Not herbs and forbs alone: pollen‐based evidence for the presence of boreal trees and shrubs in Cis‐Baikal (Eastern Siberia) derived from the Last Glacial Maximum sediment of Lake Ochaul

Abstract

A new accerator mass spectrometry (AMS)‐dated sedimentary record from Lake Ochaul (54°14′N, 106°28′E; 641 m a.s.l.) in Eastern Siberia covers the interval from ca. 27 850 to 20 400 cal a bp at ca. 180‐year resolution and contributes to a better understanding of the complex spatial vegetation pattern during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Non‐arboreal pollen taxa are abundant in the pollen assemblages (mean value ca. 92.6%), but boreal trees are represented by all major taxa that grow in the lake catchment today, including Betula sect. Albae (0.6–4.8%), Picea (0.6–2.8%), Pinus sibirica (Haploxylon type) (up to 1.5%), Pinus sylvestris (Diploxylon type) (up to 2%), Larix (up to 0.6%) and Abies (up to 0.6%). Betula sect. Nanae/Fruticosae (2–5.2%) and Salix (up to 3.2%) are the most representative boreal shrub taxa. Together with existing modern and fossil pollen data from the wider study region, the current record provides further evidence for the long‐debated presence of boreal trees and shrubs in Eastern Siberia throughout the LGM. Our results show that the Upper Lena was a region in which refugia for arboreal taxa existed and that far‐distant pollen transport can be ruled out as the source of the detected arboreal pollen.

Recurrent hybridization and gene flow shaped Norway and Siberian spruce evolutionary history over multiple glacial cycles

“…According to paleobiological records Siberia was a dry desert interspersed with pockets of forested areas (Semerikov et al 2013 and reference there in). Still, Karunarathne et al (2023) suggested that the southern part of the Siberian Plain was a suitable habitat for Siberian spruce during glacial periods and the presence of spruce during the LGM in the Baikal region is attested by fossil pollen (Kobe et al 2022). Using niche modelling and backward climate projection, Karunarathne et al (2023) also suggested that the distribution ranges of P. abies and P. obovata overlapped during interglacial periods in their Northern range (~145 kya).…”

Climate amelioration, abrupt vegetation recovery, and the dispersal of Homo sapiens in Baikal Siberia

“…On the basis of other pollen records, however, the Baikal region during this time became open and almost treeless, characterized by sparse tundra-steppe vegetation and the expansion of permafrost [e.g., (22,35)]. When comparing the herb pollen spectra for the LGM in Cisbaikal and Transbaikal, however, Kobe et al (62) found that Transbaikal was notably drier than Cisbaikal, with the Poaceae-enriched grassland of Cisbaikal potentially sustaining the mammoth-steppe fauna. Human populations persisted, too, especially in Cisbaikal where some of the largest MUP settlements interpreted as residential base camps [not only Mal'ta but also possibly Alekseevsk, Buret', and Igeteiskii Log-1 (63)(64)] continued to be occupied right up to the LGM, 26.5 to 24.5 ka ago.…”

Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental reconstructions from sediments of Lake Emanda (Verkhoyansk Mountains, East Siberia)

“…The outflow of the lake, Syan River, Figure 1. Location of Lake Emanda and positions of mentioned sites: 1 -Lake Billyakh (Müller et al, 2010;Diekmann et al, 2017); 2 -Dyanushka (Zech et al, 2011); 3 -Batagay (Ashastina et al, 2018); 4 -Lake Smorodinovoye (Anderson et al, 2002); 5-6paleoenvironmental records from arctic Yakutia (Andreev et al, 2002(Andreev et al, , 2009(Andreev et al, , 2011; 7 -Lake El'gygytgyn (Lozhkin et al, 2006;Anderson and Lozhkin and Anderson, 2011;Melles et al, 2012):); 9 -Lake Kotokel (Tarasov et al, 2021); 10 -Lake Ochaul (Kobe et al, 2022). [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] a right-hand tributary of the Derbeke River (part of the Yana River basin) drains the lake to the north.…”