The Research Seminar Series in Archaeology and Environmental archaeology invites you to a seminar with Mattias Sjölander, Uppsala University, who will speak on the topic of "This world is a buggy program: the insect rise and decline on the British Isles".
Speaker: Mattias Sjölander, Uppsala University https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/staff?query=N24-1561
https://www.umu.se/personal/mattias-sjolander/
With the rise in large-scale meta-analysis in ecology, using existing and open data, there have been significant advances made in reconstructing Late Quaternary climates and environments in Europe. Large-scale pollen-based modelling approaches have been employed to reconstruct the development of the Holocene landscape, highlighting periods of increased human influence. In comparison, there has been less advancement made in the use of subfossil insect data to perform similar large-scale reconstructions, despite the insights they provide into past human-environment relationships. This is not for a lack of data, as open infrastructures for this purpose already exist.
This presentation uses the online Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database, SEAD, to examine biodiversity trends of beetle communities within the United Kingdom and Ireland during the 16 000 – 0 BP period. Using a meta-analysis approach, we aggregate data from 108 sites across the British Isles and contextualise key periods of environmental and climatic change, including human-driven processes, from a biodiversity perspective. Using modern reference data, environmental reconstructions are informed based on individual insect habitat requirements which can highlight the increased human influence during the Late Holocene, especially following 4 500 BP; reaffirming other evidence of the increased agricultural impact on the British Isles.
The Research Seminar Series in Archaeology and Environmental Archaeology presents and discusses current research in archaeology and environmental archaeology.
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