A palaeoecological study of an upper late glacial and holocene sequence from “de borchert”, The Netherlands

doi:10.1016/0034-6667(80)90035-4

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

Volume 31, 1980, Pages 367-392, 397-448

https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-6667(80)90035-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

A section more than 3 m deep from “De Borchert” (near Denekamp, The Netherlands), which included part of the Younger Dryas and almost the whole of the Holocene, was studied by analysing the micro- and macrofossils per 0.8 cm in order to obtain maximum information regarding the regional and local vegetational succession and any climatic changes that might have taken place during that time interval.

Newly recognised and recorded microfossils (fungi, algae, fossils of unknown taxonomic identity) are illustrated, described and interpreted. The analysis of pollen and other palynomorphs in combination with the analysis of macrofossils, permitted the following main conclusions:

During the later part of the Younger Dryas the presence of certain herbaceous forms (e.g., Typha latifolia) indicates a minimum average July temperature of 12–13°C.

A detailed reconstruction of the vegetational and climatic changes during the Preboreal could be made; the Friesland phase was a period of rising mean summer temperatures resulting in an expansion of Betula species (B. pubescens and B. nana). Drought was not yet a factor restricting the development of vegetation.

During the Rammelbeek phase the increasing summer temperature caused a further increase in the rate of evaporation. Dry conditions prevailed which rendered the climate more continental. Regionally the decline of birches and an appreciable extension of grasses is characteristic of the Rammelbeek phase. The contemporaneous occurrence of thermophilous plants (Nymphaea alba, Ceratophyllum, and representatives of the Zygnemataceae) points to relatively warm summers (with mean July temperature of 13–15°C or even higher). The deeper depressions (e.g., the sampling site of the present section) did not dry out and during the Rammelbeek phase an acceleration of filling-in with vegetation (mainly Drepanocladus) could be observed.

During the Late Preboreal the depression tracks apparently reached northwestern Europe. The summers became humid enough for the growth of Sphagnum. The amount of precipitation and the milder winters favoured the further spreading of trees.

During the Atlantic period the small Sphagnum bog developed into a Betula carr.

During the Subboreal the bog dried out causing a hiatus of ca. 1000 years (2450–3400 B.P.). From ca. 2450 to ca. 1000 B.P. the presence of prehistoric man in a settlement situated around the depression where the samples were taken strongly influenced the sample site. Fluctuations in population densities and economic changes are reflected in the pollen diagram. As a result of agrarian activities eutrophiation of the depression took place so that Alnus and Salix temporarily invaded the depression.

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A palaeoecological study of an upper late glacial and holocene sequence from “de borchert”, The Netherlands

Abstract

Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol.

Ark. Bot.

Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol.

Geol. Mijnb.

A Palaeoecological Test of the Theory of Cyclic Peat Bog Regeneration

Untersuchungen zur spätglazialen und frühpostglazialen Vegetationsgeschichte Ostfrieslands

Eiszeitalter Gegenw.

Die Klimaschwankungen im europäischen Präboreal

Petermanns Geogr. Mitt.

Atlas of Seeds. Part 2: Cyperaceae

The variability of shape of fruits and scales of the European birches (Betula L.) and their determination in fossil materials

Monogr. Bot.

Desmids of the broads area of N.W.-Overijssel (The Netherlands) I

Acta Bot. Neerl.

Desmids of the broads area of N.W.-Overijssel (The Netherlands) II

Acta Bot. Neerl.

Zygnemales

British Ascomycetes

Remains of animals in Quaternary lake and bog sediments and their interpretation

Arch. Hydrobiol. Beitr.

Chaetoceratostoma Turc. & Maffei, a genus to be rejected

Trans. Br. Mycol. Soc.

Biology of the filamentous conjugating Algae

Atlas över växternas utbredning i Norden

Viscum, Hedera and Ilex as climate indicators

Geol. För. Förh.

The development of Denmarks nature since the Last Glacial

Danm. Geol. Unders.