Ershova E.G. Bakumenko V.O.
Soil pollen and non-pollen indicators of land use types
Reporter: Ershova E.G.
In this work we present the results of spore-pollen analysis of forest soils from the Zvenigorod biological station of Moscow State University (Moscow Region, Russia). Sites for analysis were selected based on a study of historical maps. 25 sites are modern forests growing on sites that were fields of the 19th and 18th centuries, 12 are located in territories designated on historical maps as forests or shrubs/woodlands. At each site, samples were taken from the upper layer of the forest floor and from a depth of 25-30 cm, from a presumably residual arable horizon. Samples were analyzed by standard methods for pollen and spores. The analysis showed that forest soils, which in the past underwent plowing, retain pollen of plants characteristic of former fields at a depth of 20-25 cm. This includes pollen of cultivated cereals, Centaurea cyanus, Fagopyrum esculentum, etc. But the most reliable indicators of the former fields are the spores of mosses Riccia glauca and Anthoceros sp., as well as the spores of Lycopodium clavatum. Spores of these plants are found in abundance in old plow horizons, but are completely absent in modern vegetation and surface spectra. Studies have also shown that most of the forests of the Zvenigorod Biostation formed on former fields. Moreover, many areas designated on the maps of the 19th century as forest ones represent overgrown fields of 18th and earlier centuries. Of the 37 sites studied, only 5 showed no signs of former plowing. The pollen indicators of old plow horizons identified as a result of this study can be used to determine the boundaries of ancient fields under modern forests. They can also be used to interpret the data of spore-pollen analysis of gully-ravine sediments, which accumulate soil material washed away from fields. This is especially important for forest-steppe regions that have passed through multiple cycles of agricultural use.
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