Abstract
The main causes and degree of inaccuracy of air temperature reconstruction by the MCR method are discussed. This inaccuracy appears to result from several reasons: insufficient knowledge of geographic ranges of species, the use of calibration equations calculated for a different region, and the absence of generally accepted criteria for the selection of species to be used in MCR analysis, in relation to their distribution and ecological specificity. The maximum deviation of the reconstructed July temperature from the actual one was 2–4°C, which was 2–3 times the accepted MCR standard error. The requirements for selection of fossil species in order to improve the reconstruction accuracy are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alfimov, A.V., Berman, D.I., and Sher, A.V., “Tundra-Steppe Insect Assemblages and Late Pleistocene Climatic Reconstructions of the Lower Kolyma Region,” Zool. Zh. 82(2), 281–300 (2003).
Andersen, R.S., “Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea, Excluding Scolytinae and Platypodinae) of the Yukon,” in Weevils of the Yukon (Biological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, 1997), pp. 523–562.
Atkinson, T.C., Briffa, K.R., and Coope, G.R., “Seasonal Temperatures in Britain during the Past 22.000 Years, Reconstructed Using Beetle Remains,” Nature 325, 587–592 (1987).
Berman, D.I., “Invertebrates,” in Cold Steppes of the North-East of Asia (Magadan, 2001), pp. 95–163 [in Russian].
Berman, D.I., Alfimov, A.V., Zhigul’skaya, Z.A., and Leirikh, A.N., Wintering and Cold Hardiness of Ants in the North-East of Asia (KMK Press, Moscow, 2007) [in Russian].
Bey-Bienko, G.Ya., “The Principle of Biotope Changes and the Problem of Initial Species Divergence,” Zh. Obshch. Biol. 20(5), 351–359 (1959).
Braslavskii, A.P. and Vikulina, Z.A., Standards of Evaporation from the Surface of Water Reservoirs (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1954) [in Russian].
Chernov, Yu.I., Natural Zonation and Fauna of Land (Mysl, Moscow, 1975) [in Russian].
Chernov, Yu.I., “Thermal Conditions and Biota of the Arctic,” Ekologiya, No. 2, 49–57 (1989).
Chernov, Yu.I., Makarov, K.V., and Eremin, P.K., “Family of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the Arctic Fauna: Communication 1,” Zool. Zh. 79(12), 1409–1420 (2000) [Entomol. Review 80 (8), 1009–1021 (2000)].
Chernov, Yu.I. and Penev, L.D., “Biological Diversity and Climate,” Uspekhi Sovrem. Biol. 113(5), 515–531 (1993).
Climate of Foreign Asia. A Reference Book. Part 1 (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1974) [in Russian].
Climate of North America. A Reference Book (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1985) [in Russian].
Climate of the USSR. A Reference Book. Parts I-IV, Issues 1, 17, 18, 20, 20–27, 33 (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1966–1969) [in Russian].
Coope, G.R., “Mid-Weishelian Climatic Changes in Western Europe, Reinterpreted from Coleopteran Assemblages,” in Quaternary Studies. The Royal Society of New Zealand (Wellington, 1975), pp. 101–108.
Coope, G.R., “Fossil Coleopteran Assemblages as Sensitive Indicators of Climatic Changes during the Devensian (Last) Cold Stage,” Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London. Ser. B 280, 313–340 (1977).
Coope, G.R. and Bocher, J., “Coleoptera from the Late Weichselian Deposits at Norree Lingby (Denmark) and Their Bearing on Palaeoecology, Biogeography and Palaeoclimate,” Boreas 29, 26–34 (2000).
Edinger, J.E., Duttweiler, D.W., and Geyer, J.C., “The Response of Water Temperatures to Meteorological Conditions,” Water Res. 4(5), 1137–1143 (1968).
Elias, S.A., “Late Pleistocene and Holocene Seasonal Temperatures Reconstructed from Fossil Beetle Assemblages in Rocky Mountains,” Quaternary Res. 16, 311–318 (1996).
Elias, S.A., “The Mutual Climatic Range Method of Palaeoclimate Reconstruction Based on Insect Fossils: New Applications and Interhemispheric Comparisons,” Quaternary Sci. Rev. 16, 1217–1225 (1997).
Elias, S.A., “Late Pleistocene Climates of Beringia, Based on Analysis of Fossil Beetles,” Quaternary Res. 53, 229–235 (2000a).
Elias, S.A., “Late Pleistocene Climatic Tolerances and Zoogeography of the Late Pleistocene Beetle Fauna of Beringia,” Geographie Physique Quaternaire 54(2), 143–155 (2000b).
Elias, S.A., “Mutual Climatic Range Reconstruction of Seasonal Temperatures Based on Late Pleistocene Fossil Beetles Assemblages in Eastern Beringia,” Quaternary Sci. Rev. 20, 77–91 (2001).
Elias, S.A., “Arctic North American Seasonal Temperatures from the Latest Miocene to the Early Pleistocene, Based on Mutual Climatic Range Analysis of Fossil Beetle Assemblages,” Can. J. Earth Sci. 39, 911–920 (2002).
Elias, S.A., Anderson, K.H., and Andrews, J.T., “Late Wisconsin Climate in the Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada, Reconstructed from Fossil Beetle Assemblages,” J. Quaternary Sci. 11, 417–421 (1996).
Elias, S.A., Andrews, J.T., and Anderson, K.H., “Insights on the Climatic Constraints on the Beetle Fauna of Coastal Alaska, USA, Derived from the Mutual Climatic Range Method of Paleoclimate Reconstruction,” Arctic Antarctic Alpine Res. 31(1), 94–98 (1999).
Golubev, V.S., Vuglinskii, V.S., and Kokoreva, K.M., “A Method for Calculating the Long-Term Mean Surface Temperature of Reservoirs Based on Evaporation Statistics,” Trudy Gos. Gidrol. Inst., No. 279, 75–93 (1981).
Key to Insects of the Far East of the USSR. Vol. III. Coleoptera, or Beetles. Part 1 (Nauka, Leningrad, 1989) [in Russian].
Khruleva, O.A. and Korotyaev, B.A., “Weevils (Coleoptera, Apionidae, Curculionidae) of the Wrangel Island,” Entomol. Obozr. 78(3), 648–670 (1999).
Kryzhanovskij, O.L., Belousov, I.A., Kabak, I.I., et al., A Checklist of the Ground Beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands (Pensoft, Sofia, 1995).
Lindroth, C.H., The Ground Beetles (Carabidae, excl. Cicindelinae) of Canada and Alaska. Part 1 (Entomologiska Saliskapet, Lund, 1969).
Ryabukhin, A.S. and Zasypkina, I.A., “Terrestrial and Freshwater Insects of the Taui Bay Coast, the Sea of Okhotsk,” in Biodiversity of the Taui Bay, the Sea of Okhotsk (Dal’nauka, Vladivostok, 2005), pp. 290–478 [in Russian].
Sher, A.V., Kuzmina, S.A., Kuznetsova, T.V., and Sulerzhitsky, L.D., “New Insights into the Weicshelian Environment and Climate of the East Siberian Arctic Derived from Fossil Insects, Plants and Mammals,” Quaternary Sci. Rev. 24, 533–569 (2005).
Smetana, H., “Revision of the Subfamily Helophorinae of the Nearctic Region (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae),” Mem. Entomol. Soc. Canada, No. 131, 1–154 (1985).
Ullrich, W.G. and Campbell, J.M., “A Revision of the apterus-group of the Genus Tachinus Gravenh. (Col.: Staphylinidae),” Canad. Entomol. 106(6), 627–644 (1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © A.V. Alfimov, D.I. Berman, 2009, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2009, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 365–377.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alfimov, A.V., Berman, D.I. Possible errors of the Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) method in reconstructing the Pleistocene climate of Beringia. Entmol. Rev. 89, 487–499 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873809040137
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873809040137