Ice caves are predominantly found in mid-latitude mountain regions, such as the European Alps. Those located near the alpine treeline are particularly valuable for reconstructing past vegetation dynamics in response to climate variability and land use. Despite the excellent preservation conditions provided by permanent ice cover, pollen preserved in ice caves remains an underutilized paleoenvironmental proxy. This study evaluates the potential of ice caves for local paleoecological reconstruction by analyzing pollen assemblages and plant macrofossils from two Austrian sag-type ice caves: Guffert-Eisschacht (1825 m a.s.l.) and Eisgruben-Eishöhle (1695 m a.s.l.). Organic-rich dark ice layers were sampled and dated by radiocarbon, covering a time span from the La Tène period to the Middle Ages. To distinguish local from regional vegetation signals, regional fossil pollen datasets and modern moss polster samples were also examined. Although pollen concentrations in the ice samples were lower than those typically found in lakes or peat bogs, preservation quality was excellent due to cryogenic conditions that inhibit microbial activity and oxidative decay. The pollen assemblages, supported by plant macrofossil evidence and modern analogues, reflect predominantly local vegetation, with minimal long-distance input. At Guffert-Eisschacht, Roman-period pollen and macrofossil evidence suggest a subalpine coniferous forest that transitioned to more open landscapes in the Middle Ages, likely due to intensified land use. In Eisgruben-Eishöhle, the Roman and Middle Ages samples also indicate greater landscape openness and diversity than today, shaped by a combination of favorable climate conditions and anthropogenic disturbances such as mining and forest clearance. Pollen-based vegetation estimates reveal clear shifts in plant composition across the two millennia, including upslope expansion of Alnus , Corylus , and Abies during the Roman Warm Period, and more open, human-influenced vegetation in the Middle Ages. These findings demonstrate that stratified ice cave deposits offer high-resolution, well-preserved, and locally reliable paleoecological archives. Their geographic location near sensitive ecotones, combined with multi-proxy data and robust chronologies, provides new insights into the complex interactions between climate variability and human activity in shaping alpine ecosystems. Ice cave records thus represent a valuable complement to more established paleoarchives such as lakes and peat bogs, enhancing our understanding of mountain ecosystem responses to environmental change. • Ice caves preserve well-stratified, cryogenically protected pollen and macrofossils for alpine vegetation reconstruction. • Pollen assemblages reflect mostly local high-elevation vegetation. • Vegetation shifts reveal interplay between climate variability and intensified land use over the last two millennia. • Ice caves complement lakes and peat bogs as valuable mountain paleoecological archives.

The deglaciation history of the European Alps after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is generally thought to be well established, however, the timing of glacier retreat in the eastern Alps remains poorly constrained. Here, we present the first 10 Be exposure ages from the Klagenfurt Basin (Carinthia, Austria), which was covered by the piedmont lobe of the Drau glacier during the LGM. The 10 Be ages were obtained from glacially polished quartz veins located between ∼530 and ∼800 m a.s.l. and range from 17.4 ± 0.6 to 13.5 ± 0.7 ka (mean age: 15.9 ± 1.0 ka). Our findings indicate that the deglaciation of the Klagenfurt Basin occurred during the late stage of the Oldest Dryas stadial, which is consistent with published 10 Be ages (mean age: 15.0 ± 1.2 ka) from the flat tops of the ∼2000-m-high Nock Mountains that are located NW of the Klagenfurt Basin. Both datasets challenge previous interpretations, which inferred that the southeastern Alps were already ice-free by ∼19-18 ka based on 14 C ages from two postglacial lakes (Lakes Längsee and Jeserzersee). Our reassessment of the sediment and pollen records from the two lakes shows, however, that the marked transition from non-arboreal to boreal pollen occurred at the end of the Oldest Dryas after deglaciation of the Klagenfurt Basin and that the 14 C ages from bulk sediment overestimate the true sedimentation age due to a lake reservoir effect. A later deglaciation than previously assumed is further supported by our re-interpretation of two published 10 Be datasets from the internal part of the eastern Alps, which indicate LGM ice-surface lowering between ∼18.6 and ∼14.8 ka and rock-glacier stabilization at ∼16-14 ka, respectively. The prolonged existence of the Drau glacier until ∼16 ka was likely promoted by enhanced autumn and winter precipitation during the LGM and until ∼17 ka and, afterwards, by Northern Hemisphere cooling during Heinrich Event 1. The combination of dryer conditions and climate amelioration toward the end of the Oldest Dryas then led to the final retreat of the Drau glacier from the Klagenfurt Basin. • 10 Be exposure ages constrain deglaciation of the Klagenfurt Basin ∼16 ka ago. • Exposure ages were obtained from glacially polished quartz veins. • Data refute ice-free conditions at 19-18 ka inferred from 14 C ages from bulk sediment. • 14 C ages from Lakes Längsee and Jeserzersee overestimate true sedimentation age. • Our findings underline the necessity of dating glacial landforms in the eastern Alps.

This paper presents geomorphological and geochronological evidence for ice sheet oscillations during the deglaciation of the last Irish Ice Sheet. Cosmogenic exposure age results (36Cl ages; n = 18) demonstrate that the ice margin had retreated into central Ireland by c. 19 ka, with ice restricted to the uplands west of the River Shannon by c. 16.7 ka. These dates are consistent with dated ice margins on the east coast of Ireland. The geomorphological evidence points to streaming ice draining eastward within the Irish interior and a transition from streaming to surging ice dynamics during recession, as the ice sheet split into separate lobes. Up to four substantial, non-synchronous readvances of individual lobes over several kilometres are observed. These were in part caused by surging behaviour in the ice sheet, indicating the role of internal disequilibria in local to regional-scale advances. Despite the existence of an extensive proglacial ice-contact lake, Palaeolake Riada, which formed at the ice margin during retreat into the Shannon drainage basin, cosmogenic exposure age results demonstrate that water submersion did not affect surface exposure ages obtained from glacial boulders, indicating that the ice contact lake existed for too short a time span to have had an effect on boulder exposure ages. A key finding is that the ice retreat into central Ireland was earlier than in some parts of Britain, such as eastern Scotland, and highlights the complexity of the glacial record across Great Britain and Ireland.

The timing and ecological consequences of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in Central America remain poorly resolved, limiting our understanding of how the Pleistocene megafaunal declines may have influenced past and present ecosystem dynamics and ecological processes. To address this gap, we applied a high-resolution multiproxy palaeoecological approach to reconstruct the Pleistocene megafaunal presence in the Isthmus of Panama. Lake sediment cores from Lake La Yeguada were analysed for spores of coprophilous fungi (SCF) using a multi-genus SCF approach; an analytical advancement that significantly improves the resolution and reliability of megafaunal reconstructions compared to traditional reliance on Sporormiella alone. This multi-genus SCF approach was integrated with fossil pollen and charcoal analyses to establish the first detailed record of megafaunal presence/absence, vegetation dynamics, and fire activity, respectively, spanning the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene in Panama. Our SCF record indicates that megafauna were present in the region from at least 16,600 cal yr BP (calibrated years before present) and underwent three distinct phases of decline around 13,600, 10,000, and 8400 cal yr BP. These declines were followed by recoveries at 11,200, 9000 cal and 7600 cal yr BP, likely caused by changes in megafaunal community compositions. These transitions coincided with shifts in vegetation composition between forest and grasslands, marked by the loss of large-seeded, megafaunal-dispersed plant taxa and increased fire activity, suggesting that megafaunal decline had cascading impacts on ecosystem processes in Panama. Our findings highlight the ecological consequences of megafaunal declines on megafaunal-dispersed and large-seeded plants and suggest that future declines could have implications for vegetation and fire activity. These insights provide a valuable baseline to inform conservation strategies for extant species and offer guidance for future trophic rewilding efforts aimed at restoring ecological functions lost with the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna. • Multi-genus dung fungi records outperform Sporormiella in megafauna reconstruction • Pleistocene megafauna underwent three phases of decline and recovery in Panama • Ecological diversity, environment, and humans shape megafaunal decline and recovery • Megafaunal decline had ecological consequences on vegetation and fire in Panama • The lost ecosystem functions are crucial for conservation and rewilding in Panama