Palaeobotanical studies on Late Glacial and Holocene vegetation development and transformations of the ‘Wielkie Błoto’ mire near Gołdap (north-eastern Poland)

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of palynological, macrofossil and peat analyses that were conducted on deposits from a profile collected from the Wielkie Błoto mire near Bałupiany (north eastern Poland). The investigation revealed that the recorded changes of vegetation span the period from the decline of the Younger Dryas (ca 9600 cal. yr BC) to the late Subboreal or early Subatlantic chronozone, but due to a 40 cm long sediment gap a complete reconstruction was not possible. At the beginning, the area was occupied by steppe and tundra communities together with abundant Juniperus stands. A subsequent expansion of birch (Betula) woodlands with pine (Pinus sylvestris) took place in the Preboreal chronozone in which a rise in the water level and/or basin deepening was recorded at the site as well. The domination of such woodlands lasted to the end of the Boreal chronozone when Corylus avellana expanded rapidly. In the Atlantic chronozone multispecies deciduous forests developed with Tilia cordata and Quercus, while Ulmus together with Alnus spread in damp habitats. During this chronozone, traces of the occurrence of Carpinus betulus were detected in the macrofossil analysis, while the pollen analysis failed to record its presence. The expansion of Carpinus betulus and Picea abies was characteristic of the Subboreal chronozone when both taxa presented antagonistic optima. Alone in north-eastern Poland, there was a re-expansion of deciduous forest in the younger part of the Subboreal chronozone caused probably by low human impact, which is reflected in the whole profile. The first probable traces of human activity were noticed in the Atlantic chronozone and attributed to peoples of the Mesolithic or Early Neolithic cultures, while the first evidence of cultivation was correlated to the Bronze Age. However, the low resolution of the radiocarbon dates did not allow a more precise reconstruction of the chronology. The analysis of macrofossils and tissues indicated two episodes of oligotrophication of the mire. The first one took place during the Boreal chronozone, while the second fall in trophy was triggered by spruce expansion in the Subboreal chronozone. On the other hand, a rise in human impact during the first Carpinus betulus maximum caused eutrophication of the mire.

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The Late Glacial and Holocene development of vegetation in the area of a fossil lake in the Skaliska Basin (north-eastern Poland) inferred from pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating

Acta Palaeobotanica ◽

10.2478/acpa-2013-0003 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 23-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Piotr Kołaczek ◽

Mirosława Kupryjanowicz ◽

Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek ◽

Marta Szal ◽

Hanna Winter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Picea Abies ◽

Radiocarbon Dating ◽

Late Phase ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Corylus Avellana ◽

Rapid Expansion ◽

Vegetation Development ◽

Modern Times ◽

North Eastern ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene

ABSTRACT The development of vegetation in the Skaliska Basin has been reconstructed on the basis of palynological analysis and radiocarbon dating (AMS technique) of 6 sites from the late phase of the Bolling- Allerod interstadial complex to modern times. Although the area covers 90 km2, the mosaic character of habitats led to the development of different patterns of vegetation changes during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Only one site located in the eastern part of the Skaliska Basin reflected the ‘pine phase’ of Allerod, and this is the oldest data on vegetation in the Skaliska Basin. Interesting discrepancies were recorded during the Younger Dryas when patches of shrublands with Juniperus were distinct around some of the sites, while steppe with Artemisia was common in others. The beginning of the Holocene brought an expansion of birch-pine forest, but around 9600 cal. BC a cold oscillation took place which was reflected in an increase in birch in the woodlands in the western and eastern part of the Skaliska Basin. In the Preboreal chronozone elm (Ulmus) also expanded in the area but its appearance was non-synchronous. The vegetation of the Boreal chronozone was similar in the whole area and the most characteristic feature was the rapid expansion of hazel (Corylus avellana) which displaced Betula from the most of its sites. At that time a distinct redeposition of pollen material in the Parchatka river valley was detected which was probably the effect of an increase in fluvial activity of the river (humid oscillation). The following stage of vegetation development was climax woodlands with Tilia cordata, Ulmus, Quercus, Corylus avellana, and Alnus in damp places. At the beginning of the Subboreal chronozone the expansion of Quercus took place, which was subsequently replaced by Picea abies and partly Carpinus betulus. The pattern of Picea abies expansion distinctly presents two maxima which is characteristic of many sites in the north-eastern Poland. The Subatlantic chronozone is represented only by the profile from the Skaliski Forest, where, because of sandy ground, Pinus sylvestris was the dominant element. Human impact was poorly reflected through the rare occurrence of pollen grains of Cerealia type in the pollen profiles spanning the time from the Subboreal chronozone to modern times. In most profiles AMS dating produced age discrepancies, which limited the possibility of establishment of a detailed chronology. However, dates obtained from the material contaminated by mixture of glycerine, thymol and ethyl alcohol, pretreated by alcohol, showed reliable results in most cases.

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Holocene vegetation, fire and land use dynamics at Lake Svityaz, an agriculturally marginal site in northwestern Ukraine

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany ◽

10.1007/s00334-021-00844-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christoph Schwörer ◽

Erika Gobet ◽

Jacqueline F. N. van Leeuwen ◽

Sarah Bögli ◽

Rachel Imboden ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Human Impact ◽

Central Europe ◽

Large Scale ◽

Mixed Forest ◽

Fire Risk ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Agricultural Activity ◽

Fire Dynamics

AbstractObserving natural vegetation dynamics over the entire Holocene is difficult in Central Europe, due to pervasive and increasing human disturbance since the Neolithic. One strategy to minimize this limitation is to select a study site in an area that is marginal for agricultural activity. Here, we present a new sediment record from Lake Svityaz in northwestern Ukraine. We have reconstructed regional and local vegetation and fire dynamics since the Late Glacial using pollen, spores, macrofossils and charcoal. Boreal forest composed of Pinus sylvestris and Betula with continental Larix decidua and Pinus cembra established in the region around 13,450 cal bp, replacing an open, steppic landscape. The first temperate tree to expand was Ulmus at 11,800 cal bp, followed by Quercus, Fraxinus excelsior, Tilia and Corylus ca. 1,000 years later. Fire activity was highest during the Early Holocene, when summer solar insolation reached its maximum. Carpinus betulus and Fagus sylvatica established at ca. 6,000 cal bp, coinciding with the first indicators of agricultural activity in the region and a transient climatic shift to cooler and moister conditions. Human impact on the vegetation remained initially very low, only increasing during the Bronze Age, at ca. 3,400 cal bp. Large-scale forest openings and the establishment of the present-day cultural landscape occurred only during the past 500 years. The persistence of highly diverse mixed forest under absent or low anthropogenic disturbance until the Early Middle Ages corroborates the role of human impact in the impoverishment of temperate forests elsewhere in Central Europe. The preservation or reestablishment of such diverse forests may mitigate future climate change impacts, specifically by lowering fire risk under warmer and drier conditions.

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Some aspects of the last glaciation in the Mazury Lake District (north-eastern Poland)

Acta Palaeobotanica ◽

10.2478/acpa-2013-0001 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 3-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Katarzyna Pochocka-Szwarc

Keyword(s):

Ice Sheet ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Climatic Changes ◽

Lake District ◽

Last Glaciation ◽

North Eastern ◽

Melt Water ◽

History Of ◽

Organic Sediments ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene

ABSTRACT The morphology of the Mazury Lake District (north-eastern Poland) dates from 24-19 ka (main stadial of the youngest Vistulian glaciation). During this last glacial maximum (MIS 2) a belt with lacustrine basins was formed when the ice sheet retreated at the end of the Pomeranian phase. The ice-sheet retreat is morphologically also expressed by the occurrence of end moraines. The study area is situated in the Skaliska Basin, in the northern part of the Lake District (near the Polish/ Russian border), at the periphery of zone with end moraines. Originally the basin was an ice-dammed depression filled with melt water; the water flowed out into the developing Pregoła valley when the ice retreated and did no longer dam off the depression. The basin, which is surrounded by hill-shaped moraines, is filled now with Late Glacial and Holocene glaciolacustrine sediments. The organic sediments of the basin record the history of the Late Glacial and Holocene climatic changes in this region.

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Late-glacial and Holocene woodland dynamics and land-use history of the Lower Oder valley, north-eastern Germany, based on two, AMS14C-dated, pollen profiles

Vegetation History and Archaeobotany ◽

10.1007/bf01300061 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 111-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Susanne Jahns

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Land Use History ◽

Eastern Germany ◽

North Eastern ◽

History Of ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene ◽

Woodland Dynamics

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Radiocarbon Chronology of the Late Pleistocene–Holocene Paleogeographic Events in Lake Baikal Region (Siberia)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200035785 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 745-754 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Sergey K Krivonogov ◽

Hikaru Takahara ◽

Yaroslav V Kuzmin ◽

Lyobov A Orlova ◽

A J Timothy Jull ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Lake Baikal ◽

Baikal Region ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Vegetation Changes ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Lake Baikal Region ◽

Cold Events ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene ◽

Radiocarbon Chronology

New radiocarbon dates obtained from Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of the southern, eastern, and northern shores of Lake Baikal in 1995–2001 are presented, and the most important results of paleoenvironmental studies based on C data are discussed. The following paleogeographic events were verified with the help of C dating: 1) first Late Pleistocene glaciation (Early Zyryan); 2) Middle Zyryan interstadial; 3) loess formation during the Late Zyryan (Sartan) deglaciation; 4) warm and cold events in the Late Glacial; and 5) vegetation changes and forest successions during the Late Glacial and Holocene.

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Changes in the Natural Environment Recorded in the Sediments of the Karaśne Lake-Mire Complex (Lublin Polesie, E Poland)

Geochronometria ◽

10.2478/v10003-007-0032-z ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 29 (-1) ◽

pp. 1-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Krystyna Bałaga

Keyword(s):

Human Impact ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Multidisciplinary Research ◽

Glacial Sediments ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene

Changes in the Natural Environment Recorded in the Sediments of the Karaśne Lake-Mire Complex (Lublin Polesie, E Poland)This article presents results of multidisciplinary research which has been carried out in order to determine changes in the vegetation cover as well as changes in the structure of the Karaśne lake-mire complex in the Late Glacial and Holocene. In addition, human impact on the formation of the vegetation cover and the bio- and chronostratigraphy of the Late Glacial sediments is discussed.

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Vegetation history and paleoclimate at Lake Dojran (FYROM/Greece) during the Late Glacial and Holocene

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-14-351-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 351-367 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Alessia Masi ◽

Alexander Francke ◽

Caterina Pepe ◽

Matthias Thienemann ◽

Bernd Wagner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Human Impact ◽

Vegetation History ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction ◽

Human Presence ◽

Age Model ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene ◽

Southern Balkans

Abstract. A new high-resolution pollen and NPP (non-pollen palynomorph) analysis has been performed on the sediments of Lake Dojran, a transboundary lake located at the border between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The sequence covers the last 12 500 years and provides information on the vegetational dynamics of the Late Glacial and Holocene for the southern Balkans. Robust age model, sedimentological diatom, and biomarker analyses published previously have been the base for a multi-perspective interpretation of the new palynological data. Pollen analysis revealed that the Late Glacial is characterized by steppic taxa with prevailing Amaranthaceae, Artemisia and Poaceae. The arboreal vegetation starts to rise after 11 500 yr BP, taking a couple of millennia to be definitively attested. Holocene vegetation is characterized by the dominance of mesophilous plants. The Quercus robur type and Pinus are the most abundant taxa, followed by the Quercus cerris type, the Quercus ilex type and Ostrya–Carpinus orientalis. The first attestation of human presence can be presumed at 5000 yr BP from the contemporary presence of cereals, Juglans and Rumex. A drop in both pollen concentration and influx together with a δ18Ocarb shift indicates increasing aridity and precedes clear and continuous human signs since 4000 yr BP. Also, a correlation between Pediastrum boryanum and fecal stanol suggests that the increase in nutrients in the water is related to human presence and pasture. An undoubted expansion of human-related plants occurs since 2600 yr BP when cereals, arboreal cultivated and other synanthropic non-cultivated taxa are found. A strong reduction in arboreal vegetation occurred at 2000 yr BP, when the Roman Empire impacted a landscape undergoing climate dryness in the whole Mediterranean area. In recent centuries the human impact still remains high but spots of natural vegetation are preserved. The Lake Dojran multi-proxy analysis including pollen data provides clear evidence of the importance of this approach in paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Cross-interpretation of several proxies allows us to comprehend past vegetation dynamics and human impact in the southern Balkans.

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2400 years of climate and human-induced environmental change recorded in sediments of Lake Młynek in northern Poland

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-17-1181-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 1181-1198

Author(s):

Fabian Welc ◽

Jerzy Nitychoruk ◽

Leszek Marks ◽

Krzysztof Bińka ◽

Anna Rogóż-Matyszczak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Impact ◽

Human Activity ◽

Iron Age ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Deciduous Forest ◽

13Th Century ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Forest Clearing ◽

Early Medieval Period ◽

Northern Poland

Abstract. In the densely forested Warmia and Masuria region (northern Poland) there are many small endorheic lakes characterized by their low sedimentation rate, which makes them excellent archives of Holocene environmental and palaeoclimatic change. Lake Młynek, located near the village of Janiki Wielkie, was selected for multi-faceted palaeoenvironmental research supported with radiocarbon dates. Sediments from this lake also contain unique information about human impact on the environment, because a stronghold has been operating on its northern shore since the early Iron Age to the early Medieval period, giving the opportunity to correlate palaeoenvironmental data with the phases of human activity over the last 2400 years. During the second and third centuries BCE the lake was surrounded by a dense deciduous forest. From the first century BCE to second century CE the forest around the lake was much reduced, which can be associated with the first pre-Roman (La Tène) and Roman occupation phase evidenced by the construction of the stronghold located close to the lake. From the second up to ninth century CE gradual restoration of the forest and a decline in human activity took place, along with lake deepening and the onset of a colder and humid climatic phase which corresponded to the global cooling episode known as the Bond 1 event (1.5 ka BP). The next intensive phase of forest clearing around the lake occurred between the 9th–13th century CE as result of human activity (Middle Age settlement phase of the stronghold). Whilst this period is marked by a warming, the human impact which has transformed the landscape likely overprints any signals of climate-driven environmental changes.

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Hydrological Changes After the Last Ice Retreat in Northern Poland Using Radiocarbon Dating

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200048633 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 55 (3) ◽

pp. 1712-1723 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Danuta J Michczyńska ◽

Leszek Starkel ◽

Dorota Nalepka ◽

Anna Pazdur

Keyword(s):

Radiocarbon Dating ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Simplified Model ◽

Peat Bogs ◽

Ice Melting ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Hydrological Changes ◽

Ice Retreat ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene ◽

The Last Glacial

A simplified model of hydrological changes during the Late Glacial and Holocene is presented for the northern Polish regions that were ice covered during the Last Glacial. This reconstruction is based on a group of 197 radiocarbon dates from about 120 localities reflecting the sequence of alternating lake transgressions and regressions. The earliest transgressions were related to dead-ice melting (sometimes in 2–3 phases), while the later ones started during more humid phases. However, these were usually followed by regressions, which may have been connected with the formation of new drainage systems and with the overgrowing of shallow lakes by peat bogs.

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