Open AccessClimate and human induced hydrological change since AD 800 in an ombrotrophic mire in Pomerania (N Poland) tracked by testate amoebae, macro‐fossils, pollen and tree rings of pine
Author(s) -
LAMENTOWICZ MARIUSZ,
MILECKA KRYSTYNA,
GAŁKA MARIUSZ,
CEDRO ANNA,
PAWLYTA JACEK,
PIOTROWSKA NATALIA,
LAMENTOWICZ ŁUKASZ,
VAN DER KNAAP WILLEM O.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
boreas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1502-3885
pISSN - 0300-9483
DOI - 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2008.00047.x
Subject(s) - testate amoebae , ombrotrophic , macrofossil , mire , bog , water table , peat , ecology , physical geography , sphagnum , climate change , geology , vegetation (pathology) , pollen , environmental science , biology , geography , groundwater , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology
This high‐resolution, multiproxy, palaeoenvironmental study of the Słowińskie Błota raised bog in N Poland, 10 km from the Baltic Sea, covering the last 1200 years reveals different aspects of environmental change in a range of spatial scales from local to regional. Testate amoebae allowed quantitative reconstruction of the local water table using a transfer function based on a training set from N and W Poland. Special attention is paid to the testate amoeba Arcella discoides , which responds to rapid water‐table fluctuations more than to average surface wetness. Macrofossils supported by local pollen tracked the local vegetation dynamics caused by local human impact and disturbance, including nutrients. Regional pollen showed human‐induced landscape change outside the bog. Tree rings of Pinus sylvestris reflected the history of tree establishment and desiccation of the bog. Strong correlations between DCA axes 1 of regional pollen, of macrofossils and of testate amoebae, and a testate‐amoebae‐based water‐table reconstruction that excludes A. discoides , indicate that changes on all spatial scales are linked, which is explained by a strong hydrologic connection between bog and surroundings. The combination of proxies shows that groundwater levels were modified by both human impact and climate change.