A record of Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation and climate change from Woods Lake, Seymour Inlet, coastal British Columbia, Canada

The Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation and environmental history recorded in a small coastal lake in the Seymour Inlet area, British Columbia, is described. Pinus-dominated vegetation and a cool and moist climate prevailed in the early phase of the Lateglacial. Later stages of the Lateglacial were characterised by a mixed coniferous forest with Tsuga species, Picea and Abies and slightly warmer conditions and increased moisture. Alnus, Picea and Pteridium aquilinum dominated the vegetation of the early Holocene. Warmer and drier conditions prevailed during this phase. Increased moisture and decreased temperatures characterised the mid-Holocene as indicated by the dominance of Cupressaceae, Tsuga heterophylla, Alnus and Picea in the forest around the study site. This represented a transitional stage to the late-Holocene Cupressaceae-T. heterophylla phase, when the modern climate regime characterised by temperate and wet conditions became established. The vegetation succession identified correlates well with Lateglacial and Holocene records from other sites in the Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone of British Columbia. Sedimentological and microfossil records from the examined sediment core indicate that saltwater intrusions into the lake basin occurred during the early Lateglacial and the middle to late Holocene resulting from changes in relative sea level.