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17 - The Role of Bryophyte Paleoecology in Quaternary Climate Reconstructions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2012

By
Gusztáv Jakab  and
Pál Sümegi
Edited by
Zoltán Tuba ,
Nancy G. Slack  and
Lloyd R. Stark
Gusztáv Jakab
Affiliation:
Szent István University, Hungary
Pál Sümegi
Affiliation:
University of Szeged, Hungary
Nancy G. Slack
Affiliation:
Sage Colleges, New York
Lloyd R. Stark
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Summary

Introduction

The Quaternary covers the past 2.5 million years of Earth history. This unique period is well known for a record of oscillating climatic parameters. If one wishes to understand the trajectory of future climatic changes triggered by human activities, one should also have a clear picture of the climate of the past. Fluctuating climates are reflected in peat bog profiles. Paleoecological studies using plant macrofossils, like bryophyte remains, have an important role in the reconstruction of past hydrological changes in lakes and peat bogs. Plant macrofossil analysis has been used most frequently in the oceanic regions of Europe, where the moisture gradient is reflected clearly in different Sphagnum taxa. The method of bog surface wetness predictions has not been adapted to date for the characterization of continental peatbogs. Hungary is located along the southern limit of Sphagnum-dominated peat bogs, with peat bogs restricted to the moister regions of the country. Holocene climatic events, such as severe droughts, caused significant changes in mire development and as such are traceable in the paleoenvironmental record of these bogs.

Fossil mosses used as proxies for detecting past climatic changes

Detailed paleoecological investigations of fossil mosses enable us to accurately capture the prevailing conditions in some terrestrial ecosystems, mainly those in littoral parts of various catchment basins. There are two major directions for investigation and interpretation: one is restricted to the ecological needs of the individual taxa, whereas the other is based on the ecological requirements of ecological groups and communities in the reconstruction.

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Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change , pp. 335 - 358
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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