Vegetation history during the periods covered in this document is most readily reconstructed from pollen analysis (palynology), supplemented by the evidence from other indicators such as plant macrofossils, insects and sedimentology. This survey makes no pretence at exhaustiveness and the associated literature is vast. Reviews of vegetational history, often with a specific focus, may be found in Edwards and Ralston (1984), Tipping (1995; 2004), Edwards and Whittington (1997a, b; 2000; 2001), and Walker and Lowe (1997). Area-specific contributions include Keatinge and Dickson (1979), Birks and Williams (1983), Edwards and McIntosh (1988), Edwards (2000), Edwards et al. (2000b, 2005), Tipping and Milburn (2000), Tipping (2008), and Green and Edwards (2009). The techniques of palynology are discussed exhaustively in Dimbleby (1985), Faegri and Iversen (1989), and Moore et al. (1991). For the evidence from plant macrofossils, readers are directed to Godwin (1975) and Dickson and Dickson (2000); climate change events per se are summarised by Tipping (see Table 1).
