61. A pollen record from Lake Öagöl (south-Swedish Uplands): 1500 years of land-use history

Lake Öagöl (57° 12′ 34″; 14° 48′ 03″) is situated in the central part of the province of Småland, southern Sweden, a region characterised by mixed woodlands and small-scale agriculture. The investigated lake has a circular to squarish shape and covers 1.8 ha. A minor road runs through the catchment area (which is 22 ha) on the western side of the lake (approximately 100 m from the lake shore). The nearest village is situated about 2 km away. Historical maps from the nineteenth century show that cultivated fields and hay meadows were situated close to the village. The maps also show that the immediate area around the lake was part of the land, which was mainly used for grazing and wood resources, and that the nearest hay meadow was approximately 500 m away. Today, the land-cover around the lake is mixed woodland, dominated by spruce plantations. On the western side of the lake catchment is a local nature reserve (Kråketorpsskogen, 200 ha), which is protected from modern forestry.publishedVersio

Inferring Long-term Landuse Development Through On-site Botanical Analyses at Øvre Øksnevad, Southwestern Norway

This study analysed pollen and plant macrofossils from mainly Bronze Age and Iron Age funerary, agricultural and settlement remains, to infer local plant exploitation and long-term land-use development at Øvre Øksnevad in southwestern Norway. The results showed that deciduous woodland covered the site prior to c. 2100 BC. After this, until c. 500 BC, the vegetation became dominated by grasses/herbs, while several phases of land clearance and cultivation were identified. The main human activity on the site was c. 600-300 BC, when a settlement was established and most of the 103 cairns registered at the site were constructed. Grazing on heathland was the main land-use from 300 BC, until another short-lived settlement was established c. AD 1-200, while regular burning of the heathland occurred from c. AD 1300. The relatively short-lived settlement at Øvre Øksnevad suggests it was marginal and only used during times of high population pressure, a conclusion which is supported by the botanical evidence. This study demonstrates how comprehensive sampling for botanical remains can contribute to the understanding of complex archaeological sites, including local land-use development and human-plant interactions.publishedVersio

Diagnostic Accuracy of Clinical Tests Assessing Ligamentous Injury of the Talocrural and Subtalar Joints: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Context: Ankle sprains are the most common acute musculoskeletal injury. Clinical tests represent the first opportunity to assess the sprain's severity, but no systematic review has compared these tests to contemporary reference standards. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests assessing the talocrural and subtalar joint ligaments after ankle sprain. Data Sources: CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, hand-searching, and PubMed-related article searches (inception to November 18, 2020). Study Selection: Eligible diagnostic studies compared clinical examination (palpation, joint laxity) against imaging or surgery. Studies at a high risk of bias or with high concerns regarding applicability on Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 were excluded from the meta-analysis. Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Level of Evidence: Level 3a. Data Extraction: True-positive, false-negative, false-positive, and true-negative findings were extracted to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios. If ordinal data were reported, these were extracted to calculate Cohen's kappa. Results: A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria (6302 observations; 9 clinical tests). No test had both sensitivity and specificity exceeding 90%. Palpation of the anterior talofibular ligament is highly sensitive (sensitivity 95%-100%; specificity 0%-32%; min-max; n = 6) but less so for the calcaneofibular ligament (sensitivity 49%-100%; specificity 26%-79%; min-max; n = 6). Pooled data from 6 studies (885 observations) found a low sensitivity (54%; 95% CI 35%-71%) but high specificity (87%; 95% CI 63%-96%) for the anterior drawer test. Conclusion: The anterior talofibular ligament is best assessed using a cluster of palpation (rule out), and anterior drawer testing (rule in). The talar tilt test can rule in injury to the calcaneofibular ligament, but a sensitive clinical test for the ligament is lacking. It is unclear if ligamentous injury grading can be done beyond the binary (injured vs uninjured), and clinical tests of the subtalar joint ligaments are not well researched. The generalizability of our findings is limited by insufficient reporting on blinding and poor study quality

Floristic diversity in the transition from traditional to modern land-use in southern Sweden A.D. 1800-2008

International audienceWe aim to provide a long-term ecological analysis of land-use and floristic diversity in the transition from traditional to modern land-use management in the time A.D. 1800-2008 in southern Sweden. We use the Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model to quantify land-cover changes on a regional scale at 20-year intervals, based on the fossil pollen record. Floristic richness and evenness are estimated using palynological richness and the Shannon index applied to the REVEALS output, respectively. We identified a transition period of 60 years between 1880 and 1940 when the total tree cover increased and the tree composition changed from deciduous to coniferous dominance. Within the shrinking area of open land, arable land taxa expanded, while the number and coverage of herbs in the remaining grasslands decreased. The succession from open grasslands to more tree-covered habitats initially favoured palynological richness, which reached its highest values during the first 40 years of the transition period. The highest REVEALS-based evenness was recorded in the time of traditional land-use and at the beginning of the transition period, reflecting higher habitat diversity at these time intervals. Our results support a more dynamic ecosystem management that changes between traditional land-use and phases of succession (\40 years) to promote floristic diversity. We have developed and applied a palaeoecological methodology that contributes realistic estimates to be used in ecosystem management

Naturvetenskapliga undersökningar på Sømme I, ID 150777, Lokal 10 : gnr. 15, bnr. 5, Sola kommun, Rogaland

Oppdragsgiver: Statens vegvesenI samband med en arkeologisk utgrävning vid Sømmevågen (Sømme I, ID 150777, Lokal 10) analyserades pollen- och makrofossilprover. Proverna togs ut från förhistoriska åkrar och lämningar från stenålder. De flesta kulturlager och anläggningar från stenålder innehöll hasselnötsskal (Corylus avellana). I en anläggning (nr. 2) förekom ett frö av vete (cf. Triticum) som daterades till romersk järnålder. Åkerlagren innehöll ett mindre antal frön av gräs och ogräs. Polleninnehållet i åkerlagren visade på ett öppet landskap med åker och betesmark

Naturvitenskapelige undersøkelser på Grødaland : Hobberstad, gnr. 40, bnr. 7, Hå k. Rogaland

Oppdragsgiver: Rogaland fylkeskommuneTo makroprøver og fem pollenprøver ble innsamlet fra en profil på Hobberstad, Hå k. i forbindelse med RFKs registrering for gang og sykkelvei langs Fv. 44. Pollenalanysen viser et i hovedsak åpent landskap og det ble funnet pollen fra korn og åkerugress. I makrofossilprøvene ble det funnet bygg, havre og vanlige åkerugress som bekrefter at det er en dyrkningsprofil med fossile åkerlag

The impact of land-use change on floristic diversity at regional scale in southern Sweden 600 BC-AD 2008

International audienceThis study explores the relationship between landuse and floristic diversity between 600BC and AD2008 in the uplands of southern Sweden. We use fossil pollen assemblages and the Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model to quantitatively reconstruct land cover at a regional scale. Floristic richness and evenness are estimated using palynological richness and REVEALS-based evenness, respectively. We focus on the period AD350 to 750 to investigate the impact of an inferred, short-lived (<200 yr) period of land-use expansion and subsequent land abandonment on vegetation composition and floristic diversity. The observed vegetation response is compared to that recorded during the transition from traditional to modern land-use management at the end of the 19th century. Our results suggest that agricultural land use was most widespread between AD350 and 1850, which correlates broadly with high values of palynological richness. REVEALS-based evenness was highest between AD500 and 1600 which indicates a more equal cover among taxa during this time interval. Palynological richness increased during the inferred land-use expansion after AD350 and decreased during the subsequent regression AD550-750, while REVEALS-based evenness increased throughout this period. The values of palynological richness during the last few decades are within the range observed during the last 1650 yr. However, REVEALS-based evenness shows much lower values during the last century compared to the previous ca. 2600 yr, which indicates that the composition of presentday vegetation is unusual in a millennial perspective. Our results show that regional scale changes in land use have had clear impacts on floristic diversity in southern Sweden, with a vegetation response time of less than 20 to 50 yr. We show the importance of traditional land use to attain high biodiversity and suggest that ecosystem management should include a regional landscape perspective

Forcing mechanisms behind variations in TOC concentration of lake waters Forcing mechanisms behind variations in total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of lake waters during the past eight centuries – palaeolimnological evidence from southern Sweden Forcing mechanisms behind variations in TOC concentration of lake waters

International audienceDecadal-scale variations in total organic carbon (TOC) concentration in lake water since AD 1200 in two small lakes in southern Sweden were reconstructed based on visible-near infrared spectroscopy (VNIRS) of their recent sediment successions. In order to assess the impacts of local land-use changes and regional variations in 5 sulphur deposition and climate on the inferred changes in TOC concentration, the same sediment records were subjected to multi-proxy palaeolimnological analyses. Changes in lake-water pH were inferred from diatom analysis, whereas pollen-based land-use reconstructions (Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm) together with geo-chemical records provided information on catchment-scale environmental changes, 10 and comparisons were made with available records of climate and population density. Our long-term reconstructions reveal that TOC concentrations were generally high prior to AD 1900, with second-order variations coupled mainly to changes in agricultural land-use intensity. The last century showed significant changes, and unusually low TOC concentrations were recorded in 1930–1990, followed by a recent increase. Vari-15 ations in sulphur emissions, with an increase in the early 1900s to a peak around AD 1980 and a subsequent decrease, were most likely the main driver of these dynamics, although processes related to the introduction of modern forestry and recent increases in precipitation and temperature may have contributed. The increase in lake-water TOC concentration from around AD 1980 may therefore reflect a recovery process. Given 20 that the effects of sulphate deposition now subside, other forcing mechanisms related to land management and climate change will possibly become the main drivers of TOC concentration changes in boreal lake waters in the future