Postglacial vegetation history of Mitkof Island, Alexander Archipelago, southeastern Alaska

An AMS radiocarbon-dated pollen record from a peat deposit on Mitkof Island, southeastern Alaska provides a vegetation history spanning ∼12,900 cal yr BP to the present. Late Wisconsin glaciers covered the entire island; deglaciation occurred > 15,400 cal yr BP. The earliest known vegetation to develop on the island (∼12,900 cal yr BP) was pine woodland (Pinus contorta) with alder (Alnus), sedges (Cyperaceae) and ferns (Polypodiaceae type). By ∼12,240 cal yr BP, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) began to colonize the island while pine woodland declined. By ∼11,200 cal yr BP, mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) began to spread across the island. Sitka spruce-mountain hemlock forests dominated the lowland landscapes of the island until ∼10,180 cal yr BP, when western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) began to colonize, and soon became the dominant tree species. Rising percentages of pine, sedge, and sphagnum after ∼7100 cal yr BP may reflect an expansion of peat bog habitats as regional climate began to shift to cooler, wetter conditions. A decline in alders at that time suggests that coastal forests had spread into the island's uplands, replacing large areas of alder thickets. Cedars (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, Thuja plicata) appeared on Mitkof Island during the late Holocene.     

Holocene vegetation history of the Prince William Sound region, south-central Alaska

Vegetation history during the Holocene is interpreted from the pollen and sedimentary records of nine sections of peat deposits located in sedge tundra at sites in the northern and northwestern parts of the Prince William Sound region. Basal radiocarbon ages of the deposits are between 10,015 and 580 yr B.P. Modern surface pollen data from these and 25 additional sites, ranging from lowlands to an altitude of 675 m in the alpine tundra, were used to aid in the interpretation of the fossil records. Both frequency and influx pollen diagrams of the oldest section disclose a sequence of communities beginning with sedge tundra, containing thickets of willow and alder, followed by alder, which became predominant at about 8300 yr B.P. Later, alder declined, and an inferred growth of sedge tundra and the establishment of colonies of mountain hemlock and Sitka spruce with some western hemlock occurred about 2680 yr B.P. Finally, regrowth of sedge tundra accompanied by the development of forest communites took place over the past 2000 yr. The influence of glacier advances on the vegetation in the fjords occurred during Neoglacial episodes dated at 3200–2500 yr B.P. and during recent centuries. Regional Holocene tectonic activity was also an influential factor, especially at the time of the 1964 earthquake.     

Boreal peatland margins as repository sites of long-term natural disturbances of balsam fir/spruce forests

A multidisciplinary, high-resolution paleoecological study (Lepidoptera and plant remains, macroscopic charcoal, pollen) was conducted on a 4000-yr peat monolith extracted from the margin of an ombrotrophic peatland on Anticosti Island (Gulf of St. Lawrence, eastern Canada) to reconstruct the long-term natural disturbances (insect outbreaks, forest fires) of a balsam fir/spruce forest. We hypothesized that an activity of insect defoliators (spruce budworm, hemlock looper) was the main disturbance factor of conifer forests during the Late Holocene. The earliest remains of spruce budworm and hemlock looper were found ca. 3220 and 2350 cal yr BP, respectively. Peaks of insect head capsules occurred from ca. 1640 to ca. 625 cal yr BP. Low balsam fir pollen concentrations during this period suggest a lengthy episode ( 1000 yr) of high insect activity, resulting in extensive fir dieback and mortality. The long-term dynamics of the pristine balsam fir/spruce forests were mainly governed by the activity of insect defoliators. The limited extent and possibly the low occurrence of forest fires in the maritime environment of Anticosti Island allowed the development of mature coniferous stands propitious for insect infestations. Insect head capsules appeared to be a useful and effective tool for establishing insect presence and activity during the Holocene.     

A record of late Quaternary vegetation from Davis Lake,southern Puget Lowland,Washington

Pollen and macrofossil analyses of a core spanning 26,000 yr from Davis Lake reveal late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetational patterns in the Puget Lowland. The core ranges lithologically from a basal inorganic clay to a detritus gyttja to an upper fibrous peat and includes eight tephra units. The late Pleistocene pollen sequence records two intervals of tundra-parkland vegetation. The earlier of these has high percentages of Picea, Gramineae, and Artemisia pollen and represents the vegetation during the Evans Creek Stade (Fraser Glaciation) (ca. 25,000–17,000 yr B.P.). The later parkland interval is dominated by Picea, Tsuga mertensiana, and Gramineae. It corresponds to the maximum ice advance in the Puget Lowland during the Vashon Stade (Fraser Glaciation) (ca. 14,000 yr B.P.). An increase in Pinus ontorta pollen between the two tundra-parkland intervals suggests a temporary rise in treeline during an unnamed interstade. After 13,500 yr B.P., a mixed woodland of subalpine and lowland conifers grew at Davis Lake during a period of rapid climatic amelioration. In the early Holocene, the prolonged expansion of Pseudotsuga and Alnus woodland suggests dry, temperate conditions similar to those of present rainshadow sites in the Puget Lowland. More-mesic forests of Tsuga eterophylla, Thuja plicata, and Pseudotsuga, similar to present lowland vegetation, appeared in the late Holocene (ca. 5500 yr B.P.).     

Middle Wisconsin stratigraphy and climatic reconstruction,southern Vancouver Island,British Columbia

Interbedded, organic-rich terrestrial and marine sediments exposed along the eastern coastal lowland of Vancouver Island contain an almost continuous record of middle Wisconsin vegetation and climate. The record has been interpreted largely from palynostratigraphic studies at three sites and supported by a study of modern pollen spectra from the three major biogeoclimatic zones of the extant vegetation. Radiocarbon dates from a variety of organic materials in the middle Wisconsin beds reveal that the fossil pollen spectra span an interval ranging from approximately 21,000 yr B.P. to more than 51,000 yr B.P. The spectra are divided into eight major pollen zones encompassing the Olympia Interglaciation and early Fraser Glaciation geologicclimate units of the Pacific Northwest. The Olympia Interglaciation extended from before 51,000 yr B.P. to ca. 29,000 yr B.P. and was characterized by a climate similar to present. During the early Fraser Glaciation, from 29,000 years ago to approximately 21,000 yr B.P., climate deteriorated until tundra like conditions prevailed. These pollen sequences are correlative with those of coastal British Columbia and partly with those from Olympic Peninsula, but apparently are not comparable with events in the Puget Lowland.     

Late-glacial and postglacial vegetational history of the Berkshires, western Massachusetts

A pollen analytical investigation of the sediments of Berry Pond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, has demonstrated a sequence of pollen assemblage zones similar to those detected elsewhere in New England. From about 13,000 to 12,000 yr B.P. the vegetation of the region was treeless, probably tundra. By 11,500 yr tundra had been replaced by open boreal forest. Closed boreal forest became dominant by 10,500 yr. Boreal forests were replaced by mixed coniferous and deciduous forests with much white pine about 9600 yr ago. A “northern hardwoods” complex with much hemlock, beech, and sugar maple succeeded the mixed forests 8600 yr ago. Hemlock declined very rapidly approximately 4800 yr ago and was replaced by birch, oak, beech, ash, and red maple. This decline may have been biologically rather than climatically induced. There is a slight maximum of pine (much of it pitch pine) from 4100 to 2600 yr ago, perhaps indicative of warmer and/or drier conditions. There were slight changes in the forests about 1600 yr ago as chestnut immigrated and spruce and larch increased slightly. European land clearance and subsequent land abandonment are detectable in the uppermost levels.     

Post‐glacial vegetation reconstruction and a possible 8200 cal. yr BP event from the low arctic of continental Nunavut,Canada

Climate models suggest that the global warming during the early to mid‐Holocene may have partly resulted from the northward advance of the northern treeline and subsequent reduction of the planetary albedo. We investigated the Holocene vegetation history of low arctic continental Nunavut, Canada, from a radiocarbon‐dated sediment core from TK‐2 Lake, a small‐lake ca. 200 km north of the limit of the forest‐tundra. The pollen and loss‐on‐ignition data indicate the presence of dwarf shrub tundra in the region since the beginning of organic sedimentation at ca. 9000 cal. yr BP with dominance of Betula, especially since 8700 cal. yr BP. At 8100–7900 cal. yr BP the dominance of the shrub tundra was punctuated by a transient decline of Betula and coincident increases of Ericaceae undiff., Vaccinium‐type, and Gramineae. This suggests an abrupt disturbance of the Betula glandulosa population, approximately simultaneously with the sudden 8200 cal. yr BP event in the North Atlantic. However, in the absence of other sites studied in the area, linkage to the 8200 cal. yr BP event remains tentative. The lack of any evidence of forest‐tundra in the region constrains the northern limit of the mid‐Holocene advance of the forest‐tundra boundary in central northern Canada. Consequently, our results show that the climate models imposing a mid‐Holocene advance of the limit of the forest‐tundra to the arctic coast of Canada may have overestimated the positive climatic feedback effects that can result from the replacement of tundra by the boreal forest. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene climate of New England

Stratigraphic studies of pollen and macrofossils from six sites at different elevations in the White Mountains of New Hampshire demonstrate changes in the distributions of four coniferous tree species during the Holocene. Two species presently confined to low elevations extended farther up the mountain slopes during the early Holocene: white pine grew 350 m above its present limit beginning 9000 yr B.P., while hemlock grew 300–400 m above its present limit soon after the species immigrated to the region 7000 yr. B.P. Hemlock disappeared from the highest sites about 5000 yr B.P., but both species persisted at sites 50–350 m above their present limits until the Little Ice Age began a few centuries ago. The history of the two main high-elevation conifers is more difficult to interpret. Spruce and fir first occur near their present upper limits 9000 or 10,000 yr B.P. Fir persisted in abundance at elevations similar to those where it occurs today throughout the Holocene, while spruce became infrequent at all elevations from the beginning of the Holocene until 2000 yr B.P. These facts suggest a more complex series of changes than a mere upward shift of the modern environmental gradient. Nevertheless, we conclude that the minimum climatic change which would explain the upward extensions of hemlock and white pine is a rise in temperature, perhaps as much as 2°C. The interval of maximum warmth started 9000 yr B.P. and lasted at least until 5000 yr B.P., correlative with the Prairie Period in Minnesota.     

Timing of Lateglacial vegetation dynamics and respective palaeoenvironmental conditions in southern Estonia: evidence from the sediment record of Lake Nakri

This paper investigates a detailed well‐dated Lateglacial floristic colonisation in the eastern Baltic area, ca. 14 000–9000 cal. a BP, using palynological, macrofossil, loss‐on‐ignition, and ¹⁴C data. During 14 000–13 400 cal. a BP, primarily treeless pioneer tundra vegetation existed. Tree birch (Betula sect. Albae) macro‐remains and a high tree pollen accumulation rate indicate the presence of forest‐tundra with birch and possibly pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees during 13 400–12 850 cal. a BP. Palaeobotanical data indicate that the colonisation and development of forested areas were very rapid, arising within a period of less than 50 years. Thus far, there are no indications of conifer macrofossils in Estonia to support the presence of coniferous forests in the Lateglacial period. Signs of Greenland Interstadial 1b cooling during 13 100 cal. a BP are distinguishable. Biostratigraphic evidence indicates that the vegetation was again mostly treeless tundra during the final colder episode of the Lateglacial period associated with Greenland Stadial 1, approximately 12 850–11 650 cal. a BP. This was followed by onset of the Holocene vegetation, with the expansion of boreal forests, in response to rapid climatic warming. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Wisconsin periglacial environments of the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet reconstructed from pollen analyses

Full‐glacial pollen assemblages from four radiocarbon‐dated interstadial deposits in southwestern Ohio and southeastern Indiana imply the presence of herbaceous vegetation (tundra or muskeg with subarctic indicator Selaginella selaginoides) on the southern margin of the Miami lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet ca. 20 000 ¹⁴C yr BP. Scattered Picea (spruce) and possibly Pinus (pine) may have developed regionally ca. 19 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, and ca. 18 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, respectively. Spruce stumps in growth position support a local source of pollen. Prior to the ca. 14 000 ¹⁴C yr BP glacial advance, small amounts of Quercus (oak) and other deciduous pollen suggest development of regional boreal (conifer–hardwood) forests. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Holocene thermal maximum and late-Holocene cooling in the tundra of NE European Russia

To investigate the Holocene climate and treeline dynamics in the European Russian Arctic, we analysed sediment pollen, conifer stomata, and plant macrofossils from Lake Kharinei, a tundra lake near the treeline in the Pechora area. We present quantitative summer temperature reconstructions from Lake Kharinei and Lake Tumbulovaty, a previously studied lake in the same region, using a pollen–climate transfer function based on a new calibration set from northern European Russia. Our records suggest that the early-Holocene summer temperatures from 11,500 cal yr BP onwards were already slightly higher than at present, followed by a stable Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) at 8000–3500 cal yr BP when summer temperatures in the tundra were ca. 3°C above present-day values. A Picea forest surrounded Lake Kharinei during the HTM, reaching 150 km north of the present taiga limit. The HTM ended with a temperature drop at 3500–2500 cal yr BP associated with permafrost initiation in the region. Mixed spruce forest began to disappear around Lake Kharinei at ca. 3500 cal yr BP, with the last tree macrofossils recorded at ca. 2500 cal yr BP, suggesting that the present wide tundra zone in the Pechora region formed during the last ca. 3500 yr.     

Holocene vegetation, fire and climate history of the Sawtooth Range, central Idaho, USA

The paucity of low- and middle-elevation paleoecologic records in the Northern Rocky Mountains limits our ability to assess current environmental change in light of past conditions. A 10,500-yr-long vegetation, fire and climate history from Lower Decker Lake in the Sawtooth Range provides information from a new region. Initial forests dominated by pine and Douglas-fir were replaced by open Douglas-fir forest at 8420 cal yr BP, marking the onset of warmer conditions than present. Presence of closed Douglas-fir forest between 6000 and 2650 cal yr BP suggests heightened summer drought in the middle Holocene. Closed lodgepole pine forest developed at 2650 cal yr BP and fires became more frequent after 1450 cal yr BP. This shift from Douglas-fir to lodgepole pine forest was probably facilitated by a combination of cooler summers, cold winters, and more severe fires than before. Five drought episodes, including those at 8200 cal yr BP and during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, were registered by brief intervals of lodgepole pine decline, an increase in fire activity, and mistletoe infestation. The importance of a Holocene perspective when assessing the historical range of variability is illustrated by the striking difference between the modern forest and that which existed 3000 yr ago.     

A 16 000‐year record of vegetational change in south‐western Alaska as inferred from plant macrofossils and pollen

Pollen and macrofossil analyses of a sediment core from Beaver Pond (60° 37′ 14″ N, 154° 19′ W, 579 m a.s.l.) reveal a record of regional and local postglacial vegetation change in south‐western Alaska. The chronology is based on five AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) ¹⁴C ages obtained from terrestrial plant macrofossils. Pollen and macrofossil records suggest that open herb and shrub tundra with e.g. Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Artemisia, Vaccinium and Salix prevailed on the landscape before ca. 14 000 cal a BP. The shift from herb‐ to shrub‐dominated tundra (Salix, subsequent Betula expansion) possibly reflects climatic warming at the beginning of the Bølling period at ca. 14 700–14 500 and around 13 500 cal a BP. Vegetation (Betula shrub tundra) remained relatively stable until the early Holocene. Macrofossil influx estimates provide evidence for greater biomass in Betula shrub tundra during the early postglacial period than today. Charcoal accumulation rates suggest tundra fire activity was probably greater from ca. 12 500 to 10 500 cal a BP, similar to results from elsewhere in Alaska. The pollen and macrofossil records of Beaver Pond suggest the prevalence of low shrub tundra (shrub Betula, Betula nana, Vaccinium, Ledum palustre, Ericaceae) and tall shrub tundra (Alnus viridis ssp. crispa, Salix) between 10 000 and 4000 cal a BP. This Holocene vegetation type is comparable with that of the modern treeless wet and moist tundra in south‐western Alaska. The expansion of Picea glauca occurred ～4000 cal a BP, much later than that of A. viridis (ssp. crispa), whereas in central and eastern Alaska Picea glauca expanded prior to or coincident with Alnus (viridis). At sites located only 200–400 km north‐east of Beaver Pond (Farewell and Wien lakes), Picea glauca and Betula forests expanded 8000–6000 cal a BP. Unfavourable climatic conditions and soil properties may have inhibited the expansion and establishment of Picea across south‐west Alaska during the mid and late Holocene. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lake Tapps tephra: An early Pleistocene stratigraphic marker in the Puget Lowland, Washington

The rhyolitic Lake Tapps tephra was deposited about 1.0 myr ago, shortly after culmination of the early phase of the Salmon Springs Glaciation in the Puget Lowland. It is contained within sediments that were deposited in ponds or lakes in front of the reteating glacier. An herb-dominated tundra existed in the southern Puget Lowland at that time. Lake Tapps tephra is most likely the product of an eruption that in part was phreatomagmatic. It forms an early Pleistocene stratigraphic marker across the southern sector of the Puget Lowland and provides a link between Puget lobe sediments of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and sediments deposited by Olympic alpine glaciers.     

Extinct mountain goat (Oreamnos harringtoni) in Southeastern Utah

The extinct Harrington's mountain goat (Oreamnos harringtoni Stock) is predominantly known from dry cave localities in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, in addition to two sites in the Great Basin, Nevada, and from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. A dry shelter in Natural Bridges National Monument, on the central Colorado Plateau, southeastern Utah, preserves numerous remains of the extinct mountain goat in addition to pack rat middens. Remains from a 100-cm stratigraphic profile indicate that O. harringtoni lived on the plateau >39,800 yr B.P., the oldest directly dated find of extinct mountain goat. Plant macrofossils indicate that Engelmann's spruce (Picea engelmannii), limber pine (Pinus flexilis), rose (Rosa cf. woodsii), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) grew during the late Pleistocene where a riparian and a pinyon-juniper (Pinus edulis-Juniperus osteosperma) community now predominates; Douglas fir are found only in mesic, protected, north-facing areas. Limber pine, Douglas fir, bark, and grasses were the major dietary components in the dung. A springtime diet of birch (Betula) is determined from pollen clumps in dung pellets.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation and climate records from Lake Kotokel, central Baikal region

Climatically driven Late Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation changes were reconstructed based on pollen records from the sediments of Lake Kotokel and Cheremushka Bog, located on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. The described paleoenvironmental record has higher resolution than records collected from Lake Baikal and unites individual events identified in prior studies of bottom and onshore cores. Remarkable shifts in landscapes and expansions of index plants are as follows. Forest tundra and/or forest steppe landscape with birch, spruce, Artemisia, and Poaceae prevailed at ca. 50–25 ¹⁴C kyr BP. Tundra and/or steppe vegetation dominated by Artemisia and Poaceae was typical for the Last Glacial Maximum. The expansion of shrub birch and willow occurred at ca. 15.5 ¹⁴C kyr BP. Two peaks of spruce expansion at ca. 47.5–42.4 ¹⁴C kyr BP (Karginian time) and at ca. 14.5–13 ka (Bølling-Allerød warm intervals) suggest that the condition were more humid than today. A slight increase in Artemisia at ca. 11–10.5 ¹⁴C kyr BP (13–12 ka) was indicative of the Younger Dryas event. An expansion of birch forests with fir at ca. 12–6.4 ka suggests higher humidity. The currently dominant Scots and Siberian pine forests with birch expanded since 6.4 ka.     

Late glacial and early Holocene Landscapes in northern New England and adjacent areas of Canada

The landscapes of northern New England and adjacent areas of Canada changed greatly between 14,000 and 9000 yr B.P.: deglaciation occurred, sea levels and shorelines shifted, and a vegetational transition from tundra to closed forest took place. Data from 51 ¹⁴C-dated sites from a range of elevations were used to map ice and sea positions, physiognomic vegetational zones, and the spread of individual tree taxa in the region. A continuum of tundra-woodland-forest passed northeastward and northward without major hesitation or reversal. An increased rate of progression from 11,000 to 10,000 yr B.P. suggests a more rapid warming than in the prior 2000–3000 yr. Elevational gradients controlled the patterns of deglaciation and vegetational change. The earliest spread of tree taxa was via the lowlands of southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and along a coastal corridor in Maine. Only after 12,000 yr B.P. did the taxa spread northward through the rest of the area. Different tree species entered the southern part of the area at different times and continued their spread at different rates. The approximate order of arrival follows: poplars (13,000–12,000 yr B.P. in the south), spruces, paper birch, and jack pine, followed by balsam fir and larch, and possibly ironwood, ash, and elm, and somewhat later by oak, maple, white pine, and finally hemlock (10,000–9000 yr B.P. in the south).     

Biogeographic implications of a packrat midden sequence from the Sacramento Mountains, south-central New Mexico

Thirteen packrat (Neotoma spp.) and two porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) middens from 1555 to 1690 m elevation from the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, provide an 18,000-yr vegetation record in the northern Chiuahuan Desert. The vegetation sequence is a mesic, Wisconsin fullglacial (18,000–16,000 yr B.P.) pinyon-juniper-oak woodland; a xeric, early Holocene (ca. 11,000–8000 yr B.P.) juniper-oak woodland; a middle Holocene (ca. 8000-4000 yr B.P.) desert-grassland; and a late Holocene (ca. 4000 yr B.P. to present) Chihuahuan desertscrub. The frequency of spring freezes and summer droughts in the late Wisconsin probably set the northern limits of Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma at about 34°N, or 6° south of today's limit. Rising summer tempratures in the early Holocene eliminated pinyon and other mesic woodland plants from the desert lowlands and allowed the woodland to move upslope. At this time pinyon-juniper woodland and pine forest dominated by Pinus ponderosa probably began their spectacular Holocene expansions to the north. Continued warming in the middle Holocene led to very warm summers with strong monsoons, relatively dry, cold winters, and widespread desert-grasslands. Desertscrub communities in the northern Chihuahuan Desert did not develop until the late Holocene when the biseasonal rainfall shifted slightly back toward the winter, catastrophic winter freezes decreased, and droughts in all seasons increased. The creosote bush desertscrub corridor across the Continental Divide between the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts was probably connected for the first time since the last interglaciation.     

Pollen analysis of the 1973 ice core from Devon Island glacier,Canada

Meltwater from a 299-m-long ice core was filtered and analyzed for fossil pollen and spores. Pollen concentration was higher in the late Holocene and interglacial intervals (ca. 7 liter^?1) than in the early Holocene and Wisconsinan (ca. 1–2 liter^?1) ones. The late Holocene and interglacial assemblages were dominated by Alnus (alder), whereas the early Holocene and Wisconsinan ones were dominated by Betula (birch) and Artemisia (sage). During the Holocene and probably the last interglaciation, most of the pollen and spores were blown a minimum of 1000 km from low arctic shrub tundra and adjacent subarctic Picea (spruce) forest; these areas were dominated by the arctic air mass during the summer pollinating season. During the Wisconsinan-early Holocene, glacier ice and arctic air were more widespread and pollen sources were more distant; thus, at this time relatively little pollen was incorporated into the ice.The Devon ice-core data suggest that there should have been pollen in the continental ice sheet of Wisconsin time. When the ice sheet retreated this pollen would be carried by meltwater and redeposited with silt and clay together with contemporary pollen, producing an ecologically anomalous assemblage.     

Palynology of the last interglacial-glacial cycle in midlatitudes of Southern Chile

Pollen and spores in stratigraphic sections located between 40 and 42°S range in age from the Holocene, through much of the Llanquihue Glaciation, to the last interglaciation. Chronology of the stratigraphy derives from some 35 ¹⁴C ages and the age relations of Llanquihue Drift and related deposits. Q-Mode, rotated, principal-components analysis of four key pollen records covering the last interglacial-glacial cycle resulted in four leading components: Nothofagus dombeyi type, Gramineae, Weinmannia-Fitzroya type, and Myrtaceae. Analysis emphasizes interaction between the first two components. Loadings of Gramineae during the interglaciation are high, unlike the Holocene; Weinmannia-Fitzroya-type loadings, prominent in the Holocene, are negligible during the interglaciation. N. dombeyi type is the primary component during Llanquihue Glaciation; it becomes modified by increases of Gramineae sometime after 31,000 and before 14,000 yr B.P. and of Myrtaceae later. The Myrtaceae with Weinmannia-Fitzroya type also registers some activity around 42,000 yr B.P. Fluctuations in the belt of westerly winds, reflecting changing meteorological conditions in polar latitudes, are suggested by these data. With the belt located farther south than it is today, interglacial climate was much drier and warmer than during the Holocene; more northerly displacement of the belt obtained when climate was colder during Llanquihue Glaciation. Evidence from comparable latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere points toward a synchrony of major climatic events indicating harmonious fluctuations in the position of the westerlies.