Vegetation reconstruction during the Last Termination on Mt. Chokai, northeastern Japan and habitat of Larix gmelinii

Abstract

Our spatial reconstruction of vegetation (from the fossil pollen and wood profiles of two peat layers) spanning the Last Termination on Mt. Chokai, northeastern Japan, advanced our understanding of vegetation history on the Japan Sea coast. Both types of remains indicated: 1) in ca. 14–11 ka cal BP, deciduous broad-leaved scrubs mainly consisting of Betula ermanii, Acer tschonoskii, and Alnus firma existed at 700 m a.s.l.; 2) after ca. 14 ka cal BP, boreal conifers disappeared from this area, probably due to warming of the Last Termination. Furthermore, we identified a fossil wood of Larix, probably L. gmelinii, from the peat layer of ca. 14–11 ka cal BP. This discovery implies that L. gmelinii expanded its distribution into peat bogs on the Japan Sea coast in the final stage of its extinction process, little affectd by snow accumulation in winter.