Irena Agnieszka Pidek

The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) project

Modern pollen samples provide an invaluable research tool for helping to interpret the quaternary fossil pollen record, allowing investigation of the relationship between pollen as the proxy and the environmental parameters such as vegetation, land-use, and climate that the pollen proxy represents. The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) is a new initiative within the European Pollen Database (EPD) to establish a publicly accessible repository of modern (surface sample) pollen data. This new database will complement the EPD, which at present holds only fossil sedimentary pollen data. The EMPD is freely available online to the scientific community and currently has information on almost 5,000 pollen samples from throughout the Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean regions, contributed by over 40 individuals and research groups. Here we describe how the EMPD was constructed, the various tables and their fields, problems and errors, quality controls, and continuing efforts to improve the available data.

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES OF SPRING MIRE DEPOSITS FROM RADZIKÓW (SOUTH PODLASIE LOWLAND, EAST POLAND) AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTIONS

The paper presents the results of interdisciplinary (multiproxy) palaeoenvironmental studies of peat — calcareous tufa depositional sequences of spring mire from Radzików site (east Poland). Analyses of three biotic proxies (plant macrofossils, pollen, molluscs) were supplemented with sedimentological, geochemical, oxygen and carbon stable isotopes analyses and radiocarbon dating and used for reconstruction of environmental changes in Late Glacial and Holocene. The obtained results enable us to (1) reconstruct main phases of mire development and (2) determine environmental factors influencing changes of water supply.The object started to develop in Allerød. The Late Glacial and Early Holocene deposit sequence is relatively thick (about 1.0 m), with good palaeoecological record. The boundary between Younger Dryas and Preboreal is especially well confirmed by palynological and malacological analyses as well as radiocarbon dating. The Mesoholocene deposits are considerably worse preserved. Mire development was evaluated in terms of general mire ecology.

Pollen–vegetation relationships for pine and spruce in southeast Poland on the basis of volumetric and Tauber trap records

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the pollen–vegetation relationship for Pinus and Picea. Pollen deposition was monitored using Tauber traps in the Roztocze region of Poland. The pine and spruce pollen sums obtained were compared with annual sums recorded in volumetric samplers in the cities of Lublin and Rzeszów. Average values of pollen deposition were compared to a detailed inventory of vegetation within a radius of 1 km of the monitoring sites. A more robust vegetation survey, conducted at a distance of 15 km, was used to estimate the proportion of pine and spruce pollen in regional pollen rain. The occurrence of high and low pollen deposition years was studied. Between 2001 and 2006, the data from Lublin and Roztocze produced similar trends in the high or low Pinus pollen sums. The representation of pine in the pollen spectra was very high, due to both its abundance in the regional vegetation and the prevalence of long-distance transport of pine pollen. Comparison of pollen and vegetation data indicates that, in the case of spruce, the distance from the monitoring site and forest structure are the most important factors influencing pollen representation. The problems associated with estimating pollen productivity of both pine and spruce in relation to Poaceae is discussed.

Environmental changes and human impact on Holocene evolution of the Horodyska River valley (Lublin Upland, East Poland)

Environmental Changes and Human Impact on Holocene Evolution of the Horodyska River Valley (Lublin Upland, East Poland) Interdisciplinary palaeoenvironmental studies, conducted near the multi-cultural archaeological sites in the Horodyska River valley (Lublin Upland, East Poland), enable to reconstruct natural and anthropogenic changes of fluvial landscape in the Holocene. The changes are evidenced by the results of archaeological, geological, sedimentological and palynological investigations, as well as radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating. The Horodyska fluvial system started functioning at the turn of the Late Vistulian and Preboreal. From the beginning of the Subatlantic the record of environmental changes in valley deposits bears the mark of human impact. Main phases of settlement on the river valley bottom (higher terrace) correspond to rather dry periods (Neolithic, Bronze Age, Halstadt period, period of Roman influence, early Middle Ages). Moistening of climate and its associated rise of groundwater level forced people to move settlement on the loess plateau and found a stronghold at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries.

Origin and evolution of the Bezedna lake-mire complex in the Lublin area (East Poland): a case study for permafrost lakes in karstic regions

The Bezedna site represents a unique lake–mire complex in the Lublin chalkland, eastern Poland. This karst region contains Upper Cretaceous carbonate rocks under the influence of continental climate. Using sedimentologic, palaeobotanical, and fossil ostracode analyses as well as radiocarbon dating on cores, we were able: (1) to reconstruct the morphogenetic mechanisms related to lake formation, (2) to describe the main stages of lake evolution, and (3) to identify the environmental conditions during this evolution. The first stage was the formation of an accumulation basin in a periglacial setting related to permafrost thawing in the last phase of the Weichselian and at the beginning of the Holocene. During the second stage, in the successive phases of the Holocene, lake evolution was determined by climate changes and local conditions, and in the youngest Subatlantic period—also by human activity in several settlement phases. Natural water bodies in a karstic region create unique conditions for water circulation, especially for groundwater. During the change from the periglacial to temperate climate of the Holocene in the Lublin chalkland, the response of substratum (deeply frozen during the Weichselian) was influential in the development of surface water conditions in the study area. The strong fracturing of the Upper Cretaceous bedrock and general change of groundwater circulation associated with the activation of an ascending groundwater supply favored the intensive dissolution of carbonate and the progressive ground subsidence. Based on the reconstruction and correlation with paleoenvironmental investigations of the adjacent Volhynia chalkland, we were able to estimate and compare the influences of local (morphologic and geologic) conditions versus global climate changes on the paleoenvironmental record. Climate-driven lake-level fluctuations coincided over great areas of the Northern Hemisphere and are well reflected in changes of the Ostracoda fauna.

Erratum to: The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) project

Unfortunately, the list of authors contains a number of duplications, omissions and other errors in the original publication of the article. The correct list appears in this erratum.

Palaeoecological evolution of a spring-fed fen in Pawłów (eastern Poland)

Abstract A continuous record of sedimentation in spring-fed fens makes them suitable for detailed palaeoenvironmental studies. A newly investigated cupola spring-fed fen (Pawłów site), located in the Lublin chalkland, eastern Poland, was the object of our study. This special karst region is characterised by the occurrence of Upper Cretaceous carbonate rocks in the substratum. Sedimentological observations indicated strong variability of biogenic-carbonate series in the deposits (=peat-tufa rhythmite), reflects changes of accumulation conditions (oxidising versus reducing), resulting from alternate occurrence of warmer and cooler periods. Difficulties in pollen analysis due to oxidising conditions necessitate a multidisciplinary approach for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. We used a multidisciplinary approach (sedimentological, palaeobotanical, geochemical analyses and radiocarbon dating) to determine the main evolutionary stages of this unique fen ecosystem and to discuss the role of local or/and regional factors in its development. Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses, supported by radiocarbon dating, proved that the bottom part of the cores represents the Late Glacial–Early Holocene stages of the fen development. A comparative analysis of palaeoenvironmental data showed close resemblance between the Pawłów fen and the earlier studied fens in eastern Poland and Central-Eastern Europe, and the connection between their development and supraregional hydrological-climatic factors. The results indicated also the influence of the morphological position of such a type of ecosystem on the development of a continuous deposit succession. The occurrence of a river valley in close proximity of the Pawłów site resulted in the lack of tufa deposits from the Atlantic period, because of an erosional phase in the river valley.

Late Saalian and Eemian Interglacial at the Struga site (Garwolin Plain, central Poland)

Abstract The paper reports pollen analyses of 47 samples from palaeolake sediments at WH-15 Struga near Puznówka on the Garwolin Plain in central Poland. The pollen succession covers Late Saalian (MIS-6) and fully developed Eemian (MIS-5e) successions. The Late Saalian section is well developed (more than 2 m thick) and contains sub-zones reflecting the alternating dominance of steppe-tundra and boreal forest communities. The analysed Eemian succession is an uncommon succession described as a variant with early appearance and culmination of Tilia. In these terms, the successions of WH-15 Struga resemble those of sites of the Eemian interglacial known from the vicinity of Warsaw: Błonie, Warszawa-Żoliborz and Warszawa-Wola. The WH-15 Struga site is one of several recently discovered fossil sites of Eemian lakes on the Garwolin Plain, constituting the southern fragment of the extensive Eemian lakeland in the Polish Lowland.

Unique Features of Interglacial Deposits (MIS 11, Eastern Poland): Comparison of Palaeobotanical and Geological Data

This paper describes a unique succession of alluvial deposits from the Holsteinian Interglacial in eastern Poland. The succession was studied in terms of sedimentology, palaeobotany, and thermoluminescence (TL) geochronology. The interglacial alluvial succession includes two facies of a meandering river: point bar and oxbow. TL ages of point bar deposits and palaeobotanical analysis of oxbow lake deposits allow us to associate the deposits with the initial phases (preoptimum period) of the Holsteinian Interglacial. Specific palaeoenvironmental conditions did not favour the formation of a complete interglacial biogenic–clastic succession as it was deposited in the shallow oxbow lake, which underwent rapid eutrophication.

Multi-proxy reconstruction of mire development in the Poręby Wojsławskie Ecosystem (Sandomierz Basin, Southeastern Poland)

Multi-proxy analysis (sedimentological, palaeobotanical, geochemical data and results of radiocarbon dating) of the biogenic sediments from a small mire ecosystem in the Sandomierz Basin (SE Poland) is presented. The ecosystem contains a full hydroseral sequence from minerotrophic to ombrotrophic wetland. It is one of the few sites in this region which is so thoroughly investigated in terms of the palaeoenvironmental record. Changes in the water supply of the mire area, and consequently the changes in the plant and sediment succession, were well correlated with the regional tendencies in precipitation and temperature during the Late Glacial/Holocene transition and in the Holocene. Human impact is very well recorded in pollen diagram from the Subboreal period.