Professor Graumlich will compare fossil pollen records with simulated vegetation histories at five sites in the northern midwestern United States. She will incorporate tree.ring analysis of appropriate species to improve existing climate models, simulate vegetation histories under different climatic assumptions, and compare the results with fossil pollen records. Graumlich's research addresses the question of whether climatic change or vegetation dynamics is the most important factor controlling late.Pleistocene vegetational change. Her work should help resolve that question. Her results will also improve our understanding of relationships between climate and vegetation generally, and will be applicable to questions regarding current changes in natural vegetation.
