Late Glacial and Holocene Vegetation Changes in the Wigry National Park, NE Poland – New Pollen Data from Three Small Dystrophic Lakes

Abstract

Abstract The main phases of the Late Glacial and Holocene development of vegetation in the Wigry National Park were reconstructed based on the pollen analysis of sediments from three small dystrophic lakes (Lake Suchar Wielki, Lake Suchar II and Lake Ślepe). At the current stage of research, the age of the studied deposits was determined by AMS radiocarbon dating of few samples only. This meant that the chronology of the investigated sections had to be estimated also indirectly using their palynological correlation with the radiometrically well-dated section from Lake Wigry. The obtained pollen data confirmed the picture of the postglacial vegetation changes of the Wigry National Park, which was based on earlier studies of Lake Wigry. Furthermore, it documented the existence, mainly in the Preboreal and Atlantic chronozones, of temporary changes in vegetation, which might be a reaction to a short-lived cold fluctuations of climate.