Lennart von Post and Quaternary palynology since the 1960s

With the advent of radiocarbon dating in the 1950s, Quaternary pollen analysis underwent a quantum leap in its field and laboratory methodology, its geographical coverage, its research topics, and its concepts. Major field and laboratory methodological developments include improved coring techniques, absolute pollen influx estimation, representation factors, improved pollen morphology, numerical and statistical analyses, fine-resolution studies, and surface-pollen studies. Geographical coverage has expanded to almost all areas, ranging from the arctic to the tropics and from arid regions to alpine environments. Many thousands of dated pollen diagrams now exist, and the data of many of these are now being stored in open-access databases such as Neotoma. Research topics are mainly centred on quantitative reconstructions of past populations, vegetation, landscapes, and ecosystems, including climate and human activity. Conceptual developments include increased concern about project design, site selection, spatial scale, and hypothesis testing and addressing key ecological concepts such as diversity, resilience, and drivers of change.