Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics Universiteit van Amsterdam Research group Palaeoecology and Landscape ecology (P&L) Temperate – Palaeoecology:

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem DynamicsUniversiteit van Amsterdam

Research group

Palaeoecology and Landscape ecology

(P&L)

Temperate– Palaeoecology: Van Geel, Van Mourik

– Landscape ecology: Kooijman, Sevink

Tropics– Palaeoecology: Hooghiemstra, Van Boxel

– Vegetation ecology: Duivenvoorden, Cleef


Palaeoecology & Landscape ecology

Rationale:

• To understand present-day climate and ecosystems, and to anticipate future change, we need a reference

• This reference is the record of past changes found in peat archives and sediment sequences

Peat archive sediment archive


Main research activities of P & L

• study of records of past climate change inferred from vegetation change at different time-scales: – Neogene (25 Ma >), – Pleistocene (2.5 Ma >), – Holocene (10 ka >), – Anthropogene (2 ka >)

• study of the present status and dynamic history of ecosystems

• societal relevant research: nature conservation, Kyoto Protocol

Scientific American May 2006

Carina Hoorn


Main Research Topics 1

Reconstruction of ecosystem dynamics and climate change

Temperate: Europe; Siberia

Tropics: Mexico to Bolivia (20°N – 20°S)– rainforest, dry forest, savanna, montane

forest, páramo

• Subjects: - biotic setting: floral evolution,

biostratigraphy, vegetation change - abiotic setting: basin development,

landscape development, sedimentary and geochemical processes

- mechanisms at work: orbital forcing, solar forcing

Van Geel, Hooghiemstra et al.


Main Research Topics 1 (continued) Data synthesis, data-model comparisons

Hooghiemstra, Van Boxel et al.

PFTs BiomesAims:

• calibration of model output by geological data (international BIOME project)

• inverse modeling studies (effects of pCO2, temperature, precipitation): sensitivity studies improved site selection

Pollen taxa Ecological groups Ecosystems

6000 BP 2000 0SITE ALT 6000 5000 4000 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 MODERN

Boca De Lopez 0 TRFO/TSFO TRFO/DEGR TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFOLaguna Piusbi 10 TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFOEl Camito 50 TSFO TSFO TRFO/TSFO TRFO TRFO TRFO/TSFO TRFOLaguna Sardinas 80 TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFOPantano de Monica 3 160 TRFO TRFO TRFO/TSFO TFRO/TSFO TRFO/TSFO TFRO TRFOCarimague 180 STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP TRFO TRFO TSFO/TRFOEl Pinal 185 STEP/TDFO STEP STEP STEP STEP STEP STEP STEPLaguna Angel I 205 TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO/TSFOLaguna de Agua Sucia 300 STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFO STEP/TDFOLaguna Loma Linda 310 TRFO/STEP TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFO TRFOPitalito 1300 WAMF/TSFO WAMF/TSFO WAMF WAMF WAMF WAMF WAMF WAMF WAMF/COMI CGSH/STEP Piagua 1700 CGSH / STEP CGSH / STEP CGSH / CEFO CEFO/WEFO WEFO/COMIRio Timbio 1750 CGSH CEFO/CGSH CEFO/CGSH CEFO/CGSH CEFO/CGSH CGSH COMI/CEFOPantano de Genagra 1750 CGSH/CEFO CGSH/CEFO CGSH/CEFO CGSH/CEFO CEFO TSFOLibano 1820 CEFO CEFO TSFO TSFO TSFO WAMF/WEFOLaguna de Pedro Palo III 2000 WAMF WAMF WAMF WAMF TSFO TSFO WAMF WAMF WAMF/TSFO WAMF/TRFOLaguna Herra 2500 COMI/CEFO COMI/CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO COMI/CGSH CGSH CGSHCUX 2560 CEFO CGSH/CEFO COMI/CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CGSH/COMI COMI/CGSH El Abra II 2570 CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFOLaguna Fuquene II 2580 COMI /CEFO COMI CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CEFO CGSH/CEFO CGSHCienaga del Visitador 3100 CGSH /COMI CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH COMI CGSH COMI/CGSHAlsacia 3100 WAMF CEFO CGSH/TSFO COMI/WAMFAgua Blanca 3250 CGSH/COMI COMI CGSH CGSH/CEFO CEFO CEFO COMI COMI CGSH CGSHLa Guitarra 3400 CGSH/COMI COMI CGSH CGSH/COMI CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH/COMILaguna Ciega I 3510 COMI/CEFO COMI CGSH COMI CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH/COMILa Primavera 3525 CGSH/COMI CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSHLaguna de la America 3550 COMI CGSH COMI COMI COMI COMI COMI COMI COMI COMIParamo de Palacio 3550 CGSH/COMI CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH COMI/CGSH CEFO CGSH COMIParamo de Guasca 3550 CGSH COMI/CEFO COMI/CEFO COMI/CEFO CEFO/COMI COMI/CEFOAndabobos 3570 CGSH CGSH CGSH/CGSS CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSHParamo de Pena Negra 3625 COMI COMI COMI/CEFO COMI CEFO CEFO CGSH COMI CGSH/COMI CGSHParamo de Laguna Verde 3625 CEFO COMI COMI CGSHLos Bobos 3800 CGSH/COMI COMI CGSH CGSH CGSH/COMI COMI COMIEl Gobernador 3815 CGSH/COMI CGSH/COMI COMI COMI CGSH/COMI CGSH/COMI COMI CGSH CGSH/COMIValle San Carlos 3850 CGSHValle de Lagunillas 3880 CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH/CGSSLa Rabona 4000 CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH CGSH

0 m

4100 m

Warmer and wetter

Cooler and drier


Main Research Topics 1 (continued)

Reconstruction of ecosystem dynamics

Tropics: plant diversity

• Are Amazonian forests so species rich owing to many different niches being filled by numerous phylogenetically different taxa?

Temperate: nutrients

Duivenvoorden, Kooijman

Significance of substrate / pHfor availability of nutrients


Main Research Topics 2

Development of new methodologies• Common practice:

– palynologists use only ‘traditional’ fossil types

– a large number of unknown fossils are ignored

• Identification of ‘unknowns’ reveals a wealth of information about past natural and anthropogenic environments:– abundance of herbivores– intensity of fire– euthrophication of water

(cyanobacteria)

• Aim: improve the quality of palaeo-environmental reconstructions

Van Geel


Main Research Topics 2 (continued)

Development of new methodologies

• Problematic ‘wiggles’ in the 14C calibration curve has been turned into an advantage: 14C AMS wiggle match dating delivers greater chronological precision + the role of the Sun in climate change can be evaluated

• BioTime :

– how representative are pollen spectra for plant diversity?

– how did plant diversity vary in the past with climate change

Van Geel, Hooghiemstra & Duivenvoorden

14C clock = fast

14C clock = slow


Main Research Topics (3)

Interaction between biotic & abiotic components in the geo-ecosystems• Proxies:

– biotic: pollen, non–pollen palynomorphs diatoms, Corg, charcoal,

– abiotic: grain size analysis, inorganic geochemistry (elements)

– physical: 14C (solar activity)– stable isotopes (∂13C) and biomarkers

• Aim: place climate change-driven vegetation change in its abiotic environment.

Keeping in mind:• uplift• basin development• regimes of sediment transport• diagenesis

All group members


Project acquisition 2000 – 2006

WOTRO-DGIS: 7 projects

WOTRO-Fellowships: 1 project

WOTRO-Integrated Programme : 1 project

NWO-ALW: 11 projects

AlBan : 1 project

EU : 2 projects

Tropenbos-NUFFIC-COLCIENCIAS: 2 projects

IBED: 3 projects

Externally funded PhD projects: 2 projects

28 projects


Netherlands:

• Centre for Isotope Research

• Free University Amsterdam

• Netherlands Institute Sea Research (NIOZ)

• Netherlands Institute Applied Geology (NITG)

• Netherlands Centre Luminiscence Dating (NLG)

• RING / ROB• Ministry of Agriculture and

Nature Management• Universities of Nijmegen

and Wageningen

International:

• Colombia: Universidad Nacional,Bogotá/ Medellín /Leticia

• Colombia: Universidad de los Andes• Peru: Universidad Nacional para la Amazonia• Ecuador : Pontífica Universidad Católica• México: Universidad Autónoma de México

(UNAM) & ECOSUR• Latin American Pollen Database (LAPD)

community

• Germany: Göttingen, Potsdam, Greifswald• UK: Bristol, Gloucestershire, Leeds, Leicester,

Nottingham, Southampton, York• Ireland: Dublin• Finland: Helsinki, Turku• Sweden: Royal Botanical Museum, Stockholm• Denmark: Aarhus• Estonia: Tallin• Canada: Regina

Cooperation


A research highlight

A novel 3.2 Ma terrestrial record of Pleistocene ice-ages from the Bogotá Basin

Torres, Hooghiemstra

586 m deep bore hole Funza-2at 2550 m altitude

VivianiteVolcanic ash

XRF-scanner


A research highlight

Depositional environments

Lacustrine

Fluvio-lacustrine

Fluvial

Bio

tic

Abi

otic

285 mFaci

es

385 m


Torres, HooghiemstraA research highlight


Future Research

• Non-pollen palynomorphs

• Solar forcing of climate change

• Basins of Bogotá & Fúquene: harvesting the huge data sets of fine-resolution pollen records ESPM

• Amazonia: plant diversity and ice age environments

• GIS applications for calibrating paleodata to modern data in regional syntheses CBPG

• Societal relevant research:– Nature restoration and conservation

supported by paleo-data EPS– Forensic studies– IPCC related research ESPM

Pollen & GIS

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics Universiteit van Amsterdam Research group Palaeoecology and Landscape ecology (P&L) Temperate – Palaeoecology:

Documents

climate change van geel

van boxel vegetation

van mourik landscape

solar forcing van geel

past climate change

climate change temperate

cleef slide

drier slide