BRYOPHYTES FROM THE LAST INTERGLACIAL GLACIAL CYCLE, JAMESON LAND, EAST GREENLAND

Subfossil bryophyte remains from Jameson Land, central East Greenland reveal diverse moss floras from the Langelandselv interglacial and the Hugin So interstadial. Around 30 species are reported as new subfossils from Greenland, indicating our insufficient knowledge of earlier bryophyte floras in the area. Among the species found from the Langelandselv interglacial, several are southern and do not reach as far north as Jameson Land today, thus indicating a slightly warmer climate than at present in the area. The climate indications for the Hugin So interstadial are less clear, and further studies are necessary before definitive conclusions can be drawn. A large proportion of the found taxa indicate mineral-rich or intermediately mineral-rich conditions. Several wetland species indicate moving water, and a few sometimes or exclusively (Sanionia nivalis) occur in connection with late snow beds or meltwater brooks. Abundant material of the Polytrichaceae and of Racomitrium indicates that more or less unstable soil, with sparse vascular plant cover, was relatively abundant.