Botanica Pacifica. A journal of plant science and conservation 2026. Preprint
Article first published online: 06 OCT 2026 | DOI: 10.17581/bp.2026.15215
Synchronous responses of floodplain ecosystems to Holocene climate oscillations in Western Kamchatka (Russia): A case study from the middle reaches of the Icha River
Dariya M. Nekrasova 1
,
Maria M. Pevzner 2,
Valerii E. Pimenov 1,3 
,
Elena E. Severova 1,
Olga N. Uspenskaya 4,
Timur D. Karimov 5 &
Roman I. Nechushkin 2 1 Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
2 Geological Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
3 Botanical Garden-Institute FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia
4 All-Russian Research Institute of Vegetable Production, Vereya, Russia
5 Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Multi-proxy palaeoecological reconstruction is a powerful tool for tracing past vegetation and ecosystem dynamics, yet such studies remain rare in Western Kamchatka. We investigated two Holocene sites from the Icha River valley using pollen, diatom, palaeozoological and plant macrofossil analyses, together with loss-onignition data, radiocarbon dating, and tephrochronology. Birch forests dominated the regional vegetation during the Middle and Late Holocene and were already widespread by 7800 cal yr BP. Local vegetation shifted from alder-dominated floodplain forest at 6000–5000 cal yr BP to a shallow oxbow lake bordered by tallherb meadow at 5000–4000 cal yr BP, then to a treeless fen at 4000–500 cal yr BP, and finally to a floodplain forest after 500 cal yr BP. These changes were controlled mainly by the floodplain regime, whereas climate acted indirectly through catchment hydrology. Ashfall may also have caused short-lived mire drying, although such effects were not always preserved in the palaeoecological record.
Некрасова Д.М., Певзнер М.М., Пименов В.Е., Северова Е.Э., Успенская О.Н., Каримов Т.Д., Нечушкин Р.И. Синхронный отклик пойменных экосистем на климатические колебания в голоцене на Западной Камчатке (Россия) по данным изучения болотных отложений в среднем течении реки Ичи. Метод комплексной палеоэкологической реконструкции – это современный подход к воссозданию динамики растительности и экосистем прошлого, однако для Западной Камчатки такие исследования единичны. Мы изучили два голоценовых разреза в долине р. Ича с применением пыльцевого, диатомового, палеозоологического и ботанического анализов органических отложений, определения потерь при прокаливании, радиоуглеродного датирования и тефрохронологии. Региональная растительность не претерпела значительных изменений в среднем и позднем голоцене. На территории исследования доминировали березовые леса, они были широко распространены уже около 7800 кал. л.н., тогда как локальная растительность изученного участка прошла через несколько стадий: пойменный ольховый лес на берегу реки (6000–5000 кал. л.н.), мелководное старичное озеро, окруженное высокотравным лугом (5000–4000 кал. л.н.), низинное безлесное болото (4000–500 кал. л.н.) и пойменный лес (после 500 кал. л.н.). Основным фактором изменения локальной растительности была динамика пойменного режима, тогда как климат влиял преимущественно опосредованно, через изменение гидрологии водосбора. Пеплопады также могли вызывать кратковременные осушения болота, однако их воздействие не всегда сохранялось в палеоэкологической летописи.
Keywords: vegetation reconstruction, pollen analysis, plant macrofossils, diatoms, tephra, volcanoes, Western Kamchatka, peat deposits, Holocene, реконструкция растительности, пыльцевой анализ, растительные макроостатки, диатомовые, тефра, вулканы, западная Камчатка, торфяные отложения, голоцен
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