Forest history, peatland development and mid- to late-Holocene environmental change in the southern taiga forest of central European Russia

Understanding the long-term ecological dynamics of boreal forests is essential for assessment of the possible responses and feedbacks of forest ecosystems to climate change. New data on past forest dynamics and peatland development were obtained from a peat sequence in the southern Valdai Hills (European Russia) based on pollen, plant macrofossil, micro-charcoal, peat humification, and testate amoeba analyses. In terms of vegetation history, the results demonstrate a dominance of broadleaved forests in the study area from 7000 4000 cal yr BP. Picea was initially a minor component of this forest but increased in cover rapidly with climatic cooling beginning at 4000 cal yr BP, becoming the dominant species. Broadleaved species persisted until 900 cal yr, with evidence for intensified felling and forest management over recent centuries. Over the last four hundred years there is evidence for widespread paludification and the establishment of Picea-Sphagnum forests. These data demonstrate how modern wet woodlands have been shaped by a combination of climatic and anthropogenic factors over several millennia. The results also demonstrate the value of a multiproxy approach in understanding long-term forest ecology

Изменения окружающей среды в позднеледниковье и голоцене на юго-востоке Беларуси

Communicated by Academician Aleksey V. MatveevThe reconstruction of environmental changes in the southeast of Belarus during the last 14700 cal. BP is based on the results of palynological, radiocarbon, isotope and lithological studies of Lake Staroje deposits. Climatic fluctuations, fires and human activities played a significant role in the transformation of the vegetation cover. The beginning of the lacustrine sedimentation was dated circa 16000 cal. BP. The intensification of erosion processes on the water catchment area was marked by an increase in the mineral material flow into the lake. These events have a positive correlation with the climate cooling and humidity phases in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, and in the Late Holocene with anthropogenic impact stages. The traces of the episodic human activity were dated to 5800 cal. BP, while the expansion of farming and pasturing areas began at 3000 cal. BP Currently the consequences of human activities (including drainage of bogs) are reflected in the treeless landscapes adjacent to the lake.Представлено академиком А. В. МатвеевымРеконструкция изменений окружающей среды на юго-востоке Беларуси в течение последних 14,7 тыс. кал. л. н. основана на результатах палинологических, радиоуглеродных, изотопных и литологических исследований отложений оз. Старое. Климатические колебания, пожары и деятельность человека играли значительную роль в преобразовании растительного покрова. Начало озерного седиментогенеза датируется около 16,0 тыс. кал. л. н. Усиление эрозионных процессов на водосборе было отмечено повышенным поступлением минерального материала в озеро. Эти события в позднеледниковье и раннем голоцене имеют положительную корреляцию с фазами похолодания и увлажнения климата, а в позднем голоцене с этапами антропогенного воздействия. Следы эпизодической деятельности человека установлены с ~5,8 тыс. кал. л. н., а начало земледелия и расширение пастбищных площадей с 3,0 тыс. кал. л. н. В настоящее время последствия хозяйственной деятельности человека (включая осушение болот) иллюстрируют безлесные ландшафты, прилегающие к озеру

Regional variability in peatland burning at mid- to high-latitudes during the Holocene

Acknowledgements This work developed from the PAGES (Past Global Changes) C-PEAT (Carbon in Peat on EArth through Time) working group. PAGES has been supported by the US National Science Foundation, Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences. We acknowledge the following financial support: UK Natural Environment Research Council Training Grants NE/L002574/1 (T.G.S.) and NE/S007458/1 (R.E.F.); Dutch Foundation for the Conservation of Irish Bogs, Quaternary Research Association and Leverhulme Trust RPG-2021-354 (G.T.S); the Academy of Finland (M.V); PAI/SIA 80002 and FONDECYT Iniciación 11220705 - ANID, Chile (C.A.M.); R20F0002 (PATSER) ANID Chile (R.D.M.); Swedish Strategic Research Area (SRA) MERGE (ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system) (M.J.G.); Polish National Science Centre Grant number NCN 2018/29/B/ST10/00120 (K.A.); Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 19-14-00102 (Y.A.M.); University of Latvia Grant No. AAp2016/B041/Zd2016/AZ03 and the Estonian Science Council grant PRG323 (TrackLag) (N.S. and A.M.); U.S. Geological Survey Land Change Science/Climate Research & Development Program (M.J., L.A., and D.W.); German Research Foundation (DFG), grant MA 8083/2-1 (P.M.) and grant BL 563/19-1 (K.H.K.); German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), grant no. 57044554, Faculty of Geosciences, University of Münster, and Bavarian University Centre for Latin America (BAYLAT) (K.H.K). Records from the Global Charcoal Database supplemented this work and therefore we would like to thank the contributors and managers of this open-source resource. We also thank Annica Greisman, Jennifer Shiller, Fredrik Olsson and Simon van Bellen for contributing charcoal data to our analyses. Any use of trade, firm, or product name is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Peer reviewedPostprin

Widespread drying of European peatlands in recent centuries

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Research via the DOI in this record Climate warming and human impacts are thought to be causing peatlands to dry,potentially converting them from sinks to sources of carbon. However, it is unclear whether the hydrological status of peatlands has moved beyond their natural envelope. Here we show that European peatlands have undergone substantial, widespread drying during the last ~300 years. We analyse testate amoeba-derived hydrological reconstructions from 31 peatlands across Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and continental Europe to examine changes in peatland surface wetness during the last 2000 years. 60% of our study sites were drier during the period CE 1800-2000 than they have been for the last 600 years; 40% of sites were drier than they have been for 1000 years; and 24% of sites were drier than they have been for 2000 years. This marked recent transition in the hydrology of European peatlands is concurrent with compound pressures including climatic drying, warming and direct human impacts on peatlands, although these factors vary between regions and individual sites. Our results suggest that the wetness of many European peatlands may now be moving away from natural baselines. Our findings highlight the need for effective management and restoration of European peatlands.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Reconstruction of arboreal vegetation dynamics of the area of Museum-Reserve Kulikovo Pole in the middle and late Holocene

The paper presents reconstructions of vegetation and forest coverage dynamics in the area of the State Military-Historical and Natural Museum-Reserve «Kulikovo Pole» (Upper Don River basin) in the middle and late Holocene, based on modern and fossil pollen assemblages and remote sensing data (MODIS) using the «the Best Modern Analogue» technique for paleoecological studies. The data obtained showed that in the study area steppe vegetation was widespread in the period 7000–4500 cal. (calendar) years BP, forest coverage was 10–20%. Cooling and moistening of the climate around 4500 cal. years BP encouraged a shift of the forest-steppe boundary to the South; forest-steppe vegetation with the participation of pine and broad-leaved forests of Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus and Alnus occupied the Upper Don River basin. Meadow steppe plant communities persisted mostly on dry slopes and well-drained watersheds. The forest coverage increased to 30–40%, and around 2700 cal. years BP reached 45%. Significant changes in vegetation and reduction of the area covered by forest (to 15%) occurred at 2400 cal. years BP and were caused mainly by the anthropogenic factor. An extensive agriculture during the periods of human occupation resulted in a decrease in forest coverage, when the territory was abandoned forests recovered their areas

Long-term dynamics of the East European forest-steppe ecotone

Questio

Recent pollen assemblages from Protected Areas of European Russia as a key to interpreting the results of paleoecological studies

The paper presents the results of studies of 59 recent pollen assemblages from protected areas located in the forest and steppe zones of the East European plain. The obtained data show that in pollen assemblages from forest localities a great share of the regional component of spectra is represented by plants with a high productivity of pollen. This pollen gets dispersed by wind over long distances (e.g., Betula, Alnus, Pinus). As a result the ratio of the main components in pollen assemblages from forest localities is distorted. At the same time, the participation of spruce pollen and pollen of deciduous tree species in the spectra is lower than the share of these species in the surrounding forest. Besides, the proportion of the regional pollen component in assemblages is much higher in samples taken from treeless areas and in floodplains than in probes taken under the forest canopy. These patterns should be taken into account in the reconstruction of the ancient vegetation using palynological data. The specific features of pollen assemblages that should be considered by interpreting fossil pollen spectra include: the share of broad-leaved tree pollen, proportion and floristic composition of herbaceous pollen group, occurrence of forest Lycopodium species, share of fern spores and spores of Sphagnum mosses. Different types of forest-steppe plant communities could be determined by the composition and ratio within the pollen group of herbaceous plants

Late Saalian and Eemian palaeoenvironmental history of the Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (Laptev Sea region, Arctic Siberia)

Paleoenvironmental records from permafrost sequences complemented by IRSL and 230Th/U dates from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island (73?20?N, 141?30?E) document the environmental history in the Laptev Sea region for at least the past 200 ka. Pollen spectra and insect fauna indicate that relatively wet grass-sedge tundra habitats predominated during an interstadial c. 200-170 ka ago. Summers were rather warm and wet, while stable isotopes reflect severe winter conditions. The pollen spectra reflect sparser grass-sedge vegetation cover during a late Saalian stadial, c. 170-130 ka ago, with environmental conditions much more sever compared with the previous interstadials. Open Poaceae and Artemisia plant associations dominated vegetation at the beginning of the Eemian Interglacial, c. 130 ka ago. Some shrubs (Alnus fruticosa, Salix, Betula nana) grew in more protected and wetter places as well. The climate was relatively warm during this time, resulting in the melting of the Saalian ice wedges. Later, during the interglacial optimum shrub tundra with Alnus fruticosa and Betula nana s.l. dominated vegetation. Climate was relatively wet and warm. Quantitative pollen-based climate reconstruction suggests that mean July temperatures were 4-5?C higher than the present during the optimum of the Eemian Interglacial, while late Eemian records indicate significant climate deterioration