Search results

Here we report a new quantitative mean July temperature reconstruction using non-biting midges (chironomids) from the Danish Last Interglacial (LIG) site Hollerup (spanning 127-116 ka). We find that peak mean July temperatures of 17.5 °C, similar to those of the present day (1961-1990 CE), were reached shortly before the onset of the regional Carpinus pollen zone. Through comparison to terrestrial

The relationship between land-use and floristic diversity in the landscape, for the last millennia, is analysed from two small lakes in southern Sweden. Pollen analysis and the Local Vegetation Estimates (LOVE) model are used to quantify land-cover at local scales with 100-year time windows. Floristic richness is estimated using palynological richness, and we introduce LOVE-based evenness as a pro

We use Granger causality to investigate the influences of external forcings on subdecadal variability of regional near-surface air temperature (SAT) in past millennium simulations (period 850–1850 A.D.) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models. Our results strengthen the conclusion for robust influence of volcanic forcing on SAT during preindustrial times of the last mil

Policy-makers in the European Union (EU) have increasingly emphasised public procurement as an instrument that can be used to stimulate innovation. These developments reflect and respond to a growing concern among EU member states and regions about how to maintain competitive advantage in an economic environment increasingly subject to global competition The Lisbon goals set for the EU in 2000 req

This article provides a review of the application of stomatal frequency analysis to fossil leaves in the reconstruction of past atmospheric CO2 concentrations. It presents the physiological basis of the method, an overview of its application to leaves of Quaternary age, and an assessment of its potential and limitations. It also includes a description of the successive stages in a stomatal frequen

Can a climate-triggered export of old contaminants from the soil alter the lead (Pb) contaminant burden of subarctic lakes? To address this question, we reconstructed the pollution history of three high latitude lakes situated in a region where a recent climatic shift has occurred. Dated sediment records were used as archives of past Pb inputs to the lakes, where the difference in the (206)Pb/(207

A pollen diagram from a small peat bog on the island of Tristan da Cunha in the central South Atlantic (37 degrees 05'S, 12 degrees 17'W) is presented. The pollen diagram contains data from both introduced and native plant taxa. The earliest pollen grains from introduced Plantago lanceolata are dated to around AD 1570, and probably represent unintentional introductions of weeds by the earliest Por

Permafrost in peatlands of subarctic Sweden is presently thawing at accelerated rates, which raises questions about the destiny of stored carbon and nutrients and impacts on adjacent freshwater ecosystems. In this study we use peat and lake sediment records from the Stordalen palsa mire in northern Sweden to address the late Holocene (5,000 cal BP-present) development of the mire as well as relate

Dendrochronological analysis was applied to subfossil remains of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) buried in a South Swedish peat deposit. In combination with peat stratigraphy, this approach was explored for its potential to provide information on the local hydrological and depositional history at the site, forming the basis for a regional palaeohydrological analysis. A 726-year ring-width chronol

Many of Sweden’s red listed species are found in the agricultural landscape. Small biotopes (e.g. field margins and field islets) are important for the maintenance of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, and agri-environmental support is paid to farmers who keep them open. However, a proper evaluation of the biodiversity-gains from this type of management is lacking. We examined the predicted

An important constraint on the reliability of cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating is the rigorous determination of production rates. We present a new dataset for Be-10 production rate calibration from Mount Billingen, southern Sweden, the site of the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake, an event dated to 11,620 +/- 100 cal yr BP. Five samples of flood-scoured bedrock surfaces (58.5 degrees N, 13.

We used the radiocarbon wiggle-match dating technique to date the varved sediments of Lake Gyltigesjon in southern Sweden with the main aim to construct an accurate chronology covering the period between about 3000 and 2000 cal BP. Wiggle-match dating was applied to bulk sediments to evaluate the possibility of constructing accurate chronologies in the absence of terrestrial plant macrofossils and

In Sweden, municipalities organize a large share of public services but the conditions for providing these services differ considerably due to differences in size and wealth. In the wake of financial stress and New Public Management reforms the Swedish local governments seeks new ways to make both ends meet and still manage the services to be in line with the present (not the past) demands of the

Four years have passed since January 1996 when retail competition was introduced in the Swedish electricity market. These years have been characterized by a rapid restructuring of the electricity supply industry through mergers and acquisitions, lower electricity prices, and a search for new marketing strategies in the competitive market. General trends and the results of two market surveys, under

Solar influences on climate variability are one of the most controversially discussed topics in climate research. We analyze solar forcing of flood frequency in central Europe during spring and summer on interannual to multi-centennial timescales, integrating daily discharge data of the River Ammer (southern Germany) back to AD1926 (∼solar cycles 16-23) and the 5500-year flood layer record from va

A new and improved Holocene tephra stratigraphy and tephrochronological framework for eastern and northern Iceland is presented. Investigations of a sediment sequence from Lake Lögurinn have revealed a comprehensive tephra record spanning the last 10.200 years. A total of 157 tephra layers have been identified, whereof 149 tephra layers have been correlated to its source volcanic system using geoc

BACKGROUND: Non-fatal outcomes of disease and injury increasingly detract from the ability of the world's population to live in full health, a trend largely attributable to an epidemiological transition in many countries from causes affecting children, to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) more common in adults. For the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015), we

Sediments from the small lake Ilsø situated in the Illerup/Alken Enge Valley were studied in order to investigate past landscape development at the time of a probably ritual human mass burial following battle during the Roman Iron Age (ad 1–400). A pollen record from Ilsø and a number of other records from Jutland were combined using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm to reconstruct local vege