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东西伯利亚晚第四纪植被和气候波动进行时间上严格限制的高分辨率重建，作为欧亚大陆这一具有极端大陆性气候和北方森林植被的敏感和经济重要地区未来环境情景的发展基础。植被发育应在花粉分析的基础上，结合植硅石，气孔和有壳变形虫分析，烷烃，最好是古植物DNA（aDNA）从湖泊沉积物和泥炭剖面。主要重点放在雅库特中部，来自西部Verkhoyansk山脉的Billyakh湖岩心沉积物是关键的古环境档案。分析和重建的结果将有助于更好地了解研究区的环境动力学和生态系统的稳定性/不稳定性，并将成为区域重建晚第四纪植被和气候的重要组成部分，在北方和中亚，包括东北西伯利亚和贝加尔湖地区的气候和植被模式实验。在先前和现行项目范围内的沉积物记录的初步工作（花粉分析，14 C年代学分类）已清楚地证明，研究目标可以实现。

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.