Lateglacial and early Holocene environmental changes in northeastern Lithuania

Postglacial history of vegetation, human activity and lake-level changes at Jezioro Linówek in northeast Poland, based on multi-proxy data

“…fruit, it can be concluded that the minimum mean July temperature in this period oscillated around 10°C (Kolstrup 1979(Kolstrup , 1980Brinkkemper et al 1987). The cold period is also shown by the presence of macro-and microspores of Selaginella selaginoides, which is a typical species of tundra vegetation (Tobolski 2006;Stančikait_ e et al 2009;Gaidamavičius et al 2011;Mortensen et al 2011). The occurrence of S. selaginoides may even suggest lower temperatures of *7°C (Kolstrup 1979(Kolstrup , 1980.…”

“…The first pollen studies were conducted in the Suwałki region by Ołtuszewski (1937) and in the Puszcza Romincka (25 km to the north) by Gross (1935). The nearest palaeoecological and palaeobotanical reconstructions that include the Late-glacial and Holocene periods were carried out in Lithuania (Stančikait_ e et al 2008(Stančikait_ e et al , 2009Gaidamavičius et al 2011) and western Belarus (Stančikait_ e et al 2011). …”

Climate Change During the Holocene (Past 12,000 Years)

“…Despite a prolonged discussion involving pollen data, macrofossil finds and modern genetic information, the Lateglacial and Early Holocene history of Picea in this part of Europe is still under debate (Giesecke and Bennett 2004;Latałowa and van der Knaap 2006). Identification of Picea pollen and macrofossil finds suggests the local presence of this tree species during the earliest stages of the Holocene in the north-eastern and northern Lithuania (Kabailienė 1993;Kabailienė et al 2009;Stančikaitė et al 2009;Gaidamavičius et al 2011). Recent evidence of stomata, needles and wood suggests that spruce populations expanded into Latvia during the Younger Dryas (Koff and Terasmaa 2011;Veski et al 2012).…”

“…8000-4500 cal year BP, with dryer and warmer summers reflecting stronger continentality (Seppä and Poska 2004), was generally responsible for expansion of deciduous trees to the eastern Baltic Sea region. These taxa continued to flourish there between about 7500 and 4200 cal year BP (Stančikaitė et al 2003(Stančikaitė et al , 2004(Stančikaitė et al , 2006(Stančikaitė et al , 2008(Stančikaitė et al , 2009Giesecke and Bennett 2004;Giesecke et al 2008;Gaidamavičius et al 2011).…”

Holocene sediment record from Briaunis palaeolake, Eastern Lithuania: history of sedimentary environment and vegetation dynamics

“…To obtain this information in this study, a plant macrofossil survey was applied that allowed a new approach for the reconstruction of the local vegetation history and correlation of the data sets in the context of the regional events (Kupryjanowicz 2007;Heikkilä 2009;Niinemets, Saarse 2009). The pollen, plant macrofossil and diatom survey with LOI (lossonignition) and 14 C measurements were applied for the reconstruction of the palaeoecological setting in the investigated basin because similar investigations have shown important results describing the postglacial history of numerous lakes (Šeirienė et al 2009;Stančikaitė et al 2009;Gaidamavičius et al 2011). The recorded fluctuations are discussed in a context of regional climatic variations established in the North Atlantic Climatic rim (Björck et al 1996Subetto et al 2002).…”