PINE research


 

Peat includes data/information from past time/the past


Because peat is wet and acidic, it preserves things which land on the surface of the bog. When pollen lands on the wet bog surface it is preserved and buried under ground, as the bog grows year by year. In this way the bog gives us a record of what the vegetation around the area was back through time. We can look at how different plants were growing at different times and this tells us how the landscape has changed over time. We can identify different plants from the differences in size and shape of their pollen grains.
 

Tree Pollen
(Puiden siitepölyhiukkasia)

 

 

 

Pine (Mänty) pollen grain

  

Lingon (puolukka) pollen grain
 

Human action and climate change can also been recognized from the bog record as changes in plant species. Pollen grains are extracted from the peat using various chemical processing techniques and are identified using a microscope. The pollen grains from each species look different so we can identify to which group each belongs. After that the changes in each species, back through time are shown in diagrams such as these.

 

One of our peat sites is located near to the village of Saariselkä

 
 
At this site the vegetation has been changed by the development of the resort through time. The changes at Saariselkä can be seen in the pollen profile down through the core. Changes can be seen in the vegetation co-incidental with the building of a road and when the resort was developed. The influence of greater numbers of reindeer can also be seen as the vegetation changes through time. 

 

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