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

• Main Authors: Kultti, S., Väliranta, M., Sarmaja-Korjonen, K., Solovieva, N., Virtanen, T., Kauppila, T., Eronen, M.
• Other Authors: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Bio- ja ympäristötieteiden laitos, Bio- och miljövetenskaper, Institutionen för
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2005
• Subjects: Holocene; northern Russia; tree-line; lake-level changes; palaeoclimate; Mezhgornoe; Arctic; taiga
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1975/276

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 14C yr BP. Climate was moist and the water level of Mezhgornoe Lake rose rapidly. The hypsithermal phase lasted until ca. 5500-4500 14C 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.