Abiotic landscape and vegetation patterns in the Netherlands during the Weichselian Late Glacial

Abstract

The Late Glacial landscape of the Netherlands was a landscape with changing geomorphology and vegetation. Glacial, eolian and fluvial processes in the time before the Late Glacial initially had formed the main landscape types that still existed during the Late Glacial. In these landscape types, geomorphological processes persisted, particularly during intervals when the vegetation cover was discontinuous. Vegetation development initiated soil formation and stabilised the substratum. On the other hand, the abiotic landscape influenced vegetation development, and particularly vegetation patterns.

The Late Glacial vegetation patterns, changing in time, have been reconstructed on the basis of a palynological database containing the data from over 250 pollen diagrams from the Netherlands. Patterns of vegetation and abiotic landscape appear to compare to each other in many instances, indicating the close interrelationship between vegetation and the abiotic landscape.