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    Synchronous vegetation response to the last glacial-interglacial transition in northwest Europe

    Engels, Stefan and Lane, C.S. and Haliuc, A. and Hoek, W.Z. and Muschitiello, F. and Baneschi, I. and Bouwman, A. and Bronk Ramsey, C. and Collins, J. and de Bruijn, R. and Heiri, O. and Hubay, K. and Jones, G. and Laug, A. and Merkt, J. and Mueller, M. and Peters, T. and Peterse, F. and Staff, R.A. and ter Schure, A.T.M. and Turner, F. and van den Bos, V. and Wagner-Cremer, R. (2022) Synchronous vegetation response to the last glacial-interglacial transition in northwest Europe. Communications Earth & Environment 3 , p. 130. ISSN 2662-4435.

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    Abstract

    The North Atlantic region experienced abrupt high-amplitude cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas stadial. However, due to chronological uncertainties in the available terrestrial records it is unclear whether terrestrial ecosystem response to this event was instantaneous and spatially synchronous, or whether regional or time-transgressive lags existed. Here we use new palynological results from a robustly dated lake sediment sequence retrieved from lake Hämelsee (north Germany) to show that vegetation change started at 12,820 cal. yr BP, concurrent with the onset of changes in local climate. A comparison of the Hämelsee results to a compilation of precisely dated palynological records shows instant and, within decadal-scale dating uncertainty, synchronous response of the terrestrial plant community to Late-Glacial climate change across northwest Europe. The results indicate that the environmental impact of climate cooling was more severe than previously thought and illustrates the sensitivity of natural terrestrial ecosystems to external forcing.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
    Depositing User: Stefan Engels
    Date Deposited: 13 Jun 2022 13:09
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 18:17
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/48445

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