Plant macrofossil records: Greenland

At the beginning of the Quaternary, forest-tundra existed in northern Greenland. During the last interglacial, tree birch and other warmth demanding plants grew in central East Greenland. In contrast, only very cold adapted plants could survive the last glacial temperature minimum dated to ca. 22 kyr BP. Most of the plants growing in Greenland at the present are believed to be Lateglacial or Holocene immigrants, arriving from northwest Europe, Canada, or Siberia. Pioneer vegetation characterized the Lateglacial and early Holocene. Rich dwarf shrub heaths followed this. After around 6 kyr BP stepwise cooling led to recession of vegetation.