Small peatland with a big story: 600-year paleoecological and historical data from a kettle-hole peatland in Western Russia

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110332
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Mroczkowska ◽  
Piotr Kittel ◽  
Katarzyna Marcisz ◽  
Ekaterina Dolbunova ◽  
Emilie Gauthier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Testate Amoebae ◽  
The Past ◽  
Kettle Hole ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Peatlands are important records of past environmental changes. Based on a multiproxy analysis, the main factors influencing the evolution of a peatland can be divided into autogenic and allogenic. Among the important allogenic factors, apart from climate change, are deforestation and drainage, which are directly associated with human impact. Numerous consequences arise from these processes, the most important of which are physical and chemical denudation in the catchment and the related hydrological disturbances in the catchment and peatland. The present study determined how human activities and the past climatic variability mutually influenced the development of a small peatland ecosystem. The main goals of the study were: (1) to trace the local changes of the peatland history over the past 600 years, (2) to investigate their relationship with changes in regional hydroclimate patterns, and (3) to estimate the sensitivity of a small peatland to natural and human impact. Our reconstructions were based on a multiproxy analysis, including the analysis of pollen, macrofossils, Chironomidae, Cladocera, and testate amoebae. Our results showed that, depending on the changes in water level, the history of peatland can be divided into three phases as follows: 1/the phase of stable natural conditions, 2/phase of weak changes, and 3/phase of significant changes in the catchment. Additionally, to better understand the importance of the size of catchment and the size of the depositional basin in the evolution of the studied peatland ecosystem, we compared data from two peatlands – large and small – located close to each other. The results of our study indicated that “size matters,” and that larger peatlands are much more resilient and resistant to rapid changes occurring in the direct catchment due to human activities, whereas small peatlands are more sensitive and perfect as archives of environmental changes.

A great response from small ecosystem – the last 500 years of history of a kettle hole mire in W Russia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Mroczkowska ◽  
Piotr Kittel ◽  
Katarzyna Marcisz ◽  
Ekaterina Dolbunova ◽  
Emilie Gauthier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Plant Macrofossils ◽  
Testate Amoebae ◽  
Plant Succession ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
Kettle Hole ◽  
History Of ◽  
Palaeoenvironmental Changes

<p>Peatlands are natural geoarchives which record within organic deposits a picture of the past environmental changes. Depending on the preserved proxy, we are able to reconstruct various aspects of palaeoenvironmental changes, e.g. using pollen (vegetation composition), plant macrofossils (local vegetation changes), testate amoebae and zoological remains (hydrological changes) or XRF scanning (geochemical changes). Here, we investigated changes in land use and climate of western Russia using a range of biotic and abiotic proxies. This part of Europe is characterized by a continental climate, which makes this region very sensitive to climate change, in particular to precipitation fluctuations. Furthermore, in the last two centuries strong human impact in that area has been noticed.  </p><p>The Serteya kettle hole mire (55°40'N 31°30'E) is situated in the Smolensk Oblast in Western Dvina Lakeland. Study site is located close to the range of plant communities belonging to the hemiboreal zone, making it an ideal position to trace the plant succession of Eastern Europe. Preliminary dating of the material proves that the average rate of biogenic deposits in the reservoir was approx. 1 m per 600 years. The majority of the European peatlands was in some sense transformed as a result of drainage and land use practices in their basins. Serteya kettle hole mire allowed us to accurately track how a small ecosystem responds to palaeoenvironmental changes. Preliminary results will show the major fluctuations of the mire hydrology accompanied by the changes in the land use in the region. Our goal is also to determine the resistance and resilience of peat bogs to disturbances.</p>

Holocene vegetation history in the Northern Vosges Mountains (NE France): Palynological, geochemical and sedimentological data

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 888-904
Author(s):  
Emilie Gouriveau ◽  
Pascale Ruffaldi ◽  
Loïc Duchamp ◽  
Vincent Robin ◽  
Annik Schnitzler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Vegetation History ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Vosges Mountains ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
Evolution Of Vegetation

Palynological data from the Northern Vosges Mountains (NVM) are very rare, unlike for the Southern and Central Vosges Mountains, where the past vegetation history is relatively well known. As a consequence, the beginning of human activities has never been clearly identified and dated in the NVM. In order to reconstruct the evolution of vegetation in this region, multiproxy studies (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, sedimentological and geochemical analyses) were conducted in two peatlands. Overall, the results, extending from about 9500 cal. BP to recent times, show a classical vegetation succession with local particularities resulting from human activities. In the La Horn peatland, a strong human impact related to pastoralism is attested from the late Bronze Age onwards. The second phase of human occupation, mainly characterized by crop cultures, begins during the Hallstatt period. The geochemical results (x-ray fluorescence) also highlight the presence of metallic elements, which, combined with significant quantities of carbonized particles, point to potential metal working. In the Kobert-Haut peatland, human occupation began much later (1500 cal. BP), but lasted from the Gallo-Roman period to the beginning of the Modern Period. Unlike for the vegetation history of the rest of the Vosges, Pinus remains a prevailing taxon throughout the Holocene in the NVM. Another particularity is the early establishment of Picea, long before the 18th to 19th century plantations.

scholarly journals Assessment of Anthropogenic Impact versus Climate Change on the Succession of the Diatom Community in Lugu Lake (Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, China) Using the Sedimentary Record of Geochemical Elements

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Chuanhong Chen ◽  
Shao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Diatom Community ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Lugu Lake ◽  
Guizhou Plateau

The lake ecosystems on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in China have degraded in recent decades under the effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change. The human impact on the oligotrophic Lugu Lake aquatic ecosystem was evaluated using the sediment records of metals, nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) and magnetic susceptibility over the past 200 years. Three periods were identified based on the trace metal and δ15N records. During the first stage (1816–1976 AD), the concentrations of metals, δ15N and magnetic susceptibility were low with small variations. The anthropogenic contributions to the inputs were also small, except for Ni, reflecting minor human activities in the watershed, and no significant change was observed in the sediment record of the diatom assemblage. During the second stage (1976–2001 AD), the concentrations of Zn and δ15N increased, as well as the anthropogenic contribution of Zn. However, no significant change was detected in the anthropogenic sources of the other metals. These results reflect the low-level use of chemical fertilizers. The major shift in the sediment diatom assemblage during this stage was mainly attributed to regional climate change. During the third stage (2001–2010 AD), the concentrations of the sedimentary metals (Ni, Cr, Mn, Cu, Hg and Al) increased rapidly, with the exception of As and Zn, and a similar increasing trend was observed in the changes by anthropogenic sources of Ni, Cr, Mn and Cu. RDA (Redundancy Analysis) and variance partitioning analysis showed that the human impact and climate proxies independently explained 31.59% and 4.26% of the change of diatom community, respectively, and the interaction between climate change and human impact accounted for 18.61% of the change of diatom community. Tourism-dominated human activities, which were reflected in the metals profiles, facilitated the dominance of eutrophic species and reduced that of oligotrophic species. The development of tourism was likely the main driving force for the succession of diatom assemblages in the third stage. In summary, the anthropogenic input of trace metals in Lugu Lake is still at a low level. However, the significant growth trend in metals over the past decade is significantly related to the change in the lake ecosystem. Therefore, the effects of human activities, especially tourism, on the watershed should be controlled for the protection of the oligotrophic Lugu Lake.

State Schemes or Safety Nets? China's Push for Universal Coverage

Daedalus ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark W. Frazier
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Universal Coverage ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
The Past ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Expenditures

After rapid changes in social policy and increases in social expenditures over the past five years, many of the uniformly negative assessments of China's record on health care, retirement pensions, and other forms of social security have to be reconsidered. This article examines the rapid expansion in social policy coverage and spending, and considers the possible significance of these changes for Chinese politics. The administrative and territorial categories that have defined access to social welfare provision over the history of the People's Republic of China have not yet receded, but their significance has diminished with programs that create uniform eligibility across rural and urban categories of citizenship. Large gaps in benefits remain, and are likely to generate political demands in the future as urbanization continues to erode the administrative distinctions between urban and rural.

Resilience of plant and testate amoeba communities after climatic and anthropogenic disturbances in a Baltic bog in Northern Poland: Implications for ecological restoration

The Holocene ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
Kazimierz Tobolski ◽  
Aleksandra Górska ◽  
Mariusz Lamentowicz
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Testate Amoebae ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Testate Amoeba ◽  
Raised Bogs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ombrotrophic Peatland ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climate Cooling

This study explores the history of the development of Sphagnum communities in an ombrotrophic peatland – Bagno Kusowo – over the past 650 years, based on high-resolution plant macrofossil and testate amoebae analysis. Our research provided information related to the length of peatland existence and the characteristics of its natural/pristine state before the most recent human impacts. Changes in the Sphagnum communities before human impact could have resulted from climate cooling during the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA). In this cold and unstable hydrological period, among vascular plants, Eriophorum vaginatum and Baeothryon caespitosum dominated in the peatland vegetation. Peat-forming Sphagnum communities survived the drainage conducted during the 20th century at the Bagno Kusowo bog. We provide three important messages through this study: (1) testate amoebae reflect similar hydrological trends in two peat cores despite considerable microhabitat variability, (2) average long-term water level 10 cm below the surface should be a target for active bog conservation and (3) sites like Bagno Kusowo are extremely important to preserve the remains of pristine biodiversity (including genetic diversity of plants and protists) that was completely removed from most of the raised bogs in Europe due to human activities, for example, drainage.

scholarly journals Wykorzystanie analizy ameb skorupkowych do rekonstrukcji ekstremalnych zmian w hydrologii stanowiska Płotycze koło Sobiboru

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Joanna Jarosz ◽  
Magdalena Suchora ◽  
Anna Piróg
Keyword(s):  
Historical Data ◽  
Testate Amoebae ◽  
Peat Bog ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Data Mapping ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Peat Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gis Tools ◽  
History Of

<p>The study focused on reconstruction of the extreme hydrological changes within the bog surrounding the lake Płotycze near Sobibór over the past 200 years. The site has been located within the reserve „Three Lakes”, in the Sobibór Landscape Park. The main aim was to determine the intensity of these changes and to determine the extent to which allogeneic and indigenous factors resulted in the functioning of peat bog. Analysis consisted of 0.60 m peat core extracted from the northwestern part of the bog, including the youngest periods in the history of the bog. This section, as follows directly from historical data, is also a carrier of data on intensive human impact on the area. As a research method testate amoebae analysis was used. These organisms belong to the dominant group of peat microorganisms. The results obtained enabled to determine two main paleohydrology phases in the last 200 years of the peat bog history. These phases have been correlated with historical data and with the results of previous studies carried out in the peat bog, i.e. reconstruction of water level changes based on data mapping using GIS tools and the study of plant communities.</p>

Marxist Historiography Today

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Hobsbawm
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Human Society ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Methodology Of Science ◽  
The Way

This chapter discusses Marxist historiography in the present times. In the interpretation of the world nowadays, there has been a rise in the so-called anti-Rankean reaction in history, of which Marxism is an important but not always fully acknowledged element. This movement challenged the positivist belief that the objective structure of reality was self-explanatory, and that all that was needed was to apply the methodology of science to it and explain why things happened the way they did. This movement also brought together history with the social sciences, therefore turning it into part of a generalizing discipline capable of explaining transformations of human society in the course of its past. This new perspective on the past is a return to ‘total history’, in which the focus is not merely on the ‘history of everything’ but history as an indivisible web wherein all human activities are interconnected.

scholarly journals Climate change in arid environments: revisiting the past to understand the future

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 502-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Lioubimtseva
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Arid Regions ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Climate Feedbacks ◽  
Ecosystem Responses ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Precipitation Changes ◽  
Climate Change Modelling

Arid regions are expected to undergo significant changes under a scenario of climate warming, but there is considerable variability and uncertainty in these estimates between different scenarios. The complexities of precipitation changes, vegetation-climate feedbacks and direct physiological effects of CO2 on vegetation present particular challenges for climate change modelling of arid regions. Great uncertainties exist in the prediction of arid ecosystem responses to elevated CO2 and global warming. Palaeodata provide important information about the past frequency, intensity and subregional patterns of change in the world’s deserts that cannot always be captured by the climatic models. However, it is important to bear in mind that the global mechanisms of Quaternary climatic variability were different from present-day trends, and any direct analogies between the past and present should be treated with great caution. Although palaeodata provide valuable information about possible past changes in the vegetation-climate system, it is unlikely that the history of the world’s deserts is a key for their future.

scholarly journals Environmental Reconstructions in the Upper Tana region, Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Lazarus Kinyua Ngari
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Plant Succession ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
The Past

This article sets out to unravel aspects of environmental changes in the Upper Tana during the second millennium AD. This aspect has not been adequately addressed in the Upper Tana. This makes it clear that a lacuna exists in the study of communities of the Upper Tana and the way they interact with their environment in the past and present times. The objective of this article is to evaluate the relationship between human activities and environmental change in the Upper Tana from AD 1000 to 1950. It is hypothesized that the advent of iron technology and its attendant economic activities led to the depletion of indigenous forests and the general environmental degradation. The article has employed archaeological, ethnographic, oral and historical methodologies to gather data on vegetation change in the Upper Tana and other related regions.  The article, argues that livestock grazing, iron smelting, slush and burn agriculture, and the clearing of forests for housing are key contributors to vegetation change in the Upper Tana.  Results from oral reconstruction of the past vegetation of the area, and using the plant succession theory, shows that the lowland area of the Upper Tana is actually savanna with scattered trees probably inhabited by grazers. It is posited that the above factors, together with persistent droughts have altered the vegetation cover of the area.  What we have today is colonization of less desirable stunted growth. The theory advanced here is that the vegetation change has been a result of human activities.  Overwhelmingly, results the study that the researcher carried out, showed that the causes of these changes have been socio-economically associated with the expansion of agricultural communities into the area; rather than through climatic factors. Colonisation and other forces of modernistion have also contributed to the underlying problem. The article concludes that anthropogenetic factors have greatly contributed to environmental change in the upper Tana. Certainly, environmental change is a global phenomenon that has elicited research interests due to its negative impacts on human population. It is recommended that knowledge of environmental change in the past should be used to extrapolate modern environmental challenges affecting African ecosystems.

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