Late Pleistocene–Holocene pollen, macrofossils, and diatoms from eastern New York state’s (USA) Rensselaer Plateau reveal multiple temperature and hydrological shifts

Abstract Sediment cores from Dyken and Shaver ponds on the Rensselaer Plateau, eastern New York state, USA, were analyzed for sediment chemistry, pollen, plant macrofossils, and diatoms to reconstruct the ecological and climate history since Laurentide ice sheet retreat of this previously unstudied region. Forests were established by 13,040 cal yr BP, and pollen records follow the well-documented northeastern U.S. sequence: Allerød interstade (mixed boreal and thermophilous taxa, including Tsuga ), Younger Dryas stadial cooling (rise of Alnus, Betula , and Picea ), Early Holocene warmth and dryness ( Pinus dominance), increased moisture and Tsuga rise, Mid-Holocene Tsuga decline followed by Late Holocene recovery, neoglacial cooling in the past two millennia ( Picea rise), and European settlement ( Ambrosia rise). Superimposed on these longer-term trends are centennial- to sub-millennial-scale climate variations marked by shifts in vegetation and changes in diatom species abundance. The combined datasets indicate that Mid-Holocene Tsuga decline coincided with several severe droughts as well as climatic cooling events between ca. 6100 and ca. 3700 cal kyr BP.