Paleoenvironments and landscape history of the Minor Kuril Islands since the Late Glacial

The problems of vegetation development of the Minor Kuriles since the Last Glacial Maximum are discussed. The size of island land and relief features influenced landscape development under post-Glacial-Holocene climatic changes and sea-level oscillations. The results suggest that isolation had a great role on development of the landscapes. Low, flat relief, active wetlands, and the cooling influence of the ocean were the main factors in the development of grassland and wetland landscapes on small islands. In the Late Holocene, forest vegetation was preserved only on Shikotan Island, which has upland relief. The appearance of broad-leaved genera and the disappearance of some taxa are discussed.