A record of Holocene environmental and ecological changes from Wildwood Lake, Long Island, New York

Abstract

Analyses of pollen, charcoal, and organic content in a lake-sediment core from Wildwood Lake, Long Island, New York, provide insights into the ecological and environmental history of this region. The early-Holocene interval of the record (~9800-8800 cal. a BP) indicates the presence of Pinus rigida-Quercus ilicifolia woodlands with high fire activity. A layer of sandy sediment dating to 9200 cal. a BP may reflect a brief period of reduced water depth, consistent with widespread evidence for cold, dry conditions at that time. Two other sandy layers, bracketed by carbon-14 dates, represent a sedimentary hiatus from ~8800 to 4500 cal. a BP. This discontinuity may reflect the removal of some sediment during brief periods of reduced water depth at 5300 and 4600 cal. a BP. In the upper portion of the record (<4500 cal. a BP), subtle changes at ~3000 cal. a BP indicate declining prevalence of Quercus-Fagus-Carya forests and increasing abundance of Pinus rigida, perhaps due to reduced summer precipitation. Elevated percentages of herbaceous taxa in the uppermost sediments represent European agricultural activities. However, unlike charcoal records from southern New England, fire activity does not increase dramatically with European settlement. These findings indicate that present-day Pinus rigida-Quercus ilicifolia woodlands on eastern Long Island are not a legacy of recent, anthropogenic disturbances.