Abstract
We studied plant macrofossil assemblages from a boring core on the southern shore of Lake Himenuma, Rishiri Island, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan and clarified environmental and vegetation changes in and around the lake since the last glacial maximum (LGM). Between 16,964 ± 48 and 15,917 ± 85 yrs BP during the LGM, Pinus pumila shrubs grew sparsely with Selaginella helvetica on poor soil influenced by volcanic activity under dry cold climate. The lake began to develop with submerged aquatic plant communities including Characeae, Isoetes asiatica, and Ranunculus nipponicus var. major. Sorbus and Alnus maximowiczii began to grow in the Pinus pumila assemblage around the lake up to 14,265 ± 44 yrs BP, but afterwards plant remains were not supplied to the boring site, because of lake expansion.
