Late‐glacial climate in the Maritimes Region, Canada, reconstructed from mutual climatic range analysis of fossil Coleoptera

Miller, Randall F.; Elias, Scott A.

doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.2000.tb01202.x

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Despite that impoverished plant cover prior to the onset of Younger Dryas cooling, the maximum summer surface temperatures of small lakes in Maine, southern New Brunswick, and southwestern Nova Scotia -as indicated by chironomids -had already risen to modern levels (20-25°C; Wilson et al, 1993;Levesque et al, 1997). Insect remains similarly indicate attainment of modern summer temperatures by 11 ka BP (Miller and Elias, 2000). These temperatures are sufficient to support a mixed forest, and they were as high as those experienced during the post-Younger Dryas interval of forest cover.…”

Section: Ka Bpmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Walker, personal communication, 2004), which is certainly capable of supporting forest. Similarly, July air temperatures inferred from fossil beetles at several sites in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had risen to within 2-4°C of modern values by 12 ka BP, whereas winter temperatures were 12-13°C colder than present (Miller and Elias, 2000). At 12 ka BP, boreal forest and forest tundra fringed most of the southern margin of the ice sheet, with forest forming a great belt extending from south-central Saskatchewan (Ritchie and deVries, 1964;Terasmae, 1973) and Kansas (Watts, 1983) to the Atlantic Ocean (Newby et al, 2000;Shuman et al, 2001) and occupying vast areas that are today grassland.…”

Section: Ka Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amongst the dwarf trees, this biome was characterized by birch and willow throughout, though juniper occurred as far north as Newfoundland, alder was established in Nova Scotia, and soapberry (Shepherdia canadensis) was present in New Hampshire. Forest tundra extended through parts of that region that were deglaciated earlier, reaching southwestern New Brunswick (Whitehead et al, 1989;Spear et al, 1994;Jetté and Mott, 1995;Miller and Elias, 2000). Plant macrofossils from glacial lake sediments in Vermont dating at 12.35 ka BP reveal the presence of diverse arctic-alpine plants that must have contributed to the forest tundra understory.…”

Section: Ka Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Northern North America Based on Pollen, Macrofossil, and Faunal Remains*

Dyke

2007

gpq

113

118

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AbstractBiome maps spanning the interval from the last glacial maximum to modern times are presented. The biome distributions at 18 ka BP were probably as nearly in equilibrium with climate as are the modern distributions, but deglacial biomes were probably in disequilibrium. Ice sheet configuration was a strong control of climate until 7 ka BP. Regional climate trends can be inferred from changing biome distributions, but during periods of disequilibrium, biome distributions under-represent summer warming. Because of summer cooling by 2-4 °C during the Holocene, largely in the last 3-5 ka, middle and certain early Holocene biome distributions and species compositions are reasonable analogues of future equilibrium displacements due to equivalent warming, at least in areas that were long-since deglaciated. Past biome migration rates in response to rapid regional warming during deglaciation were mainly in the range of 100-200 m per year. If these rates pertain in the future, biomes may shift 10-20 km in most regions over the next century. A major impediment to using former Holocene conditions as a guide to future conditions is that warmer Holocene summers were accompanied by colder winters, whereas warmer future summers will be accompanied by warmer winters.

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Section: Ka Bpmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Ka Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ka Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Northern North America Based on Pollen, Macrofossil, and Faunal Remains*

Dyke

2007

gpq

113

118

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“…Eleven species no longer occur in the Maritime Provinces and are presently found at more northern latitudes. Miller & Elias (2000) interpreted changing faunal assemblages at this time as indicative of three temporal "zones" at the Allerød/Younger Dryas transition: 1) a tree-line/tundra assemblage older than 13,760 cal yr BP, which colonized the region following deglaciation and the development of tundra vegetation; 2) a boreal assemblage from 13,760 to 12,730 cal yr BP which colonized the region following climatic warming and the development of forested taiga vegetation; and 3) a northern boreo-montane assemblage younger than 12,730 cal yr BP. They interpreted the third zone as reflecting the Coleoptera response to the climatic deterioration during the Younger Dryas chronozone.…”

Section: Origins Of the Maritimes' Carabid Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

The ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: review of collecting, new records, and observations on composition, zoogeography, and historical origins

Majka

Bousquet

Westby

2007

Zootaxa

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The Carabidae of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are surveyed. The collecting history of the family in the region is reviewed. New records of 20 species are reported, 6 from New Brunswick and 15 from Nova Scotia. Six species are newly recorded in the Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) as a whole. Six species are removed from the faunal list of Nova Scotia and one from the faunal list of New Brunswick. Consequently, 282 species of Carabidae are now known from Nova Scotia, 273 species from New Brunswick, and 329 from the Maritime Provinces as a whole. A new and earlier timeline (1942) is reported for the introduced Palearctic carabid, Bembidion properans (Stephens), in North America. The status of Stenolophus carbo Bousquet in the region is reviewed and its presence in Nova Scotia is considered doubtful. The historical origins of the Maritime fauna are discussed based on studies of post-glacial Coleoptera. These indicate at least three colonization phases, some elements of which are still apparent in the contemporary fauna. Elements of the native Nova Scotia fauna not found in New Brunswick (26 species), may represent colonization from New England across post-glacial land bridges and island chains. Elements of the native fauna found in New Brunswick and not Nova Scotia (31 species), may represent species that have reached the eastward limit of their distribution for climatic or environmental reasons; or that have found the Northumberland Strait and/or the isthmus of Chignecto an obstacle to geographical dispersal; or represent widely distributed boreal species (6 species) that should be sought in Nova Scotia. Eighteen species of Nova Scotia carabids have been recorded only from Cape Breton Island, two of which are known in Atlantic Canada solely from there. Although Cape Breton is separated from the mainland by the 1.5 km wide Strait of Canso, the number of flightless, native carabids present is proportionally greater than that in Nova Scotia overall, or the Maritime Provinces as a whole. Despite differences in land mass and distance to the neighbouring mainland, the faunas of Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and insular Newfoundland, exhibit similarities in size and composition, although Newfoundland's fauna has twice the proportion of Holarctic species. Cape Breton's carabid fauna is diminished compared to the neighbouring mainland, having only 57% of the native species. This may represent an island-associated diminution, the paucity of collecting, or a combination of both, although in comparison with other groups of Coleoptera the Carabidae appear relatively well represented. Within Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick has the lowest proportion (8.8%) of introduced carabids and the highest proportion (83.2%) of native, Nearctic species. Given the potential utility of carabids as bioindicators, and the wide range of disturbance to which the environment of the Maritime Provinces has been subjected, further research on this diverse group of beetles would be desirable.

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“…Other proxy records that can help isolate the accumulation or temperature variables include temperature or moisture-sensitive biological evidence such as coleoptera (Miller and Elias, 2000), ostracods (Frogley et al, 2001) and pollen (Peyron et al, 1998). However, these records rarely provide precise estimates of palaeoclimate variables but provide only ranges of values.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of a degree-day model to reconstruct Pleistocene glacial climates

Hughes¹,

Braithwaite²

2008

Quat. res.

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There is empirical evidence of a nonlinear relation between annual precipitation, or accumulation, and summer mean temperature at the equilibrium line altitude (ELA) on glaciers around the world. The degree-day model gives a similar relation between accumulation and summer temperature, although instead of a single universal curve there is a family of curves depending upon the annual temperature range. Furthermore, the degree-day model also gives nonlinear relations between accumulation and annual mean temperature. Thus, estimations of accumulation can be made from both summer and annual temperatures at the ELA of former reconstructed glaciers, such as those in Greece. This is particularly useful since these climatic variables have major implications for biological proxies, such as vegetation history indicated in the pollen record, and for periglacial proxies, such as permafrost distributions indicated in the geomorphological record. The close relationship between glaciers and climate provides one of the most precise methods for reconstructing former climates and offers considerable potential for resolving our understanding of Pleistocene cold-stage climates.

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Late‐glacial climate in the Maritimes Region, Canada, reconstructed from mutual climatic range analysis of fossil Coleoptera

Cited by 23 publications

References 35 publications

Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Northern North America Based on Pollen, Macrofossil, and Faunal Remains*

Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Northern North America Based on Pollen, Macrofossil, and Faunal Remains*

The ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: review of collecting, new records, and observations on composition, zoogeography, and historical origins

Application of a degree-day model to reconstruct Pleistocene glacial climates

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