Modern and fossil pollen assemblages in the Sierra Occidental of Jalisco; ~ 1,500 years of history of the vegetation and environmental change
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2026.97.5741Keywords:
Anthropogenic activity, Temperate forests, Late Holocene, Pollen rainAbstract
The Sierra de Cacoma, Jalisco is a region of high floristic diversity and endemism located in a biogeographic transition zone (2,119 m asl), where temperate and tropical elements converge. We analyzed the relationship between the taxonomic composition of modern and fossil pollen and environmental changes in a Pinus-Quercus-Abies forest at La Cumbre de Guadalupe (Talpa de Allende, Jalisco, Mexico). We analyzed 22 modern pollen samples, 62 fossil pollen samples, and vegetation structure in 14 plots (500 m² each). We applied Davis palynological association indices, Hill diversity, and a dissimilarity analysis based on chord distance. The past ~ 1,580 years show an interval of greater similarity (~ 850-400 cal yr BP) interspersed with episodes of change (~ 1,500, 1,000, and 300 cal yr BP), consistent with Late Holocene climatic transitions. In the recent period, fires and deforestation have promoted vegetation homogenization. Overall, these results document the response of temperate forests to climatic and anthropogenic forcing at centennial scales and highlight the value of integrating modern pollen rain, fossil records, and diversity metrics to interpret vegetation and environmental history.
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