Early Holocene insect and plant remains from Jameson Land, East Greenland

Fluvial and deltaic sediments from Jameson Land in East Greenland contain the first record of the leaf beetle Phratora cf. polaris, not presently found in Greenland; the ground beetle Bembidion grapti, north of this species' present northern range limit; and the true bug Nysius groenlandicus. In addition, there is a rather diverse flora. All of these records are in sediments of Early Holocene age. We suggest that most of these animals and plants immigrated to East Greenland in the Early Holocene by long-distance chance dispersal, mostly from northwest Europe. The environment was physiognomically similar to that of today, but Salix arctica and Cassiope tetragona that are important dwarf shrubs today had not yet immigrated.