Abundance of plant macrofossils, mollusca and ostracoda in sediments obtained near Tessin, north Germany

A depression filled with Late Glacial and Holocene sediments was excavated during the geological exploration and recovery of a dump area near Tessin close to Rostock, and initiated the studies of the present paper. Pebble analysis of three exposed or respectively drilled till horizons as well as pollenanalytical, carpological and faunistical studies carried out allow the stratigraphical subdivision of the Quaternary sequence of the dump area. The basal till was probably the result of dead ice decay, and was lithostratigraphically assigned to the Pomerian Stage (qw2). The palynological results of boreholes RKS 19/93 and A/92 reveal pre-Allerod and other sediments instead of the expected interweichselian deposits. Based on the palynological and carpological findings, we correlated the beginning of the late glacial development in the locality with the end of the Meiendorf-lnterstadial sensu Menke in Bock et al. (1985, doi:10.3285/eg.35.1.18). The limnic-telmatic sedimentation could be observed pollen floristically probably starting with the Meiendorf-lnterstadial (Hippophae-Betula nana-phase) followed by the Bolling-(Betula nana-B. alba s.l.-Artemisia-Helianthemum-Poaceae-phase) and the Allerad-lnterstadial [Betula alba s.l.-(Pinus)-Cyperaceae-phase] lasting up to the Younger Dryas (Juniperus-Artemisia-Poaceae-phase). Sedimentation closed during the Younger Dryas with the accumulation of fine sands. It was reactivated later during the Holocene due to the anthropogene influence (Older and Younger Subatlantic, dampness of the depression by clearing).

Pollen and macroremains from three sediment cores from Göttingen, Germany

In a borehole in the southern outskirts of the town of Göttingen, limnic sediments of several Pleistocene warm periods occur intercalated with coarse solifluction debris and gravel of the river Leine. Pollen analysis of the limnic sediments in a borehole at Ottostrasse gave evidence of three warm periods of interglacial character, followed by three interstadial phases. The warm phases are separated one from another by stadial phases with, at least in one case, indications of periglacial solifluction. This sequence belongs to the Brunhes magnetic epoch. The pollen data allow to exclude an Eemian or Holsteinian age of the warm period sediments. Thus a Cromerian age is assumed, though the exact position of the newly described warm periods within the ''Cromerian'' remains uncertain. A section in a borehole at Akazienweg is of Holsteinian age.

El Holoceno medio palustre de la llanura litoral del río Ter (Baix Empordá, Girona)

The paludal deposits presented here belong to a geomorphological unit identified between Palafrugell Corridor and the littoral plains of Ter River (Baix Ter), associated to a carbonate-rich spring system. The sections show a distintic clay level, mixed with black silts, very rich in snail remains. The malacological assemblage contained stillwaters species (Bithynia leachii, Galba truncatula, Pisidium milium, Radix peregra) along with damp species (Monacha cartusiana, Oxyloma elegans, Succinea putris, Succinella oblonga, Vallonia pulchella, Vertigo sp.). Some open-dry species are also present (Cernuella virgata, Eobania vermiculata, Pomatias elegans, Rumina decollata) revailing a mosaic-like landscape. Radiocarbon dates place this level ca. 7.000BPwithin the Holocene sequence of the Baix Ter basin. Colluvial deposits on top of these paludal levels have a typical open-dry malacological assemblage (Cernuella virgata, Cochlicella acuta, Eobania vermiculata, Pomatias elegans, Rumina decollata, Trochoidea elegans) the same assemblage that inhabits the Empordà littoral plains nowadays

Macroinvertebrate abundance and proportion of trait categories in river biotopes across England and Wales

There is a long tradition of river monitoring using macroinvertebrate communities to assess environmental quality in Europe. A promising alternative is the use of species life-history traits. Both methods, however, have relied on the time-consuming identification of taxa. River biotopes, 1-100 m**2 'habitats' with associated species assemblages, have long been seen as a useful and meaningful way of linking the ecology of macroinvertebrates and river hydro-morphology and can be used to assess hydro-morphological degradation in rivers. Taxonomic differences, however, between different rivers had prevented a general test of this concept until now. The species trait approach may overcome this obstacle across broad geographical areas, using biotopes as the hydro-morphological units which have characteristic species trait assemblages. We collected macroinvertebrate data from 512 discrete patches, comprising 13 river biotopes, from seven rivers in England and Wales. The aim was to test whether river biotopes were better predictors of macroinvertebrate trait profiles than taxonomic composition (genera, families, orders) in rivers, independently of the phylogenetic effects and catchment scale characteristics (i.e. hydrology, geography and land cover). We also tested whether species richness and diversity were better related to biotopes than to rivers. River biotopes explained 40% of the variance in macroinvertebrate trait profiles across the rivers, largely independently of catchment characteristics. There was a strong phylogenetic signature, however. River biotopes were about 50% better at predicting macroinvertebrate trait profiles than taxonomic composition across rivers, no matter which taxonomic resolution was used. River biotopes were better than river identity at explaining the variability in taxonomic richness and diversity (40% and <=10%, respectively). Detailed trait-biotope associations agreed with independent a priori predictions relating trait categories to near river bed flows. Hence, species traits provided a much needed mechanistic understanding and predictive ability across a broad geographical area. We show that integration of the multiple biological trait approach with river biotopes at the interface between ecology and hydro-morphology provides a wealth of new information and potential applications for river science and management.

Biostratigraphical investigations of Lago d'Averno, near Naples

Remains of diatoms, molluscs, ostracods, foraminifera and pollen exines preserved in the sediments of Lago d'Averno, a volcanic lake in the Phlegrean Fields west of Naples, allowed us to reconstruct the changes in the ecological conditions of the lake and of the vegetation around it for the period from 800 BC to 800 AD. Lago d'Averno was at first a freshwater lake, temporarily influenced by volcanic springs. Salinity increased slowly during Greek times as a result of subsidence of the surrounding land. Saline conditions developed only after the lake was connected with the sea by a canal, when Portus Julius was built in 37 BC. The first post-Roman period of uplift ended with a short freshwater phase during the 7th century after Christ. Deciduous oakwoods around the lake was transformed into a forest of evergreen oaks in Greek times and thrived there - apparently almost uninfluenced by man - until it was felled, when the Avernus was incorporated into the new Roman harbour in 37 BC, to construct a shipyard and other military buildings there. Land-use was never more intense than during Roman times and weakest in Greek and Early Roman times, when the Avernus was considered a holy place, the entrance to the underworld.

Asclepiadis Bithyni Fragmenta.

Mode of access: Internet.

Study and comparison on freshwater snail fauna in the paddy fields and related river and lake (Babolroad & Parishan) water supply in Mazandaran & Frace provinces of Iran

As a result of this investigation, for the first time from Babolroud river in Iran is 15 species identified, which they belong to 8 genera, from 7 families. The most and least distribution, 13 and 5 species, belong to Miandasht and Rostaye Anarestane Babol stations respectively, which they are 50 kilometers away from each other. Also 20 species belong to 10 genera from 6 families were identified in Parishan lake. The most the distribution belong to stations 1 and 5 with 6 and 18 species respectively. The most commonly distributed family is Lymnaeidae with 6 species: Lyamnaea truncatula, L. auricularia, L. palustris, L. pereger, L. stagnalis and L. gedrosiana, which L. trancatula is identified as the most frequent and has medical importance. L. stagnalis is identified to be the most important to agriculture. Planorbis planorhis, Physa acuta, Lymnaea pereger, Bithynia tenculata and Vavata piscinalis are reported for the first time from this region.