Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from the last interglacial using phytolith analysis,southeastern North Island,New Zealand

Phytoliths extracted from loess resting conformably on lacustrine sediments in southeastern North Island, New Zealand, provide a nearly continuous vegetation–climate record spanning the time period from the last interglacial (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 5) to the present. Phytoliths reveal changes in vegetation patterns following changes in climate. Correlation between tree–shrub phytolith fluctuations and the SPECMAP oxygen isotope curve, between Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 1 and 5, suggest that changes in the ratio of arboreal to non‐arboreal phytoliths directly result from changes in climate. These data generally support the existing pollen and diatom record. This study confirms the usefulness of phytolith fossils for providing environmental and climate information from the Quaternary sedimentary record, especially in cases where the deposits contain no fossil pollen or diatoms. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.