A dendroclimatic study at Store Mosse, South Sweden : climatic and hydrologic impacts on recent Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) growth dynamics

Tallar [i]Pinus sylvestris[/i] som växer på Store mosse i Småland har provtagits. Tolv bestånd från den västra kanten, som tillsammans bildar tre transekter, och tre bestånd från den östra kanten ingår i denna dendrokronologiska undersökning. Syftet med projektet har varit att korrelera ringbreddsvariationer från tallar växande på olika platser längs mossekanten för att undersöka i vilken grad klimatiska parametrar styr tillväxten hos mossetallar och att bestämma hur mycket grundvattenytan påverkar mossetallarnas tillväxt längs mossekanten. Fyra olika tallbeståndstyper provtogs; fastmarksbestånd, laggkärrsbestånd, högmossekantsbestånd och högmosseplansbestånd. Proverna mättes med hjälp av ett stereomikroskop och mätbord i programmet TSAPwin. Proverna korsdaterades och gavs ett uppskattat groddår. Kronologier skapades för varje beståndstyp i programmen Cofecha och Arstan där kronologierna avtrendades för att bättre representera klimatologiska förändringar över tid. Kronologierna korrelerades mot nederbörd, temperatur och vattenflödesdata från närliggande meteorologiska stationer. Resultaten visar ett samband mellan det uppskattade groddåret för proverna och avståndet till laggkärrsbäcken som indikerar en lateral spridning av mossetallar under 1900-talet som förmodligen beror på torrare förhållanden på mossen. Torvdjup, torvytans topografi, näringshalt och grundvattenytans läge verkar styra homogeniteten och höjden på tallarna i de olika typbestånden. Dikning och torvbrytning har inte påverkat de undersökta träden på Store mosse. Tillväxtkollapser i kronologierna kan korreleras med vintrar med lägre temperatur än normalt, inklusive den mest välrepresenterade tillväxtkollapsen 1927-1929. Temperatur- och nederbördsdata visar inkonsekventa korrelationer med kronologierna. Vattenflödesmätningar som kan antas att bättre avspegla mossens hydrologiska situation visar tydliga resultat för två till fyra års adderat vattenflöde som indikerar att grundvattenytans läge är den dominerande faktorn som styr mossetallarnas tillväxt på Store mosse. Resultaten visar på en fördröjning på mellan två och fyra år mellan mossens hydrologi och trädringstjocklek.Scots Pines [i]Pinus sylvestris[/i] from the Store Mosse peat bog complex, South-Central Sweden were sampled from twelve stands at the western edge of the bog, generating three transects, and three stands from the eastern edge. The aims of the project were to correlate tree-ring widths from different locations along the bog edges of Store Mosse in order to investigate to what extent climatological parameters govern the bog-tree growth, and to determine what impact the depth of the water table has on tree-growth at the different sites along the bog edges. Four different stand types were sampled; the solid ground, the marginal fen, the marginal hummock and the bog plain margin. The samples were measured under a microscope and a measuring table with the TSAPwin software. The samples were then cross-dated and the estimated year of germination was calculated for each sample. Chronologies were created for each stand type in the Cofecha and Arstan software, where the chronologies were detrended to better represent climatological changes over time. The chronologies were correlated with precipitation, temperature and river discharge data from nearby meteorological stations. The results show a relation between the estimated year of germination and distance from the marginal fen stream suggesting a lateral spread of trees during the 20th century, probably in response to drier site conditions. Peat depth, bog surface topography, nutrient availability and the water table height seem to govern the homogeneity and height of the stands. Drainage and peat mining do not seem to have had any effects on the sampled trees on Store Mosse. Events of depressed growth show a correlation with colder than normal winters, including the most wide-spread event at 1927-1929. Temperature and precipitation measurements show inconsistent correlations with the chronologies. River discharge measurements that better reflect the hydrologic status in the bog show coherent results for two to four years of added river discharge, suggesting that water table fluctuations is the governing factor controlling bog-tree growth at Store Mosse. The results indicate a response lag of two to four years between substrate moisture conditions and tree-ring width

Submerged Landscapes in the Hanö Bay : Early Holocene shoreline displacement and human environments in the southern Baltic Basin

During times of lower global sea level, vast areas of the coastal shelf were exposed and converted into ecologically diverse coastal landscapes that wereattractive for human occupation. The landscapes were subsequently flooded during the deglaciation, but well-preserved remains of these landscapes andtheir inhabitants can today be found on the seafloor. In the southern Baltic Basin, where the complex relative shoreline displacement history exposedlarge coastal areas, many submerged landscapes can be found. However, in Swedish waters, the research interest in these landscapes has been limited.The Hanö Bay area in southeastern Sweden, where well-preserved remains of early Holocene coastal landscapes can be found off the coast at Haväng ineastern Skåne and in the near-shore waters in western Blekinge, is an exception. The overall aim of this thesis is to increase the understanding of thesecoastal landscapes, their inhabitants and the water level changes that formed, and later inundated, the landscapes.High-resolution bathymetry data, organic sediment sequences, surveillance and sampling of wood remains and archaeological artefacts by divers andGIS-based palaeogeography modelling were used in this multidisciplinary project to investigate the shoreline displacement, coastal environments andhuman resource exploitation in the Hanö Bay region during the early Holocene.Based on the depth and age of submerged rooted stumps and organic sediments from Haväng, the early Holocene shoreline displacement in the areahas been refined. The Yoldia Sea lowstand level was determined to 24–25 m b.s.l. and the subsequent Ancylus Lake transgression lasted approximately500 years, from 10,800 to 10,300 cal BP, with a mean rate of 4 cm yr -1. The maximum Ancylus Lake level was determined to about 5 m b.s.l., while thelowstand level of the subsequent Initial Littorina Sea Stage was determined to approximately 10 m b.s.l. The maximum level of the Littorina Sea Stage inthe area was determined to about 4 m a.s.l. at c. 6000 cal BP.During the Yoldia Sea and Ancylus Lake Stages, the Haväng area was a pine-dominated open woodland with a slow-flowing nutrient-rich stream characterized by ponds and wetlands. Recovered bones with slaughter marks show that aurochs and beaver were hunted in the area. During the subsequentInitial Littorina Sea Stage, the river mouth developed into a productive lagoon surrounded by a more closed forest with both coniferous and deciduoustrees. The findings of several stationary fishing constructions, dated to 9000–8400 cal BP, indicate that the subsistence was focused on large-scale fishing, which suggests a development towards a sedentary lifestyle and year-round presence in the coastal landscape. The area was finally inundated during the Littorina Sea transgression phase, at about 8000 cal BP. The preservation of the submerged landscapes and their artefacts in the Hanö Bay region is dependent on generally sheltered conditions, either by coveringorganic sediments in a river-mouth or lagoonal environment and/or little or no exposure to extreme wave activity. Even though these landscapes havesurvived for thousands of years, their future is uncertain. By introducing marine nature reserves, these valuable archives can be better protected for futuregenerations.This study shows that submerged landscapes can be excellent natural and cultural archives and that a geoarchaeological approach can maximise theresearch output, providing detailed information on shoreline displacement, landscape dynamics and coastal human societies

Function and Morphology of the Antennal Lobe: New Developments

The antennal lobe of insects has emerged as an excellent model for olfactory processing in the CNS. In the present review we compile data from areas where substantial progress has been made during recent years: structure-function relationships within the glomerular array, integration and blend specificity, time coding and the effects of neuroactive substances and hormones on antennal lobe processing

The Danish royal flagship gribshunden : Dendrochronology on a late medieval carvel sunk in the Baltic Sea

The Royal flagship Gribshunden carried the Danish King Hans on its way to the city of Kalmar in Sweden when the ship sank in the summer of 1495. The ship caught fire while anchored north of the Stora Ek o Island and sank to the seafloor, where it lies to this day. The wreck was rediscovered in the 1970s and is remarkably well preserved.Since 2001, scientific investigations have been performed on the wreck by various organizations. In total, 13 dendrochronological samples from different parts of the ship construction have been collected and analyzed with standard dendrochronological methods with respect to age and provenance. The results show that all dated samples could have been felled during the winter season of 1482/83, although only one sample contains sapwood and waney edge. The highest correlations are obtained from reference chronologies that originate from the River Meuse drainage area, with correlations peaking around the city of Namur in Belgium. Most likely, theship was constructed in a shipyard close to the mouth of the River Meuse in the southern Netherlands. It seems King Hans realized the potential of the new ship type represented by Gribshunden, but his shipwrights did not have the knowledge to build such a ship in Denmark. Instead, he purchased the ship from abroad. This studyhighlights late medieval economic and political connections throughout northern Europe