The role of oaks in Holocene vegetation of northeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula based on SEM pollen morphology
Natalia NARYSHKINA & Tatiana EVSTIGNEEVA
2 Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Vladivostok, Russia
The modern genus Quercus L. (Fagaceae) includes more than 500 species of
evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs. Members of the genus have a wide
geographical range. During the Holocene, oak-dominated forests were also common.
For this purpose, species-level identification of fossil pollen may facilitate
reconstructions of palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate. We identified species
of Quercus fossil pollen grains using scanning electron microscopy: four of them
were assigned to deciduous oaks (Q. mongolica type, Q. variabilis type, Q. serrata
type, Q. dentata type) and two to evergreen oaks (Q. glauca type, Q. sessillifolia
type). Additionally, we observed the continuation of oaks in plant communities
of northeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula for the last 10 thousand
years. In the Preboreal and Boreal phases (10 300 – 8 000 yr BP), Q. mongolica
and Q. serrata were dominant in deciduous broad-leaved forests. In the Atlantic
phase (8 000 – 4 500 yr BP), the deciduous oaks Q. mongolica, Q. dentata,
Q. serrata were a significant part in the coastal vegetation. In this time, the deciduous
Quercus forests prevailed over a wide range in the Korean peninsula. In
Subboreal phase (4 500 – 2 500 yr BP), Q. mongolica and Q. serrata dominated
the warm-temperate deciduous broad-leaved tree zone where pollen of evergreen
oaks Q. glauca and Q. sessillifolia were recognized. Most likely, pollen was transported
into sediments by wind or water streams from long-distance regions. The study
was supported by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences and
Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. 12-I-Ï28-01).
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