Simulating post-glacial vegetation development of forest ecosystems in the Eastern Alps. Evaluation of a forest succession model.

For a watershed in the eastern Alps the postglacial vegetation development is reconstructed from a Holocene pollen profile and locally derived R-values. Holocene time series of climate data are reconstructed from proxy data and longterm measurements of temperature and precipitation. A 3D-succession model is implemented at pixel-basis of a GIS and spatially explicit vegetation development for the Holocene is simulated. Model reliability is analysed by comparison of simulated and reconstructed vegetation data.