Palaeoecology

A record of Holocene climate change from lake geochemical analyses in southeastern Arabia

by Martin Hodson

Holocene vegetation dynamics in the northeastern Rub' al-Khali desert, Arabian Peninsula: a phytolith, pollen and carbon isotope study

by Martin Hodson

Cretaceous ichthyosaurs: dwindling diversity or the empire strikes back?

by Maria Zammit

published in 'Geosciences' 2012

Recent descriptions of new taxa and recognition of survivorship of Jurassic genera across the Jurassic–Cretaceous... more Recent descriptions of new taxa and recognition of survivorship of Jurassic genera across the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary bring the total number of Cretaceous ichthyosaur genera to eight. Taxa currently known from the Cretaceous include Ophthalmosaurus, Caypullisaurus, Aegirosaurus, Platypterygius, Maiaspondylus, Athabascasaurus, Sveltonectes, and Acamptonectes. This review summarizes the occurrence of all Cretaceous genera. A discussion of morphological diversity demonstrates the different, though overlapping, ecological niches occupied by the different taxa, while the comparison of phylogenetic hypotheses shows the problems inherent in understanding the evolutionary relationships between Cretaceous genera. The Late Jurassic radiation indicated in the competing phylogenetic hypotheses may correlate with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean or additional dispersal routes established by the breakup of Gondwana. Inclusion of the stratigraphically oldest Platypterygius species may aid in resolving these evolutionary relationships.

Paleontology in Ecology and Conservation: an Introduction

by Julien Louys

Ecology Needs a Paleontological Perspective

by Julien Louys

The Future of Mammals in Southeast Asia: Conservation Insights from the Fossil Record

by Julien Louys

Paleoecology and Conservation Paleobiology: Future Directions

by Julien Louys

Nuevos datos sobre la evolución del paisaje y los recursos vegetales en el Abric del Filador (Margalef de Montsant, Tarragona)

by Pilar Garcia-Argüelles Andreu

E. Allevato, M. Buonincontri, M. Vairo, A. Pecci, M.A. Cau, M. Yoneda, G.F. De Simone, M. Aoyagi, C. Angelelli, S. Matsuyama, K. Takeuchi, G. Di Pasquale, "Persistence of the cultural landscape in Campania (Southern Italy) before the AD 472 Vesuvius eruption: archaeoenvironmental data", Journal of Archaeological Science 39 (2012): 399-406 [ISSN: 0305-4403]

by Girolamo Ferdinando De Simone

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.026

Cultural landscapes were prominent during the Early Roman period when agronomic knowledge allowed the spread of... more Cultural landscapes were prominent during the Early Roman period when agronomic knowledge allowed the spread of intensive land exploitation in most of the available land. The aim of this contribution is to explore whether for the Campania region (Southern Italy) archaeoenvironmental data would support continuity or change in the cultural landscape of Roman tradition in the 4th and 5th centuries. To do so, new data from two sites located on the northern slopes of the Vesuvius, both buried by the AD 472 eruption have been investigated. Charcoal analysis, 14C dating, and chemical analysis of organic residues were carried out in order to study the landscape and the food production at these sites. The results suggest the persistence of the Roman cultural landscape until the 4th and 5th centuries in this area. The landscape is in fact strongly marked both in agriculture and woodland exploitation and management, being characterized by managed chestnut forests as well as valuable cultivations of walnut, large vineyards, olive groves, and probably orchards and crops. The integrated approach with archaeobotanical and archaeometric analyses proves to be a powerful method for the study of the past landscapes, providing a good insight into the environment. Furthermore, this study provided the most ancient evidence of chestnut silviculture for wood.

Long-term deforestation in NW Spain: linking the Holocene fire history to vegetation change and human activities

by Eleni Asouti

published in Quaternary Science Reviews (2011) vol. 30, pp. 161-175

The Holocene fire regime is thought to have had a key role in deforestation and shrubland expansion in Galicia (NW... more The Holocene fire regime is thought to have had a key role in deforestation and shrubland expansion in Galicia (NW Spain) but the contribution of past societies to vegetation burning remains poorly understood. This may be, in part, due to the fact that detailed fire records from areas in close proximity to archaeological sites are scarce. To fill this gap, we performed charcoal analysis in five colluvial soils from an archaeological area (Campo Lameiro) and compared the results to earlier studies from this area and palaeo-ecological literature from NW Spain. This analysis allowed for the reconstruction of the vegetation and fire dynamics in the area during the last ca 11000 yrs. In the Early Holocene, Fabaceae and Betula sp. were dominant in the charcoal record. Quercus sp. started to replace these species around 10000 cal BP, forming a deciduous forest that prevailed during the Holocene Thermal Maximum until 5500 cal BP. Following that, several cycles of potentially fire-induced forest regression with subsequent incomplete recovery eventually led to the formation of an open landscape dominated by shrubs (Erica sp. and Fabaceae). Major episodes of forest regression were (1) 5500-5000 cal BP, which marks the mid-Holocene cooling after the Holocene Thermal Maximum, but also the period during which agropastoral activities in NW Spain became widespread, and (2) 2000-1500 cal BP, which corresponds roughly to the end of the Roman Warm Period and the transition from the Roman to the Germanic period. The low degree of chronological precision, which is inherent in fire history reconstructions from colluvial soils, made it impossible to distinguish climatic from human-induced fires. Nonetheless, the abundance of synanthropic pollen indicators (e.g. Plantago lanceolata and Urtica dioica) since at least 6000 cal BP strongly suggests that humans used fire to generate and maintain pasture.

Woodland vegetation and the exploitation of fuel and timber at Neolithic Çatalhöyük: report on the wood charcoal macro‐remains

by Eleni Asouti

In Hodder, I. (ed.). Inhabiting Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 1995-9 Seasons, pp. 213-258. McDonald Institute Monographs 38. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute at Ankara, Cambridge & London (2005)

Woodland vegetation and fuel exploitation at the prehistoric campsite of Pinarbasi, south-central Anatolia, Turkey: the evidence from the wood charcoal macro-remains

by Eleni Asouti

published in the Journal of Archaeological Science (2003) vol. 30, pp. 1185-1201

This paper presents the results of the analysis of wood charcoal macro-remains from the multi-period prehistoric rock... more This paper presents the results of the analysis of wood charcoal macro-remains from the multi-period prehistoric rock shelters of Pinarbasi in the Konya plain, south-central Anatolia. Retrieval and analytical methods are also reported in detail, together with some methodologies previously untested in the field of charcoal analysis aiming at the quantitative description of context-related variation in the preservation status of archaeological wood charcoal assemblages. The patterns observed in the charcoal record are interpreted as a reflection of the prehistoric strategies for firewood exploitation in their local and regional palaeoenvironmental context.

Charcoal analysis and the reconstruction of ancient woodland vegetation in the Konya Basin, south-central Anatolia, Turkey: results from the Neolithic site of …

by Eleni Asouti

published in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2001) vol. 10, pp. 23-32

The results produced by charcoal analysis are used in conjunction with pollen evidence, geomorphological data and... more The results produced by charcoal analysis are used in conjunction with pollen evidence, geomorphological data and ecological analogues, in order to reconstruct ancient woodland vegetation in the Konya Basin and its surroundings during the Neolithic. Emphasis is placed on the structure, diversity and seasonal habit of different vegetation types, as well as their potential response to natural and/or anthropogenic disturbance. It is argued that such an approach to vegetation reconstruction enables better insights into palaeoenvironments as experienced by human groups in the past, and thus offers fruitful avenues for investigating the relationship of human societies with the natural environment.

From foraging to farming in the southern Levant: the development of Epipalaeolithic and Pre-pottery Neolithic plant management strategies

by Eleni Asouti

Published in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2012) vol 21, pp.149–162

This paper reviews the archaeobotanical record of the transition from foraging to farming in the southern Levant. The... more This paper reviews the archaeobotanical record of the transition from foraging to farming in the southern Levant. The concise presentation of the published botanical evidence follows a critical assessment of: (a) the nature of Epipalaeolithic plant management strategies, (b) the place of the southern Levant in the polycentric development of Near Eastern plant cultivation and domestication, and (c) region-specific pathways for the emergence of domesticated crop ‘‘packages’’. Some inferences are drawn and suggestions are made concerning the potential contribution of archaeobotanical research to questions of broader archaeological significance about socio-economic change in the southern Levant during the Pre-pottery Neolithic.

Reconstructing woodland vegetation and its exploitation by past societies, based on the analysis and interpretation of archaeological wood charcoal macro-remains

by Eleni Asouti

published in Environmental Archaeology (2005) vol. 10, pp. 1-18

In this paper the significance of the analysis of archaeological wood charcoal macro-remains as a tool for the... more In this paper the significance of the analysis of archaeological wood charcoal macro-remains as a tool for the reconstruction of woodland vegetation and its exploitation is discussed. Drawing from both older and more recent publications a number of theoretical and methodological approaches are examined. It is suggested that greater integration of charcoal and archaeological data is needed when evaluating charcoal preservation and sample composition, and that a more coherent theory of the complex ecological and cultural processes affecting species availability and firewood management needs to be developed.

Wood Charcoal from Santorini (Thera): New Evidence for Climate, Vegetation and Timber Imports in the Bronze Age Aegean

by Eleni Asouti

published in Antiquity (2003) vol. 77, pp. 471-484

Wood charcoal from stratified layers at Akrotiri is helping to map the ecology of the island of Santorini before the... more Wood charcoal from stratified layers at Akrotiri is helping to map the ecology of the island of Santorini before the volcanic eruption in the second millennium BC which brought Bronze Age settlement to an end. Far from being treeless like today, the island had a relatively moist and cool climate with diverse vegetation including open oak woodland. Olive cultivation can be traced back to the Early Bronze Age. Cedar, yew and beech were also imported from Lebanon, Cyprus and Anatolia as artefacts, or for building.

Fauna and ecology of the holothurian bed, Llandrindod, Wales, UK (Darriwilian, Middle Ordovician), and the oldest articulated holothurian

by Lucy Muir

Unlike Cambrian Lagerstätten, Ordovician exceptionally preserved faunas generally differ substantially from each other... more Unlike Cambrian Lagerstätten, Ordovician exceptionally preserved faunas generally differ substantially from each other in taxonomic composition, suggesting a much greater diversity of palaeocommunities during this interval. It is unclear, however, how much of the Ordovician ecological diversity is due to the atypical facies or communities being represented by most of the known exceptional biotas. This paper describes a new Lagerstätte, preserved through high sedimentation rates and early pyritization, from the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian, Hustedograptus? teretiusculus Biozone) of Wales. A preliminary analysis of the ecology of the fauna, which includes a new methodology for translating preserved abundance of different groups into estimated life abundance, has revealed that an ostensibly trilobite-dominated fauna was dominated instead by brachiopods, reticulosan and protomonaxonid sponges, and palaeoscolecidans, with carpoids and holothurians being nearly as abundant as trilobites. Under normal preservational conditions, this community would appear as a typical Ordovician mudstone fauna, implying that it represents a relatively normal open marine community. The biota does not closely resemble any of the previously described exceptional Ordovician faunas, suggesting that there is a large amount of hidden diversity in communities of this age. Among the exceptional taxa is the earliest known articulated holothurian, Oesolcucumaria eostre gen. et sp. nov., which is a small globular form with partly skeletonised ambulacrae.

No causal link between terrestrial ecosystem change and methane release during the end-Triassic mass extinction

by Sofie Lindström

Reference:
Sofie Lindström, Bas van de Schootbrugge, Karen Dybkjær, Gunver Krarup Pedersen, Jens Fiebig, Lars Henrik Nielsen, and Sylvain Richoz, 2012: No causal link between terrestrial ecosystem change and methane release during the end-Triassic mass extinction. Geology 40 (6), 531-534, doi:10.1130/G32928.1.

Profound changes in both marine and terrestrial biota during the end-Triassic mass extinction event and associated... more Profound changes in both marine and terrestrial biota during the end-Triassic mass extinction event and associated successive carbon cycle perturbations across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (T-J, 201.3 Ma) have primarily been attributed to volcanic emissions from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province and/or injection of methane. Here we present a new extended organic carbon isotope record from a cored T-J boundary succession in the Danish Basin, dated by high-resolution palynostratigraphy and supplemented by a marine faunal record. Correlated with reference C-isotope and biotic records from the UK, it provides new evidence that the major biotic changes, both on land and in the oceans, commenced prior to the most prominent negative C-isotope excursion. If massive methane release was involved, it did not trigger the end-Triassic mass extinction. Instead, this negative C-isotope excursion is contemporaneous with the onset of floral recovery on land, whereas marine ecosystems remained perturbed. The decoupling between ecosystem recovery on land and in the sea is more likely explained by long-term flood basalt volcanism releasing both SO2 and CO2 with short- and long-term effects, respectively.

First description of milk teeth of fossil South American procyonid from the lower Chapadmalalan (Late Miocene-Early Pliocene) of “Farola Monte Hermoso”, Argentina: Paleoecological considerations.

by Leopoldo Soibelzon

The first record of milk teeth of South American fossil procyonids comes from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene at... more The first record of milk teeth of South American fossil procyonids comes from the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene at "Farola Monte Hermoso", Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Five extant genera of Procyonidae inhabit South America (Bassaricyon Allen, Nasuella Hollister, Potos Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier, Procyon Storr and Nasua Storr). Of these only Procyon and Nasua are present in the fossil record (Late Pleistocene-Holocene) in several localities in Brazil, Uruguay, and Bolivia. In addition, six other fossil genera were named, but only two are considered valid: Cyonasua and Chapadmalania. Thus, Cyonasua encompasses ten formally named species and Chapadmalania two. The new specimen, MLP 09-X-5-1 is assigned it to cf. Cyonasua. In addition, anatomical evidence implies a much more carnivorous diet in Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene procyonids than that of extant South American taxa. Finally, I examine and discuss the "competitive displacement" hypothesis regarding the extinction of native marsupial carnivores after the arrival of immigrant placental carnivores in South America.

Changing landscape and grazing: macroremains from the terp Peins-east, province of Friesland, the Netherlands

by Annet Nieuwhof

Published in: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 15, 2006.

This article seeks to contribute some new
insights to the discussion about the colonisation of themore This article seeks to contribute some new
insights to the discussion about the colonisation of the
North-Netherlands coastal area in the Iron Age. The aim
of the study presented here was to investigate whether
archaeobotanical research can demonstrate the absence
or presence of grazing and the changes in vegetation that
follow the development of the salt marsh and that may
be related to activities connected with human occupation.
The material studied was sampled in the terp of Peins
in the Dutch province of Friesland during the 1999
excavation. The beginnings of this terp can be dated in the
first century A.D., although a small dike and two parallel
ditches preceded it. The macroremains from these ditches
proved useful in describing the changes in the salt marsh
vegetation. It was shown that the salt marsh was not used
for grazing cattle prior to habitation. Grazing only started
at the time the first terp podium was raised.