Paleo-ecology

Course goals

• Understand the natural and anthropogenic development of ecosystems on time scales of decades to glacial-interglacial cycles.
• Interpret the results of paleo-ecological analysis including pollen & spores, macrofossils, diatoms.
• Handle paleo-ecological data according to the field standards using R scripts and visualize presentations to determine and interpret the characteristics of sedimentary archives.
• Understand the relation between biological origin, dispersal and preservation of microfossils.
• Understand and interpret quantitative palaeo-ecological approaches (pollen influx records, land cover reconstructions, quantitative reconstructions).
• Summarize and communicate - and evaluate that of peers - the main aspects of techniques  that support paleo-ecological research

• Ability to work in the team: presentations and report are prepared in teams of variable size (2-4). Students have to distribute tasks, organize the workflow and are responsible for the time planning.
• Problem solving: students together produce new data from proxy analyses and have to use the literature resources, practical software skills and the background information to analyse and interpret the data, and describe it in a report.
• Verbal communication skills: Students present a short presentation highlighting the general problem addressed and the controversy regarding the topic.
• Analytical / quantitative skills: multivariate statistics and transfer function development and use, and interpretation of multiproxy palaeoenvironmental data.
• Technical skills: Students learn to perform hands-on microscopy techniques for pollen and diatom analyses. Using the computer programs R, Excel, C2 and Tilia they will process and plot the gathered data, producing quantitative reconstructions and interpretations.
• Writing skills: the report is expected to be concise, with a scientific focus for which feedback is provided on both content and scientific language use.

Content

The course provides the basis for the study of present and past continental – terrestrial and aquatic – ecosystems with biological proxies. Emphasis is on the interaction of biota in response to past environmental change on different temporal and spatial scales. We will engage in the collection, analysis and interpretation of microfossil data, including multi-proxy analyses, from natural sediment archives in theory and practice. Important aspects are the distinction between natural and anthropogenic changes in the Quaternary and their implications for current and future environmental change. We will examine impact of natural and man-made pressures on land cover, biodiversity and vegetation-climate feedbacks.

The course includes an introduction to aquatic ecology which aims to relate natural processes and human impact on lakes and wetlands over time, and helps distinguish between regional and local (on-site) changes. We extend the present-day view on aquatic ecology and test ecological theory with paleo records working on late Quaternary time scales. Specifically change in social-ecological systems (human-induced changes and aquatic responses) on timescales of decades to centuries such as eutrophication and acidification are addressed.

The course trains in hands-on identification and interpretations of biological proxies that are used in environmental reconstructions. Such techniques are applied in e.g. research institutes, archaeological and ecological consultancy, forensic research, and help understand and evaluate (studies on) processes and scales of climate variability and human-environment interaction.

The course is subdivided into three modules:
1) aquatic ecology and paleolimnology,
2) vegetation reconstruction with palynology and natural landscape dynamics, and
3) case studies of human impact on the environment.

All modules aim to introduce biological paleo-proxies and the interpretation of the results in terms of environmental and climatic changes. Per topic, ~2 introduction lectures (2x45min) per week provide the conceptual framework on which the practical work and exercises build. During the first module, students will create short docsheets for each other on modern plants and major trees from NW Europe.

Practical work includes microscopy labs where determination and analysis of micro-fossils (pollen and spores, diatoms) are taught and trained individually. The microscope labs will result in a new dataset on which a group presentation is given and, following feedback, a group report will be written. A number of practicals will also result in a short summary or preparatory exercise.