“…The stands of island placoric forests, confined to narrow valleys, steppe "saucers", estuaries, and other depressions with a low level of groundwater, were the habitats of species less demanding for moisture, i.e., pine, birch, elm, English oak, etc. Furthermore, the palynological studies of the Holocene sediments of the lower reaches of the river Ural found that, during the phase of the maximum Holocene warming and humidization in the Northern Caspian Sea region, there was the dominance of steppes with pine and deciduous species of oak, hornbeam, linden, and ash [Yakhimovich et al, 1986].…”