transfer Functions, and Environmental Reconstructions.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Analysis of stratigraphical data.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Alpine plants at the equator - giants and dwarfs.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Plant Species Richness in Space - Patterns and Processes.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Past climates of the Arctic: A chironomid-based temperature reconstruction of an Arctic lake on western Spitsbergen.
  • Show author(s) (2009). New approaches to the interpretation of Holocene palaeoecological data.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Long-Term Ecology and Management in Upland Landscapes - controversies, challenges, and compromises.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Last nine-thousand years of temperature variability in Fennoscandia.
  • Show author(s) (2009). How the secrets of the past can help future ecological predictions.
  • Show author(s) (2009). How the secrets of the past can help future ecological predictions.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Atlantic hazel woods - a lichenologist's paradise, an ecologist's problem.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Using Earth System Models to test competing palaeoecological hypotheses about Holocene forest decline on the Tibetan Plateau.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Using Earth System Models to test competing palaeoecological hypotheses about Holocene forest decline on the Tibetan Plateau.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Time-series analysis.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Stratigraphical data analysis.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Rapid ecosystem shifts during the late Holocene in a Picea abies forest in south-eastern Norway - local stand scale dynamics and patterns.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Quantitative environmental reconstructions.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Overview of continental palaeoclimatic proxies in time and space.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Introduction and Overview of Major Numerical Methods.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Interglacial-glacial vegetational dynamics - a natural ecological laboratory.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Interglacial - glacial vegetation dynamics - a natural long-term ecological laboratory.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Interglacial - glacial vegetation dynamics - a natural ecological laboratory.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Hypothesis testing.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Biological proxies in sedimentray archives - progress, problems, potentialities.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Alpine Plant Biodiversity. Patterns, processes, functions, and threats.
  • Show author(s) (2007). The Holocene “Thermal Maximum” – The pollen view.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Temperature and precipitation changes around the 8200 cal yr BP event in western and northern Norway - pollen evidence.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from fossils assemblages - approaches, methods, assumptions, evaluation, and validation.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from fossil assemblages - approaches, methods, assumptions, evaluation, and validation.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Present-day temperatures at Sokli (northern Finland) during MIS 3 recorded by high-resolution multiproxy analysis and climate modelling.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Palaeoecology and current environmental problems. Is palaeoecology still a 'quaint but irrelevant speciality'?
  • Show author(s) (2007). New Approaches to the interpretation of Holocene palaeoecological data.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Multi-proxy studies in Quaternary palaeoecology - origins, development, and potentials.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Klima i Follo, søndre Akershus, gjennom 5000 år.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Holocene forest decline on the Tibetan Plateau - climate or humans.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Holocene forest decline on the Tibetan Plateau - climate or human activity.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Holocene Climate Research - Progress, Paradigms, and Problems.
  • Show author(s) (2007). History, Evolution, and Future of Arctic and Alpine Flora.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Climate Change in the Holocene - an overview.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Biological responses to rapid climate change at the Last Glacial - Interglacial transition - dynamics, turnover, and rates of change.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Alpines, trees, and refugia.
  • Show author(s) (2007). Alpines, trees, and refugia.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Vegetation and climate history at Svanåvatnet, Mo i Rana, Nordland.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Recent developments in radiocarbon-age calibration and age-depth modelling of Holocene stratigraphical sequences.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Recent developments in Holocene climate reconstructions based on pollen analysis.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Pollen – climate transfer functions.
  • Show author(s) (2006). New approaches to the interpretation of Holocene palaeoecological data.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Multi-proxy studies in Quaternary palaeoecology - origins, development and potential.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Holocene summer temperature variability in southern Norway - a palaeolimnological study based on chironimids, pollen, and geochemical data.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Holocene climate research - progress, paradigms and problems.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Holocene climate reseach - progress, paradigms and problems.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Exploring the World of High Alpines.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Diatom responses to 20th century climate warming in lakes from the Northern Urals, Russia.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Biological responses to rapid climate change at the last glacial - interglacial transition - dynamics, turnover and rates of change.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Biological responses to rapid climate change at the Last Glacial-Interglacial transition - dynamics, turnover, and rates of change.
  • Show author(s) (2006). An introduction of quantitative palaeoecology.
  • Show author(s) (2005). The secret assumption of transfer functions: the problem with spatial autocorrelation.
  • Show author(s) (2005). The secret assumption of transfer functions.
  • Show author(s) (2005). The secret assumption of transfer functions.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Patterns of change in Holocene climate records from Lyngen, Northern Norway.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Plant Distributional Data, Palaeoecology, and Climate Change.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Holocene mean July temperature and winter precipitation in western Norway inferred from lake sediment proxies.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Holocene 'Thermal Maximum' - the Pollen View.
  • Show author(s) (2003). Holosen vegetasjons- og klimahistorie fra Skibotn og Lyngen, Troms, vist ved pollen- og makrofossilanalyse.
  • Show author(s) (2003). Holocene vegetation and climate history in Troms based on pollen and plant macrofossils.
  • Show author(s) (2003). All age-depth models are wrong: but which are useful?
  • Show author(s) (2002). Assessing the effects of within-lake variability of fossil assemblages on quantitative chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions.
  • Show author(s) (2001). Past climate changes in the Norwegian Region during the glacial-Holocene transition, 14.000 - ca. 10.000 cal yr BP.
  • Show author(s) (2001). Holocene vegetation and climate history in Troms, northern Norway, based on pollen and plant macrofossils from lake sediments.
  • Show author(s) (2001). Development of benthic foraminiferal transfer functions along the north eastern Atlantic margin.
  • Show author(s) (2000). Past climates of the Norwegian region (NORPAST) - a new national research project.
  • Show author(s) (2000). Past climates of the Norwegian region (NORPAST) - a new national research project.
  • Show author(s) (2000). Climate history as recorded by ecologically sensitive arctic and alpine lakes in Europe during the last 10,000 years: a multi-proxy approach (CHILL-10,000).
Academic anthology/Conference proceedings
  • Show author(s) (2012). Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments, Volume 5: Data Handling and Numerical Techniques. Springer.
  • Show author(s) (1988). The Cultural Landscape - Past, Present and Future. Cambridge University Press.
  • Show author(s) (1988). The Cultural Landscape - Past, Present and Future. Cambridge University Press.
Academic literature review
  • Show author(s) (2023). Exploring spatio-temporal patterns of palynological changes in Asia during the Holocene. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 20 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Does pollen-assemblage richness reflect floristic richness? A review of recent developments and future challenges. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 1-25.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Macrofossils in Raraku Lake (Easter Island) integrated with sedimentary and geochemical records: towards a palaeoecological synthesis for the last 34,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews. 113-126.
  • Show author(s) (2011). The pace of Holocene vegetation change - testing for synchronous developments. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2805-2814.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Merging chironomid training sets: implications for palaeoclimate reconstructions. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2793-2804.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Late-Quaternary palaeoclimatic research in Fennoscandia – A historical review. Boreas. 655-673.
  • Show author(s) (2010). Biodiversity baselines, thresholds and resilience: testing predictions and assumptions using palaeoecological data. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 583-591.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Last nine-thousand years of temperature variability in Northern Europe. Climate of the Past. 523-535.
  • Show author(s) (2009). Flora, vegetation and climate at Sokli, northeastern Fennoscandia, during the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial. Boreas. 335-348.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quaternary Science Reviews. 351-364.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Agroforestry: a refuge for tropical biodiversity? Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 261-267.
  • Show author(s) (2006). What is natural? The need for a long-term perspective in biodiversity conservation. Science. 1261-1265.
  • Show author(s) (2006). Multi-proxy studies in palaeolimnology. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 235-251.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Holocene environmental history and climate of Råtåsjøen, a low-alpine lake in south-central Norway. Journal of Paleolimnology. 129-153.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Fifty years of Quaternary pollen analysis in Fennoscandia 1954-2004. Grana. 1-22.
  • Show author(s) (2005). Chironomids as a tool for inferring Holocene climate: an assessment based on six sites in southern Scandinavia. Quaternary Science Reviews. 1429-1462.
  • Show author(s) (2005). A multi-proxy palaeoecological study of Alanen Laanijärvi, a boreal-forest lake in Swedish Lapland. Boreas. 192-206.
  • Show author(s) (2004). Benthonic foraminiferal distributions and quantitative transfer functions for the northwest European continental margin. Marine Micropaleontology. 197-226.
  • Show author(s) (2004). A modern pollen-climate calibration set from northern Europe: developing and testing a tool for palaeoclimatological reconstructions. Journal of Biogeography. 251-267.

More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)

HOPE Humans on Planet Earth - long-term impacts on biosphere dynamics

IGNEX Interglacials and glacials - natural experiments in biodiversity dynamics

IGNEX-eco applying the ideas of IGNEX to restoration ecology, landscape management, and conservation

PollChem Pollen Chemistry as the Next Generation Tool in Palaeoecological Research - Theory, Methods and Applications

 

Qualifications and society memberships

BA (1966), PhD (1969), MA (1970), ScD (1981) University of Cambridge

Philosophiae Doctor Honoris Causa (1998) University of Lund

Foreign Member, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (1987), The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (2014), and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016)

Awards

Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society of London (1982)

Władysław Szafer Medal of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1986)

Fridtjof Nansen Prize, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (1998)

Rector's Medal, University of Helsinki (1998)

Fridtjof Nansen Medal, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (2003)

Honorary Fellow, Botanical Society of Scotland (2004)

President's Prize, Botanical Society of the British Isles (2005)

Honorary Fellow, University College London (2010)

Lifetime Acheivement Award and Medal, International Paleolimnology Association (2012)