Reconstruction of Late-glacial and Holocene environments in southeast France based on the study of a 66-m long core from Biot, Alpes Maritimes

A pollen analytical study of a 66-m long core from the Prague valley, Plot, Alpes-Maritimes, France, suggests that thalwegs in eastern Provence may have served as refugia for mesophilous trees such as Tilia, Fagus and Abies during the last glacial period. During the Younger Dryas the vegetation was considerably less steppic in character than that described from western Provence. The varying role of taxa such as Quercus ilex-type in pollen profiles from the wider region suggests a longitudinal gradient in both climate and vegetation development in the French/Italian north-western mediterranean region during the Holocene.