Non-Pollen Palynomorphs from Mid-Holocene Peat of the Raised Bog Borsteler Moor (Lower Saxony, Germany)

In order to reconstruct regional vegetation changes and local conditions during the fen-bog transition in the Borsteler Moor (north western Germany), a sediment core covering the period between 7.1 and 4.5 cal kyrs BP was palynologically investigated. The pollen diagram demonstrates the dominance of oak forests and a gradual replacement of trees by raised bog vegetation with the wetter conditions in the Late Atlantic. At ~ 6 cal kyrs BP, the non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) demonstrate the succession from mesotrophic conditions, clearly indicated by a number of fungal spore types, to oligotrophic conditions, indicated by Sphagnum spores, Bryophytomyces sphagni, and testate amoebae Amphitrema, Assulina and Arcella, etc. Four relatively dry phases during the transition from fen to bog are clearly indicated by the dominance of Calluna and associated fungi as well as by the in crease of microcharcoal. Several new NPP types are described and known NPP types are identified. All NPP are dis cussed in the context of their palaeoecological indicator values.