Palaeoecology

Pollen data were chosen as the main source of palaeoecological information. They may represent both local and regional scales and as such provide a reliable long-term record of vegetation succession. We use already published palynological data stored in the Czech Pollen Database (botany.natur.cuni.cz/palycz), but the main aim of this project is to obtain new high-quality palynological records to cover potentially the entire region of Moravia and a major part of the Holocene period. We will construct reliable age-depth models through detailed radiocarbon datings of the sediments. Quantitative palynology (influx pollen diagrams) will help us understanding local vegetation dynamics described by population changes of taxa.

Pollen data and age-depth models will be stored in a geodatabase. This will allow a broad synthesis of palynological data together with other sources (historical, archaeological, ecological).

Data comparison will be performed at both regional and local scales. Percentage and influx pollen diagrams will serve mainly for local comparisons specific for particular pollen sites (e.g. land-use changes, diversity changes). Further, quantitative landscape reconstruction will be applied on the data through the following steps:

• Regional: REVEALS model describing regional vegetation composition for selected time slices taking advantage of combining several pollen sites together. This step enables data-model comparison at broad spatial scales with models derived from archaeological and historical data.
• Local: LOVE model describing local vegetation and relevant source area of pollen derived from the regional model. This allows for comparisons at the local scale with more detailed historical/archaeological information.