Biochemical evidence for minimal vegetation change in peatlands of the West Siberian Lowland during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age

摘要: Peatland vegetation is controlled primarily by the depth of water table, making peat paleovegetation a useful climate archive. We applied biochemical approach to quantitatively estimate plant sources carbon based on (1) neutral sugar compositions Sphagnum, vascular plants, and lichens (2) lignin phenol plants. used these indices characterize change over last 2000 years in four cores from West Siberian Lowland (Russia) investigate during Medieval Climate Anomaly Little Ice Age. The was dominated Sphagnum all cores, but punctuated several rapid transient transitions dominance two southern ( 60°N), possibly indicating permafrost development. However, there no evidence for sustained response either climatic event Lowland. This suggests that events were relatively mild Lowland, although sensitivity bog communities remains poorly understood.