The discovery of an ornament made from Phyllobius viridicollis beetles in a cremation grave at the Domasław cemetery highlights the diverse use of organic materials in funerary rites. Together with dandelion pollen, the find offers interpretative potential for reconstructing the seasonal timing of the burial.

The Balkan Peninsula is considered to have acted as a glacial refugium as well as a biogeographic crossroads during the Pleistocene, playing an important role in the survival of biota and population dynamics through time. Furthermore, rather than being a homogeneous habitat, it is thought to have hosted a number of diverse, isolated “refugia within refugia,” providing suitable conditions for the persistence of different plant and animal species, as well as, potentially, Pleistocene hominins. We present the first palynological and charcoal record, although discontinuous, from the middle Pleistocene archaeological site Marathousa 1 (MAR-1; Megalopolis Basin) to reconstruct the local environment along with the first multispecies record of coprophilous fungal spores from Greece to track herbivore activity during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12. Our data show that during the early and late MIS 12, when the forest cover substantially decreased, mesophilous trees and aquatic vegetation persisted, reflecting wetter and milder conditions at MAR-1. Herbivore presence is documented by ∼473 ka, while its intensification coincides with increased vegetation biomass and local fire activity during the late MIS 12. Our findings suggest that MAR-1 likely served as a glacial refugium for middle Pleistocene hominins, providing essential resources for their survival during MIS 12.

A 13,500-year-old record from Langohr Wetland in the Gallatin Range of southwestern Montana offers new insights into the vegetation and fire history at middle elevations within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Pollen data suggest that following deglaciation, a tundra–steppe established until warmer and wetter conditions than before could support Picea parkland. The development of an open, predominantly Pinus mixed-conifer forest from ca. 9300–7000 cal yr BP suggests warming summer temperatures led to an increase in forest cover and fire activity; the increase in tree abundance supported infrequent, stand-replacing fires approximately every 600 years. Picea and Pseudotsuga increased their presence at ca. 7000 cal yr BP, and the mixed-conifer forest became denser during the Mid- and Late Holocene, suggesting summers became cooler and wetter. The additional fuel load led to increased fire activity, with stand-replacing fires occurring approximately every 350 years in the Late Holocene. The forest surrounding Langohr Wetland experienced less change in vegetation composition and structure and fewer fire episodes than other low- and high-elevation sites in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The stability of this forested ecosystem over thousands of years is likely a result of its cool mesic mid-elevation setting, limiting the frequency of intense fire episodes.

The undeniable impact of climate change and air pollution on respiratory health has led to increasing cases of asthma, allergic rhinitis and other chronic non-communicable immune-mediated upper and lower airway diseases. Natural bioaerosols, such as pollen and fungi, are essential atmospheric components undergoing significant structural and functional changes due to industrial pollution and atmospheric warming. Pollutants like particulate matter(PMx), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), nitrogen dioxide(NO2), sulfur dioxide(SO2) and carbon monoxide(CO) modify the surface and biological properties of atmospheric bioaerosols such as pollen and fungi, enhancing their allergenic potentials. As a result, sensitized individuals face heightened risks of asthma exacerbation, and these alterations likely contribute to the rise in frequency and severity of allergic diseases. NAMs, such as precision-cut lung slices(PCLS), air–liquid interface(ALI) cultures and lung-on-a-chip models, along with the integration of data from these innovative models with computational models, provide better insights into how environmental factors influence asthma and allergic diseases compared to traditional models. These systems simulate the interaction between pollutants and the respiratory system with higher precision, helping to better understand the health implications of bioaerosol exposure. Additionally, NAMs improve preclinical study outcomes by offering higher throughput, reduced costs and greater reproducibility, enhancing the translation of data into clinical applications. This review critically evaluates the potential of NAMs in researching airway diseases, with a focus on allergy and asthma. It highlights their advantages in studying the increasingly complex structures of bioaerosols under conditions of environmental pollution and climate change, while also addressing the existing gaps, challenges and limitations of these models.

We synthesized pre-last glacial maximum pollen records to reconstruct North American pollen diversity since ca. 130 ka. Using taxonomic diversity (a measure of the number and abundance of taxa) and functional diversity (a measure of the number and abundance of different phenotypes) we identified temporal and spatial diversity trends for six North American bioregions: Arctic, Intermountain West, Mexico, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Yucatán. Reconstructed taxonomic temporal and spatial trends vary among bioregions, with regional diversity patterns captured in the functional metric, suggesting shifts in species composition coincide with shifts in ecosystem function. However, significant shifts in taxonomic pollen diversity differed in frequency, magnitude, and timing from their functional counterparts. Variations in both regional taxonomic and functional diversity response to global and regional temperature trends were evident, suggesting temperature alone does not fully explain changes in species composition. Regional richness estimates exhibited higher stability relative to the weighted diversity estimates indicating low levels of species turnover through Late Quaternary warming–cooling phases. Shifts in regional diversity did not predictably respond to stadial and interstadial transitions. Instead, North American patterns of plant diversity over the last ca. 130 ka differ geographically, likely responding to regional rather than global climate change.

We studied a 2200-year-old sediment core from Lake Zapovednoye, a small, deep, freshwater lake near the site of the 1908 Tunguska impact event. Analysis of the sediment core for geochemistry, pollen, chironomids, Cladocera, and diatoms revealed traces of climatic fluctuations during the investigated time period during which a cool climate before 1000 CE was replaced by the Medieval Climatic Optimum, the Little Ice Age, and finally the modern warming. An increased content of terrigenous elements was identified at the depth corresponding to ca. 1908 CE. This layer presumably resulted from erosion of the soil cover after the tree fall caused by the Tunguska impact event (the largest recorded in history). For the first time, the reaction of lake biota to an impact event has been detected. Our study has demonstrated that the taxonomic diversity of hydrobionts (chironomids and cladocerans) significantly declined after the catastrophe, probably due to increased turbidity, and recovered in 6–10 years. The pollen and diatom assemblages, however, demonstrated weaker compositional shifts.

Written accounts suggest there were major changes in agricultural practices in Anatolia as the region switched between Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkic control, yet archaeological evidence of these changes is offered only on a site-by-site basis. This article presents the first synthesis of archaeobotanical, palynological and zooarchaeological evidence for changes in plant and animal husbandry in Anatolia through the first and second millennia AD. Available data indicate a minimal role of climate change in agricultural shifts but offer evidence for substantial changes towards short-term-return agricultural strategies in response to declining personal security, changing patterns of military provisioning and distinct taxation regimes.

The generalist predatory mite, Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is one of the most effective biocontrol agents to control the pests of many crops in indoor cultivations. In this study, the effects of the enriched diets of the second trophic level, i.e. the stored-product mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) on the performance of N. cucumeris as the third trophic level was determined in a tritrophic system. In the first step, different pollens including almond, maize, date palm, castor bean, saffron, and cattail or different legume flours including pinto bean, lentil, black-eyed pea, chickpea, mung bean and broad bean as enrichment additives were added to the basic diet, i.e. a mixture of wheat bran and flour as a basic diet of T. putrescentiae. In the second step, to reveal the effects of the mentioned additives on the performance of N. cucumeris, the demographic parameters of the predator were determined when it was fed with the prey enriched with the additives. Our results indicated that N. cucumeris had higher performance by feeding on the prey reared on diets enriched by either pollens or legumes compared with the basic diet. Overall, there was no significant difference between pollen grains and some legume flours when the predatory mite was fed with them through its prey. Since legumes are more available and cost-effective food sources than pollens, they can be affordable supplementary diets for the mass rearing of N. cucumeris.

To investigate long-term relationships between climate, vegetation, landscape geochemistry and fires in the boreal forest zone of Western Siberia, a sediment core of 345 cm was collected from Shchuchye Lake (located in south taiga zone of southeast part of West Siberian plain) and investigated by spore-pollen, radiocarbon, LOI and charcoal analyses. Quantitative palaeoclimate was reconstructed based on pollen data. Investigation revealed 13.2 cal ka history of vegetation, climate, landscapes and fires. In the dry climate of Late Glacial, the landscape was treeless. Continuous permafrost existed in the soil. In the middle of the YD cooling 12.4–12.2 cal ka BP, our data showed warming that caused degradation of permafrost in soils and settlement of spruce in moist places. Later, thawing and accumulation of moisture in a local lowering in relief increased and a lake was formed. With the beginning of the Holocene, the climate sharply changed to warmer and wetter. Intensified surface flow caused accumulation of mineral and carbonate fraction in the lake. Dense birch forests spread on drylands. As a result, the leaching regime initiated the formation of podzols in the soil. At about 10.0 cal ka BP, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) quickly spread in the area of investigation. Fires became more frequent and more intense during the dry Late Glacial time, sharply decreasing with increased precipitation in the Early Holocene, and again moderately increasing with spread of pine forests in the mid Holocene. With the transition to Late Holocene (after 6.0 cal ka BP), the intensity of regional background fires and number of local fires decreased.

From the 1990s, the Southeast Asia native giant resin bee Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853) was introduced first to North America, and then to many countries in Europe. Despite increasing studies on its invasive potential and geographical expansion, information on nesting behaviour of this species is still extremely scarce. To increase knowledge on the nesting biology of M. sculpturalis, we studied multiple aspects of nesting and pollen provisioning in three consecutive years in artificial nests in Bologna, Italy. We observed 166 bees visiting nests, and followed individual nesting behaviour and success of 41 adult females. We measured cavity diameter in 552 nests and characterised the structure in 100 of them. More than 95% of nest diameters ranged between 0.6 and 1.2 cm, overlapping with several sympatric species of cavity-nesting hymenopterans in the study area. Most nests had a first chamber from the entrance of variable length without brood, followed by an average of about two brood cells with a mean length of 2.85 ± 0.13 cm each. The pollen stored in brood cells was almost monofloral, belonging to the ornamental plant Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott. We estimated that a single female should visit ≈180 flowers to collect enough pollen for a single brood cell. These results fill knowledge gaps on the nesting biology and nest structure of the exotic M. sculpturalis, and they are discussed in relation to possible competition with native bees for nesting sites and foraging resources.

Connecting changes in erosion and vegetation is necessary for predicting topographic and ecologic change in thawing permafrost landscapes. Formerly periglacial landscapes serve as potential analogs for understanding modern permafrost landscape change, yet compared to paleoenvironmental records at these sites, less is known about concurrent geomorphic processes, particularly their rates and relationships to climate change. Here, we target sediments preserved in a central Appalachian peat bog to reconstruct sedimentation across the last deglacial warming. We use ground-penetrating radar and geochemistry of cored bog sediments to quantify sedimentation timing, style, and provenance. Using 14C dating of sedimentary and geochemical shifts, we connect depositional changes to global climate and local vegetation change. We show that deglacial warming promoted deep soil disturbances via solifluction at ca. 14 ka. In contrast, relatively wetter conditions from ca. 10–9 ka promoted shallow disturbance of hillslopes via slopewash, which corresponds to a time of vegetation change. Our results highlight climate-modulated erosion depth and processes in periglacial and post-periglacial landscapes. The existence of similar erosion and vegetation records preserved regionally implies these dynamics were pervasive across unglaciated Appalachian highlands, aiding in reconstructing erosion responses to warming at a resolution with implications for predicting high-latitude landscape responses to disturbance.

The Paisley Cave archeological site in the Northern Great Basin has provided a rich archaeological record from 13,000 to 6000 cal yr BP, including abundant mammalian coprolites preserved in a well-dated stratigraphy. Here we analyze and contrast pollen from within coprolites and pollen in associated sediments to examine vegetation history and assess whether coprolite pollen provides unique information with respect to the coprolite producer, such as the use of specific habitats, foods, or water sources. We found that the dissimilarity of pollen assemblages between coprolites and associated sediments was greater than the serial dissimilarity between stratigraphically adjacent samples within either group. Serial dissimilarity within types was not greater for coprolites than sediments, as would be expected if there were unique pollen signatures derived from the short period (1–2 days) represented by each coprolite. Compared with sediment pollen assemblages, the coprolites had higher abundances of lighter pollen types, and some individual samples were high in wetland taxa (especially Typha). Our results are consistent with coprolite pollen representing short time periods collected as a mammal moves on the landscape, whereas sediment pollen reflects longer time periods and more regional vegetation indicators.

Arid regions are especially vulnerable to climate change and land use. More than one-third of Earth's population relies on these ecosystems. Modern observations lack the temporal depth to determine vegetation responses to climate and human activity, but paleoecological and archaeological records can be used to investigate these relationships. Decreasing rainfall across the Late Holocene provides a case study for vegetation response to changing hydroclimate. Rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) middens preserve paleoenvironmental indicators in arid environments where traditional archives are unavailable. Pollen from modern middens collected in Dhofar, Oman, demonstrates the reliability of this archive. Pollen, stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N), and microcharcoal data from fossil middens reveal changes in vegetation, relative moisture, and fire from 4000 cal yr BP to the present. Trees limited to moister areas (e.g., Terminalia) today existed farther inland at ~3100 cal yr BP. After ~2900 cal yr BP, taxa with more xeric affiliations (e.g., Senegalia) had increased. Coprophilous fungal spores (Sporormiella) and grazing indicator pollen revealed an amplified signal of domesticate grazing at ~1000 cal yr BP. This indicates that trees associated with semiarid environments were maintained in the interior desert during ~3000–4000 yr of decreasing rainfall and that impacts of human activity intensified after the transition to a drier environment.

As the main global terrestrial ecosystem component, grasslands are extremely sensitive to global climate change. With increasing human activities over the last century, grassland ecosystems have been degraded to different degrees. However, the evolution of lake-grassland ecosystems in recent centuries remains unclear due to the dearth of high-resolution records. Here, we present high-resolution lacustrine sediment grain size, pollen (Artemisia, Myriophyllum), Pediastrum, and n-alkane records from Ganggeng Nur Lake to investigate vegetation, lake evolution, and human effects in semiarid northern China. Four stages were identified from the last ca. 150 years: (1) the natural evolution stage (AD 1870–1945), in which there was a wet climate around Ganggeng Nur and the lake level rose from increased runoff; (2) the human disturbance stage (AD 1945–1967), in which the regional climate got drier and human activities began having a detectable effect on the grassland ecosystem; (3) the human transformation stage (AD 1967–2005), in which a completely arid climate coupled with the implementation of a series of land reclamation policies resulted in a large reduction in grassland areas, extensive soil erosion, exacerbated climate change, and shrinking lake areas; and (4) the posttreatment stage (AD 2005–2018), in which soil erosion was alleviated by policy implementation and a favorable humid climate.

This paper presents the first continuous multi-proxy record of climate and vegetation change from the central Namib Desert extending over much of the last ca. 39,000 years. Derived from rock hyrax middens, evidence from stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, pollen, and microcharcoal reveals significant differences between glacial-age and Holocene climates and vegetation types. Although still arid to semi-arid, conditions during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MIS) 2–3 were significantly more humid than in the Late Holocene. Considerable associated vegetation change is apparent, with cooler temperatures and higher/more-regular rainfall promoting the westward expansion of relatively mesic shrubby karroid vegetation during MIS 2–3. With the last glacial–interglacial transition, increasing temperatures and less/less-regular rainfall resulted in marked vegetation changes and the establishment of current xeric grasslands. The inter-plant spacing of the karroid vegetation promoted by wetter conditions does not carry fire effectively, and the microcharcoal record indicates that more extensive fires may develop only with the development of grassier vegetation under drier conditions. As with other terrestrial records from the Namib Desert and environs, no Cape flora elements were found to support previously hypothesised expansion of the Fynbos Biome during the last glacial period.

A 13.0 cal ka BP pollen record from Twin Ponds, Vermont, provides new insights into the climate history of the northeastern United States. Modern analogs were used to produce qualitative and quantitative climate reconstructions for Twin Ponds. The Twin Ponds record was compared with nearby Knob Hill Pond to develop a Vermont reconstruction that was compared with reconstructions from two sites at a similar latitude. Postglacial warming at 11.5 cal ka BP followed a cool, wet Younger Dryas and was the largest temperature change of the record. The warmest, driest conditions occurred at ca. 9.0 cal ka BP, followed by an increase in moisture. Latitudinal and elevational shifts in the location of modern analogs from 5.7 to 4.0 cal ka BP were used to infer cooling and increased moisture during the Tsuga canadensis decline. Analysis of the timing of pollen events between the two Vermont sites suggests a more rapid decline in T. canadensis at the more northern Knob Hill Pond and further supports the possibility that colder temperatures contributed to this event. The other northern sites show similar trends until 2.5 cal ka BP, when precipitation in the easternmost site diverges, indicating the establishment of modern climatic gradients.

Pollen preserved in caves provides a little-appreciated opportunity to study past vegetation and climate changes in regions where conventional wetland sediments are either unavailable, contain little organic matter, and/or are difficult to date accurately. Most palynology in caves has focused on clastic infill sediments, but pollen preserved in growing speleothems provides important new opportunities to develop vegetation and climatic records that can be dated accurately with radiometric methods. However, when pollen is present in speleothems, concentrations can vary by orders of magnitude, highlighting how little we know about the processes that transport pollen into caves and onto speleothem surfaces, and that determine the pollen's preservation probability. To explore these aspects of speleothem pollen taphonomy, we investigated the distribution of pollen and microscopic charcoal within several stalagmites from southwest Australia. We examined spatial patterns in pollen and charcoal preservation in order to distinguish whether observed gradients result from preservation or are products of systematic transport processes working along stalagmite surfaces. We find that pollen grains and charcoal fragments are located preferentially on the flanks of most stalagmites. This suggests that pollen grain and charcoal deposition on speleothems is influenced by transport and accumulation of detrital debris on growing surfaces. These insights will assist in future sampling campaigns focusing on speleothem pollen and charcoal contents.

A robust understanding of the impact of anthropogenic activities on high-altitude tropical aquatic ecosystems is key for the conservation and protection of the Tropical Andean biodiversity hot spot. We present the results of a multiproxy study of lake sediments from the high Andean páramo of El Cajas National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve in Ecuador. The main site, Laguna Pallcacocha, is well known for recording El Niño–driven clastic flood layers that are triggered by high-intensity rainfall anomalies from the eastern Pacific. The second site, Laguna El Ocho, does not contain clastic laminations, providing a control. The records show abrupt shifts in diatom assemblages ca. AD 1991 in both high-elevation Andean lakes accompanied by local changes in páramo composition that suggest a sudden nutrient enrichment of the environment. The diatom assemblages from Laguna Pallcacocha, in relation to the clastic input events, are remarkably stable and do not show evident El Niño signals at the analysed resolution. Based on comparison with the nonlaminated El Ocho record, we deduce the main source of this nutrient enrichment to be the construction of a heavily transited road that runs through the park, while climate warming played secondary role by amplifying its effects.

Terracing is found widely in the Mediterranean and in other hilly and mountainous regions of the world. Yet while archaeological attention to these ‘mundane’ landscape features has grown, they remain understudied, particularly in Northern Europe. Here, the authors present a multidisciplinary study of terraces in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland. The results date their construction to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, when they were built by cutting back the hillside, stone clearance and wall construction. Environmental evidence points to their use for cereal cultivation. The authors suggest that the construction and use of these terraces formed part of an Early to Middle Bronze Age agricultural intensification, which may have been both demographically and culturally driven.