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Postglacial vegetation dynamics at high elevation from Fairy Lake in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Montana, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2019

James V. Benes ,
Virginia Iglesias  and
Cathy Whitlock
James V. Benes*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA
Virginia Iglesias
Affiliation:
Earth Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80303, USA Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA
Cathy Whitlock
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA
*
*Corresponding author e-mail address: [email protected] (J.V. Benes).
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Abstract

The postglacial vegetation and fire history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is known from low and middle elevations, but little is known about high elevations. Paleoecologic data from Fairy Lake in the Bridger Range, southwestern Montana, provide a new high-elevation record that spans the last 15,000 yr. The records suggest a period of tundra-steppe vegetation prior to ca. 13,700 cal yr BP was followed by open Picea forest at ca. 11,200 cal yr BP. Pinus-Pseudotsuga parkland was present after ca. 9200 cal yr BP, when conditions were warmer/drier than present. It was replaced by mixed-conifer parkland at ca. 5000 cal yr BP. Present-day subalpine forest established at ca. 2800 cal yr BP. Increased avalanche or mass-wasting activity during the early late-glacial period, the Younger Dryas chronozone, and Neoglaciation suggest cool, wet periods. Sites at different elevations in the region show (1) synchronous vegetation responses to late-glacial warming; (2) widespread xerothermic forests and frequent fires in the early-to-middle Holocene; and (3) a trend to forest closure during late-Holocene cooling. Conditions in the Bridger Range were, however, wetter than other areas during the early Holocene. Across the Northern Rockies, postglacial warming progressed from west to east, reflecting range-specific responses to insolation-driven changes in climate.

Keywords

Vegetation historyFire historyMontana, Greater YellowstoneAvalanche historyHolocenePollenCharcoalClimate history
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 92 , Issue 2 , September 2019 , pp. 365 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington, Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019 

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