The present distribution of Siberian boreal forests that are dominated by larches is influenced, to an unknown extent, by the glacial history. Knowing the past treeline response to climate shifts can improve our understanding of future treeline dynamics under changing climate. Here, we study patterns in the genetic variability of Siberian larches (Larix spp.) that can help us to unravel biogeographic migration routes since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We sampled 148 larch individuals from Eastern Siberia. For each individual, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were derived through genotyping by sequencing (GBS). We inferred the spatial distribution from 14,003 SNPs with a cluster analysis. To infer the postglacial demographic history of Larix, we applied an Approximate Bayesian Computation. The Bayesian population assignment statistically supported three to four clusters from Western to Eastern Siberia that correspond well to the geographic ranges of the main Siberian larch species Larix sibirica, L. gmelinii, and L. cajanderi. Using four plausible clusters, the tested hypotheses in DIYABC show that the existing populations seem to have been initiated long before the LGM. We presume that the different populations originate from larch populations that survived the glacial periods. From our genetic studies, we deduce that Larix was more likely to have survived the cold LGM in northern refugia, from where a fast colonization of Siberia was possible, rather than Larix completely repopulating Siberia in the postglacial spreading out from southern areas with less harsh climatic conditions. The northernmost expansion during the Holocene seems to have benefitted from refugial populations ahead of the treeline at that time, which explains the existence of Larix in the far north. We expect from our results that the present migration will be slow at first as there are currently no refugial populations far north, as there probably were in the Holocene.

Deciduous larch is a weak competitor when growing in mixed stands with evergreen taxa but is dominant in many boreal forest areas of Eastern Siberia. However, it is hypothesized that certain factors such as a shallow active layer thickness and high fire frequency favor larch dominance. Our aim is to understand how thermohydrological interactions between vegetation, permafrost, and atmosphere stabilize the larch forests and the underlying permafrost in Eastern Siberia. A tailored version of a one-dimensional land surface model (CryoGrid) is adapted for the application in vegetated areas and used to reproduce the energy transfer and thermal regime of permafrost ground in typical boreal larch stands. In order to simulate the responds of Arctic trees to local climate and permafrost conditions we have implemented a multilayer canopy parameterization originally developed for the Community Land Model (CLM-ml_v0). The coupled model is capable of calculating the full energy balance above, within and below the canopy including the radiation budget, the turbulent fluxes and the heat budget of the permafrost ground under several forcing scenarios. We will present first results of simulations performed for different study sites in larch-dominated forests of Eastern Siberia and Mongolia under current and future climate conditions. Model performance is thoroughly evaluated based on comprehensive in-situ soil temperature and radiation measurements at our study sites.

We traced diatom composition and diversity through time using diatom derived sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) from eastern continental slope sediments off Kamchatka (North Pacific) by applying a short, diatom-specific marker on 63 samples in a DNA metabarcoding approach. The sequences were assigned to diatoms that are common in the area and characteristic of cold water. SedaDNA allowed us to observe shifts of potential lineages from species of the genus Chaetoceros that can be related to different climatic phases, suggesting that pre-adapted ecotypes might have played a role in the long-term success of species in areas of changing environmental conditions. These sedaDNA results complement our understanding of the long-term history of diatom assemblages and their general relationship to environmental conditions of the past. Sea-ice diatoms (Pauliella taeniata (Grunow) Round & Basson, Attheya septentrionalis (Østrup) R.M.Crawford and Nitzschia frigida (Grunow)) detected during the late glacial and Younger Dryas are in agreement with previous sea-ice reconstructions. A positive correlation between pennate diatom richness and the sea-ice proxy IP25 suggests that sea ice fosters pennate diatom richness, whereas a negative correlation with June insolation and temperature points to unfavorable conditions during the Holocene. A sharp increase in proportions of freshwater diatoms at ~11.1 cal kyr BP implies the influence of terrestrial runoff and coincides with the loss of 42% of diatom sequence variants. We assume that reduced salinity at this time stabilized vertical stratification which limited the replenishment of nutrients in the euphotic zone.

Siberian larch (Larix Mill.) forests dominate vast areas of northern Russia and contribute important ecosystem services to the world. It is important to understand the past dynamics of larches, in order to predict their likely response to a changing climate in the future. Sedimentary ancient DNA extracted from lake sediment cores can serve as archives to study past vegetation. However, the traditional method of studying sedimentary ancient DNA – metabarcoding – focuses on small fragments which cannot resolve Larix to species level nor allow the detailed study of population dynamics. Here we use shotgun sequencing and hybridization capture with long-range PCR-generated baits covering the complete Larix chloroplast genome to study Larix populations from a sediment core reaching back up to 6700 years in age from the Taymyr region in northern Siberia. In comparison to shotgun sequencing, hybridization capture results in an increase of taxonomically classified reads by several orders of magnitude and the recovery of near-complete chloroplast genomes of Larix. Variation in the chloroplast reads corroborate an invasion of Larix gmelinii into the range of Larix sibirica before 6700 years ago. Since then, both species have been present at the site, although larch populations have decreased with only a few trees remaining in what was once a forested area. This study demonstrates for the first time that hybridization capture applied to ancient DNA from lake sediments can provide genome-scale information and is a viable tool for studying past changes of a specific taxon.