Palaeoecological evidence of changes in vegetation and climate during the Holocene in the pre‐Polar Urals, northeast European Russia

• Published in: Journal of Quaternary Science
• Main Authors: Kultti, Seija, Väliranta, Minna, Sarmaja‐Korjonen, Kaarina, Solovieva, Nadia, Virtanen, Tarmo, Kauppila, Tommi, Eronen, Matti
• Other Authors: European Commission-Tundra Degredation in the Russian Arctic project
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: Mezhgornoe; taiga
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.765; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjqs.765; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jqs.765

Abstract This study investigated Holocene tree‐line history and climatic change in the pre‐Polar Urals, northeast European Russia. A sediment core from Mezhgornoe Lake situated at the present‐day alpine tree‐line was studied for pollen, plant macrofossils, Cladocera and diatoms. A peat section from Vangyr Mire in the nearby mixed mountain taiga zone was analysed for pollen. The results suggest that the study area experienced a climatic optimum in the early Holocene and that summer temperatures were at least 2°C warmer than today. Tree birch immigrated to the Mezhgornoe Lake area at the onset of the Holocene. Mixed spruce forests followed at ca. 9500–9000 14 C yr BP. Climate was moist and the water level of Mezhgornoe Lake rose rapidly. The hypsithermal phase lasted until ca. 5500–4500 14 C yr BP, after which the mixed forest withdrew from the Mezhgornoe catchment as a result of the climate cooling. The gradual altitudinal downward shift of vegetation zones resulted in the present situation, with larch forming the tree‐line. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.