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Glacial legacies on interglacial vegetation at the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition in NE Asia

Author

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  • Ulrike Herzschuh

    (Periglacial Research Section, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
    Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University Potsdam)

  • H. John B. Birks

    (University of Bergen
    Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
    Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London)

  • Thomas Laepple

    (Periglacial Research Section, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research)

  • Andrei Andreev

    (Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne
    Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Kazan Federal University)

  • Martin Melles

    (Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne)

  • Julie Brigham-Grette

    (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Abstract

Broad-scale climate control of vegetation is widely assumed. Vegetation-climate lags are generally thought to have lasted no more than a few centuries. Here our palaeoecological study challenges this concept over glacial–interglacial timescales. Through multivariate analyses of pollen assemblages from Lake El’gygytgyn, Russian Far East and other data we show that interglacial vegetation during the Plio-Pleistocene transition mainly reflects conditions of the preceding glacial instead of contemporary interglacial climate. Vegetation–climate disequilibrium may persist for several millennia, related to the combined effects of permafrost persistence, distant glacial refugia and fire. In contrast, no effects from the preceding interglacial on glacial vegetation are detected. We propose that disequilibrium was stronger during the Plio-Pleistocene transition than during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period when, in addition to climate, herbivory was important. By analogy to the past, we suggest today’s widespread larch ecosystem on permafrost is not in climate equilibrium. Vegetation-based reconstructions of interglacial climates used to assess atmospheric CO2–temperature relationships may thus yield misleading simulations of past global climate sensitivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ulrike Herzschuh & H. John B. Birks & Thomas Laepple & Andrei Andreev & Martin Melles & Julie Brigham-Grette, 2016. "Glacial legacies on interglacial vegetation at the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition in NE Asia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11967
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11967
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    Cited by:

    1. Anne Dallmeyer & Thomas Kleinen & Martin Claussen & Nils Weitzel & Xianyong Cao & Ulrike Herzschuh, 2022. "The deglacial forest conundrum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Olivier Cartapanis & Lukas Jonkers & Paola Moffa-Sanchez & Samuel L. Jaccard & Anne Vernal, 2022. "Complex spatio-temporal structure of the Holocene Thermal Maximum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Feng Cheng & Carmala Garzione & Xiangzhong Li & Ulrich Salzmann & Florian Schwarz & Alan M. Haywood & Julia Tindall & Junsheng Nie & Lin Li & Lin Wang & Benjamin W. Abbott & Ben Elliott & Weiguo Liu &, 2022. "Alpine permafrost could account for a quarter of thawed carbon based on Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate analogue," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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