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- Kalinska-Nartisa, Edyta, et al.
(author)
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Upper Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental changes at the Zwierzyniec site, Central Poland
- 2016
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In: Geological Quarterly. - : Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute (PGI-NRI). - 1641-7291. ; 60:3, s. 610-623
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The paper presents the data on an Eemian-Late Glacial sedimentary sequence from the Zwierzyniec site, central Poland. A number of boreholes document one or two organic layers that occur beneath one or two horizons of clayey and silty deposits of ice-dammed lakes. This study demonstrates to which extent the Zwierzyniec site can contribute to a better understanding of the palaeoenvironmental changes during the Eemian-Vistulian time-frame in central Poland. To study it, a multi-proxy approach was applied, involving: palynological and plant macrofossil analysis, study of rounding of quartz grains and morphology of their surface, and investigations of sand mineralogy and till petrography. The results show that a till bed is overlain by a sandy series corresponding to the glacial-interglacial transition. Either one or two distinct peaks of organic accumulation are evidenced by peat horizons. The lower horizon records spectra with hazel and hornbeam, and did, therefore, accumulate in the Eemian. Observed only in some boreholes, the upper peat horizon marks the Brørup (or the lower part of the Rederstall stadial) represented by forest-steppe conditions with patchy mosaics of larch and further transition into sedges and herbaceous taxa. Localized in between the two peat sequences, the sandy horizon marks a long-lasting aeolian transformation with weathering by frost in the Early Vistulian. Again, significant changes of the palaeoenvironmental regime occurred, and are manifested in the one or two horizons of the glaciolacustrine sediments. This corresponded to the last glaciation in the region, when the ice-dammed lakes formed during the Main Stadial.
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| 2. |
- Pearce, Elena A., et al.
(author)
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Substantial light woodland and open vegetation characterized the temperate forest biome before Homo sapiens
- 2023
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In: Science Advances. - 2375-2548. ; 9:45
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The extent of vegetation openness in past European landscapes is widely debated. In particular, the temperate forest biome has traditionally been defined as dense, closed-canopy forest; however, some argue that large herbivores maintained greater openness or even wood-pasture conditions. Here, we address this question for the Last Interglacial period (129,000–116,000 years ago), before Homo sapiens–linked megafauna declines and anthropogenic landscape transformation. We applied the vegetation reconstruction method REVEALS to 96 Last Interglacial pollen records. We found that light woodland and open vegetation represented, on average, more than 50% cover during this period. The degree of openness was highly variable and only partially linked to climatic factors, indicating the importance of natural disturbance regimes. Our results show that the temperate forest biome was historically heterogeneous rather than uniformly dense, which is consistent with the dependency of much of contemporary European biodiversity on open vegetation and light woodland.
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