19. Vegetation dynamics in southern Germany during marine isotope stage 5 (~ 130 to 70 kyr ago)

Abstract

This contribution reviews the vegetation dynamics in southern Germany from the onset of the Eemian interglacial to the end of the early Weichselian glacial, an interval nearly equivalent to marine isotope stage (MIS) 5. The two longest pollen records in this region, which reflect the vegetation change of MIS 5, are correlated and plotted using a common tentative timescale. The comparison of these records and other pollen records from northern and southern Europe allows to evaluate shifting vegetation and climate gradients. The spread of Eemian forests occurred 6 kyr after the onset of MIS 5e. Eemian thermophilous deciduous forests prevailed for the rest of MIS 5e and were replaced by coniferdominated forests close to the MIS 5e/5d transition. Presumably, the coniferdominated forests persisted in southern Germany well within MIS 5d, whereas they declined 5 kyr earlier in northern Germany. This suggests steep vegetation gradients between northern and southern Germany at the inception of the last glacial. The early Weichselian in southern Germany was characterised by three interstadials (Brörup, Odderade, and Dürnten) with conifer-dominated forests separated by stadials with tundra-steppe biomes. The Brörup interstadial correlates with some degree of diachroneity with MIS 5c, whereas both the Odderade and Dürnten interstadials correlate with MIS 5a. The end of the Dürnten interstadial shows the final demise of early Weichselian woodlands and the spread of steppe biomes with the onset of MIS 4.