Larix during the Mid‐Pleniglacial (Greenland Interstadial 8) on Kotelny Island, northern Siberia

Needles, wood and pollen of Larix, recorded in a peat deposit from Kotelny Island, northern Siberia, indicate the local occurrence of larch around 38 000 cal. a BP, which is during the Middle Pleniglacial (Greenland Interstadial 8) of the Weichselian last glacial period. The pollen record, dominated by Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Betula, Alnus, Salix and Artemisia, indicates steppe‐tundra conditions with some shrubs and trees. The distribution of Larix species plays an important role in the reconstruction of climatic conditions during the Weichselian in Siberia. Nowadays Larix does not occur on Kotelny Island and in the present situation the temperature may not be the limiting factor for Larix, but instead the long, snowy winters and the moist tundra vegetation. Our data may contribute to a better understanding of Larix refugia and Weichselian climatic conditions in northern Siberia.