Publications
The Flandrian vegetational history and environmental development of the Brede and Pannel valleys, East Sussex , by Martin Waller, 1987 at University of East London (Ph.D. thesis) View Online
Abstract:This study examines the Flandrian development, particularly the vegetational history, of two valleys in the East Sussex Weald, the Brede and Pannel. Lithostratigraphic surveys of these valleys and biostratigraphic investigations from a number of key sites, principally using the technique of pollen analysi, have been undertaken. Radiocarbon dates provide a chronological framework. In the lower Brede valley pre-Flandrian colluvial deposits are overlain by estuarine sediments and a thin intermittent peat. Widespread peat formation began c.6000 BP., when alder fen woodland became established on the floodplain. Estuarine conditions returned after c.1800 B.P. The sedimentary history of the Pannel appears to be similar, although the deposits at.Paünel Bridge are unusual. Here 1 2.5m of organic material has accumulated since the beginning of the Flandrian. Comparisons are made with other coastal localities in East Sussex in order to determine the importance of local, against regional processes, in the formation of these sequences. At Pannel Bridge the pollen record extends back to 10000 B.P. when the vegetation was dominated by Pinus. Macrofossils remains of Alnus glutinosa were found indicating the presence of this species at the opening of the Flandrian. Corylus was the first of the deciduous taxa to expand (c.9400 B.P.) , followed by Quercus and tjlrnus (c.9000 B.P.). Tilia became an important component of the vegetation after c.7000 B.P. The nature of' the mid-Flandrian forests has been examined in some detail in the Brede valley. At Old Place investigations were undertaken to elucidate the pattern of pollen distribution across the floodplain. Sites close to the valley sides contain particularly high frequencies of Tilia pollen, indicating Tilia was abundant in the adjacent slope woodland. Limited interference by man on the vegetation may have occurred prior to, and accompanying the 'elm decline'. However, there is no evidence to suggest major episodes of forest clearance prior to the declines in Tilia dated to c.3700 B.P. This study highlights some of the problems in interpreting pollen assemblages from deposits of rich-fen origin.
Vegetation history of the English chalklands: a mid-Holocene pollen sequence from the Caburn, East Sussex, by Martyn P. Waller and Sue Hamilton, published March 2000 in Journal of Quaternary Science (vol. 15, issue 3, article, pp.253-272) View Online
Abstract:A pollen diagram has been produced from the base of the Caburn (East Sussex) that provides a temporally and spatially precise record of vegetation change on the English chalklands during the mid-Holocene (ca. 7100 to ca. 3800 cal. yr BP). During this period the slopes above the site appear to have been well-wooded, with vegetation analogous to modern Fraxinus-Acer-Mercurialis communities in which Tilia was also a prominent constituent. However, scrub and grassland taxa such as Juniperus communis, Cornus sanguinea and Plantago lanceolata are also regularly recorded along with, from ca. 6000 cal. yr BP onwards, species specific to Chalk grassland (e.g. Sanguisorba minor). This supports suggestions that elements of Chalk grassland persisted in lowland England through the Holocene. Such communities are most likely to have occupied the steepest slopes, although the processes that maintained them are unclear. Human interference with vegetation close to the site may have begun as early as ca. 6350 cal. yr BP and initially involved a woodland management practice such as coppicing. From the primary Ulmus decline (ca. 5700 cal. yr BP) onwards, phases of limited clearance accompanied by cereal cultivation occurred. Taxus baccata was an important component of the woodland which regenerated between these phases.
Romney Marsh: Persistence and Change in a Coastal Lowland, by Martyn P. Waller, Elizabeth Edwards and Luke Barber, published 1 August 2010 (208 pp., Romney Marsh Research Trust, ISBN-10: 0956657508 & ISBN-13: 9780956657503)
The Holocene coastal deposits of Sussex: a re-evaluation, by Martyn Waller and A. Long, published 1 August 2010 in Romney Marsh: Persistence and Change in a Coastal Lowland (pp.1-21, Romney Marsh Research Trust, ISBN-10: 0956657508 & ISBN-13: 9780956657503) View Online