Forest or no forest: implications of the vegetation record for climatic stability in Western Beringia during Oxygen Isotope Stage 3

Two conflicting stratigraphic schemes describe the Siberian Karginskii interstade (Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 equivalent) as having: 1) relatively stable climate with environments more similar to the full glaciation; or 2) variable climate with landscapes that more closely approximate contemporary ones. New data from continuous lake cores and a nearly continuous section from western Beringia (WB) suggest that both schemes are valid. Herb-dominated communities, possibly with isolated populations of Larix, characterized northern WB with only a slight shift from relatively warm to cool summers during the mid-interstade. In contrast, herb and shrub tundra, steppe, forest-tundra, and modern Larix forest occurred at various times in areas of southern WB, suggesting greater climatic instability. A thermal optimum is evident in the south during the mid-interstade, with modern vegetation in southeastern WB and Larix forest-tundra in the southwest. Variations in Pinus pumila pollen indicate summer warm/winter dry and summer warm/winter wet conditions in southeastern WB. These fluctuations contrast to other areas of WB, where summers and probably winters were consistently arid. Although the interstade presents a unique interval within the Late Pleistocene, paleodata and paleoclimatic models suggest that changes in marine conditions, including sea level, were likely key drivers in the regional climate history.

► Steppe and modern forest coexisted in WB during portions of OIS-3. ► Vegetation patterns mark OIS-3 as unique in the Late Pleistocene of WB. ► Marine conditions were likely key factors in defining regional climate change. ► Effective moisture was likely the primary determinate of OIS-3 vegetation in WB. ► “Warm” pre-Holocene paleobotanical assemblages are not necessarily from OIS-5.