Late Vistulian insect assemblages from Zabinko, western Poland

Abstract

Insect analysis was carried out in deposits from a Late Vistulian site at Zabinko, western Poland. Geomorphological, lithostratigraphical and palaeobotanical investigations have been carried out earlier at the same section and published elsewhere. The analysed samples are dated from c. 12,600 to 12,200 BP. A total of 54 insect taxa were determined, the majority being Coleoptera. No major change in the insect fauna during this 400 years period could be detected from the study. The presence of specific phytophagus beetles suggests the same local vegetational environment as reconstructed from the plant macrofossil record, namely a shallow pool with a well‐developed reed vegetation. The pool was situated in an open landscape with scattered trees and herb vegetation. The climatic reconstruction from the insect assemblages suggests a cool temperate climate with an average July temperature of 14–15d̀C, During the same time period arctic/ksubarctic conditionsd, with mean July temperatures of c. 10–12d̀C, prevailed in southernmost Scandinavia. The climatic amelioration in western Poland seems to have started possibl 500 years earlier than in southern Sweden.