LOVE Is in the R—Two R Tools for Local Vegetation Reconstruction

Pollen deposition in small lakes and peatlands is composed of local pollen deposition arriving from the nearby vegetation and of regional pollen deposition arriving from farther away. The LOVE model aims to reconstruct past vegetation on a small local scale by extracting only the local pollen signal. To this end, pollen deposition from small sites is related to pollen deposition from large lakes with predominantly regional pollen deposition. We here present a new implementation of the LOVE model in the R environment for statistical computing that is more user friendly than existing implementations. It allows more readily application with fossil pollen data and facilitates extensive testing of the approach in simulated landscapes. The LOVE model derives from critical mathematical assumptions that strongly limit its application. We additionally present LOVEoptim as an adjusted approach to local-scale reconstructions. Other than in LOVE, past local plant abundances are approximated using numerical optimization. Tests in a simulated landscape, which is based on true landscape patterns from digital maps, show that both approaches are valid. Due to fewer mathematical assumptions, LOVEoptim is more widely applicable. The modeling results help to better interpret the spatial scale of vegetation reflected in LOVE/LOVEoptim reconstructions.