INQUA XVIII session, Biotic proxies in lake sediments as quantitative indicators of Quaternary environmental change: development, calibration and applications

Dear colleagues,

We would like to draw your attention to the following session at the XVIII. congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) taking place July 20-27 2011 in Bern Switzerland.

Kind regards,

Oliver Heiri and Heikki Seppä

Session title: Biotic proxies in lake sediments as quantitative indicators of Quaternary environmental change: development, calibration and applications

Conveners: Oliver Heiri (Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Switzerland) and Heikki Seppä (Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland)

Keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. H.J.B. Birks, University of Bergen, Norway

Session description: Biotic remains of plants and animals in lake sediments provide information on climate, landscape and ecosystem changes during the Quaternary. These proxies can provide quantitative information on past variations in climatic variables (e.g. temperature, precipitation), water quality (e.g. nutrient concentrations, pH) or landscape structure (e.g. vegetation density and openness) using transfer functions and calibration datasets linking modern environments with assemblage data. This session invites presentations of quantitative reconstructions of environmental change based on biotic proxies such as pollen, diatoms, chironomids, ostracods or molluscs from lake sediment records and contributions which deal with new approaches (numerical methods, indicator groups, calibration datasets) for quantitative environmental reconstruction. Studies using these approaches to study natural climate variability, the effects of climate and human activity on landscapes and ecosystems, and for establishing undisturbed baseline values and reference conditions for landscape and ecosystem restoration efforts are particularly welcomed.

Abstract deadline: November 30 2010

For more details on the INQUA congress and instructions for abstract submission visit http://www.inqua2011.ch

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