New methods applied to interpretations of pollen data in the Holocene - selected examples from the last decade

The results of palynological analyses of the Holocene deposits and modern pollen deposition in Poland and Finland are used to illustrate the progress in pollen analysis - the main palaeoecological method. The increased potential of modern palaeoecology for reconstruction of vegetation and for drawing conclusions on other environmental variables (climate, water conditions, landscape, anthropogenic disturbances) is demonstrated. Pollen analysis - develops at present interpretive tools for precise reconstruction of the structure and composition of vegetation and climate conditions. The progress consists in the quantitative presentation of pollenvegetation-climate relationships based on the examination of modern pollen deposition. The application of numerical analyses to pollen data allows correlating pollen spectrum features with the landscape/vegetation type. Special attention is paid to the Holocene vegetation changes of the transitional zone between boreal forest and tundra in the areas subjected to weak anthropopression (e.g. Lapland), which reflect climatic changes. Databases of modern pollen analogues are based on analysis of samples of surface mosses and contents of Tauber traps. These traps are used in Poland in investigations conducted as a part of the Pollen Monitoring Programme (http://pmp.oulu.fi). The correlation of Tauber-trap data with aerobiological ones contributes to understanding of the relationship between pollen production and climate elements. Additionally, the precise C 14 dating allows a near-annual resolution in fossil deposits to be obtained more frequently. Due to time scales comprising hundreds of years, pollen analysis can provide means to resolve questions inaccessible for direct observation

Leaf wax <i>n</i>-alkane distributions record ecological changes during the Younger Dryas at Trzechowskie paleolake (northern Poland) without temporal delay

While of higher plant origin, a specific source assignment of sedimentary leaf wax n-alkanes remains difficult. In addition, it is unknown how fast a changing catchment vegetation would be reflected in sedimentary leaf wax archives. In particular, for a quantitative interpretation of n-alkane C and H isotope ratios in terms of paleohydrological and paleoecological changes, a better understanding of transfer times and dominant sedimentary sources of leaf wax n-alkanes is required.In this study we tested to what extent compositional changes in leaf wax n-alkanes can be linked to known vegetation changes by comparison with high-resolution palynological data from the same archive. We analyzed leaf wax n-alkane concentrations and distributions in decadal resolution from a sedimentary record from Trzechowskie paleolake (TRZ, northern Poland), covering the Late Glacial to early Holocene (13&thinsp;360–9940&thinsp;yr&thinsp;BP). As an additional source indicator of targeted n-alkanes, compound-specific carbon isotopic data have been generated in lower time resolution. The results indicated rapid responses of n-alkane distribution patterns coinciding with major climatic and paleoecological transitions. We found a shift towards higher average chain length (ACL) values at the Allerød–Younger Dryas (YD) transition between 12&thinsp;680 and 12&thinsp;600&thinsp;yr&thinsp;BP, coevaled with a decreasing contribution of arboreal pollen (mainly Pinus and Betula) and a subsequently higher abundance of pollen derived from herbaceous plants (Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Artemisia), shrubs, and dwarf shrubs (Juniperus and Salix). The termination of the YD was characterized by a successive increase in n-alkane concentrations coinciding with a sharp decrease in ACL values between 11&thinsp;580 and 11&thinsp;490&thinsp;yr&thinsp;BP, reflecting the expansion of woodland vegetation at the YD–Holocene transition. A gradual reversal to longer chain lengths after 11&thinsp;200&thinsp;yr&thinsp;BP, together with decreasing n-alkane concentrations, most likely reflects the early Holocene vegetation succession with a decline of Betula.These results show that n-alkane distributions reflect vegetation changes and that a fast (i.e., subdecadal) signal transfer occurred. However, our data also indicate that a standard interpretation of directional changes in biomarker ratios remains difficult. Instead, responses such as changes in ACL need to be discussed in the context of other proxy data. In addition, we find that organic geochemical data integrate different ecological information compared to pollen, since some gymnosperm genera, such as Pinus, produce only a very low amount of n-alkanes and for this reason their contribution may be largely absent from biomarker records. Our results demonstrate that a combination of palynological and n-alkane data can be used to infer the major sedimentary leaf wax sources and constrain leaf wax transport times from the plant source to the sedimentary sink and thus pave the way towards quantitative interpretation of compound-specific hydrogen isotope ratios for paleohydrological reconstructions.</p

Patterns in recent and Holocene pollen accumulation rates across Europe - the Pollen Monitoring Programme Database as a tool for vegetation reconstruction

The collection of modern, spatially extensive pollen data is important for the interpretation of fossil pollen assemblages and the reconstruction of past vegetation communities in space and time. Modern datasets are readily available for percentage data but lacking for pollen accumulation rates (PARs). Filling this gap has been the motivation of the pollen monitoring network, whose contributors monitored pollen deposition in modified Tauber traps for several years or decades across Europe. Here we present this monitoring dataset consisting of 351 trap locations with a total of 2742 annual samples covering the period from 1981 to 2017. This dataset shows that total PAR is influenced by forest cover and climate parameters, which determine pollen productivity and correlate with latitude. Treeless vegetation produced PAR values of at least 140 grains cm(-2) yr(-1). Tree PAR increased by at least 400 grains cm(-2) yr(-1) with each 10% increase in forest cover. Pollen traps situated beyond 200 km of the distribution of a given tree species still collect occasional pollen grains of that species. The threshold of this long-distance transport differs for individual species and is generally below 60 grains cm(-2) yr(-1). Comparisons between modern and fossil PAR from the same regions show similar values. For temperate taxa, modern analogues for fossil PARs are generally found downslope or southward of the fossil sites. While we do not find modern situations comparable to fossil PAR values of some taxa (e.g. Corylus), CO2 fertilization and land use may cause high modern PARs that are not documented in the fossil record. The modern data are now publicly available in the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and aid interpretations of fossil PAR data.Peer reviewe

Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic

The Black Death (1347–1352 CE) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These inter-regional differences in the Black Death’s mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic, societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics.The authors acknowledge the following funding sources: Max Planck Independent Research Group, Palaeo-Science and History Group (A.I., A.M. and C.V.); Estonian Research Council #PRG323, PUT1173 (A.Pos., T.R., N.S. and S.V.); European Research Council #FP7 263735 (A.Bro. and A.Plu.), #MSC 655659 (A.E.); Georgetown Environmental Initiative (T.N.); Latvian Council of Science #LZP-2020/2-0060 (N.S. and N.J.); LLNL-JRNL-820941 (I.T.); NSF award #GSS-1228126 (S.M.); Polish-Swiss Research Programme #013/2010 CLIMPEAT (M.Lam.), #086/2010 CLIMPOL (A.W.); Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education #N N306 275635 (M.K.); Polish National Science Centre #2019/03/X/ST10/00849 (M.Lam.), #2015/17/B/ST10/01656 (M.Lam.), #2015/17/B/ST10/03430 (M.Sło.), #2018/31/B/ST10/02498 (M.Sło.), #N N304 319636 (A.W.); SCIEX #12.286 (K.Mar.); Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness #REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (J.A.L.S.); Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports #FPU16/00676 (R.L.L.); Swedish Research Council #421-2010-1570 (P.L.), #2018-01272 (F.C.L. and A.S.); Volkswagen Foundation Freigeist Fellowship Dantean Anomaly (M.B.), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation #RTI2018-101714-B-I00 (F.A.S. and D.A.S.), OP RDE, MEYS project #CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728 (P.P.)Peer reviewe

Power centres and marginal landscapes: Tracking pre- and post-conquest (late Iron Age and Medieval) land-use in the Cēsis Castle hinterland, Central Latvia

During the late Iron Age, the eastern Baltic was inhabited by Finno-Ugric and Baltic speaking societies whose territories were conquered in the thirteenth century as a result of the crusades. This paper examines the degree to which indigenous landscapes were transformed as a result of the crusades, and the evidence for maintenance of indigenous land-use practices. Vegetation and land-use history are reconstructed using palynological data from Cēsis castle and its terriitory. Comparison is made with selected palynological, archaeological and documentary data across Livonia (Latvia and Estonia) and contrasted with the greater impact of the crusades in nearby Prussia. Despite the emergence of key power centres in the medieval period, including towns and castles such as Cēsis, many parts of the rural landscape remained largely unchanged by the crusades, particularly in those more marginal landscapes studied in this paper. Lower intensity land-use can be linked to poor agricultural soils but also reflect the limited colonisation of rural landscapes beyond the major towns and castles. Indigenous societies and practices survived to a greater degree, with later agricultural intensification in the fourteenth century reflecting the increasing political stability, growth of urban centres, establishment of serfdom and the development of the manorial system

Instability of the environment at the end of the Eemian Interglacial as illustrated by the isopollen maps for Poland

Many terrestrial pollen profiles from Poland (and a few pollen records from other parts of Central Europe) show the end of the last interglacial (Eemian, MIS 5e) to have been characterized by climatic and environmental instability. This is expressed by a strong, rapid cooling in the middle part of the pine phase ending this interglacial (E7 regional pollen assemblage zone), and then a re-warming at the very end of this phase, immediately before the transition to the glacial conditions of the last glaciation (Vistulian, Weichselian, MIS 5d). We have characterized the regional distribution of these climatic fluctuations in Poland on the basis of isopollen maps prepared for the Eemian Interglacial based on palynological data from 31 Polish pollen profiles. These maps show unequivocally that the intra-interglacial cooling at the end of the Eemian Interglacial was a transregional phenomenon, which was reflected very clearly by a temporary openness of vegetation across the whole of Poland. It was associated with a distinct decrease in pine forest areas and an increase in birch forests and open communities of cold steppe type with a domination of Artemisia. The pronounced climate and environment instability during the last phase of the Eemian Interglacial may be consistent with it being a natural phenomenon, characteristic of transitional stages. Taking into consideration the currently observed global warming, coinciding with a natural cooling trend, the study of such transitional stages is important for understanding the underlying processes of climate change

Varve chronology of core GOS18 from Lake Gościąż

To revise the chronology for the Lake Gościąż record, sediment cores were retrieved during two field campaigns in 2015 and 2018. Four overlapping sections were collected using a UWITEC Piston Corer (Ø 90 mm) in the deepest part of Lake Gościąż, Poland (52.583022 N, 19.339946 E). The chronology was obtained by triple varve counting on petrographic thin sections that was complemented by 137Cs measurements and 14C AMS dating of terrestrial plant remains. Additionally, part of the chronology between 520-758 cm was obtained through age-depth modelling. Pollen analysis was performed for seventy one samples, prepared according to standard procedure, and analyzed in three intervals: i) from 1859.9 cm to 1874.4 cm with 2 cm resolution, ii) from 1880.2 cm to 1896.7 cm with 1-2 cm resolution and iii) from 1741.4 cm to 1798.4 cm with 0.5-3 cm resolution. The record is mostly varved and the bottom of the composite profile coincides with the onset of lacustrine sedimentation in the late Allerød at 12,834 +134/-233 varve yrs BP

Pollen record of core GOS18 from Lake Gościąż

To revise the chronology for the Lake Gościąż record, sediment cores were retrieved during two field campaigns in 2015 and 2018. Four overlapping sections were collected using a UWITEC Piston Corer (Ø 90 mm) in the deepest part of Lake Gościąż, Poland (52.583022 N, 19.339946 E). The chronology was obtained by triple varve counting on petrographic thin sections that was complemented by 137Cs measurements and 14C AMS dating of terrestrial plant remains. Additionally, part of the chronology between 520-758 cm was obtained through age-depth modelling. Pollen analysis was performed for seventy one samples, prepared according to standard procedure, and analyzed in three intervals: i) from 1859.9 cm to 1874.4 cm with 2 cm resolution, ii) from 1880.2 cm to 1896.7 cm with 1-2 cm resolution and iii) from 1741.4 cm to 1798.4 cm with 0.5-3 cm resolution. The record is mostly varved and the bottom of the composite profile coincides with the onset of lacustrine sedimentation in the late Allerød at 12,834 +134/-233 varve yrs BP