Recent pollen spectra and zonal vegetation in the western USSR

Abstract

The relationship of modern pollen spectra to present-day vegetation is critical to the reconstruction of vegetation and climate from fossil pollen spectra. This study uses isopoll maps to illustrate the pollen-vegetation relationships in the Soviet Union west of 100°E and presents descriptive statistics for 544 modern samples of arboreal pollen and for 370 samples of herb pollen obtained from the Soviet palynological literature. Data are assembled from this large geographic region and presented in a standardized form on a scale which can be used to relate quantitative pollen data to zonal vegetation and climatic variables and to make comparisons with other regions. In order to show the relationship between pollen types and major ecotones in forested and non-forested areas, the pollen data are presented as percentages of a sum including both arboreal and non-arboreal pollen. Major pollen types which attain values of 10% or more in at least one vegetation zone include Betula (birch), Cyperaceae (sedges), Picea (spruce), Pinus (total pine), Pinus sibirica, Ericaceae (heath family), Gramineae (grasses), Artemisia (sage), and Chenopodiaceae (i.e., saltbush, Russian thistle, pigweed family). Samples from the tundra and forest-tundra have high values of Ericaceae (heath family), birch, alder, and sedge pollen. In the boreal forest, pine, spruce, and birch pollen predominate. In the mixed and deciduous forests, Tilia (linden), Quercus (oak), Ulmus (elm), and Corylus (hazel) pollen attain maximum values. In the forest-steppe and steppe zones, arboreal pollen decreases in importance and is replaced by non-arboreal pollen types. Pollen of Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae predominates in the semi-desert zones. In spite of variation in the pollen spectra arising from the use of different sediment types (soil, peat, and river sediments), and human disturbance of vegetation, the pollen spectra are clearly related to zonal vegetation. Pollen spectra from the western USSR show geographical patterns similar to those in North America, although Betula and Ericaceae are more important in pollen spectra in the Soviet Union. Picea pollen is less important and Pinus pollen is more widespread in the USSR. Deciduous pollen types such as Quercus, Tilia, and Ulmus are less important than in North America.