Mangrove forests are unique coastal ecosystems, formed through a complex network of terrestrial, estuarine, and marine processes that have provided a diverse assortment of societal benefits across time. Compounding anthropogenic pressures are driving critical mangrove degradation worldwide, threatening the wellbeing of coastal populations historically associated with these systems. The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM) in northern Colombia is the largest coastal lagoon-delta in the Caribbean. It is inhabited by stilt-house communities who have developed an intricate livelihood and cultural relationship with the mangroves. The CGSM has experienced sustained social and ecological degradation over the last 6 decades, triggered by land-use change and disruption of hydrological connections. This study integrates Social-Ecological Memory and Palaeoecology to develop a historical contextualization of the biophysical and social dimensions of environmental change in CGSM. Integration of geochemical sediment analysis, C14 radiocarbon dating, and demographic inferences from archaeological evidence revealed three distinct periods over the last 5000 years. During this time sea level rise and hydroclimatic variability shaped the transition from freshwater to prevailing marine conditions, and modulated human occupation patterns in the area around 2000 years ago. In addition, participatory reconstructions with local communities offered nuanced descriptions about the spatial, temporal and contextual aspects of the degradation process, with profound social-ecological consequences. The interdisciplinary approach of this study indicates that CGSM is a highly dynamic social-ecological system that has been changing and reconfiguring across different time scales in response to both natural and human-induced processes, and contributes to the preservation of collective memory in this unique stilt-house community. Finally, it reveals the relative effects of biophysical and social drivers on driving social-ecological change under both millennial and decadal scales.

This research project used many disciplines to examine the impacts of industrialisation on the wooded landscape of the South Pennines. The woodlands of this upland region are characterised by their small size and steep topography. Nevertheless, they exhibit a rich archaeology of management from the medieval period onwards. Field survey of case study sites was combined with charcoal analysis from excavated burning platforms, palynology of soil cores, tree ring analysis and ecological survey. This was set within a historical context, particularly focusing on the regional industries of iron, leather and textiles, in order to understand the economic motivations for changes in woodland management. The woodlands examined showed a diverse range of histories. Some had a strong correlation with models of changing woodland management culture of neighbouring regions, particularly the evolution of systematic oak-dominated coppice in response to industrial demands. Woodland management in the South Pennines was more sensitive to industries which created dispersed demand from many actors than to bulk demand from centralised industries and responded to the changing economics of the fossil fuel era. The dominance of freehold tenure also contributed to many woodlands being managed in an unsystematic manner and the survival of private wood pasture alongside timber harvesting. / Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Heritage Consortium

El sur de los Andes Ecuatorianos alberga una extraordinaria riqueza de especies. Muchos factores ambientales diferentes influyen entre sí en un espacio muy limitado y crean ecosistemas únicos y complejos. Sin embargo, esta área está altamente en peligro debido al creciente impacto humano a través de la intensificación del uso de la tierra y cambio global. Sólo poco se sabe acerca de la historia paleoecológica y dinámica del paisaje de esta zona. Sin embargo, la información acerca del por qué y cómo los ecosistemas han cambiado en el pasado es crucial para el desarrollo de estrategias innovadoras para la conservación y futuras predicciones del clima. En este estudio, presentamos los análisis palinológicos realizados en la región sur de los Andes Ecuatorianos, que ayudan aclarar los patrones y procesos de los ecosistemas presentes y pasados. El estudio paleoecológico de la cuenca volcánica Quimsacocha en la cresta oriental de la Cordillera Occidental revela cambios del clima, la vegetación y del régimen del fuego desde el período del Holoceno temprano. El Holoceno medio fue un período de severos cambios ambientales debido a un clima más seco y supuestamente más cálido en esta área. Durante el Holoceno tardío, varias fases cálidas y frías se indican en el registro. El fuego estuvo presente en la zona desde el Holoceno temprano y puede ser el primer signo del impacto humano. El análisis multivariado combinado con otros núcleos de sedimentos en el sur de los Andes Ecuatorianos reveló acontecimientos, en parte, contrastantes, los cuales supuestamente son debido a la heterogeneidad ambiental de los diferentes sitios. Por otra parte, un estudio de tres años entre la relación lluvia de polen actual – vegetación se llevó a cabo en la región del Parque Nacional Podocarpus, con el fin de comprender los patrones de dispersión de polen de los diferentes tipos de vegetación del bosque premontano, bosque montano bajo, bosque montano alto y páramo para crear una base más sólida para la interpretación de los datos de polen fósil. Una comparación entre la abundancia y los datos de presencia-ausencia a nivel de familia para el polen y la vegetación mostró que los patrones de diversidad, distribución y abundancia tienen una buena correspondencia el uno con el otro en ambos conjuntos de datos. Sin embargo, cantidades variables del polen transportado de larga distancia, la productividad desigual de polen de los diferentes taxones y los sistemas heterogéneos del viento impactan los patrones. Los análisis de las tasas de acumulación de polen indican poca variación interanual pero una alta variación espacial en los datos de polen. La evaluación de los dos diferentes tipos de trampa de polen utilizados con frecuencia en estudios palinológicos tropicales, la trampa Oldfield modificada y la trampa Behling, en comparación con muestras de suelo superficial y una trampa de referencia, mostró que en las muestras de suelo, los taxones con una exina frágil se representan en menor medida que en las trampas. Además, señaló que mientras que en el bosque, todos los tipos de trampas proporcionan resultados similares, la trampa Behling se debe preferir en el páramo, ya que resiste mejor a la alta radiación y periodos de sequía. Todos los análisis amplían el conocimiento preciso y completo de la dinámica de la vegetación de los Andes Tropicales en el espacio y el tiempo.

This work is focused on characterising and evaluating the intensity and selectivity of the marine fauna during the Tr/J mass extinction and recovery of the ecosystem in different localities throughout Pangaea. To address this, four localities were studied: St. Audrie’s Bay, Larne and Pinhay Bay in the UK, and Portezuelo Providencia in Chile. From each locality, samples were taken at approximately 1m intervals throughout the Tr/J sections. Species abundance per sample was estimated and each species was classified according to autoecological information derived from the literature. In order to assess changes in the structure and composition of the assemblages, NMDS and beta diversity index were performed, dominance and richness were estimated and the data were tested against five rank abundance (RAD) models. Ecospace modelling was used to estimate the loss in ecological diversity. Measures of the body size of bivalves and ichno-parameters were recorded on each section. Through the UK sections, the richness, dominance and the composition rate shifted abruptly during the extinction event. A geometric model shows the best fit during extinction events and, in contrast, a log-normal model best fits the pre-extinction and recovery event. The body size of the bivalves did not decrease during the Tr/J, while the coverage, richness and body size of ichnofossils increased during the recovery. The Chile Tr/J section records low richness, but the ecological complexity and richness decreases through the interval and composition records high turnover, while the dominance increases. The results indicate that the Tr/J disruption changed species composition in a relatively short time period, which decreased the ecological functionality of the invertebrate marine assemblage. In spatial terms, the UK fauna show a clear response to the extinction effect, but the diversity response of the Chilean assemblage is not clear at all, which may be related to taphonomical bias. Alternatively, this work analysed stage-by-stage occupation of ecospace of 3181 genera recorded from Sepkoski`s compendium for the marine fauna from the Late Permian to Early Jurassic. The ecospace can be represented as a combination of the three axes of tiering, motility and feeding, each divided into six subcategories. From the Cambrian to Recent, ecospace utilisation has tripled, however the trend through the Phanerozoic remains unclear. This result indicates that from the Guadalupian to Sinemurian the number of modes of life did not increase significantly, but the ecospace packing does. There was a significant positive correlation between abundance of predators and both infaunalisation and motility. However, the ecospace utilisation decreased 35% and 16% at the end of Permian and Triassic, respectively. During the extinction events, non-motile animals, organisms with little physiological control of biocalcification and the epifaunal forms, were heavily affected. This indicates that the mass extinction had a particular ecological effect on the biota and is an important episode of ecological changes due to ecological selectivity. Parallel, the appearance of adaptations to new trophic niches during the Triassic, like durophagy, presumably increased predation pressure and drove the increase in benthic infaunalisation. This series of adaptation could be potentially associated with the Marine Mesozoic Revolution.

Bien qu'ayant fait l'objet d'études depuis près de deux siècles, les sélaciens (requins et raies) du Crétacé supérieur du Bassin Anglo-Parisien ne sont que partiellement connus. L'étude de 22 faunes provenant de gisements d'âges Cénomanien à Campanien en Grande Bretagne et nord de la France a permis d'améliorer significativement les connaissances sur ces communautés de sélaciens. Les horizons échantillonnés, principalement représentés par des craies phosphatées, ont livré environ 38000 restes dentaires. Ces derniers ont permis l'identification et la description de 150 taxa comprenant 130 espèces de requins et 20 espèces de batoïdes. En plus d'un nombre important de nouvelles occurrences stratigraphiques et géographiques, cette étude décrit 25 nouvelles espèces et 7 nouveaux genres en dehors de taxa, probablement nouveaux, laissés en nomenclature ouverte. Le nombre important de taxa considérés, combiné à des données publiées sur les sélaciens du nord-ouest de l'Europe et du Western Interior Seaway, ont permis d'étudier différents événements dans la diversité de ce groupe, à travers l'utilisation de méthodes de raréfaction et de ré-échantillonnage. Plusieurs bioévénements ont pu être identifiés et corrélés à différents changements environnementaux. De nombreux aspects paléoécologiques de ces faunes sont aussi discutés. Diverses méthodes d'ordination (clusters, analyses de correspondance) ont été appliquées à la fois sur les données morpho-fonctionelles (types dentaires préalablement testés sur des faunes actuelles) et taxonomiques des 22 faunes considérées. Plusieurs facteurs environnementaux sont proposés pour expliquer la distribution observée et les affinités paléoenvironnementales de certains taxa sont discutées. Différentes mesures de diversité ont permis d'identifier l'hétérogénéité de l'habitat comme principal facteur contrôlant la diversité et dominance d'espèces dans les faunes santoniennes et campaniennes. La diversité beta des nombreuses faunes du Campanien inférieur a été étudiée et indique une absence de provincialité dans le bassin. Enfin, les comparaisons faites avec des faunes publiées du nord-ouest de l'Euro pe ont permis d'identifier les distributions paléoécologiques générales pour ce groupe. / Although studied for nearly two centuries, Late Cretaceous selachians (sharks, rays and skates) from the Anglo-Paris Basin are still imperfectly known. The study of 22 selachians (sharks, rays and skates) faunas from Cenomanian to Campanian horizons in Great Britain and northern France allowed a significant advance in our knowledge on these assemblages and their communities. The (mainly phosphatic) chalks sampled yielded about 38 000 selachian fossil remains, mostly teeth. 150 taxa, comprising 130 shark and 20 batoid species, were identified and described. In addition to the large number of new stratigraphic and geographic ranges recognised here, 25 new species and 7 new genera are described beside a number of new taxa that are left in open nomenclature. The large number of taxa included in this work, along with other published data from NW Europe and Western Interior Seaway, allowed diversity patterns of Late Cretaceous selachians to be studie d through the use of various rarefaction and re-sampling methods. The various bioevents identified could all be correlated to global environmental changes such as temperature and sea level variations as well as changes in water mass distribution. Several palaeoecological aspects of these assemblages are also discussed. The use of morpho-functional dental types provided a promising approach area in assessing changes in the morpho-functional structure of some modern selachian assemblages depending on environmental conditions. Ordination methods (clusters, CA) used on both the taxonomic and morpho-functional structure of the faunas considered here, allowed the identification of groupings among the different assemblages. Accordingly, various environmental factors are proposed to explain the observed distribution and the palaeoenvironmental affinities of some taxa are discussed. Diversity measurements proved to be rich in information and allowed the identification of habitat hete rogeneity as the main controlling factor on the diversity and evenness of the Santonian-Campanian faunas. The beta diversity of the numerous Early Campanian faunas is also discussed and indicates low provinciality in the basin. Finally, comparisons with other assemblages from other NW basins allowed general palaeoecological distributions to be identified.

The study (MS, diploma thesis) is based on more than 1200 belemnite rostra set from the Lower Cretaceous sediments of locality Štramberk (N Moravia). Investigated rostra come from the collection of Dr. V. Houša, who collected them during the seventies to eighties of the last century, during intensive excavation of the Lower Cretaceous tectonic block named Š-12 "pocket". Belemnite rostra were determined at species and generic levels including 7 species and 18 genera. The majority of belemnite assemblage comes from the Lower Valanginian strata, however, also the Tithonian, Berriasian and Hauterivian taxa are present, what clearly documents the redeposition. The presence of mesohibilitids, known from the Barremian and younger deposits, still remains enigmatic. For better understanding of the redeposition proces, the alveolar infill formed by several generations of sediments, are investigated. Study of these sediments outlines the sedimentary development of the Baška elevation inside the Outer Carpathian system. Preliminary stable isotope data δ18 O and δ13 C received from belemnite rostra show different belemnite life-style during the ontogeny - i.e. juvenile bottom life style and adults inhabiting shallow/warmer waters. Negative values of δ18 O should be correlated with the "Valanginian extinction...

Une meilleure compréhension de l’origine et de l’évolution de la diversité du vivant nécessite de développer des approches biogéographiques basées sur la phylogéographie. Ce travail de thèse considère ainsi la structure phylogéographique du myrte commun (Myrtus communis L., Myrtaceae), plante caractéristique et commune des matorrals de Méditerranée, et ses liens de parenté avec le myrte de Nivelle (Myrtus nivellei Batt. & Trab.), endémique des montagnes du Sahara central. Un des objectifs consiste à examiner plus particulièrement l’influence de la paléogéographie et des changements climatiques sur la diversité génétique de ces deux taxons. La démarche choisie se veut intégrative, en combinant données génétiques (séquençage et génotypage multiloci), paléobotaniques, modélisation de l'évolution moléculaire, polymorphisme et héritabilité de la croissance en conditions contrôlées, et modélisation de la niche bioclimatique. L’analyse de 173 populations de myrte commun et de 23 populations de myrte de Nivelle a révélé un fort signal phylogéographique, dont le cadre spatio-temporel provient de la datation des divergences et de la reconstruction des aires ancestrales au sein de phylogénies moléculaires établies grâce aux méthodes bayésiennes d’analyse phylogénétique. Trois résultats principaux peuvent être présentés. (i) A partir d’une origine remontant au début du Miocène, l’histoire du myrte commun se résume à deux périodes de diversification associées aux changements environnementaux survenus à la transition Miocène / Pliocène, et au cours du Pléistocène. Si un phénomène de vicariance ancien a conduit à l’isolement d’une lignée est-méditerranéenne, des phénomènes récents de diversification ont été détectés à l’ouest avec migration en retour vers l’est de la Méditerranée, mais aussi vers la Macaronésie et vers le Sahara. (ii) Au cœur des montagnes-refuges du Sahara central, l’alternance des périodes humides et arides serait à l’origine de l’isolement des populations de myrte de Nivelle par massif et d'une forte érosion génétique. Cette forte différenciation régionale s'accompagne de flux de gènes au sein des massifs, et de multiplication végétative. (iii) Enfin, l’absence de divergence des populations insulaires méditerranéennes comme la Corse, contraste avec la persistance sur le long terme de lignées aux Açores et à Madère, et avec la spéciation au Sahara du myrte de Nivelle. La discussion de ces résultats s'ouvre sur de nouvelles perspectives en phylogéographie comparative, en génomique et en biogéographie de la conservation. / A better understanding of the origin and evolution of the diversity of life requires the development of biogeographical approaches based on the phylogeography. This PhD thesis study considers the phylogeographical structure of the Common Myrtle (Myrtus communis L., Myrtaceae), a characteristic and common plant of the Mediterranean matorral, and its relationship with the Nivelle Myrtle (Myrtus nivellei Batt. & Trab.), endemic to the central Saharan mountains. An objective is also to examine especially the influence of palaeogeography and climatic changes on the genetic diversity of these two taxa. Our approach aims at being integrative, combining palaeobotanical data, genetic data (sequencing and multilocus genotyping), modeling of molecular evolution, polymorphism and heritability of the growth in controlled conditions, and modeling of bioclimatic niche. The analysis of 173 populations of the Common Myrtle and 23 populations of the Nivelle Myrtle reveals a strong phylogeographical signal, whose spatio-temporal framework was provided by the dating of divergences and the reconstruction of ancestral areas within the molecular phylogenies using Bayesian analytical methods. Three main results can be highlighted. (i) With an origin dated to the early Miocene, the history of M. communis can be summarized by two periods of diversification associated with the environmental changes occurring in the Miocene/Pliocene transition and in the Pleistocene. A vicariance phenomenon has induced the isolation of an eastern Mediterranean lineage. Recent diversification events have also been detected in the western part of the Mediterranean Basin, with in-return migration to the eastern Mediterranean, and also dispersal to the Azores and Madeira islands, and to the Sahara. (ii) Within the refugia-mountains of the Central Sahara, the alternation of wet and dry periods seems to have induced the isolation of the populations of M. nivellei per mountain range, with a strong genetic erosion. In parallel to this high regional differentiation, gene flows within these mountain ranges and vegetative multiplication have been detected. (iii) Finally, the absence of divergence of Mediterranean insular populations of M. communis contrasts with the long-term persistence of Myrtle lineages restricted to the Azores and Madeira islands, and to the speciation of M. nivellei in the Sahara. The discussion of these results provides new perspectives on comparative phylogeography, genomics and conservation biogeography.

Lake sediments contain the remains of midge communities that may be used as biological proxies for inferring past environmental changes. Freshwater midges, including Chironomidae and Chaoboridae, from two alpine tarns (Pyramid Lake and Bullwinkle Lake) in the Cassiar Mountains of northern British Columbia were used to estimate Holocene palaeotemperature changes, and more specifically, to test for the presence of the Milankovitch thermal maximum, an early Holocene warm interval coinciding with peak Holocene summer solar insolation. Mean July air temperatures were reconstructed using midge-inference models developed via weighted averaging-partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression. Cold-tolerant midge taxa dominate the stratigraphies from both Pyramid and Bullwinkle Lakes; however, warm-adapted species are more common in Bullwinkle Lake. Early Holocene warming is apparent at both lakes, however it is unclear whether this is indicative of the Milankovitch thermal maximum. A decrease in temperature occurs from 8,700-7,900 cal. yr BP at Pyramid Lake, around the same time that the 8,200 cal. yr BP cooling event occurred in the northern hemisphere. During the middle Holocene, records from Pyramid Lake indicate an overall decrease in temperature, with a short period of warmer temperatures that peak at 5,100 cal. yr BP. Temperatures fluctuate little during this time at Bullwinkle Lake. A short warming phase is apparent at both lakes during the late Holocene. July temperatures are highest at 2,000 cal. yr BP (10.5°C) in Pyramid Lake and at 1,200 cal. yr BP (13°C) in Bullwinkle Lake. Thereafter, temperatures return to what they were before the warming occurred, and at Bullwinkle Lake, vary little throughout the remainder of the Holocene.

Lake sediments contain the remains of midge communities that may be used as biological proxies for inferring past environmental changes. Freshwater midges, including Chironomidae and Chaoboridae, from two alpine tarns (Pyramid Lake and Bullwinkle Lake) in the Cassiar Mountains of northern British Columbia were used to estimate Holocene palaeotemperature changes, and more specifically, to test for the presence of the Milankovitch thermal maximum, an early Holocene warm interval coinciding with peak Holocene summer solar insolation. Mean July air temperatures were reconstructed using midge-inference models developed via weighted averaging-partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression. Cold-tolerant midge taxa dominate the stratigraphies from both Pyramid and Bullwinkle Lakes; however, warm-adapted species are more common in Bullwinkle Lake. Early Holocene warming is apparent at both lakes, however it is unclear whether this is indicative of the Milankovitch thermal maximum. A decrease in temperature occurs from 8,700-7,900 cal. yr BP at Pyramid Lake, around the same time that the 8,200 cal. yr BP cooling event occurred in the northern hemisphere. During the middle Holocene, records from Pyramid Lake indicate an overall decrease in temperature, with a short period of warmer temperatures that peak at 5,100 cal. yr BP. Temperatures fluctuate little during this time at Bullwinkle Lake. A short warming phase is apparent at both lakes during the late Holocene. July temperatures are highest at 2,000 cal. yr BP (10.5°C) in Pyramid Lake and at 1,200 cal. yr BP (13°C) in Bullwinkle Lake. Thereafter, temperatures return to what they were before the warming occurred, and at Bullwinkle Lake, vary little throughout the remainder of the Holocene.

This research employs a modern analogue approach to examine relationships between pollen, vegetation change, and land use in the tropical environments of Island Southeast Asia over the past ~5000 years. Interpretation of fossil pollen data relies upon uniformitarian principles. Few modern pollen- vegetation studies from the region exist, and those that do have focused on climatic or ecological aims. Main contributions of this study are: the collection and analysis of modern botanical data and pollen assemblages from various human-modified and ‘natural’ vegetation types; and the comparison of this modern dataset with fossil pollen sequences in order to test hypotheses relating to signatures of past land use. Some fossil assemblages showed statistical similarity with those from modern ‘cultured’ landscapes, whilst others aligned more closely with those from natural vegetation. Cores from the northern Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, contain assemblages from 1700 cal BP onwards that are similar to those produced by modern arboriculture; a core from the southern Highlands contains fossil assemblages as old as 2000 cal BP that align with those from modern wet rice paddies. These ages coincide with the earliest archaeological dates from nearby sites. Earlier vegetation changes appear to relate to edaphic development and climatic fluctuations. In northern Palawan, western Philippines, the first fossil pollen sequence from the island records post-5000 cal BP marine regression, hydrological fluctuations that are likely related to ENSO cyclicities, and persistence of open landscapes with minor evidence of closed forest after 2750 cal BP. This contrasts with existing proxy data that imply increasingly closed forest through the Holocene. In a region where direct archaeobotanical evidence is sparse, and little modern pollen- vegetation work has been done, this research contributes to clarifying modes and timings of changes in subsistence-related disturbance, as well as bolstering recent interpretations from other palaeoclimatic proxies for ENSO intensification from ~4000 cal BP. These results, and those from similar future studies, can provide baseline data for long-term monitoring and conservation initiatives.