Late Holocene expansion of Siberian dwarf pine (Pinus pumila) in Kamchatka in response to increased snow cover as inferred from lacustrine oxygen-isotope recordsShow others and affiliations
2015 (English)In: Global and Planetary Change, ISSN 0921-8181, E-ISSN 1872-6364, Vol. 134, no SI, p. 91-100Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Holocene records of cellulose-inferred lake-water δ18O were produced from two lake-sediment sequences obtained in central and northern Kamchatka, Russian Far East. The sediment records share similar fluctuations in δ18O during the interval of ca. 5000-800calyr BP that correspond (inversely) with changes in K+ content of the GISP2 ice-core record from Greenland, a proxy for the relative strength of the Siberian High, suggesting control by climate-related variability in δ18O of regional precipitation. The dramatic expansion of Siberian dwarf pine (Pinus pumila) in northern and central Kamchatka between ca. 5000 and 4000calyr BP, as inferred from pollen records from the same and neighbouring sites, appears to have occurred at a time of progressively declining δ18O of precipitation. This development is interpreted as reflecting a regional cooling trend accompanied by increasing winter snowfall related to gradual intensification of the Siberian High from ca. 5000 to ca. 3000calyr BP. A thicker and more long-lasting snow cover can be assumed to have favoured P. pumila by providing a competitive advantage over other boreal and subalpine tree and shrub species in the region during the later part of the Holocene. These results, which are the first of their kind from Kamchatka, provide novel insight into the Holocene vegetational and climatic development in easternmost Asia, as well as long-term atmospheric circulation dynamics in Beringia.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 134, no SI, p. 91-100
Keywords [en]
Aleutian Low, Lake sediments, Oxygen isotopes, Pinus pumila, Siberian High
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Environmental Studies; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-27551DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.04.004ISI: 000365369900009Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84947032402OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-27551DiVA, id: diva2:813672
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 621-2004-5224Swedish Research Council, 621-2005-44442015-05-252015-05-252018-04-05Bibliographically approved