Evolution of coastal ecosystems in the Ussuriysky Bay Head since the final phase of the Middle Holocene

Abstract

Pollen record obtained from sediments of the high floodplain terrace of the River Knevichanka, allowed to reconstruct the evolution of coastal vegetation in the Ussuri Bay Headover the last 5350 years cal BP. It was found that broad-leaved plants under warm and moisture climate during the final phase of the mid-Holocene Thermal Maximum were more widespread in the mountain ecosystems than at present. Mixed grass meadow, small-leaved plant communities were dominated on the accumulative plain, with common birch, hybrid birches and alder. The cooling that began at the end of the Middle Holocene and continued in the beginning of the Late Holocene led to a decrease of broad-leaved trees and a wider distribution of small-leaved ones in the vegetation. At the end of the Late Holocene, in the Ussuriysky Bay Head, were formed the oak-broadleaf forests with fir and Korean pine which represent the modern appearance of ecosystems.