Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from last interglacial using phytolith analysis, southeastern North Island, New Zealand

Phytoliths extracted from loess resting conformably on lacustrine sediments in southeastern North Island, New Zealand, provide a nearly continuous veg etation-climate record spanning the time period from the last interglacial (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 5) to the present. Phytoliths reveal changes i n vegetation patterns following changes in climate. Correlation between tre e-shrub phytolith fluctuations and the SPECMAP oxygen isotope curve, betwee n Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 1 and 5, suggest that changes in the ratio o f arboreal to non-arboreal phytoliths directly result from changes in clima te. These data generally support the existing pollen and diatom record. This study confirms the usefulness of phytolith fossils for providing envir onmental and climate information from the Quaternary sedimentary record, es pecially in cases where the deposits contain no fossil pollen or diatoms. C opyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.