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Late Quaternary Vegetational History of Grays Lake, Idaho
Author(s) -
Beiswenger Jane M.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
ecological monographs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.254
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1557-7015
pISSN - 0012-9615
DOI - 10.2307/1943006
Subject(s) - deserts and xeric shrublands , steppe , foothills , woodland , artemisia , ecology , pollen , vegetation (pathology) , quaternary , holocene , geography , geology , biology , habitat , paleontology , archaeology , medicine , pathology
Pollen contained in sediment cores, from Grays Lake, Idaho, indicate cold, dry conditions from ≈70 000 to 30 000 yr BP when an Artemisia steppe surrounded Grays Lake and extended into the nearby mountains. From ≈30 000 until 11 500 yr BP, somewhat moister conditions supported a conifer woodland. Pinus and other conifers grew in the foothills and among Artemisia on the open plains. Increases in Picea, Abies, and Artemisia signaled the onset of a cool transitional climate ≈11 500 yr BP. Juniperus and members of the Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae and Compositae families all became more abundant as the climate became warmer and drier. Xeric conditions persisted from ≈10 000 to 7100 yr BP, reaching a maximum ≈8200 yr BP. Subsequently, the climate of the Grays Lake Basin has been cooler and moister, with increases in conifers and decreases in Juniperus and steppe plants.