Syllabus
1. Time scales - climate and weather. Main objectives and questions of palaeoecology. Uniformitarism, examples of palaeoecological argumentation, other principles. History and aspects of the study. Climate and quaternary stratigraphy and their background (climatic system, ocean circulation, NAO), climatic models.
2. Sedimentation environments for palaeoecological purposes, types and evolution of lakes, palaeolimnology. Sediments description. Dating methods of lakes sediments.
3. Principles of pollen analysis. Pollen: formation, function and morphology. Aeropalynology. Factors affecting presence of pollen in the air, pollen dispesal, local vs. regional pollen data, relationship of pollen and vegetation, pollen sedimentation, pollen decomposition.
4. Flora and vegetation during Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene. Fossils documenting Tertiary flora of brown-coal deposits, current distribution of tertiary relicts. Pleistocene long sequences from Southern Europe, genesis of mediteranean vegetation, deap-sea cores. Dating of old sediments - luminiscence, palaeomagnetism.
5. Early and Mid- Quaternary and their interglacials. Marine isotopic stages (MIS) and Quaternary framework, glacial/interglacial cycle, main interglacials of Mid-Quaternary and their characteristics. Evolution of interglacial environments.
6. Last interglacial/glacial cycle. Interglacial start, Eemian, early Weichselian, full glacial and last glacial maximum. Stratigraphy, climate and vegetation development.
7. Plant macroremains and their use in palaeoecology. Formation, dispersal and sedimentation processes. Interpretation of macroremain records, main problems and solutions on examples.
8. Reconstruction of flora and vegetation - problems of use of pollen as an indicator of presence of plants, correction factors, pollen accumulation as an indicator of biomass, reconstruction of climate and environment, indicator species, modern analogues, transfer functions. Quantitative vegetation reconstruction (LRA).
9. Vegetation and environment of the late glacial - ovierview of Europe and the Czech Republic, biotic responses on climate fluctuations, vulcanic aktivity, plant macroremains, insects.
10. Glacial refugia, theories, stadials and interstadials, indentification of refugia, mechanisims of plant species extinctions, migration routes, diversity in the past, genetic analyses of palaeobotanical materiál and its use in plant migration studies, populations.
11. Quaternary history of mammals and humans, causes of mass extinctions of mammals, impact of megaherbivores on natural forest vegetation.
12. Palaeoecology and nature conservation. What is natural? Examples from oceanic islands. Past fire dynamics. Differences and similarities of present interglacial.
Annotation
Student will understand the ecological processes during the Quaternary (ca. last 2 mil. years), evaluate the study methods, explain biotic changes during the period and based on that formulate fundamental ecological theory.
Student will be able to indentify hot scientific questions in palaeoecology, explain their relevance for the present and future and design approaches how to study and solve these problems.