logo
    Hydrological variability of middle European peatland during the Holocene, inferred from subfossil bog pine and bog oak dendrochronology and high-resolution peat multiproxy analysis of the Budwity peatland (northern Poland)
    1
    Citation
    74
    Reference
    10
    Related Paper
    Citation Trend
    Keywords:
    Subfossil
    Macrofossil
    Mire
    Testate amoebae
    Sphagnum
    Paleoecology
    The disappearance of the previously abundant moss species Sphagnum imbricatum has been investigated at Butterburn Flow, northern England, using organic geochemical, elemental, macrofossil, pollen and testate amoebae analyses. Variations in the assemblage of peat-forming plants were tracked using the macrofossil distributions as well as the relative chain lengths of n-alkanes and concentrations of 5- n-alkylresorcinols and triterpenols. No significant changes to the vegetation assemblage could be detected prior to the loss of S. imbricatum. Variations in water depth were reconstructed using a testate amoebae transfer function and inferred qualitatively using bulk elemental composition and biomarkers for changing redox conditions in the bog subsurface: the degree of isomerization in the C 31 hopanes, and the concentrations of bishomohopanol and archaeol. Pollen analysis reconstructed the landscape surrounding the mire and revealed evidence for human disturbance. The results suggest that bog surface wetness increased with the transition from Sphagnum imbricatum to Sphagnum magellanicum, but the increase was not large and S. imbricatum had previously survived similar periods of wetness. However, the loss of S. imbricatum coincides with increasing human disturbance surrounding the bog, which may have altered nutrient inputs to the bog surface from agriculturally derived dust, to the detriment of S. imbricatum but to the benefit of S. magellanicum and Eriophorum vaginatum. It is proposed here that the stresses imposed by the combination of changing nutrient inputs and a rapidly rising water-table drove the disappearance of S. imbricatum from Butterburn Flow at c. cal. AD 1300.
    Mire
    Sphagnum
    Testate amoebae
    Macrofossil
    Ombrotrophic
    Carex
    Cyperaceae
    Citations (59)
    The study of a subfossil peat from the northwestern part of Edgeøya (Svalbard) enabled a reconstruction of the changes in the testate amoebae communities from c. 5000 BP to c. 3800 BP to be made. Two stratigraphical zones are recognized. The ecological interpretation of these sequences revealed rather humid and unstable hydrological conditions at the bog surface in the oldest zone, which presumably lasted until about 45004300 BP. The communities in the upper zone indicated a more stable and drier environment.
    Subfossil
    Testate amoebae
    Citations (24)
    Based on analysis of the plant macrofossil composition in the peat deposits, we can identify the environments these plants were formed and developed. This paper is aimed at a detailed study of the macrofossil assemblages from the peat deposits in the Wittgirrensky peatland, which is a study site of the Rossyanka Carbon Polygon in the Kaliningrad Region. The conclusions of the study may contribute to the general insight into the mire flora development in the SouthEastern Baltic region. In total, 85 types of plant and animal macroremains were found in the peat and gyttja samples from the Wittgirrensky peatland, representing 39 different taxonomic groups, which were combined into 6 main macrofossil assemblage zones: 1) Salix-Phragmites, 2) Carex-Drepanocladus, 3) Pinus-Ericaceae, 4) Sphagnum magellanicum, 5) Sphagnum fuscum, 6) Sphagnum-Ericaceae.
    Macrofossil
    Mire
    Sphagnum
    Carex
    Phragmites
    Calluna
    Flora
    Citations (0)
    The aim of this thesis has been to reconstruct proxy-climatic conditions from three ombrotrophic mires across the western side of Britain (Bolton Fell Moss, Langlands Moss, Mynydd Llangatwg). Detailed investigations of core material has incorporated the application of a range of palaeoecological techniques including colorimetric humification, plant macrofossil and testate amoebae analyses at high-resolution intervals. Results from the humfication analyses indicate significant fluctuations in mire surface conditions which, in the case of Bolton Fell Moss, appear to be replicatable. Plant macrofossil datasets also record variations in surface conditions, indicated by changes in species composition, although, in contrast to the humification datasets, records obtained from Bolton Fell Moss have been found to differ markedly. Statistical modelling of these raw macrofossil datasets using multivariate techniques has enabled the transformation of the data into indices of relative mire surface conditions, thereby generating proxy-climatic curves which are directly comparable with the humification records. Having identified a number of correlating shifts in relative surface conditions, interpolated timescales were developed for each of the sites investigated using a combination of wiggle-matched AMS dating, lead-210 and spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCP) analyses. Comparison of the proxy-climate records has led to the identification of correlating shifts in mire surface conditions. A number of these shifts have been found to be associated with established shifts in regional climatic conditions, such as the coldest stages of the Little Ice Age, the Medieval Warm Period, the AD 540 tree-ring event and the Sub-boreal/Sub-atlantic transition.
    Macrofossil
    Ombrotrophic
    Mire
    Testate amoebae
    Sphagnum
    Citations (0)
    Sphagnum mire occupies extensive tracts of land throughout the boreal and subarctic regions.In China,sphagnum mire mostly develops in Daxinganling,Xiaoxinganling and Changbai Mountains,etc..But,the large areas of sphagnum mire in subtropical zone are rare.We investigated the ecological characteristics of sphagnum mire at Qizimei Mountains,Erxianyan and Hanchi in Western Hubei Province,and combined with research literatures of sphagnum mire at Dajiu Lake,the paper has summarized ecological characteristics of four sphagnum mires in subtropical China.
    Mire
    Sphagnum
    Subarctic climate
    Citations (1)
    This paper describes a fossil record from northeastern Poland of Sphagnum obtusum Warnst., a plant that has rarely been found in Holocene sediments. This species occurred circa 1710–1570 cal. BP on Mechacz Wielki peatland and was present in the transitional phase between a fen that developed on lake sediments and a bog. Sphagnum obtusum was a dominant species and was accompanied by such vascular plants such as Scheuchzeria palustris, Carex rostrata, Comarum palustre and Oxycoccus palustris. Using testate amoebae, we reconstructed the past habitat (water table and pH), with S. obtusum occurring in a moderately wet habitat (mean depth to the water table or DWT = 9.5, SD = 0.5) and under slightly acid conditions (mean pH = 5, SD = 0.1). A clear correlation was found between the distributions of the subfossil S. obtusum and those of the indicator testate amoebae Hyalosphenia papilio and Cyclopyxis arcelloides. The disappearance of S. obtusum is assumed to have been caused by a trophic shift and succession of a more acidophilic species, Sphagnum angustifolium.
    Sphagnum
    Subfossil
    Testate amoebae
    Carex
    Cyperaceae
    Indicator species
    Citations (17)
    Abstract We present a record of peatland development in relation to climate changes and human activities from the Palomaa mire, a remote site in northern Finland. We used fine‐resolution and continuous sampling to analyse several proxies including pollen (for vegetation on and around the mire), testate amoebae (TA; for mire‐wetness changes), oxygen and carbon isotopes from Sphagnum cellulose (δ 18 O and δ 13 C; for humidity and temperature changes), peat‐accumulation rates and peat‐colour changes. In spite of an excellent accumulation model (30 14 C dates and estimated standard deviation of sample ages <1 year in the most recent part), the potential to determine cause–effect (or lead–lag) relationships between environmental changes and biotic responses is limited by proxy‐specific incorporation processes below the actively growing Sphagnum surface. Nevertheless, what emerges is that mire development was closely related to water‐table changes rather than to summer temperature and that water‐table decreases were associated with increasing peat‐accumulation rates and more abundant mire vegetation. A rapid fen‐to‐bog transition occurred within a few years around AD 1960 when the water table decreased beyond the historical minimum, supporting the notion that mires can rapidly shift into bogs in response to allogenic factors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    Mire
    Sphagnum
    Testate amoebae
    Ombrotrophic
    Citations (17)