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 degrees 14 ' N, 106 degrees 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.