Quaternary vegetation history of the Mississippi embayment

Nonconnah Creek, located in the loess-mantled Blufflands along the eastern wall of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley in Tennessee displays a sedimentary sequence representing the Altonian Substage through the Woodfordian Substage of the Wisconsinan Stage. The site has a biostratigraphic record for the Altonian and Farmdalian Substages that documents warm-temperate upland oak-pine forest, prairie, and bottomland forest. At 23,000 yr B.P., white spruce and larch migrated into the Nonconnah Creek watershed and along braided-stream surfaces in the Mississippi Valley as far as southeastern Louisiana. The pollen and plant-macrofossil record from Nonconnah Creek provides the first documentation of a full-glacial locality in eastern North America for beech, yellow poplar, oak, history, black walnut, and other mesic deciduous forest taxa. During the full and late glacial, the Mississippi Valley was a barrier to the migration of pine species, while the adjacent Blufflands provided a refuge for mesic deciduous forest taxa. Regional climatic amelioration, beginning about 16,500 yr B.P., is reflected by increases in pollen percentages of cooltemperate deciduous trees at Nonconnah Creek. The demise of spruce and jack pine occurred 12,500 yr B.P. between 34° and 37° N in eastern North America in response to postglacial warming.     

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 By 11,500 yr tundra had been replaced by open boreal forest.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.     

泸沽湖记录的西南季风区15000aB.P.以来植被与气候变化

泸沽湖是云贵高原第二大深水湖。取自水深44.5m处长度880 cm的连续岩芯显示, 泸沽湖沉积岩芯物理特征变化不明显, 色调单一、物质构成均匀、植物残体(古树叶)丰富。本文对该岩芯上部474 cm进行了孢粉分析和TOC(总有机碳)、CaCO3(碳酸钙)百分含量的测定。在16个树叶残体 AMS14C 测年基础上建立了岩芯的年代序列。岩芯孢粉组合表明, 在泸沽湖流域, 15000~12300a B.P. 植被以松林为主, 伴有山地针叶阔叶混交林, 指示温凉偏湿的气候条件; 12300~10300a B.P. 的植被以松林减少而落叶阔叶林扩张为特点, 表明当时气候相对偏暖偏干; 在早全新世(10300~7500a B.P.)和中全新世(7500~3800a B.P.), 植被以松林占优势, 伴有铁杉林和云冷杉林, 植被盖度大, 反映温暖湿润的气候条件; 在中全新世常绿栎类偏多, 表明有效湿度不如早全新世; 在3800~3300a B.P., 松林明显减少而硬叶常绿栎林急剧扩张, 指示了一次持续的冷干事件; 在晚全新世(3300a B.P. 至今), 松林有所恢复但未达到早中全新世的水平, 常绿青冈林增加并出现较多的铁杉林和云杉林, 但植被盖度明显降低, 表明晚全新世的气温和湿度比早中全新世均偏低。TOC和CaCO3含量反映的湖泊环境和湖面变化与孢粉分析结果有较好的对应, 虽然彼此在年代上存在一定的差异。碳酸盐含量变化显示在13600~3400a B.P. 期间湖水整体较高并形成间断性外流湖。泸沽湖沉积记录不仅揭示了末次冰消期以来升温-高温-降温的变化趋势, 还记录了与Younger Dryas(YD)和约4000a B.P. 的冷事件等相关的气候异常事件。因此, 本研究对于认识我国西南地区现代气候环境变化过程、气候突变事件及植被演化具有重要意义。     

Late glacial and postglacial pollen and plant macrofossils from Lake West Okoboji, Northwestern Iowa

Pollen and plant macrofossils preserved in lake sediment from Lake West Okoboji, Dickinson County, Iowa, indicate how the vegetation of that area changed during the late glacial and postglacial. A closed coniferous forest, dominated by spruce and larch trees, produced the Picea-Larix pollen assemblage zone. Fir trees were a minor constituent of this forest; pine trees were probably absent. Black ash trees increased in abundance at Lake West Okoboji and by 13,500 yr ago were an important constituent of the forest. The sediment accumulation rate and the pollen influx were low throughout this time. Birch and alder pollen peaked in abundance approximately 11,800 yr ago. Pollen influx increased rapidly as birch and alder replaced coniferous trees on the uplands. A deciduous forest, containing abundant oak and elm trees, replaced the birch-alder-coniferous forest. This forest inhabited northwestern Iowa from approximately 11,000 to 9000 yr B.P. Nonarboreal species became prevalent between approximately 9000 and 7700 yr B.P. as prairie began to replace deciduous forest on the uplands. Charred remains of Amorpha canescens and other upland species attest to the presence of prairie fires as an aid in establishing prairie and destroying the forest. The pollen influx declined. The warmest, driest part of the postglacial occurred in northwestern Iowa from approximately 7700 to 3200 yr ago. Lake level fell 9 to 10 m, and prairie extended to the edge of the lake. Wet-ground weeds inhabited areas near lake level which were alternately flooded, then dry. Pollen influx was approximately 100 grains/cm²/yr during the driest time in this dry interval.Deciduous trees, particularly oaks, returned after approximately 3200 yr B.P. Prairie continued to occupy the uplands but trees were more common in the lowlying wet areas. Settlement by Europeans in northwestern Iowa about 1865 is marked by an increase in weed pollen. Macrofossil deposition changed in 1910 in response to the stabilization of lake level.     

青藏高原南部第四纪花粉植物群及古气候

本文选择了青藏高原南部具有代表性的６个花粉剖面，应用主成分分析处理这些剖面的花粉数据，重建了这些地区的古植被和古气候。研究表明，在青藏高原南部，早、中更新世的植被类型主要是松林、云杉林、铁杉林、桦林、桤木林和栎林，晚更新世和全新世的植被类型主要是高山灌丛草原、小半灌木草原、杂类草草甸、亚高山灌丛和落叶阔叶灌丛；在早、中更新世气候条件良好，有森林生长，晚更新世以后气候明显恶化，基本无森林生长。     

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.     

The contemporary distribution of pollen in eastern North America: A comparison with the vegetation

By mapping and summarizing 478 pollen counts from surface samples at 406 locations in eastern North America, this study documents the relationships between the distributions of pollen and vegetation on a continental scale. The most common pollen types in this region are pine, birch, oak, and spruce. Maps showing isopercentage contours or isopolls for 13 important pollen types reflect the general N-S zonation of the vegetation. The maps and tabulations of average pollen spectra for the six major vegetational regions indicate high values for the following pollen types in each region: (1) tundra-nonarboreal birch, sedge, and alder; (2) forest/tundra-spruce, nonarboreal birch and alder; (3) boreal forest-spruce, jack pine (type), and arboreal birch with fir in the southeastern part; (4) conifer/hardwood forest-white pine, arboreal birch, and hemlock with beech, maple, and oak in the southern part; (5) deciduous forest-oak, pine, hickory, and elm, with beech and maple in the northern part, and highest values of oak and hickory west of the Appalachian crest; and (6) southeastern forest-pine, oak, hickory, tupelo, and Myricaceae. In some cases, less abundant pollen types are diagnostic for the region, e.g., bald cypress in the southeast. In the conifer-hardwood region and southward, pollen of weeds associated with deforestation and agriculture is abundant. The maps also show that much of southeastern U.S. and the area just to the east of Hudson Bay are in need of additional sampling. At 51 of the sites, absolute pollen frequencies (APF; grains/ml lake sediment) were obtained. These confirm the major conclusions from the percentage data, but differences are evident, e.g., the percentages of alder pollen peak in the tundra whereas alder APFs peak in the boreal forest, and spruce percentages peak in the forest-tundra whereas spruce APFs peak in the boreal forest. Because the APF data reflect the patterns of absolute abundance of individual taxa in the vegetation as well as the overall forest densities, future counts of modern pollen should include APF determinations. The effects of sedimentation processes on APF quantities indicate that APF samples should be obtained from moderate size lakes of similar morphology and hydrology and that, in each lake, several samples from the profundal zone should be pooled to create a sample representative of that lake.     

Sedimentologic and palynologic records of the last deglaciation and Holocene from Ballston Lake, New York

Continuous pollen and sediment records from two ∼8.5-m-long cores document late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation and vegetation change in the Ballston Lake basin, eastern New York State. Pebbles at the base of both cores and the geomorphology of the watershed reflect the presence of the Mohawk River in the basin prior to ∼12,900 ± 70 cal yr B.P. Ballston Lake formed at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) by an avulsion of the Mohawk River. The transition from clay to gyttja with low magnetic susceptibility (MS), low bulk density, and high organic carbon indicates rapid warming and increased lake productivity beginning 11,020 cal yr B.P. MS measurements reveal that the influx of magnetic particles, associated with pre-Holocene clastic sedimentation, ceased after ∼10,780 cal yr B.P. The pollen record is subdivided into six zones: BL1 (12,920 to 11,020 cal yr B.P.) is dominated by boreal forest pollen; BL2 (11,020 to 10,780 cal yr B.P.) by pine (Pinus) forest pollen; BL3 (10,780 to 5290 cal yr B.P.) by hemlock (Tsuga) and mixed hardwood pollen; BL4 (5290 to 2680 cal yr B.P.) by mixed hardwood pollen; BL5a (2680 cal yr B.P. to 1030 cal yr B.P.) by conifer and mixed hardwood pollen; and BL5b (1030 cal B.P. to present) by increasing ragweed (Ambrosia) pollen. A 62% decrease in spruce (Picea) pollen in <320 cal years during BL1 reflects rapid warming at the end of the YD. Holocene pollen zones record more subtle climatic shifts than occurred at the end of the YD. One of the largest changes in the Holocene pollen spectra began ∼5300 cal yr B.P., and is characterized by a marked decline in hemlock pollen. This has been noted in other pollen records from the region and may record preferential selection of hemlock by a pathogen or parasites.     

Late-Quaternary vegetation history at White Pond on the inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina

At White Pond near Columbia, South Carolina, a pollen assemblage of Pinus banksiana (jack pine), Picea (spruce), and herbs is dated between 19,100 and 12,800 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Plants of sandhill habitats are more prominent than at other sites of similar age, and pollen of deciduous trees is infrequent. The vegetation was probably a mosaic of pine and spruce stands with prairies and sand-dune vegetation. The climate may have been like that of the eastern boreal forest today. ¹⁴C dates of 12,800 and 9500 yr B.P. bracket a time when Quercus (oak), Carya (hickory), Fagus (beech), and Ostrya-Carpinus (ironwood) dominated the vegetation. It is estimated that beech and hickory made up at least 25% of the forest trees. Conifers were rare or absent. The environment is interpreted as hickory-rich mesic deciduous forest with a climate similar to but slightly warmer than that of the northern hardwoods region of western New York State. After 9500 yr B.P. oak and pine forest dominated the landscape, with pine becoming the most important tree genus in the later Holocene.     

Postglacial forest patterns associated with till and outwash in northcentral Upper Michigan

Pollen analysis of lake sediments reveals that small areas of till and outwash in northcentral Upper Michigan have influenced plant distributions throughout postglacial time. Each substrate has different textural characteristics. Modern forest communities form a mosaic, with jack pine woodlands occupying the medium sands of the Yellow Dog Plains outwash and white pine-hardwood communities on both till and outwash soils in the Michigamme Highlands to the south.The analysis of modern pollen samples from 21 lakes within the area indicates that pollen can be used to study the distribution of local vegetation in relation to substrate type. Fossil pollen from three of the lakes documents the character of ancient forest on Yellow Dog outwash, Michigamme outwash, and Michigamme till.Unique boreal communities occupied each area immediately after deglaciation. Between 8000 and 7000 y.a., white pine and maples migrated into the study area and replaced jack pine in forests on the Highlands, but not on the Plains. Jack pine has continued to occupy the Plains since early postglacial time. White pine reached highest densities on Michigamme outwash, and deciduous trees increased primarily on till during the presumably dry climates which existed 8000-5000 yr BP. As the climate became more mesic, forests on the Highlands changed, so that by 3000 yr BP the communities on Michigamme outwash and till were indistinguishable on the basis of pollen. Present-day forest patterns of the area became established at that time.Pollen influx rates, measured at each lake, generally support interpretations based on pollen percentages and were similar to values reported elsewhere. Variations in influx values are within the range expected for the method.     

A 35,000 Year Vegetation and Climate History from Potato Lake, Mogollon Rim, Arizona

A new record from Potato Lake, central Arizona, details vegetation and climate changes since the mid-Wisconsin for the southern Colorado Plateau. Recovery of a longer record, discrimination of pine pollen to species groups, and identification of macrofossil remains extend Whiteside's (1965) original study. During the mid-Wisconsin (ca. 35,000-21,000 yr B.P.) a mixed forest of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and other conifers grew at the site, suggesting a minimum elevational vegetation depression of ca. 460 m. Summer temperatures were as much as 5°C cooler than today. During the late Wisconsin (ca. 21,000-10,400 yr B.P.), even-cooler temperatures (7°C colder than today; ca. 800 m depression) allowed Engelmann spruce alone to predominate. Warming by ca. 10,400 yr B.P. led to the establishment of the modern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest. Thus, the mid-Wisconsin was not warm enough to support ponderosa pine forests in regions where the species predominates today. Climatic estimates presented here are consistent with other lines of evidence suggesting a cool and/or wet mid-Wisconsin, and a cold and/or wet late-Wisconsin climate for much of the Southwest. Potato Lake was almost completely dry during the mid-Holocene, but lake levels increased to near modern conditions by ca. 3000 yr B.P.     

Glacial lake levels and Eastern Great Lakes Palaeo‐Indians

This article investigates changing lake levels in the late Pleistocene eastern Great Lakes in order to gain insights into the Early Palaeo‐Indian occupations. Significant new information bearing on lake level history is provided, notably the first well‐documented deposits of a high water level above modern in the ca. 11,000–10,300 B.P. period in the southern Lake Huron basin. The lake level information, along with paleoenvironmental and site data, reinforces site age estimates to the 11th millennium B.P.; suggests significant numbers of sites have been inundated by rising water levels; provides specific information on the setting of archaeological sites such as placing the Parkhill site adjacent to a large lake estuary; indicates reasons for the attractiveness of shorelines to Palaeo‐Indians including persistence of more open areas conducive to higher game productivity; and points to ideal areas for future archaeological site survey, particularly in the Lake Erie drainage. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Changing patterns in the Holocene pollen record of northeastern North America: A mapped summary

By mapping the data from 62 radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams, this paper illustrates the Holocene history of four major vegetational regions in northeastern North America. Isopoll maps, difference maps, and isochrone maps are used in order to examine the changing patterns within the data set and to study broad-scale and long-term vegetational dynamics. Isopoll maps show the distributions of spruce (Picea), pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), herb (nonarboreal pollen groups excluding Cyperaceae), and birch + maple + beech + hemlock (Betula, Acer, Fagus, Tsuga) pollen at specified times from 11,000 BP to present. Difference maps were constructed by subtracting successive isopoll maps and illustrate the changing patterns of pollen abundances from one time to the next. The isochrone maps portray the movement of ecotones and range limits by showing their positions at a sequence of times during the Holocene. After 11,000 BP, the broad region over which spruce pollen had dominated progressively shrank as the boreal forest zone was compressed between the retreating ice margin and the rapidly westward and northward expanding region where pine was the predominant pollen type. Simultaneously, the oak-pollen-dominated deciduous forest moved up from the south and the prairie expanded eastward. By 7000 BP, the prairie had attained its maximum eastward extent with the period of its most rapid expansion evident between 10,000 and 9000 BP. Many of the trends of the early Holocene were reversed after 7000 BP with the prairie retreating westward and the boreal and other zones edging southward. In the last 500 years, man's impact on the vegetation is clearly visible, especially in the greatly expanded region dominated by herb pollen. The large scale changes before 7000 BP probably reflect shifts in the macroclimatic patterns that were themselves being modified by the retreat and disintegration of the Laurentide ice sheet. Subsequent changes in the pollen and vegetation were less dramatic than those of the early Holocene.     

云南阳宗海流域过去13000年植被演替与森林火灾

以云南阳宗海1020 cm长的湖泊沉积物岩芯为研究对象,由7个木屑和树叶残体样的AMS  ¹⁴C测年建立岩芯年代框架,以18~19 cm间隔获取52个样品作花粉/炭屑分析,重建了阳宗海流域过去13000年的植被、气候以及森林火灾历史。研究结果表明,过去13000年植被演替、气候变化和森林火灾可分为5个阶段：1）13200~11000 cal.a B.P.,植被以常绿、落叶阔叶混交林为主,气候温凉湿润,森林火灾多发,后期（12300~11000 cal.a B.P.）随着温度和湿度的降低,森林火灾发生愈加频繁;2）11000~8000 cal.a B.P.,松林扩张,阔叶林缩小,气候较上阶段温暖偏干,森林火灾发生次数明显降低;3）8000~5000 cal.a B.P.,松林和常绿阔叶林占优势,且出现暖热性的枫香林,流域内气温升至13000 cal.a B.P.以来的最高值,湿度进一步降低,但森林火灾发生频率低;4）5000~800 cal.a B.P.,松林扩张至最盛,常绿阔叶林收缩,落叶阔叶林成分增加,气温和湿度均明显下降,森林火灾发生频率有所增加;5）800 cal.a B.P.至今,松林和常绿阔叶林收缩,落叶阔叶成分增加,草本植物中禾本科迅速上升,可能与人类活动有关,森林火灾发生频率低。阳宗海花粉/炭屑记录重建的植被、气候和森林火灾史表明,在滇中地区,落叶阔叶成分易引起森林火灾,冷气候导致多发的森林火灾,冷干气候是宜森林火灾发生的气候条件。

     

Quaternary palynology of the Pacific slope of Washington

Quaternary deposits on the Pacific slope of Washington range in age from the earliest known interglaciation, the Alderton, through the Holocene. Pollen stratigraphy of these deposits is represented by 12 major pollen zones and is ostensibly continuous through Zone 8 over more than 47,000 radiocarbon yr. Before this, the stratigraphy is discontinuous and the chronology less certain. Environments over the time span of the deposits are reconstructed by the comparison of fossil and modern pollen assemblages and the use of relevant meteorological data. The Alderton Interglaciation is characterized by forests of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), alder (Alnus), and fir (Abies). During the next younger interglaciation, the Puyallup, forests were mostly of pine, apparently lodgepole (Pinus contorta), except midway in the interval when fir, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), and Douglas fir temporarily replaced much of the pine. Vegetation outside the limits of Salmon Springs ice (>47,00034,000 yr BP) varied chiefly between park tundra and forests of western hemlock, spruce (Picea), and pine. The Salmon Springs nonglacial interval at the type locality records early park tundra followed by forests of pine and of fir. During the Olympia Interglaciation (34,00028,000 yr BP), pine invaded the Puget Lowland, whereas western hemlock and spruce became manifest on the Olympic Peninsula. Park tundra was widespread during the Fraser Glaciation (28,00010,000 yr BP) with pine becoming more important from about 15,000 to 10,000 yr BP. Holocene vegetation consisted first of open communities of Douglas fir and alder; later, closed forests succeeded, formed principally of western hemlock on the Olympic Peninsula and of western hemlock and Douglas fir in the Puget Lowland. Over the length of the reconstructed environmental record, climate shifted between cool and humid or relatively warm, semihumid forest types and cold, relatively dry tundra or park tundra types. During times of glaciation, average July temperatures are estimated to have been at least 7°C lower than today. Only during the Alderton Interglaciation and during the Holocene were temperatures higher for protracted periods that at present.     

A multi-proxy palaeoecological study of Alanen Laanijärvi, a boreal-forest lake in Swedish Lapland

Heinrichs, M. L., Peglar, S. M., Bigler, C. & Birks, H. J. B. 2005 (May): A multi-proxy palaeoecological study of Alanen Laanijärvi, a boreal-forest lake in Swedish Lapland. Boreas , Vol. 34, pp. 192–206. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Chironomids, pollen and spores were used to reconstruct Holocene aquatic and terrestrial environments at Alanen Laanijärvi, northern Sweden. Chironomid analysis revealed a pattern of limnological evolution from oligotrophic conditions in a relatively deep lake during 8.6 to 5.5 cal. kaBP, followed by a period of lake shallowing from 5.5 to 2.7 cal. ka BP. Increases in acidity and littoral habitat complexity may have occurred from 2.7cal. kaBP to the present, though some compositional changes may have resulted from human disturbance. Chironomid-inferred mean July air temperatures range between 9.8C in the Early Holocene to 11.3C in the Late Holocene. Limitations on chironomid-based quantitative temperature interpretations may exist because of low taxon richness. Diatoms were recovered from the upper sediments only, from about AD 1800. Pollen and spore analysis revealed an early colonizing vegetation of juniper, sedges and birch soon after local deglaciation, followed by birch forests until about 8.3 cal. kaBP. Alder stands occurred locally to 5.5 cal. kaBP, when pine and spruce forests developed and remain to the present day. These results suggest that little major terrestrial vegetation change may occur in some northern environments with predicted future global warming, where it is predicted to be most severe. Aquatic environments may, however, be greatly affected by a shift in precipitation regime, causing changes in allochthonous organic input, lake depth and possibly the amount of human activity or disturbance in the watershed.     

Sequences of Holocene forest history in the Scandes, inferred from megafossil Pinus sylvestris

Kullman, Leif 1987 03 01: Sequences of Holocene forest history in the Scandes, inferred from megafossil Pinus sylvestris. Boreas , Vol. 16, pp. 21–26. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
Altogether 54 ¹⁴C-datings of megafossil Pinus sylvestris L. from above the present tree-limit in the southern Swedish Scandes were evaluated. The samples were discussed in relation to the present-day tree-limit of pine. Pine reached almost 200 m higher than at present shortly after deglaciation and remained at very high altitudes until at least 4,000–3,500 ¹⁴C years B.P. The conclusion was that the precise biological and climatological interpretation of these regionally sampled data is still obscure. It is impossible to judge whether clusters of megafossil pine represent periods relatively favourable for pine growth and reproduction or merely periods advantageous for production of dead wood and its long-term preservation. In terms of climate, these alternatives reasonably implicate widely different conditions.     

Late Wisconsin vegetational and climatic history at Kylen Lake, northeastern Minnesota

Kylen Lake, located within the Toimi drumlin field, is critically positioned in relation to Late Wisconsin glacial advances, for it lies between the areas covered by the Superior and St. Louis glacial lobes between 12,000 and 16,000 yr B.P. The pollen and plant-macrofossil record suggests the presence of open species-rich “tundra barrens” from 13,600 to 15,850 yr B.P. Small changes in percentages of Artemisia pollen between 14,300 and 13,600 yr B.P. appear to be artifacts of pollen-percentage data. Shrub-tundra with dwarf birch, willow, and Rhododendron lapponicum developed between 13,600 and 12,000 yr B.P. Black and white spruce and tamarack then expanded to form a vegetation not dissimilar to that of the modern forest-tundra ecotone of northern Canada. At 10,700 B.P. spruce and jack pine increased to form a mosaic dominated by jack pine and white spruce on dry sites and black spruce, tamarack, and deciduous trees such as elm and ash on moist fertile sites. At 9250 yr B.P. red pine and paper birch became dominant to form a vegetation that may have resembled the dry northern forests of Wisconsin today. The diagram terminates at 8410 ± 85 yr B.P. Climatic interpretation of this vegetational succession suggests a progressive increase in temperature since 14,300 yr B.P. This unidirectional trend in climate contrasts with the glacial history of the area. Hypotheses are presented to explain this lack of correspondence between pollen stratigraphy and glacial history. The preferred hypothesis is that the ice-margin fluctuations were controlled primarily by changes in winter snow accumulation in the source area of the glacier, whereas the vegetation and hence the pollen stratigraphy were controlled by climatic changes in front of the ice margin.     

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).     

Pollen Evidence of Changing Holocene Monsoon Climate in Sichuan Province, China

Pollen evidence from Lake Shayema, Mianning County, was obtained to examine postglacial vegetation and climatic change in southwestern Sichuan, China. The sclerophyllous character of the region's warm temperate vegetation today is a reflection of extreme drought in spring before the onset of the Asian monsoons. The pollen record displays several changes in the vegetation over the last 11,000 yr. From 11,000 to 9100 yr B.P., cold-tolerant species, such as Abies , Betula, and deciduous oaks, dominated the vegetation. Between 9100 and 7800 yr B.P., the abundance of deciduous oaks decreased and evergreen oaks increased, as did Tsuga and mesic deciduous species. This change suggests a warming climate with increased precipitation. From 7800 to 4000 yr B.P., sclerophyllous species increased at the expense of mesic deciduous species, an indication that precipitation was becoming more seasonal. Except for increased disturbance starting ca. 1000 yr B.P., the predominance of sclerophyllous vegetation continued until today. The pollen results are compatible with proposed global circulation hypotheses of a strengthened monsoon system during the early to mid Holocene.