Sites In Central Europe Research Articles

Quantifying old-growthness of lowland European beech forests by a multivariate indicator for forest structure

Quantifying the degree of old-growthness of forests is reasonable to assess their conservation value and guide management decisions. This study aimed at developing and applying an indicator to quantify the old-growthness of forest structure on potential beech forest sites in Central Europe which exhibit a long history of forest management. A set of structural variables was derived from sample plot inventories in European primeval beech forests in Eastern Slovakia (classified as old-growth) and 39 comparison stands of different management intensity, age and tree species composition in the North German lowlands. The comparison stands were arranged in triplets, consisting of i) a > 100 year old European beech forest left to natural development (ND), ii) 80 to 100 year old Scots pine forest with a certain amount of deciduous trees in the understory (OP), and iii) <80 year old Scots pine forest (YP).The initial number of 134 attributes was condensed to 27 variables representing ten thematic groups. Selection criteria were, i) typical for the old-growth state, ii) widespread and meaningful, and iii) exhibiting no multicollinearity within the respective group. The developed old-growth indicator (OGI) measures the degree of overlap of the 5th–95th percentile ranges of a certain comparison stand with the primeval forests. OGI achieves values between 0 and 1 and allows the consideration of all thematic groups and variables separately as well as calculating an aggregated value.We derived plausible OGI-values of between 0.71 and 0.74 for the primeval forests, 0.13 to 0.42 for the ND stands, and 0.07 to 0.30 for the OP and 0.03 to 0.26 for the YP stands. We postulated that OGI provides a comprehensive and reproducible indicator of the maturity of a forest stand on an empirical basis that allows for differentiated, as well as easy to handle, aggregated evaluations. An additional advantage is the implementation into the established workflow for forest surveys of national parks and strict forest reserves in Germany.

The Linear Pottery culture face vessel from the site Biskupice 18, southern Poland

This paper presents the stylistic analysis of a unique face vessel fragment, found at a recently excavated settlement of the Linear Pottery culture near Biskupice, located in the Carpathian foothill region in southern Poland. The evaluation is based on a multivariate analysis of the stylistic features of 130 human face vessels from 91 Central European Neolithic sites of the Linear Pottery culture and the Alföld Linear Pottery culture, and is conducted with the help of multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). The main objective of the research is to find the closest analogies of the Biskupice by tracking similarities between the manner of execution of the combination of facial elements and accompanying motifs appearing on the Biskupice vessel and on other depictions of the human face. This investigation also aims to make inferences about the chrono-cultural connections of the first agrarian societies in the area of the Carpathian foothills with other regions of the Linear Pottery world.

Strong Deviations from Thermodynamically Expected Phase Partitioning of Low-Molecular-Weight Organic Acids during One Year of Rural Measurements

An upgraded monitor for aerosols and gases in ambient air (MARGA) was applied for one year at the Central European TROPOS research site Melpitz investigating the gas- and particle-phase partitionin...

Altitude Aerosol Measurements in Central France: Seasonality, Sources and Free‐Troposphere/Boundary Layer Segregation

AbstractThe chemical composition of nonrefractory submicron aerosol particles was measured at the Puy‐de‐Dôme (PUY) station (1,465 m a.s.l) during 2015 using a Time‐of‐Flight Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ToF‐ACSM). These aerosol chemistry measurements are combined with online black carbon (BC) measurements to provide an overview of the submicron aerosol composition. Averaged over the entire year, and normalized to standard temperature and pressure, organic aerosol (OA) dominates the PM1 concentration during all seasons and within all air mass types (2.12 ± 1.73 µgm−3), and is responsible for summertime increases in aerosol concentration. Highest mass concentrations were measured during the summer, when air masses were arriving over mainland Europe and lowest in the winter months (when most air masses were of Atlantic origin). OA source apportionment was performed separately during each season, using the Source Finder (SoFi) interface for the multilinear engine. The PUY site, situated at 1,465 m a.s.l, although mainly sampling in the atmospheric boundary layer, it is sometimes sampling in the lower free troposphere (FT), providing the opportunity to identify the characteristics of FT aerosol. In order to accurately identify these sampling periods, the methodology described in Farah et al. (2018), during the same time period (2015/2016), was applied to the data. During this period, FT air masses are sampled approximately 20% of the time. This work provides, on one hand, a description of long‐term aerosol chemical properties at a remote regional site in central Europe and, on the other hand a characteristic chemical signature of FT aerosols over this region. This data can be used to improve our understanding of the transport and aging properties of aerosols at regional observation sites.

Patterns of insect damage types reflect complex environmental signal in Miocene forest biomes of Central Europe and the Mediterranean

Ecosystems are defined by the community of living organisms and how they interact together and with their environment. Insects and plants are key taxa in terrestrial ecosystems and their network determines the trophic structure of the environment. However, what drives the interactions between plants and insects in modern and fossil ecosystems is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed insect damage richness and frequency in 5000 fossil leaves deposited during the early Miocene at 20–17 Ma along a latitudinal gradient from Europe (two localities in Czech Republic) to Turkey (one locality) in a temperate climate setting. Damage frequency was mainly linked with abiotic factors (temperature, precipitation seasonality) whereas damage richness was mainly linked with biotic factors (plant richness, biome). Univariate analysis of insect damage types consistently suggested closer trophic similarity between the Mediterranean and either the one or the other Central European plant assemblage. In contrast, multivariate analysis of all insect damage types indicated closer similarity between the two Central European sites highlighting the importance of biogeographic legacy and geographic closeness to the plant-insect interaction patterns. Our results underscore the high complexity of the herbivory network and call for careful interpretations of plant-insect interaction patterns in palaeoecological studies. Finally, comparing the trophic similarity between different localities using total evidence plots as done in this work might be a promising complementary method in comparative studies of plant-insect interactions. • We compared insect damage types in Miocene leaf floras of Turkey and Czech Republic • DT richness was higher in subhumid laurel (TR) than mixed-mesophytic forest (CZ) • Damage frequency was linked to abiotic factors (t°, precipitation seasonality) • Damage richness was linked to biotic factors (species richness, biome) • A multivariate analysis of all DT richness recorded a strong geographic signal

Variability in the mass absorption cross section of black carbon (BC) aerosols is driven by BC internal mixing state at a central European background site (Melpitz, Germany) in winter

Abstract. Properties of atmospheric black carbon (BC) particles were characterized during a field experiment at a rural background site (Melpitz, Germany) in February 2017. BC absorption at a wavelength of 870 nm was measured by a photoacoustic extinctiometer, and BC physical properties (BC mass concentration, core size distribution and coating thickness) were measured by a single-particle soot photometer (SP2). Additionally, a catalytic stripper was used to intermittently remove BC coatings by alternating between ambient and thermo-denuded conditions. From these data the mass absorption cross section of BC (MACBC) and its enhancement factor (EMAC) were inferred for essentially water-free aerosol as present after drying to low relative humidity (RH). Two methods were applied independently to investigate the coating effect on EMAC: a correlation method (MACBC, ambient vs. BC coating thickness) and a denuding method (MACBC, ambient vs. MACBC, denuded). Observed EMAC values varied from 1.0 to 1.6 (lower limit from denuding method) or ∼1.2 to 1.9 (higher limit from correlation method), with the mean coating volume fraction ranging from 54 % to 78 % in the dominating mass equivalent BC core diameter range of 200–220 nm. MACBC and EMAC were strongly correlated with coating thickness of BC. By contrast, other potential drivers of EMAC variability, such as different BC sources (air mass origin and absorption Ångström exponent), coating composition (ratio of inorganics to organics) and BC core size distribution, had only minor effects. These results for ambient BC measured at Melpitz during winter show that the lensing effect caused by coatings on BC is the main driver of the variations in MACBC and EMAC, while changes in other BC particle properties such as source, BC core size or coating composition play only minor roles at this rural background site with a large fraction of aged particles. Indirect evidence suggests that potential dampening of the lensing effect due to unfavorable morphology was most likely small or even negligible.

At the onset of the Micoquian in Central Europe: raw material constraints and technological versatility at Neumark-Nord 2/0 (Germany)

After the Eemian, Neanderthals of Central Europe produced new stone tools for coping with the increased seasonality and climatic deterioration of the Last Glacial. This new cultural tradition is named Micoquian, and is characterized by a broad range of asymmetric backed bifaces, foliate artefacts and bifacial scrapers. Despite the abundant number of sites and the broad geographical expansion, technological information on the early stages of development of the Micoquian are still few. This paper presents new data on the lithic assemblage of Neumark-Nord NN2/ 0, a Micoquian occupation dated to the MIS 5c/ 5a. The results point out a technical continuity with the previous Eemian settlements whereas the production of backed bifaces shows to be associated to new strategies of raw material economy in the technological context of Quina scrapers. This behaviour is different from other sites in Central Europe suggesting that the emergence of the Micoquian at the beginning of the Weichselian followed different trajectories.

Differences in the time budget of the Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) in grasslands and arable fields at an important spring stopover site in central Europe

Changes in the management and productivity of farmland affect foraging behaviour in migrating birds. Crops are increasingly being damaged (and farmers are sustaining ever greater economic losses) as a result of large flocks of waterfowl feeding on them. To investigate the differences in the time budget shared between natural grasslands and arable lands, migrating Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) were filmed using digiscoping equipment at a spring stopover site. Four types of activity were noted in connection with habitat types, bird age, position in the flock and flock size. Foraging was the most common activity in both habitats, but was more common in the grasslands than on arable land. The mean times spent on vigilance, resting and other activities were also significantly different between the two habitat types. GLM analysis showed that young birds spent more time foraging than adults but revealed no differences in foraging times between the age categories in grasslands and arable land. In the latter, geese were more vigilant at the edge of a flock and rested more frequently in its centre. No such differences were found in the grasslands. Only resting time was adversely affected by flock size. These findings, which demonstrate that White-fronted Geese are flexible in their use of food resources, could be useful in agricultural management planning in the light of increasing conflicts with farmers.

Castle Versus Ethnography. Creation of Museum Expositions in Lubovna Museum - the Castle

The Lubovna Castle and its annexed Museum of Folk Architecture present a unique site in Central Europe. In the past permanent exhibitions in the castle contained collections of mostly ethnographic character. A significant change in the contents of the expositions occurred after the reconstruction and opening of the main castle tower, followed by the reconstruction of the Renaissance and Baroque palaces. Museum employees are currently taking up a challenge of creating a temporary or permanent exposition in the Lubomirsky Baroque Palace. The article presents the development of the castle exhibitions from 1966 up till now. It is a testimony based on the history of the place and experiences of generations of Stara Lubovna museologists.

Long-term deposition and condensation ice-nucleating particle measurements from four stations across the globe

Abstract. Ice particle activation and evolution have important atmospheric implications for cloud formation, initiation of precipitation and radiative interactions. The initial formation of atmospheric ice by heterogeneous ice nucleation requires the presence of a nucleating seed, an ice-nucleating particle (INP), to facilitate its first emergence. Unfortunately, only a few long-term measurements of INPs exist, and as a result, knowledge about geographic and seasonal variations of INP concentrations is sparse. Here we present data from nearly 2 years of INP measurements from four stations in different regions of the world: the Amazon (Brazil), the Caribbean (Martinique), central Europe (Germany) and the Arctic (Svalbard). The sites feature diverse geographical climates and ecosystems that are associated with dissimilar transport patterns, aerosol characteristics and levels of anthropogenic impact (ranging from near pristine to mostly rural). Interestingly, observed INP concentrations, which represent measurements in the deposition and condensation freezing modes, do not differ greatly from site to site but usually fall well within the same order of magnitude. Moreover, short-term variability overwhelms all long-term trends and/or seasonality in the INP concentration at all locations. An analysis of the frequency distributions of INP concentrations suggests that INPs tend to be well mixed and reflective of large-scale air mass movements. No universal physical or chemical parameter could be identified to be a causal link driving INP climatology, highlighting the complex nature of the ice nucleation process. Amazonian INP concentrations were mostly unaffected by the biomass burning season, even though aerosol concentrations increase by a factor of 10 from the wet to dry season. Caribbean INPs were positively correlated to parameters related to transported mineral dust, which is known to increase during the Northern Hemisphere summer. A wind sector analysis revealed the absence of an anthropogenic impact on average INP concentrations at the site in central Europe. Likewise, no Arctic haze influence was observed on INPs at the Arctic site, where low concentrations were generally measured. We consider the collected data to be a unique resource for the community that illustrates some of the challenges and knowledge gaps of the field in general, while specifically highlighting the need for more long-term observations of INPs worldwide.

New burial rites at the end of the Linearbandkeramik in south-west Slovakia

Abstract

Krapina and the Case for Neandertal Symbolic Behavior

We review four examples of ritual or symbolic behavior from the central European Mousterian site of Krapina in present-day Croatia. These include evidence of ritual cannibalism and secondary burial...

Kostënki 9: The chronology and lithic assemblage of a Gravettian site in Russia

Kostënki 9 is a small Gravettian site in the Kostënki-Borshchëvo area of Russia, known for a highly homogeneous assemblage of ventrally truncated backed bladelets, as well as the presence of ground stone artefacts. The site was mainly excavated during the twentieth century but in recent years small-scale work has begun again at the site. Until now no radiocarbon dates have been available for the site, although it has been assumed to be broadly contemporary with Borshchëvo 5/I and Kostënki 4 due to similarities in their assemblages. Here we present the first radiocarbon dates for the site, which confirm that the site is roughly the same age as Borshchëvo 5/I and Kostënki 4, and older than the Kostënki-Avdeevo Culture sites in the region. We also present an overview of the lithic assemblage (both knapped and ground stone) based on recent studies. The truncated backed bladelets found at the site are highly comparable to similar artefacts of approximately the same age found at a series of sites in Central Europe, including Jaksice II, Trenčianske Bohuslavice, Petřkovice I and Milovice I. This is a key point of material culture similarity that requires further work but which hints at long-distance social and cultural links across Eastern and Central Europe slightly pre-dating the well-known connections that have been established based on the shared presence of shouldered points. Similarities in material culture across this region are further attested by analogies among personal ornaments – waisted double-headed beads – found at the Kostënki sites and at Grub/Kranawetberg in Austria.

SPIRITED METALS AND THE OECONOMY OF RESOURCES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN MINING

ABSTRACT This article examines the perception and valuation of mineral resources in sixteenth and seventeenth-century European mining regions. It aims to critically review the utilitarian and anthropocentric view of mining and mineral resource production, circulation and consumption that is shaped by a long tradition of economic history and history of technology. To understand human relation to the underground and its resources only in terms of innovation and rationalization means to ignore the many different layers by which resource landscapes affected the miner’s perception of nature and mineral matter. The literary, material and visual culture of sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century central European mining sites proves to be fruitful ground for historicizing the interplay between manual labor, mechanical arts, natural resources and religion in mining landscapes. This paper aims to connect the material and immaterial or the physical and symbolic dimensions of human-nature entanglement in early modern mining and suggests a way to locate human and geological agency within the context of a divine oeconomy.

Three years of atmospheric concentrations of nitrated and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygen heterocycles at a central European background site

Nitrated and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs, OPAHs) are abundant in the atmosphere and contribute significantly to the health risk associated with inhalation of polluted air. Despite the health hazard they pose, NPAHs and OPAHs were rarely included in monitoring. The aim of this study is to provide the first multi-year temporal trends of the concentrations, composition pattern and fate of NPAHs and OPAHs in air from a site representative of background air quality conditions in central Europe. Samples were collected every second week at a rural background site in the Czech Republic during 2015–2017. Concentrations ranged from 1.3 to 160 pg m−3 for Σ17NPAHs, from 32 to 2600 pg m−3 for Σ10OPAHs and from 5.1 to 4300 pg m−3 for Σ2O-heterocycles. The average particulate mass fraction (θ) ranged from 0.01 ± 0.02 (2-nitronaphthalene) to 0.83 ± 0.22 (1-nitropyrene) for individual NPAHs and from <0.01 ± 0.01 (dibenzofuran) to 0.96 ± 0.08 (6H-benzo (c,d)pyren-6-one) for individual OPAHs and O-heterocycles. The multiyear variations showed downward trends for a number of targeted compounds. This suggests that on-going emission reductions of PAHs are effective also for co-emitted NPAHs and OPAHs.

Animal exploitation and pottery use during the early LBK phases of the Neolithic site of Bylany (Czech Republic) tracked through lipid residue analysis

The Neolithic site of Bylany (CZ) is one of the largest and most thoroughly described Neolithic settlement in Central Europe. Although a comprehensive understanding has been achieved of the household development and pottery assemblage, little is known about household economies, dietary practices and animal exploitation strategies at the site. Nowadays such information can be tracked through the molecular and isotopic composition of organic lipid residues preserved in porous walls of archaeological potsherds (e.g. Cramp et al., 2014; Whelton et al., 2017). The pottery assemblage of Bylany is very abundant and this approach had previously been applied to one of the later settlement phases (later LBK, phase 19) revealing a meat- and plant-based diet and an exploitation of both ruminant and non-ruminant animals. To examine the economy over a longer settlement period of Bylany, ceramic material from the oldest part of the settlement was chosen. More than 130 rim potsherds attributed to the early LBK settlement phases 2 to 5 were analysed using a lipid biomarker approach combining chromatographic, spectrometric and isotopic methods. The analyses revealed that the fats absorbed in the ceramics were well-preserved with almost 90% of the sherds containing lipids. The lipid concentration varied in different vessel shapes with higher concentrations in dishes compared to bowls and jars. The stable carbon isotopic compositions of palmitic and stearic fatty acids, the major fatty acids present in the total lipid extracts, revealed that ruminant carcass products were the predominant animal products processed in the vessels. Plant product processing were confirmed by the presence of fatty alcohols, dicarboxylic acids and terpenic compounds. Detection of biomarkers produced at high temperature confirmed the thermal stress observed in some of the vessels. Although ruminants probably played a dominant role in the early phases of Bylany, as seen in the later phase 19, dairy fat residues were not detected in the analysed potsherds. These results thus shed light on the dietary strategies practiced in Bylany and are in agreement with the studies of other Central European Neolithic sites.

First Pleistocene rock art found in central Europe

After well over a century of archaeological research in Drachenhöhle, the largest cave bear lair in the Alps, the first Pleistocene rock art in central Europe has been discovered deep in the cave. Two small panels of juvenile finger flutings occur together with cave bear claw marks at the only water source of the area. The site is within a few metres of the cave's large human occupation site, excavated in 1921. It is attributed to the Alpine Palaeolithic or Olschewian, a tradition of montane-adapted people of the Early Upper Palaeolithic of central Europe. The generic phenomena of finger fluting and moonmilk speleothems are discussed to provide a general context for the subject. The cave art is then described and analysed, and the previous claims for “Palaeolithic” age of other central European sites are briefly considered.

Presence of Bradyrhizobium sp. under Continental Conditions in Central Europe

Soil samples from different locations with varied soybean cultivation histories were taken from arable fields in 2018 in East Germany and Poland (Lower Silesia) to evaluate the specific microsymbionts of the soybean, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, one to seven years after inoculation. Soybeans were grown in the selected farms between 2011 and 2017. The aim of the experiment was to investigate whether there is a difference in rhizobia contents in soils in which soybeans have been recultivated after one to seven years break, and whether this could lead to differences in soybean plant growth. The obtained soil samples were directly transferred into containers, then sterilized soybean seeds were sown into pots in the greenhouse. After 94 days of growth, the plants were harvested and various parameters such as the nodular mass, number of nodules, and dry matter in the individual plant parts were determined. In addition, the relative abundances of Bradyrhizobium sp. in soil samples were identified by sequencing. No major decline in Bradyrhizobium sp. concentration could be observed due to a longer interruption of soybean cultivation. Soil properties such as pH, P, and Mg contents did not show a significant influence on the nodule mass or number, but seem to have an influence on the relative abundance of Bradyrhizobium sp. The investigations have shown that Bradyrhizobium japonicum persists in arable soils even under Central European site conditions and enters into an effective symbiosis with soybeans for up to seven years.

Impact of Site-Specific Thermal Residual Stress on the Fatigue of Wind-Turbine Blades

Thermal residual stresses can have a substantial impact on the bond-line fatigue of wind-turbine blades and the initiation of tunneling cracks in the adhesive layer early in their operational life. Thermal residual stresses develop during the manufacture of the blade as a consequence of the temperature difference between the curing conditions and the operating environmental conditions. Polymers are used as adhesive or matrix material for fiber-reinforced materials. Their physical properties (for example, the coefficient of thermal expansion, Young’s modulus, and the tensile strength) depend on the curing process (that is, the degree of cure and the temperature). Moreover, the ambient temperature for the blade during its operational life underlies a statistical distribution, which is site specific. Traditionally, the design evaluation is conducted with material properties obtained at a room temperature of 23°C under fully cured conditions. Taking into account the variability of temperature at a specific site (for example, from to 25°C) will increase the fidelity of the design evaluation. This research investigates the impact of thermal residual stress on the fatigue stress exposure along the trailing-edge bond line during operational blade life. A simplified approach using temperature-independent material properties for different temperature sites at northern, central, and southern European wind farm sites is compared to an advanced approach using temperature-dependent and degree-of-cure-dependent properties. It was found that the advanced approach yields a more critical design.

A SEQUENCE-TO-SEQUENCE TEMPORAL CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORK FOR IONOSPHERE PREDICTION USING GNSS OBSERVATIONS

Abstract. This paper proposes a model suitable for predicting the ionosphere delay at different locations of receiver stations using a temporal 1D convolutional neural network (CNN) model. CNN model can optimally addresses non-linearity and model complex data through the creation of powerful representations at hierarchical levels of abstraction. To be able to predict ionosphere values for each visible satellite at a given station, sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) models are introduced. These models are commonly used for solving sequential problems. In seq2seq models, a sequential input is entered to the model and the output has also a sequential form. Adopting this structure help us to predict ionosphere values for all satellites in view at every epoch. As experimental data, we used global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations from selected sites in central Europe, of the global international GNSS network (IGS). The data used are part of the multi GNSS experiment (MGEX) project, that provides observations from multiple navigation satellite systems. After processing with precise point positioning (PPP) technique as implemented with GAMP software, the slant total electron content data (STEC) were obtained. The proposed CNN uses as input the ionosphere pierce points (IPP) points coordinates per visible satellite. Then, based on outcomes of the ionosphere parameters, the temporal CNN is deployed to predict future TEC variations.