March 5, 2024
Sales, R.A., McMichael, C.N.H., Peterson, L.C., Stanley, A., Bennett, I., Jones, T.E., Walker, A.S., Mulhearn, M., Nelson, A., Moore, C., O’Connor, M., Sinkler, W., Banner, C., Church, W., VanValkenburgh, P. & Bush, M.B. (2024) Wet and dry events influenced colonization of a mid-elevation Andean forest. Quaternary Science Reviews 327, 108518. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108518
January 17, 2024
Strandberg, N.A., Steinbauer, M.J., Walentowitz, A., Gosling, W.D., Fall, P.L., Prebble, M., Stevenson, J., Wilmshurst, J.M., Sear, D.A., Langdon, P.G., Edwards, M.E. & Nogué, S. (2024) Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival. Nature Ecology & Evolution. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02306-3
December 20, 2023
I am delighted to be able to report that Alfred Houngnon (University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin) has been awarded an INQUA Fellowship for 2024 to develop his research into past environmental change in the Dahomey Gap. This research will link up my laboratory, at the Institute of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam), and the group of Dr Mireille S.S. Toyi (Laboratory of Applied Ecology, University of Abomey-Calavi). Below, and in the associated video report, Alfred explains the project and what he hopes to achieve during the project.
The Dahomey Gap project is designed to gain new insights on the West African palaeoenvironments using pollen, charcoal and dung fungal spore records to reconstruct past vegetation, fire and animal abundances. These empirical data will then be compared against paleoclimate models. Specifically, we will explore the interactions between fire, animals and vegetation around the Ewe-Adakplame forest in the south east of Benin Republic and highlight the role humans would have previously played in the modification of the landscape for millennia.
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December 19, 2023
On November 17, 2023, Caixia Wei (魏彩霞) accomplished a pivotal milestone by successfully defending her thesis titled “Morphometrics of Modern and Fossil Poaceae Pollen from South America” at the distinguished Agnietenkapel (University of Amsterdam). During the defense ceremony, Caixia showcased her professional knowledge and expertise in the field of paleoecology in a relaxed and cheerful manner. The committee members, promoters (Carina Hoorn, William Gosling, Phillip Jardine), and attendees (~50 people) responded with frequent smiles, laughter, and numerous rounds of applause! After the defense, a delightful reception and dinner were held, where Caixia was showered with an abundance of hugs, kisses, heartfelt wishes, and thoughtful gifts. These wonderful memories will support Caixia on her journey ahead…
For a glimpse into the event, you can watch Caixia’s insightful 10-minute project presentation here:
Additionally, most of Caixia’s thesis is available for download at this link:
November 2, 2023
Open access:
McMichael, C.N.H., Levis, C., Gosling, W.D., Junqueira, A.B., Piperno, D.R., Neves, E.G., Mayle, F., Peña-Claros, M. & Bongers, F. (2023) Spatial and temporal abilities of proxies used to detect pre-Columbian Indigenous human activity in Amazonian ecosystems. Quaternary Science Reviews 321, 108354. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108354
September 28, 2023
Open access:
Wei, C., Jardine, P.E., Mao, L., Mander, L., Li, M., Gosling, W.D. & Hoorn, C. (2023) Grass pollen surface ornamentation is diverse across the phylogeny: Evidence from northern South America and the global literature. Journal of Systematics and Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/jse.13021
September 8, 2023
Open access:
de Wolf, I.K., Donders, T.H., Hoek, W.Z., Gouw-Bouman, M. & Giesecke, T. (2023) Unlocking the wealth of Dutch pollen data for future research and education. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. DOI: 10.1007/s00334-023-00951-z
September 6, 2023
The University of Amsterdam “Palaeoecology” course commenced this week with lectures getting students up to speed with the fundamental principles and approaches to the subject, and laboratory practicals training students in the identification of micro- and macro-fossils. Once students have gained a basic understanding of pollen and phytolith identification – and demonstrated this by passing the ‘dreaded’ identification quiz – it is time to commence the group project work.
This year the students are trying to identify from which study site their ‘mystery slides’ come from on the basis of the micro-fossil assemblages (pollen and phytoliths) that they contain. The study sites all come from the area around Hilversum (Netherlands) and (could) include: heathland, pine forest, mix-deciduous forest, and birch woodlands. In addition, just to make it more interesting, one group has samples taken from the medieval palaeosol that is found locally.
Next week is field work week and the students will then need to parameterise the vegetation around the Hilversum area in such a way that they: (i) get a representative sample the variation across the landscape, and (ii) can compare the vegetation data with their micro-fossil data. Then, following the number crunching in the third week of the course, we will find out if the different groups can identify the correct study site from which there samples came…
The Palaeoecology course at the University of Amsterdam is part of the BSc Biology program, it is also frequently taken by students on the BSc Future Planet Studies degree. We also welcome students from other programs, such as BSc Béta-Gamma, and international exchange students.
August 23, 2023
Every picture tells a story. This one is a snapshot I took of Dan Livingstone’s African palaeolimnology group in June1984, when I spent a few months at Duke University, North Carolina, at Dan’s invitation. I had started work on the pollen analysis of a Holocene core from Cameroon that I’d collected in 1981 and Dan was keen to help me as far as possible. He was making plans for his lake coring projects a few years later in Cameroon (Barombi Mbo).
August 16, 2023
Gosling, W.D. & McMichael, C.N.H. (2023) The use of micro infrared spectroscopy in reconstructing past ecological and environmental change. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences (ed. by R. Bradshaw) Elsevier. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-99931-1.00087-8
Ecology of the past 