PLANT MACROFOSSIL METHODS AND STUDIES | Mire and Peat Macros

A range of mire and peat macrofossils which can be found in northwest European peat bog (ombrotrophic) and fen (minerotrophic peatland) deposits are illustrated in an extensive series of figures. Methodologies commonly used to pretreat samples are described, in addition to the paleoecological indicator value of a wide selection of botanical/zoological macrofossils. Applications of mire and peat macrofossil analyses in Holocene environmental reconstructions are reviewed briefly. These include paleoclimate reconstructions, peatland carbon accumulation rate studies, and the nature of successional processes in peatlands.