Lateglacial and Early Flandrian Coleoptera from La Taphanel, Massif Central, France: Climatic and Ecological Implications

A Lateglacial and early Holocene sequence of coleopteran assemblages is described from La Taphanel in the Massif Central, France. The site is a sediment‐filled small lake at an altitude of almost 1000 m. The insect fauna provides evidence for a detailed palaeoecological reconstruction, and in particular enables a reconstruction of climatic changes at the close of the last glaciation. A sudden climatic warming occurs at about 13000 yr BP followed by a temperate episode equivalent in time to the Bølling period. There is clear evidence of a short cold period between the Bølling and Allerød that is approximately equivalent to the Older Dryas period. The Allerød phase is decidedly cooler than the Bølling, as is shown by the Coleoptera from several sites in northwest Europe. A clear Younger Dryas signal is provided by the Coleoptera, with climates similar in severity to those of the glacial period. The climatic improvement at the start of the Holocene is also sudden, so that by Preboreal times temperatures were equivalent to those of the present day.