The ecotone between the boreo-nemoral (hemiboreal) and the southern boreal vegetation zones constitutes the northern distributional limit of a number of thermophilous tree species in northern Europe and is, to a large extent, controlled by climatic conditions. We present a quantitative annual mean temperature reconstruction from a high-resolution pollen stratigraphy in southern boreal Finland, using a pollen-climate calibration model with a cross-validated prediction error of 0.9degreesC. Our model reconstructs low but steadily rising annual mean temperature from 10,700 to 9000 cal yr BP. At 8000-4500 cal yr BP reconstructed annual mean temperature reaches a period of highest values (Holocene thermal maximum) with particularly high temperatures (2.0-1.5degreesC higher than at present) at 8000-5800 cal yr BP. From 4500 cal yr BP to the present-day, reconstructed annual mean temperature gradually decreases by ca 1.5degreesC. Comparison of present results with palaeotemperature records from the Greenland ice cores, notably with the NorthGRIP delta(18)O record, shows marked similarities, suggesting parallel large-scale Holocene temperature trends between the North Atlantic and North European regions. The verification of the occurrence, timing, and nature of the short-term temperature fluctuations during the Holocene in the southern boreal zone in Europe requires replicate, high-resolution climate reconstructions from the region. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
