Biotic turnover rates during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition ...

• Main Authors: Stivrins, Normunds, Fontana, Sonia L., Heiri, Oliver, Gryguc, Gražyna, Amon, Leeli, Soininen, Janne, Reitalu, Triin, Veski, Siim, Stančikaitė, Miglė, Kisielienė, Dalia, Seppä, Heikki, Heikkilä, Maija
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2016
• Subjects: 580 Plants Botany; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.90413; http://boris.unibe.ch/90413/

The Northern Hemisphere is currently warming at the rate which is unprecedented during the Holocene. Quantitative palaeoclimatic records show that the most recent time in the geological history with comparable warming rates was during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (PHT) about 14,000 to 11,000 years ago. To better understand the biotic response to rapid temperature change, we explore the community turnover rates during the PHT by focusing on the Baltic region in the southeastern sector of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet, where an exceptionally dense network on microfossil and macrofossil data that reflect the biotic community history are available. We further use a composite chironomid-based summer temperature reconstruction compiled specifically for our study region to calculate the rate of temperature change during the PHT. The fastest biotic turnover in the terrestrial and aquatic communities occurred during the Younger Dryas-Holocene shift at 11,700 years ago. This general shift in species composition ...