Late Pleistocene Vegetation and Climate in Taiwan (Formosa)

Pollen analysis can help to establish past climatic changes, but data from the Asiatic subtropics have not been available.During 5 months of field work in 1964.led in Taiwan by K. C. Chang,I six lacustrine cores from Taiwan and five from Japan were collected.This paper traces the vegetational and climatic history of one lake core from almost the beginning of the last glacial age in Taiwan.Present Vegetation.-Six major forest types cover the wide range of altitude in Taiwan today.2'I Four of these, directly related to the present palynological study, are briefly described here.The subtropical rain forest (confined to the inaccessible lowlands below ca. 500m in altitude) consists mainly of Liquidambar formosana, Trema orientalis, Mallotus paniculatus, M. philippensis, M. japonicus, Diospyros spp., Celtis formosana, Styrax suberifolia, Moraceae, and various bamboo species.The warm-temperate forest (ca. 500-1,800m), as characterized