Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PROTISTOLOGY
Volume 55, Issue -, Pages 165-180Publisher
ELSEVIER GMBH
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2016.04.003
Keywords
Fire history; Ombrotrophic peatland; Palaeohydrology; Poland; Testate amoebae; Trait-based palaeoecology
Categories
Funding
- National Science Centre (NCN) [2011/01/D/ST10/02579]
- Switzerland through the Swiss Contribution to the enlarged European Union [PSPB-013/2010]
- statutory funds of the Institute of Geoecology and Geoinformation (Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University) [WNGiG/2012/S/P-B/014, 0800000000/505/060/STAT_MN]
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Mountainous peatlands of Western Sudetes are considered a unique habitat in Central Europe. The region contains one of the largest raised bog complexes in temperate Europe and is thus of great importance for biodiversity conservation. In this first high-resolution study from this region we use long-term ecological data to assess how these mountain wetland ecosystems responded to anthropogenic impacts and climate change. We used testate amoebae morphological traits, micro- and macroscopic charcoal, pollen and plant macrofossils to reconstruct the history of peatland development over 800 years, illustrating shifts in its development and fire dynamics. Five hydrological stages of peatland development were recognized. Testate amoebae morphological traits reflected several abrupt ecological changes linked to anthropogenic modifications of landscape openness. A shift towards mixotrophic taxa, linked to hydrological change or shrubs expansion and shading, preceded aperture position change, which was associated to dust input through surrounding deforestation and simultaneous water-table increase. Fire reconstruction revealed increasing burning together with intensifying human activity, including the expansion of a nearby settlement. This study confirms the potential of testate amoeba communities and the use of morpho-functional traits as indicators of ecological effects of land-use change over long-temporal scales. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
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