Early Holocene land floras and faunas from Edgeoya, 
eastern Svalbard 

OLE BENNIKE and LARS HEDENAS 

Bennike, 0. & Hedenas, L. 1995: Early Holocene land floras and faunas from E d g e ~ y a ,  eastern Svalbard. 
Polar Research 14(2), 205-214. 

Early Holocene, near-shore marine sediments from Visdalen, Edgeaya, eastern Svalbard contain locally 
abundant allochthonous remains of land plants, notably bryophytes. Wetland species indicative of mineral- 
rich and calcareous soils are frequent, but upland plants are also well represented. The fossil assemblages 
are indicative of ecological and climatic conditions similar to those on E d g e ~ y a  today. The sediments 
contain one of the first fossil beetles reported from Svalbard. Apparently, the modern flora of Svalbard 
was already established in the earliest Holocene, probably following immigration from northern Europe. 
A few Armeria scabra remains are believed to be derived from interglacial deposits. 

Ole Bennike, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Thoravej 8, DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, 
Denmark; Lars Hedenas, Department of Crvptogamic Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 
50007, $104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. 

Introduction 
Apart from exotic driftwood, pre-Holocene, 
Quaternary plant remains are rare in Svalbard 
(Ingolfsson et al. 1995); however, a number of 
Holocene lake and peat deposits have been inves- 
tigated, mostly by means of pollen analyses. Only 
a few of these go back to the Early Holocene, 
and very little is known about the immigration 
history of Svalbard flora and fauna. An exception 
is the dyarf birch Betula nana that seems to have 
immigrated to central Spitsbergen around 6000 
I4C years BP (Surova et al. 1982). Nathorst (1883) 
was of the opinion that a few hardy species poss- 
ibly survived the last glacial stage on Svalbard. 
but that by far the majority of the vascular plants 
immigrated after the last ice age via a land bridge 
joining Svalbard and Scandinavia. Other scien- 
tists, however, find support for the refugium 
hypothesis ( R ~ n n i n g  1965; Odasz 1991; Odasz et 
al. 1991). One argument is that the plants could 
not immigrate to Svalbard after the last ice age 
because no land bridge connected the archipelago 
with the European mainland. However, the fact 
that the small. isolated, volcanic island Jan 
Mayen, which has never been connected to any 
continent by a land bridge, has been populated 
by 62 species of vascular plants (Lid 1964) shows 
that long distance dispersal of plants does take 
place across oceans in the Arctic. Many studies of 
full and late-glacial phytogeography in northwest 

Europe demonstrate the mobility of plants (Birks 
1994). 

Palaeoecological studies of Early Holocene 
terrestrial/limnic sediments have been carried out 
by Hyvarinen (1968, 1970, 1972). Surova et al. 
(1982), Gottlich & Hornburg (1982), van der 
Knaap (1989), Birks (1991) and Wohlfahrt et al. 
(1995). In addition, there is a find of Polytrichum 
coinrnune Hedw. dated at 9870 * 140 years BP 
(Salvigsen & Mangerud 1991). Surova et al. 
(1982) obtained a 14C date of 10,360 * 260 years 
BP (Tln-270) on basal peat from Reindalen on 
central Spitsbergen. They presented a rather 
crude pollen diagram from the peat section with 
only few pollen and spore types from indigenous 
plants. The oldest peat date appears to come from 
Agardhdalen, western Spitsbergen, from where 
Punning et al. (1978) reported a date of 
10.570 * 360 years BP (Tln-232). Van der Knaap 
(1989) obtained a I4C date of 6710 5 80 years B P  
on basal peat from a section in Rosenbergdalen, 
northwestern Edgeoya. Both macrofossil and pol- 
len diagrams were published from the site. Only 
macrofossils of S a l k  polaris, Gramineae and five 
moss taxa were found in the section, but to this 
must be added 25 pollen and spore types. Van 
der Knaap concluded that the deposit and flora 
of the former mire indicated that the climate was 
warmer than today during peat accumulation. 
Palaeoecological studies of lake deposits from 
Svalbard are even fewer than those of peat 



206 O l e  Bennike & L a r s  Hedenas 

deposits. Hyvarinen (1968. 1970. 1972) studied 
lake sediments on northern Svalbard and B j ~ r n -  
Bya by means of pollen analysis. O n e  of the 
sequences from northern Svalbard dated back to 
ca 1Oka. but the interpretation of the pollen 
diagrams is difficult d u e  to a high content of 
long distance transported pollen. Birks (1991) 
presented a detailed macrofossil diagram from 
lake sediments from S k a r d t j ~ r n a ,  western Spits- 
bergen. The basal sediments were dated by accel- 
erator mass spectrometry ( A M S )  o n  S a l k  and 
Saxifraga remains to 8 ka. T h e r e  is no safe indi- 
cation i n  Birks' study that any plants arrived after 
this date. whereas three taxa were found that d o  
not presently grow in the area. and a mean July 
temperature about 2°C higher than today was 
inferred for the Early Holocene. Wohlfahrt et al. 
(1995) suggested that the mean July temperature 
on Bjsrnoya may have been as much as 4 5 ° C  
higher than present in the Early Holocene, based 
on beetle data. Terrestrial plant macrofossils in 
near-shore marine sediments from Adventfjor- 
den, wchtern Spitsbergen. were studied by Heer 
(1870) and A n d e r s o n  (1910). They found abun- 
dant fruit stones o f  E m p e t r u m  tiigritm that no 
Longer fruits in this a r e a .  

The aim of this paper is to describe and inter- 
pret some remains of terrestrial and limnic plants 

and animals that throw light on the history of 
Svalbard flora and fauna. T h e  remains come from 
sediment samples from Visdalen on the north- 
western part of the island of Edgeoya, eastern 
Svalbard (Fig. 1). A preliminary report on t h e  
present material that included some tentative 
moss identifications was published by Bennike 
( 1992). 

Study area 
Edgeoya covers 5 150 km2 a n d  is the largest island 
in the southeastern part of the Svalbard archi- 
pelago; extensive areas are glaciated, although 
the island is relatively low (Norderhaug 1970). 
T h e  bedrock is dominated by Triassic sandstone 
and mudstone with layers of limestones and thin 
coal seams in places, intruded by some dolerite 
sills (Lock e t  al. 1978). T h e  northwestern part of 
the island suppoits the richest vegetation and 
belongs to the Salix polaris zone of Brattbakk 
(1986). Large areas a r e  virtually barren, but the 
dwarf shrub S a l i x p o l a r i s  is common in favourable 
sites. Ninety-three species of vascular plants a r e  
known from t h e  island (Neilson 1970). From the 
flora and vegetation a mean temperature for the 
warmest month of around 2°C is suggested for the 
northwestern part of the island. 

big. 1 .  Left. Map of Sralbard. The a r r o w  shows the location of Visdalen on Edgeoya. Right: Map of Visdalen ahowing thc location 
of the studied aampleb Contour interval 20 rn; contours only showed in Visdalen. For detailed description of the sites. see Moller 
er al. ( 1 9 Y 5 )  



Early Holocene land floras and faunas from EdgeGya, eastern Soalbard 207 

Material and methods 
Seven samples were collected during the PONAM 
1991 expedition to eastern Svalbard. For 
descriptions and interpretations of the sampled 
sediments, see Moller et al. (1992, 1995). The 
sediment samples consisted of fine sand and silt 
with allochthonous plant and animal remains, 
some of which were well preserved, indicating 
short transport. The samples were wet-sieved 
through 0.42 and 0.21 mm sieves, and the residue 
left on the sieves was sorted under a dissecting 
microscope. 

Most of the bryophyte remains were well pre- 
served, which made it possible to identify a large 
proportion of the material to a taxonomic level 
where a partial reconstruction of the paleo- 
environment becomes possible. The bryophyte 
material is deposited in the Department of Cryp- 
togamic Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural His- 
tory (No. 520644-620650). The other material is 
housed in the Geological Museum, Copenhagen. 
The bryophyte nomenclature follows Corley et 
al. (1981), with additions in Corley & Crundwell 
(1991) except for Brachytheciurn coruscum I .  
Wag. ( B .  g r o e n l a n d i c q ) ,  Polytrichastrum alp- 
inum (Hedw.) G .  L .  Sm. (Polytrichum alpinum). 
P .  sexangulare (Brid.) G. L. Sm. (Popytrichum 
sexangulare), Pseudocalliergon angustifoliurn 
Hedenas (Hedenas 1992b), P .  trifarium (Web. & 
Mohr) Loeske (Calliergon trifarium), P .  tur- 
gescens (T. Jens.) Loeske (Scorpidium turges- 
c e n s ) ,  Scorpidium cossoni (Schimp.) Hedenas 
(Drepanocladus cossoni) . Straminergon stram- 
ineum (Brid.) Hedenas (Cal[iergon slramineum) 
and Warnstofia sarmentosa (Wahlenb.) Hedenas) 
(Calliergon sarmentosum). Tracheophyte 
nomenclature follows Ronning (1979). 

Identification 
Seeds of Melandrium apetalum were identified 
from their wing which is broader than that of the 
related species M .  angustiflorurn, but the seeds 
only measured about 1.2 mm across. It is impos- 
sible to make species identification of Armeria 
maritima s.1. calyces (Godwin 1975). but from 
phytogeographical considerations the taxon 
represented must be one of the northern taxa 
that include Armeria arctica Wallr., A .  maritima 
(Mill.) Willd. subsp. arctica (Cham.) Hult., A .  
scabra Pall.. A .  labradorica Wallr. and A .  sibirica 

Turcz. We use the name A .  scabra which is the 
one currently in use in Greenlandic botany 
(Bocher et al. 1978). It is possible that some of 
the seeds referred to Draba sp. represent other 
Brassicaceae genera. All S a l k  remains (leaves, 
bud scales, fruit capsules, bark and wood) are 
referred t o  Salix polaris, t o  which the diagnostic 
leaves belonged, and which is the only willow 
species presently growing on Edgeoya. Tar- 
axacum achenes were similar to Taraxacum bra- 
chyceras achenes which have smaller spines than 
T .  arcticum (Trautv.) Dahlst. achenes, the only 
other Taraxacum species on E d g e ~ y a  today; but 
if the achenes are interglacial in age the species 
identification becomes uncertain. 

Lepidurus was represented only by apodous 
segments. For climatic reasons the remains are 
referred to Lepidurus arcticus. Olophrum was 
represented by one elytron and possibly a tergite. 
The elytron can not be identified at the species 
level, but since 0. boreale is the only species 
recorded from Svalbard at present (Fjellberg 
1983), the fossil elytron has been referred to this 
species (J. Bocher, pers. comm. 1992). 

Results and discussion 
Non - bryophytes 
Identified land and freshwater plants and animals 
are listed in Tables 1 and 2 and some remains 
are illustrated in Fig. 2. The samples were small 
(Table l ) ,  but nevertheless some of the assem- 
blages are diverse. Samples 87711. 87728 and 
86251 contained marine fossils, showing that these 
assemblages were deposited in shallow water mar- 
ine environments, probably near the mouth of a 
river. The marine fossils comprise the following 
animal groups: foraminifera, hydroids, serpulids. 
ostracodes, barnacles, malacostracans, molluscs, 
echinoids, bryozoans and fishes and the brown 
algae Sphacelaria sp. and Laminaria sp. I n  this 
context it should also be noted that the oribatid 
mite Ameronothrus lineatus, which occurred in 
similar samples not included in Table 1, lives at 
or near the sea shore (Hammer 1944). The other 
assemblages derive from lagoon sediments 
(88203) and glacio-lacustrine sediments (88651, 
88655 and 86266) (Moller et al. 1995). 

The radiocarbon dates range from 12.5 ka to 
8.5 ka (Table 3). The 12.5 ka date on sample 
87711 does not date the time of sedimentation 



208 Ole Bennike & Lars Hedenas 

Tablr I Macrofossils (except brlophytes) from Edgeoya. Svalbard 

Sample No. 87711 87728 88203 8625 I 86266 8865 I 88655 
C-14 age ( k a ] '  
Localit! 
Sample rire (liter) 

PLANTS: 
Cenococcuni geoplirlum Fries 
?Pyrenomycetidar 
Equrrerurn sp 
R a n u n ~ i i l i ~ ~  sulphiirruJ Sol. 
Ranunculus sp 
Papauer dalilrancitn Nordh 
Melandrrum aprrnluni Fenzl 
Crrusrrunr arcricurn/aIpiniitn 
Minrinrrru rubella ( W b g . )  Hiern 
Silene ucuulr ( L . )  Jacq 
O x v r r u  d i p r i a  ( L  ) Hill 
P o l ~ g o n i m  iriviparuni L 
Arrnerra ,i.ahra Pall. 
Draba sp 
Salrx polarrs Wg 
Porenrillu \p 
Saxrfrugo opporrrrfolru L 
Dryas ocruperaln L 
Turnxaciim h r a c h y c e r a  Dahlrt 
J u n c i f i  sp 

Care.< \pp. 
ANIMALS. 
Lrpiduric\ urcricu$ Pallas 
Daphnra p d e r  dc Gcer t!pe 

Oluphnrrn horrale (Pa! kull) 
91chneumonidae 
Chironoinidae 
?Lepidoptera 
Errgone 5p 
Orihalida 

Lu;rrlu 5p 

Candona \p. 

12 5 >9 8 10 u 9 9  
1806 1715 1804 181 1 
n s  0.35 0.1 0 7  

8.6 8.7 8.5 
1810 2103 2103 
1.0 0.2 1.1 

+ + 
+ + 
+ + 
- 1 

- 

+ + +  
1 3 
+ + +  
+ + +  
+ + 
+ +  + i t  
- + 
- - 

+ + 
+ + 
+ + 
+ +  + +  
- - 
- - 
- + 
+ + 
+ + 

- 

+! A + i - +  R r l a t n e  frequent) 1-5 Absolute nurnberc 'The radiocarbon dates are presented in Table 3 

since the sample is underlain by in situ shells 
dated at 9 . 4 k a  (the sea water corrected age is 
9.Oka) (Moller et al. 1995). T h e  dated sample 
must therefore consist of older plus younger 
material. Sample 87728 lies just under in situ 
shells dated t o  9.7 ka (Table 3 ) .  T h e  samples 
with plant remains contained numerous small coal 
particles. and also a few pre-Quaternary trilete 
megaspores which could not b e  identified due to 
their simple morphology, but which are probably 
of Mesozoic age ( S .  B .  M a n u m ,  pers. comm. 
1991). It is possible that previously published peat 
and gyttja dates based o n  bulk samples from t h e  
region are t o o  old d u e  to contamination by coal 
particles. but o n  the other hand bulk peat samples 

may also be t o o  young d u e  to contamination by 
intruding roots. 

T h e  assemblages are indicative of high arctic 
biotas similar t o  those on Edgeoya today. All 
vascular plants listed grow on Edgecbya today, 
except o n e ,  namely Armeria scabru. which does 
not occur o n  Svalbard a t  present. From its modern 
geographical range (Fig. 3), there seems to be n o  
climatic reason for this since t h e  plant grows in 
North Greenland and northernmost Canada 
where the climate is similar to that of Svalbard. 
Because t h e  radiocarbon date shows that the 
sample from the same location from which the 
Arnicria remains come includes some old plant 
material, it is possible that the Arrneria remains 



Early Holocene land floras and faunas f r o m  E d g e l y a ,  eastern Soalbard 209 

Table 2. Bryophytes from Edgetiya. S = shoot; €3 = branch; L = leaf. 

Sample No. 87711 87728 88203 86251 86266 88651 88655 

Amblystegium subg. 

Aulacomnium palustre 
A .  turgidum 
Brachytheciurn coruscum 
B .  turgidum 
Bryoeryrhrophyllum recuroirostrum 
Bryum cf. pseudotriquerrrtnr 
Bryum sp. 
Calliergon cf. richardsonii 
C. giganreurnlrichardson;; 
C. richarhonii 
Campylium polygamum 
Campylium sp 
Cerarodon purpureus 
Dichodontium pellucidum 
Distichium sp. 
Dirrichuni Pexicaule 
Drepanocladus s.str. s p .  
Encalypta alpinn 
E. proceralsrreptocarpa 
Encalypta sp. 
Isopterygiopsis pulchella 
Lophoria s.1. sp. 
Oncophorus wahlenbergii 
cf. Orthothecium sp, 
Paludella squarrosa 
Philonotis fontanalromentella 
Philonoris s p .  
Pogonarum dentaturn 
P. urnigerum 
Pohlia wahlenbergii 
Pohlia sp. 
Polytrichastrum alpinum 
P. sexangulare 
Polytrichum juniperinumlstricrum 
Polytricum sp. 
PolytrichumlPolyrrichastrum sp. 
Polytrichaceae s p  
Pseudocalliergon atigusrifolium 
P. turgescens 
Racomitrium canescenrlpanschii 
Racomitrium sp. 
Sanionia nioalis 
S. uncinara 
Scorpidium cossoni 
S. scorpioides 
Sphagnum squarrosumlreres 
Timmia austriaca 
T. noruegica 
Timmia sp. 
Tomenrypnunr nilens 
Warnstorfia sarmenrosa 
W .  tundrae 
Indet. 
Indet. Amblystegiaceae 
Indet. acrocarp 
lndet. pleurocarp 

Hygroamblystegium s p .  

*Of these, 18 and 5 shoots, respectwely, were found in coherent tufts 
'"Of these, 5 shoots were found in one coherent tuft. 
* * T a l y p t r a e .  



210 Ole Bennike & Lars Hedenas 

Tuhle 3 A M S  radiocarbon dates. For details of sediments and stratigraphv. see Moller e l  al. (1992. 1995). 

Loc. Sample Altitude 
N o  No m a s l .  Lab No Age yrs BPI Dated material 

12470 ? 250 Plant remains 1806 8771 1 19.8 AAR-846 
1806 X77122 19.6 AAR-839 8960 ? 140 Mya truncata 
1715 87721' 32.6 AAR-842 9710 ? 160 Mva truncatu 
1x01 w o 3  51.0 AAR-847 9965 ? 190 Plant remains 
1811 86251 67.0 AAR-843 9475 ? 220 Plant remains4 
2 103 8865 1 50.8 AAR-834 8690 -t_ 250 Plant remains 
1610 86266 52.0 AAR-844 8640 ? 170 Plant remains 
2103 88655 47.1 AAR-833 8530 -t 190 Plant remains 

'The dates have been corrected for isotopic fractionation by normalising to b"C = -25% P D B .  Samples 87712,87721, and 86251 
have becn corrected f o r  a marine reservoir age by subtracting 440 vears (Mangerud & Gulliksen 1975). 
'Sample X7712 lies just below 87711 
'Sample X7721 lies just above 87718. 
'Remains of marine plants. 

are derived from interglacial sediments, in spite 
of the fact that they are well preserved. Armeria 
calyces are known from Last Interglacial deposits 
i n  central eastern Greenland (Bocher & Bennike 
1991) and in northwestern Greenland (Bennike 
& Bocher 1992): in addition, there is an undated 
northern extralimital occurrence from the eastern 
part of northern Greenland (Bennike unpubl.). 
The Turaxacum achenes are another possible 
interglacial candidate since none of the other 
samples contained this taxon: but as the plant 
grows on E d g e ~ y a  today. the achenes may also 
be Holocene. 

The rove beetle Olophritm boreale has been 
collected at Woodfjorden, northern Spitsbergen 
and on Bjsrnoya (Fjellberg 1983) and may well 
be a member of the extant fauna of E d g e ~ y a .  
It has also been recorded from Holocene lake 
sediments on B j s r n ~ y a  (Wohlfahrt et al. 1995). 
Olophrum boreale is a widely distributed northern 
Holarctic species although it has not been found 
in Greenland (Campbell 1983: Bocher 1988). 

No limnic plants were found. but a few remains 
of the limnic animals Lepidurus, Daphnia and 
Candonu indicate that ponds w i t h  mesotrophic 
waters existed in the area. 

Brvophytes 

Many of the bryophytes (Table 2 )  indicate cal- 
cium- or mineral-rich conditions. This is what 
would be expected in a penglacial environment 
or in an area where the ice has recently retreated 
(cf. Miller 1987), but the bedrock of the area 
probably also favours calciphiles. 

Wetland species are often common in fossil 
bryophyte assemblages (e.g., Janssens 1983; 
Dickson 1973. 1986; Hedenas 1992a; 1995) and in 
the present samples Pseudocalliergon turgescens, 
Scorpidium cossoni and Tomentypnum nitens, all 
occurring in mineral-rich t o  calcareous wetland 
habitats today, were frequent. Other species of 
more or less mineral-rich to calcareous wetlands 
include Brachythecium turgidum, Calliergon spp., 
Campylium polygarnurn, Campylium s p . ,  Scor- 
pidium scorpioides. Warnsto@a tundrae and 
Pseudcalliergon angustifolium. The last species 
was recently described (Hedenas 1992b) and is 
known from only one extant Svalbard locality, on 
B j o r n ~ y a  (Frisvoll & Hedenas unpubl.). In the 
Scandinavian mountain range i t  occurs mainly in 
moderate late snow beds in calcareous areas, but 
it occurs also in calcareous fens in the northern 
boreal zone in Finland. This species is otherwise 
known from Iceland, northern North America 
and the Chukotskiy Polustrov in easternmost Rus- 
sia (Hedenas unpubl.). Aulacomnium turgidum 
and A .  palustre are also found in wetlands or 
on wet heaths, but these species are also found 
in intermediate ( A .  turgidurn) or mineral-poor 
habitats ( A .  palustre). Spring-influence or moving 
water is indicated by Paludella squarrosa, Phi- 
lonotis sp.. Pohlia wahlenbergii and Warnstorfia 
sarmentosa. All these taxa are found in inter- 
mediate to rather mineral-poor places. Finally. 
some of the taxa found indicate probable nutrient 
enrichment (N- and P- compounds), namely Cal- 
liergon s. str. spp. (i.e., excluding Pseudo- 
calliergon trifarium, Warnstorfia sarmentosa, 
Straminergon stramineum), Campylium polyga- 



Early Holocene land floras and faunas f r o m  Edgelya, eastern Svalbard 21 1 

Fig. 2 .  SEM photographs of selected vascular plant macrofossils from Edgeoya. A-B. Armeria scabra calyces. C-D. Taraxacum 
brachycerar achenes. E .  Melandrium apetalum seed. F .  Ranunculus sulphurem achene. The figured specimens (MGUH 21272- 
21677) are deposited in the type collection of the Geological Museum, Copenhagen. Scale bars = 1 m m .  

m u m ,  Drepanocladus s .  str. sp., Sphagnum 
squarrosumlteres and Warnstoijia tundrae (based 
on Kooijman 1993, van Wirdum 1991, Hedenas 
& Kooijman unpubl. data, and own (Hedenas) 
extensive field-work in Northern Europe). 

Many of the terrestrial taxa are found today in 
more or less open (i.e., with sparse cover of 
vascular plants) and unstable environments. 
Examples include Cerutodon purpureus, Pogon- 
atum dentatum, P .  urnigerum, Polytrichastrum 
alpinum, P .  sexangulare (often in late snow beds) 
and Racomitrium canescenslpanschii. These taxa 

are either indifferent as regards the mineral 
content, or occur in relatively mineral-poor habi- 
tats, whereas Dichodontium pellucidurn and Tim- 
mia norvegica indicate somewhat richer and 
wetter environments. Brachythecium coruscum, 
Bryoerythrophyllum recuruirostrum, Distichium 
sp., Ditrichum pexicaule, Encalypta spp., Isop- 
terygiopsispulchella and Timmia austriaca all indi- 
cate mineral-rich habitats and can be found both 
on somewhat disturbed soil (often in crevices or 
when the soil surface is uneven) and in rock 
crevices in both dry and wetter situations. 



212 Ole Bennike & Lars Hedeniis 

ha 3. (‘ircumpolar map showing the modern geographical 
range of northern Armerra taxa (Armerra arcfica. A .  scabra. A .  
lubradoricu. A .  sibiricu. A .  maririma). based on HiltCn & Fries 
(1986) The arrow indicates the fossil locality. 

Saninnia uncinata occurs in a wide range of 
habitats in northern and arctic areas. On the other 
hand, S. niualis is a species of extreme late snow- 
bed habitats or it may also grow along meltwater 
brooks from large late snow beds and glaciers. In 
Europe. this species is at present known from 
northern mountainous areas, where i t  is found 
mainly in the middle and high alpine regions and 
in the Arctic, including Svalbard (Hedenas 1989). 
I t  is now aiso known from three northern North 
American and Greenland localities (Hedenas 
unpubl.). but since the species was described 
rather recently (Hedenas 1989). andsince it seems 
to be common i n  its northern European dis- 
tribution area. one would suspect that i t  is widely 
distributed in the Arctic. 

The find of Rmblysregiitrn subg. Hygroarn- 
hlwtegiitnz is interesting. The shoot resembles 
Atnblystegium fliwiatile. a species that is not very 
likely to be found in arctic areas. However. since 
the material does not permit identification to the 
species level. inferences regarding the habitat 
should not be made from this find. This shoot 
rnav derive from interglacial deposits. 

Taken together. the bryophytes found indicate 
mineral-rich environments, with a well-developed 
wetland flora. The wetlands were probably sur- 
rounded by somewhat unstable dry ground. where 

large areas had a rather sparse cover of vascular 
plants. The upland plants may also (partly) reflect 
the environmental conditions some distance away 
from the wetlands. Possible means of transport 
include flowing water and wind. The assemblage 
is similar t o  what can be found in Svalbard (Kuc 
1963; Philippi 1973; Elvebakk 1982) or at high 
altitudes on mineral-rich Scandinavian mountains 
today, and indicates that the climate was probably 
similar to that in these environments today. 

Conclusions 
Many of the plant and animal taxa reported are 
new to the fossil flora and fauna of Svalbard, but 
this mostly reflects the few studies of Quaternary 
macroscopical terrestrial plant and animal 
remains that have been carried out. In addition, 
nearly all records are the oldest known from 
Svalbard. 

One of the results of this study is the possibility 
of finding interglacial plant remains on north- 
western Edgeaya, certainly not the most prom- 
ising area of Svalbard to search for such remains 
considering that pre-Holocene Quaternary 
deposits are almost unknown from this island 
(Landvik et al. 1995). The data also show that the 
present flora, and the range of habitats and plant 
communities of Svalbard, were already well estab- 
lished in the earliest Holocene. We are inclined 
to follow Nathorst’s view that only few vascular 
plants survived the Weichselian glacial maximum 
on Svalbard because most lowland areas were 
glaciated (Mangerud et al. 1992) and because the 
climate was colder than at present. If this is the 
case. the major part of the flora must have immi- 
grated in the latest part of the Weichselian. Many 
radiocarbon dates between 13 and 10ka from 
western Spitsbergen show that some areas were 
deglaciated by then (Mangrud et al. 1992). 
Deglaciation of lowland areas on Edgeoya began 
about 10.3 ka BP (Landvik et al. 1995). It should 
also be pointed out that virtually no clear endemic 
species occur on Svalbard. a fact which also tes- 
tifies to the young age of the flora. 

Acknowledgements.  we thank C .  Kronborg and 0. Stubdrup. 
University of Aarhus and P .  Moller, Univcrsity of Lund. who 
made the samples available for the analyses. J .  Bocher, Zoologi- 
cal Museum, Denmark, kindly identified insect and spider 
remains. and provided information o n  Ohphrum. J .  Landvik 
and two anonymous referees provided constructive criticism o f  
the manuscript 



Early Holocene land floras and faunas f r o m  E d g e ~ y a ,  eastern Svalbard 213 

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