Quantitative reconstructions of late Quaternary vegetation, temperature and atmospheric precipitation variability in eastern Siberia: Evaluation of ecosystem stability/instability during episodes of rapid climate change

该项目的科学目标是对西伯利亚东部第四纪晚期的植被和气候波动进行高分辨率重建，为这一具有极端大陆性气候和北部森林植被的欧亚大陆敏感和重要经济区域的未来环境设想奠定基础。植被发育应以花粉分析为基础，结合植硅体分析、气孔分析、变形虫分析、烷烃分析，最好是湖泊沉积物和泥炭剖面中的古植物DNA(ADNA)。主要的焦点放在雅库特中部，来自西部Verkhoyansk山脉的Billyakh湖核心沉积物是关键的古环境档案。分析和重建结果将有助于更好地了解研究区域的环境动态和生态系统的稳定性/不稳定性，并将成为包括西伯利亚东北部和贝加尔湖地区在内的北亚和中亚地区晚第四纪植被和气候区域重建以及气候和植被模型实验的重要部分。在以前和当前项目范围内的沉积物记录中的初步工作(花粉分析、14C年代年代分类)清楚地证明，研究目标是可以实现的。

The scientific aim of this project is a chronologically well-constrained high-resolution reconstruction of the late Quaternary vegetation and climate fluctuations of eastern Siberia, as basis for the development of future environmental scenarios for this sensitive and economically important region of Eurasia with extreme continental climate and boreal forest vegetation. The vegetation development should be approached on the basis of pollen analysis in combination with phytolith, stomata and testate amoebae analysis, alkanes and preferably ancient plant DNA (aDNA) from lake sediments and peat profiles. The main focus is laid on central Yakutia, with the Lake Billyakh core sediments from the western Verkhoyansk Mountains serving as key palaeoenvironmental archives. The analytical and reconstruction results will valuably contribute to a better understanding of environmental dynamics and ecosystem stability/instability in the study region and will become an important segment in the regional reconstructions of late Quaternary vegetation and climate in northern and central Asia, including north-eastern Siberia and the Lake Baikal region as well as in the climate and vegetation model experiments. Preliminary works (pollen analysis, chronological classification with 14C-dates) in sediment records within the scope of the previous and prevailing projects have clearly proven that the research objectives can be achieved.