Late glacial and Holocene vegetation and regional climate variability evidenced in high-resolution pollen records from Lake Baikal

Maximum distribution of Scots pine forests marks the Holocene thermal optimum (ca. 6.5-5.7 cal ka BP), which was followed by two subsequent cooling events (ca. 5.5-4.5 cal ka BP) at the Atlantic-Subboreal transition. A subsequent temperature optimum in the southeastern Baikal region ended with pronounced cooling during the Subboreal-Subatlantic transition (ca. 3-2.5 cal ka BP). A late spread of shrub alders may evidence the beginning of the Little Ice Age.