Rapid Lateglacial tree population dynamics and ecosystem changes in the eastern Baltic region

A growing body of evidence implies that the concept of 'treeless tundra' in eastern and northern Europe fails to explain the rapidity of Lateglacial and postglacial tree population dynamics of the region, yet the knowledge of the geographic locations and shifting of tree populations is fragmentary. Pollen, stomata and plant macrofossil stratigraphies from Lake Kurjanovas in the poorly studied eastern Baltic region provide improved knowledge of ranges of north‐eastern European trees during the Lateglacial and subsequent plant population responses to the abrupt climatic changes of the Lateglacial/Holocene transition. The results prove the Lateglacial presence of tree populations (Betula, Pinus and Picea) in the eastern Baltic region. Particularly relevant is the stomatal and plant macrofossil evidence showing the local presence of reproductive Picea populations during the Younger Dryas stadial at 12 900–11 700 cal. a BP, occurring along with Dryas octopetala and arctic herbs, indicating semi‐open vegetation. The spread of Pinus–Betula forest at ca. 14 400 cal. a BP, the rise of Picea at ca. 12 800 cal. a BP and the re‐establishment of Pinus–Betula forest at ca. 11 700 cal. a BP within a span of centuries further suggest strikingly rapid, climate‐driven ecosystem changes rather than gradual plant succession on a newly deglaciated land. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalized theory of impacts in particulate systems

The theory of collisional systems is generalized for an arbitrary geometry and forces acting in the system, mixtures of different particle types, friction, small deviations from the ideal spherical form, axial rotation, finite size of particles and gravitational interactions. Terms for the formation of new particles and destruction of old ones are also included, and other unspecified parameters can be introduced. Although some approximations are made to simplify the basic equations and to avoid excessive numerical interactions, a comparison with computer simulations shows a good agreement. The tests were continued up to the optical thickness = 5.     

Surface sediment Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) distributions along an ecotonal transect in subarctic Fennoscandia: developing a tool for palaeotemperature reconstructions

We used multivariate statistical techniques to analyse the distributions of surface sediment chironomid assemblages with respect to surface-water temperature, and an additional set of 27 environmental variables, in 30 freshwater lakes of northern Fennoscandia. Our study transect spans boreal coniferous forest to subarctic tundra and includes a steep temperature gradient. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) with forward selection and associated Monte Carlo permutation tests revealed that there were statistically significant (P<0.05) relationships between chironomid distributions and two environmental variables, namely lakewater temperature and maximum lake depth. A constrained CCA with temperature as the only predictor variable suggested that the relationship between lakewater temperature and chironomid composition was sufficiently robust for developing a weighted-averaging (WA) based quantitative inference model that will allow palaeotemperature reconstructions using subfossil chironomid remains preserved in lake sediments.     

Short-code paleolimnological investigation of Lake Pihlajavesi in the Saimaa Lake complex, eastern Finalnd: assessment of habitat quality of an endemic and endangered seal population

A short-core paleolimnological investigation was carried out to acquire knowledge of the recent history of Lake Pihlajavesi, Saimaa Lake complex, and define its natural state before cultural disturbances. In the natural state, with negligible human interference, the basin was oligotrophic and oxygen-rich. The bioproductivity in the littoral zone was low and the profundal benthic quality was good according to Wiederholm's Benthic Quality Index.Based on diatom analyses, no significant changes have taken place in the phytoplankton communities during the past decades. Sedimentary chironomid communities reveal, however, slight changes on profundal life in the Pihlajavedenselkä basin, near the main pollution sources, whereas there were no significant changes in the outer basin. Three stages could be distinguished in the pollution history of Pihlajavedenselkä: (1) 'The natural state' up until the 1960s, (2) 'the period of increasing loading' during the 1960s and 1970s, and (3) 'the recovery of the basin' during the past two decades.Untreated municipal waste water from the town of Savonlinna was partly responsible for the commencement of eutrophication in the Pihlajavedenselkä basin in the 1960s. The paper and pulp industry in Varkaus, some 40 kilometres upstream from Lake Pihlajanvesi, has also increased eutrophication, especially during the worst period of water quality in the 1960s and 1970s. More effective waste water purification has markedly reduced effluent loading and led to a general recovery of the area. Neverthless the effects of slight nutrient loading can still be seen, especially in littoral bioproductivity.Our paleolimnological data indicate that the present ecosystem will offer living conditions for the endemic Saimaa ringed seal population that are similar to those that existed prior to human disturbances.     

Spin rates of small moonlets embedded in planetary rings: I. Three-body calculations

We investigate the spin rates of moonlets embedded in planetary rings, subject to collisions with surrounding small particles, using three-body integrations including friction and spins. All successive impacts of the particle with the moonlet are followed, including a possible sliding phase after the initial inelastic rebounds. Two methods for treating impacts, (1) as instantaneous velocity changes and (2) using an impact force model, are applied after Salo (1995, Icarus 117, 287). Conducting a series of integrations with various initial summed spin velocity of the moonlet and the particle, we determine the equilibrium spin rate for which the averaged torque vanishes. This equilibrium spin rate corresponds to the final spin rate of the moonlet if the moonlet is much larger than the surrounding particles; it also corresponds to the mean spin rate for a ring composed of identical particles. We find that the equilibrium spin rate is enhanced by sliding orbits as compared with the spin rate determined by considering only the first impacts of the particles with the moonlet. If the random velocities of incident particles are small enough, the resulting equilibrium spin rate of the moonlet can be larger than the synchronous rotation rate, for r_p∼1, where r_p denotes the sum of radii of the colliding pair normalized by their mutual Hill radius. In this special case aggregates without internal strength may become rotationally unstable. However, the equilibrium spin rate decreases with increasing random velocity, and aggregates are always rotationally stable in the more likely case where the relative velocities are comparable to the mutual escape velocity. We also compare our results with the mean spin rates found in previous N-body simulations, and find a good agreement for optically thin rings; however the spin rates for optically thick rings are significantly larger than those predicted by our three-body calculations.     

Limnological effects of growth and cessation of agricultural land use in Ladoga Karelia: sedimentary pollen and diatom analyses

Reference conditions and changes in limnological conditions during the 20th century have been inferred in a palaeolimnological study of sediments from six lakes of the District of Sortavala, Karelian Republic, Russia. The area is former Finnish territory, which was in intensive use for arable field cultivation until the World War II, when the area was ceded to the Soviet Union. After the war, farming was resumed by cattle sovkhozes, and the fields were mainly used as pasture without regular ploughing. We have studied the history of eutrophication and recovery in some lakes related with the changes of agricultural intensity. The trophic level of the lakes was studied by sedimentary diatom assemblages, including reconstructions of total phosphorus levels in the lakes based on a weighted averaging transfer function. Pollen analyses were used to assess the changes in the land use near the lakes. Valuable background data on all the lakes used in the present study are provided by a doctoral thesis done on their limnology from the 1920s. According to our results, the four lakes situated on the clayey lowlands near the coast of Lake Ladoga were eutrophicating during the first half of the 20th century, and in two of them, a rapid recovery is evident. In two lakes situated in hilly landscape with limited agricultural activities, only minor changes are recorded in the diatom profiles.