Science. 1981 Nov 6;214(4521):656-8. doi: 10.1126/science.214.4521.656.
Well-preserved plant remains in packrat middens chronicle vegetation change in Chaco Canyon over the past 11,000 years. Early Holocene evidence of communities dominated by Douglas fir, Rocky Mountain juniper, and limber pine in the San Juan Basin calls for revision of traditional constructs based on fossil pollen. Middle and late Holocene vegetation in the canyon was pinyon-juniper woodland up until Anasazi occupation between 1000 and 800 years ago. Instead of climate, Anasazi fuel needs may explain the drastic reduction of pinyon and juniper after 1230 years ago. The lack of pinyon-juniper recovery over the past millennium has implications for contemporary forest and range ecology.
保存完好的植物遗骸存在于囊鼠的粪便中，记录了过去 11000 年来查科峡谷的植被变化。全新世早期圣胡安盆地以道格拉斯冷杉、落矶山柏和扭叶松为优势的群落证据要求对基于化石花粉的传统结构进行修正。在公元 1000 年至 800 年前阿纳萨齐人占领之前，峡谷中的中晚期全新世植被是派恩-杜松林地。阿纳萨齐人的燃料需求可能解释了 1230 年前之后，松树和杜松的大量减少，而不是气候。在过去的一千年中，派恩-杜松未能恢复，这对当代森林和牧场生态产生了影响。
