Table 1. Main features and variables extracted from published pollen diagrams for recovery rate calculations.
| Variable | Description | Notation |
|---|---|---|
| Independent variables | ||
| Disturbance type | Factor causing impact on forest vegetation, shown on pollen diagram or referred to in the text | See Table 2 for categories |
| Geographical attributes | Potential influencers of forest ecology/disturbance response | Location, altitude, latitude, longitude |
| Standardized rate of disturbance events (SRD) | Average number of disturbance events in a site per 1,000 years | SRD=(n/(T1,pre–Tn,max))*1,000 |
| Response variable & measurements | ||
| Recovery Rate (RR) | Rate of increase in forest abundance relative to degree of disturbance-induced change, that is, % increase in forest pollen abundance per year in relation to pre-disturbance level | RR=(((Fmax–Fmin)/(Fpre–Fmin))*100)/Trec |
| Forest abundance maximum pre-disturbance (%) | Percentage of forest pollen at maximum point pre-decline (that is, baseline forest pollen percentage) | Fpre |
| Forest abundance minimum at disturbance (%) | Percentage of forest pollen at minimum point during disturbance event | Fmin |
| Forest abundance at maximum recovery (%) | Percentage of forest pollen at point of maximum recovery (before a stabilizing point or further decline) | Fmax |
| Time period of recovery (years) | Time period from maximum reduction to maximum recovery | Trec |
| Forest abundance decline (%) | Percentage decline in forest pollen from Fpre | FD=((Fpre–Fmin)*100)/Fpre |
RR=recovery rate; SRD=standardized rate of disturbance.
Forest recovery is described as the maximum increase in percentage of forest pollen after a decline, before a stabilizing point or further decline. (Forest abundance is used as a crude descriptor of past vegetation extent reconstructed from fossil pollen, but is not representative of a quantifiable forest area.) (n=number of disturbance events).