Abstract

Paleoecology combines biological, geochemical and molecular information from natural archives to reconstruct ecological and environmental systems deep into the past. Inspired by the Priority Question exercises pioneered by Bill Sutherland, I recently co-organised a workshop to identify 50 priority questions in palaeoecology. In this talk I will address some of major themes identified in the workshop through research being undertaken on aquatic ecosystems in central Asia, especially Lake Baikal, one of the world’s most unusual freshwater bodies. For example, Baikal’s uninterrupted 12 million year+ record brings new insight into biodiversity over long timescales, especially evolution and extinction of diatoms, key primary producers. Organic geochemistry analyses reveal strong teleconnections between changes in North Atlantic ocean circulation and carbon dynamics during the early Holocene in central Asia. Finally, the palaeoecological record suggests a climate and boreal-steppe environment sensitive to abrupt changes in climate, even during the late Holocene.