Vegetation and climate of Anatolia and adjacent regions during the Last Glacial period

Abstract

Reinterpretation of vegetation and climatic conditions of Anatolia and neighboring regions during Last Glacial (30–15 cal ka BP) have been done using a non-quantitative biomization approach based on previously published plant functional types. The results suggest that the climate was cold and humid before ∼25 cal ka BP and also during the period ∼23–19 cal ka BP (except East Anatolia). Forest vegetation was 80–90% of the land cover in the northwestern Anatolia and Black Sea coast, and 50–60% along the Mediterranean coast at the same period. During Heinrich Event 2, from ∼25 to 23 cal ka BP, steppe vegetation dominated the Anatolian region due to the sudden change to very cold and arid conditions. Approximately between 18 and 16 cal ka BP in the Late Glacial, during Heinrich Event 1, a brief interval of cold and arid conditions resulted in weaker steppe vegetation over some part of Anatolia. Around at 15 cal ka BP, suitable climatic conditions for forest vegetation prevailed across a great part of Anatolia, except for Eastern Anatolia and Western Iran, which are highlands.