1. Changes in Fauna and Flora Associations in the Pechora Urals from the End of the Middle Valdai to the Late Holocene.
- Author
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Kryazheva, I. V., Ponomarev, D. V., and Golubeva, Yu. V.
- Subjects
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LAST Glacial Maximum , *HOLOCENE Epoch , *FOSSIL mammals , *CONIFEROUS forests , *BOTANY , *FIR - Abstract
Micromammalian fauna and palynological spectra have been studied in two cave-type localities of the Iordanskogo Ravine in the Northern Urals (Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve): the Studyony canopy and the Filin niche. The cave sedimentation conditions have been reconstructed on the basis of the paleofauna and palynological data. The fossil small mammal assemblages and the spore–pollen spectra are indicative of the spread of shrubby swampy tundra with forest islands in the Upper Pechora region at the end of the Middle Valdai (Byzovaya Interstadial, MIS 3) and tundra-steppe landscapes under the progressive climate drying during the Last Glacial Maximum. During the Late Glacial, tundra-like shrubs prevailed, and the climate was much colder than the recent one. The rodent fauna was dominated by tundra and tundra-steppe species. In the Early Holocene, the climate warming lowered the role of xerophytic shrubs, replaced by birch–spruce–pine forests. In the rodent fauna, the proportion of tundra and tundra-steppe species decreased by more than a factor of three. During the Late Holocene, dark coniferous forests with fir and Siberian pine became widespread. Rodent associations acquired a typical taiga appearance: the forest inhabitants accounted for more than half of all remains (60–80%), while the tundra species were absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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