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Development of Rich Fen on the SE Baltic Coast, Latvia, during the Last 7500 Years, Using Paleoecological Proxies: Implications for Plant Community Development and Paleoclimatic Research
- Source :
- Wetlands. 36:689-703
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2016.
-
Abstract
- We present the paleoecological development of a rich fen located in the dune area on the SE Baltic coast, during the last 7500 years. The Apsuciems Mire hosts rare and endangered plant communities in Europe, such as Schoenus ferrugineus and Cladium mariscus. Analysis at high-resolution of plant macroremains in two peat cores was carried out to reconstruct local vegetation succession and fluctuations in moisture availability on the peatland, while a pollen record was developed to reconstruct plant succession, moisture variability and human activity at the regional scale. Based on the presence or the absence of macroremains of plants that occur in wet habitat e.g. Cladium mariscus, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Alisma plantago-aquatica and Botrycoccocus we distinguished four wet periods ca. 6000, 2000, 1750–1550, 1200–150 cal yr. BP and four dry periods (ca. 7000, 4600–4200, 1800–1750, 1550–1200 cal yr. BP) in the peatland’s development. A water level increase at 1200 cal yr. BP triggered the development of plant communities containing Chara sp., Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, then Cladium mariscus. Our study shows a link between climate change at the regional scale and vegetation development in Apsuciems Mire. We showed that changes in vegetation structure during last 150 years was caused by drainage and human activity.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
010506 paleontology
geography
Peat
geography.geographical_feature_category
Ecology
Cladium mariscus
biology
Wetland
Plant community
Ecological succession
Vegetation
biology.organism_classification
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Environmental Science(all)
Mire
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental science
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
General Environmental Science
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19436246 and 02775212
- Volume :
- 36
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Wetlands
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....dead39d35b6b6e6b0f8cee317b3ba9ca