Mid- to late Holocene Bond events reflected in the pollen-inferred vegetation history of the southeastern Baltic Sea region: a case study of the Curonian Lagoon

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on climate fluctuations (Bond events) and related vegetation changes in the southeastern Baltic area. To date, regional and local palaeoenvironmental responses and their climate association with Bond events remains poorly understood. New data from lithological, geochronological, and palynological analyses of the Curonian Lagoon sediment sequence provide a reconstruction of regional vegetation changes considered on the background of short-term climate fluctuations. This study reveals that palynological data do not reflect climate events evenly. Thus, climate changes that occurred approximately 5900 and 2800 cal yr BP are most clearly reflected in palynological record. At the same time, the events of 1400 cal yr BP and the Little Ice Age are weaker expressed in the pollen curves. Whereas, the 5900 and 2800 cal yr BP cold events are marked by significant reduction of Quercetum mixtum (QM) pollen and, in particular, oak and elm, the onset of the Little Ice Age is characterised by a short-term decrease of anthropogenic indicators. The study also showed that besides climate, changes in local hydrological conditions and anthropogenic factor could have a significant impact on the vegetation cover of the study area. The influence of the anthropogenic factor has been increasing over the last 3000 years, making it difficult to fully disentangle natural and human-induced changes in ecosystems of the southeastern Baltic.

Keywords:

Bond events, climate change, vegetation, southeastern Baltic