Symposia

Vojtěch Kovář, Jakub Vodička, Petra Tonarová & Oldřich Fatka

Microfossils play an important role in stratigraphy, palaeoecology, palaeogeography, etc. Their small size and resilience enable their usefulness in a wide spectrum of lithologies but also for example drill cores where only a limited sample size is accessible. Late Precambrian to early Paleozoic represents a key interval in the evolution of multicellular organisms. In the last several years, the development of methodological study of organic residues makes it possible to touch earlier hidden data, including modeling of life cycles of algae, new aspects of geographic distribution of various metazoans, as well as new information on their systematic position, origin, palaeoecology, palaeoenvironment and palaeobiology. Presentations can report on chitinozoans, scolecodonts, acritarchs, various acido-resistant microfossils, small carbonaceous fossils, etc. All aspects of research are welcomed, including new methods in palynology or further application of palynological data (e.g. for geochemistry but also other fields of research).

Cyrille Prestianni, Carla J. Harper, Anne-Laure Decombeix

The Devonian sees the origin and rapid diversification of all the major groups of vascular plants and anexplosion of plant morpho-anatomical disparity, leading to the emergence of the first “modern” terrestrial ecosystems.It is also marked by climatic fluctuations, changes in geomorphological processes,and extinction events, all involving intricate feedback loops with the evolving plant communities.This symposium aims to bring together paleobotanists from all career stages working on Devonian plants and plant communities, and to celebrate the career of colleagues who have advanced our understanding of these topics. We welcome contributions on new approaches, new taxa and assemblages, the evolution of key features (leaves, root systems, seeds, etc.), diversity dynamics, plant interactions with other organisms and/or with their environment.

Yu Jianxin, Wan Mingli & Yuewu Sun

Permian plant succession and global climate changes, concentrating mainly on the demise of glaciation of the Gondwana continent, and warming in the north hemisphere and tropical areas.

Christine Strullu-Derrien, Matthew Nelsen and Michael Krings

Overall aim: The symposium aims to highlight key issues and new findings related to the origin and evolution of the Fungi and their
interactions with other organisms.

Fungi are ubiquitous and essential components of modern terrestrial ecosystems. However, they have remained in the shadows when compared with research on plants and animals, and we are still a long way from a sound understanding of this kingdom. A marine origin of the kingdom Fungi has been recently suggested based on molecular studies, but this origin, as well as the early evolution of Fungi from the marine into the continental environments remain in need of deeper investigation. Fossil evidence has received much attention over the past decade. The Devonian was a period of geological time that was characterized by extraordinary diversification of plant life on land, and several key fungal lineages have now also been recognized. Fossil sites of this period hold the oldest well-preserved evidence of fungal interactions, such as saprotrophic, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships. Later, the progressive stabilisation of the terrestrial environments, together with the development of soils and the evolution of larger and more complex plant and animal bauplans, occurred alongside the diversification of several major groups of Fungi, especially Dikarya(Ascomycota and Basidiomycota). It is envisaged that the symposium will provide a forum for researchers to present both state-of-the-art reviews and the results of recent research on fossil fungi and fungal evolution.

André Jasper, Dieter Uhl, Haytham El-Atfy & Rafael Spiekerman

During the Late Palaeozoic, Gondwanan ecosystems experienced an icehouse–greenhouse transition, replacing the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age (LPIA) ice sheet with complex palaeoenvironments and highly diverse palaeofloras. The singular Glossopteris flora dominated the landscapes over large parts of the continent and allowed for the accumulation of organic matter, nowadays cropping out as coal-bearing strata with a wide palaeogeographic distribution. As the climatic conditions changed during the Permian (Guadalupian), these changes were reflected by palaeofloristic associations, culminating in deposits with low plant diversity in many parts of Gondwana during the Lopingian. The symposium brings together palaeobotanists working on Gondwanan floras, with the aim to discuss the changes that occurred in the continental ecosystems through the Late Palaeozoic. Palaeofloristic, palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental studies are welcome to this symposium, which tries to increase our understanding of the evolution of the supercontinent during this crucial time from the retreat of the LPIA ice-sheets up to the end-Permian mass extinction.

Josef Pšenička

The symposium is intended for contributions dealing with Paleozoic plants that are not suitable for any specialized symposium of the conference. Contributions addressing the Carboniferous and Permian are particularly welcome. Although we already have quite extensive knowledge of plants of these ages, it is still only a fraction of the actual plant variability of this time. This symposium offers the opportunity to introduce both new plant species and vegetation assemblages from different regional areas and localities.

Chris Mays, Bas van de Schootbrugge, Jennifer McElwain

Plants are “compulsive diarists” of environmental change (W.G. Chaloner & G.T. Creber, 1990). As plants and other photosynthetic organisms have constituted the vast majority of biomass for most of the Phanerozoic, they are uniquely attuned to dramatic environmental changes. Hence, their fossils provide unparalleled, and sometimes the only extensive, fossil records during biotic crises in Earth’s history, most of which have been linked to extreme climatic changes. The insights from these fossils are of ever-increasing relevance in our presently warming world. We invite contributions on the fossil records of all primary producers (micro- and macro-body fossils and chemical fossils of plants, algae and bacteria) from past environmental changes (terrestrial, freshwater and marine, including their teleconnections). These can be from all climatic events—from snowball to hyperthermals—throughout Earth’s history, with special emphases on quantitative, multi-proxy approaches. With a series of case studies, this symposium will demonstrate the utility of fossil primary producers in shaping our understanding of these pivotal and complex events.

Jiří¬ Bek, Jun Wang & Josef Pšenička

The study of fossil tropical forests preserved in situ by volcanic ash brings very important data, and a unique opportunity to discover the composition and palaeoecology of ancient peat-forming vegetation. All findings of fossil plant specimens reflect their original growth positions, because they were not transported. This includes large specimens, like parts of trunks, branches, whole fronds, leaves, connection of fertile and sterile organs and even complete or almost complete plants. Another advantage is that several specimens are preserved in a unique way that enables study of morphology as well as anatomy, which is not normally possible in the global scope. Such localities are very rare, except for a few from the Middle Pennsylvanian of the Czech Republic (especially the Ovčín locality) and Carboniferous-Permian boundary (Wuda coalfield, Inner Mongolia) of China. Teams of Czech and Chinese palaeobotanists and palynologists have done several excavations, published many papers and collaborated for last decade, which has resulted e.g. in a specimen of the oldest cycadalean plant and its in situ pollen in the global scope found in China. The importance of such research was stressed by edition of a special issue of the international journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology in 2009 (dedicated to Czech localities) and 2020 (dedicated to results from China).

Marco Vecoli, Hartmuth Jaeger, Charles Wellman

This symposium is organized in three sub-symposia:

Sub-Symposium 1: Aramco-CIMP Special Project symposium dedicated to the memory of Professor Bernard Owens

Professor Bernard Owens was a stalwart of Palaeozoic palynology, who passed away in 2019. He was an outstanding supporter of CIMP serving several times as General Secretary and as President. Beside his research on mainly upper Palaeozoic spores in Western Europe, Bernard was strongly involved in international collaborations and correlations, particularly with eastern Europe and Russia. He was also instrumental in establishing the Aramco-CIMP Special Project on Palaeozoic Palynology of the Arabian Plate that today celebrates another milestone: the publication of a synopsis of all research undertaken during the past 30 years.

Sub-Symposium 2: Early Palaeozoic spore symposium in honor of Philippe Steemans

Philippe started his palynological research on Lower Devonian spores and is widely known for his research on early Palaeozoic spores. By his research on Silurian spores and cryptospores and first spores in the Ordovician he got involved in the research of the evolution of first miospores and the terrestrialisation of land plants. Beside his research in Europe, he was strongly involved in collaborations with South America and Arabia. Philippe is a highly active long-time member of CIMP. He created and maintained the CIMP homepage for many years shaping the face of CIMP. After more than 30 years of palynological research at the University of Liege Philippe gets retired in 2023.

Sub-Symposium 3: Open topics in Palaeozoic palynology

This sub-symposium covers all topics of Palaeozoic palynology all around the world. It includes presentations on all groups of organisms from all ages in the Palaeozoic. Also new methods and applications of palynology in the Palaeozoic are welcome.

Carole T. Gee & Mariah M. Howell

New discoveries and modern methodologies afford opportunities to delve deeper into the history of gymnosperm cones in different clades. In this symposium, we will showcase studies that contribute toward improving our understanding of former diversity and the ecological and evolutionary implications of gymnosperm reproductive structures. Presentations on all gymnosperm cones from any geological time are welcome. The range of research tools include relatively new approaches such as microCT, synchrotron microtomography, and digital 3D reconstruction, as well as the tried-and-true methods of morphological and anatomical study, and SEM. 

Alexander Hetherington & Mihai Tomescu

Fossils are the principal repository of data that allow for independent tests of hypotheses of biological evolution derived from observations of the extant biota. In recent years, a move toward an updated paradigm in reconstructing morphological evolution was fueled by the deliberate integration of developmental thinking in the inclusion of fossils in reconstructing evolutionary history. Recognizable structures generated by the activity of specific genes and regulatory pathways provide the connection between fossil morphology and anatomy, on one hand, and development and evolution, on the other hand. Combining such structural fingerprints recognized in the fossil record with our understanding of the developmental regulation of those structures produces a powerful tool for understanding plant evolution. For example, inclusion of plant fossils in the evo-devo paradigm has informed discussions on tempo and mode in the evolution of growth patterns and growth responses, sporophyte body plans and their homology, the evolution of reproductive systems. This symposium will attract papers that discuss advances in understanding evolutionary process and pattern, and their relevance to the evolution of plant development.

Yongdong Wang, Mihai E. Popa, Harald Schneider & Wolfram Kürschner

Plant diversity of the Mesozoic is placed between the Permian-Traissic Mass Extinction (end phase of the initial expansion of plant diversity following the colonosation of terrestrial habitats), and the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass exctinction, often seen as the transition towards modern terrestrial diversity. Instead of being an intermediate period, the Mesozoic was not a time of stable plant diversity following the recovery from the PT, but plants faced several intervals of enhanced extinction rates. In particular, the Triassic-Jurassic Mass extinction is documented in the fossil record. Finally, terrestrial diversity underwent a major ecological revolution in the last third of the Mesozoic: the Cretaceous, Terrestrial Revolution.

Frank H. Neumann, Marion K. Bamford, Irene Esteban, May Murungi

Southern Africa is of crucial importance for the evolution of plants in Gondwana. The region plays an important role in understanding major extinctions like the Permian-Triassic Boundary event, as well as the evolution of modern humans. Understanding southern African vegetation history will shed light on past climatic and environmental conditions, and their role as evolutionary drivers, in order to better reconstruct Paleozoic up until Cenozoic faunal diets and environments, as well as survival strategies of past hunter-gatherers. This symposium is meant to provide a platform for presenting the diverse palaeobotanical work that has been carried out in southern Africa during recent decades. It aims at bringing together researchers working on various time scales in southern Africa and investigating both macro- and micro-palaeobotanical remains such as fossil wood, charcoal, seeds, cuticles, diatoms, pollen and phytoliths. This symposium focuses on reporting plant evolution and vegetation of southern Africa, dating as far back as the Devonian and extending to the Holocene, to promote an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, new methods, localities and findings. It covers a wide range of topics in palaeobotany, archaeobotany, palynology, palaeolimnology and palaeoecology, representing the evolution of plants and vegetation communities through time, as well as animal-plant interactions and human impact.

Maria Barbacka, Gaetan Guignard, Yongdong Wang, Mihai E. Popa

Cuticles yield very important signals for taxonomy of both living and fossil plants, and so are regarded as useful criteria routinely applied for the classification and distinction of major fossil plant groups, including seed ferns, cycads, bennettitaleans, gingkophytes, conifers and angiosperms. In addition, cuticles are regarded as a significant proxy for detecting palaeoenvironmental information, such as climate variation, terrestrial ecology, and palaeo-CO2 changes. In recent decades, numerous studies have been conducted in the fields of cuticle structure, fine and ultrastructures, palaeo-CO2 and palaeoenvironment. The Mesozoic is a crucial episode in deep time not only for the origin and evolution of major plant lineages, but also for linkage of plant diversity and palaeoecosystems. This session invites all colleagues who are working on, or are interested in fossil plant cuticle studies of the Mesozoic interval to show their results, including discussions of new techniques like TEM transmission electron microscopy, EDS Energy-dispersive spectroscopy and other chemical element analysis, AFM Atomic force microscopy, and all other relevant approaches. The comparative analysis of Mesozoic plant cuticle fine structures and palaeoenvironmental relationships is emphasized and encouraged for discussion in this session, including diversity variation, global warming, enormous wildfires, and rise and fall of palaeo-CO2.

Jiří Kvaček & Jürg Schönenberger

This symposium will be focused on the diversity and evolution of Cretaceous angiosperms in terms of their reproductive structures, leaves, wood, and pollen. “Basal angiosperms” from the Early Cretaceous traditionally attracted most attention, but the symposium also aims to cover prominent Late Cretaceous groups such as, for instance, the Normapolles complex. In addition to the description of new angiosperms fossils, the last few years have also seen the development of novel phylogenetic methods that are making use of large, combined molecular/morphological data sets and are aimed at testing phylogenetic relationships of fossil taxa with living angiosperm groups. We envision this symposium to bring together scientists using different approaches and to offer a discussion platform for anyone who is interested in Cretaceous angiosperms.

Natalia Nosova, Jiří Kvaček & Alexei Herman

This symposium will be focused on diversity of the Cretaceous and Jurassic floras from various parts of Asia, particularly Russian Far East and North-East, Mongolia and China, as well as on the palaeontological and stratigraphical backgrounds of coal prospecting in these regions. We will discuss all aspects of palaeobotanical research: plant morphology, anatomy and systematics (reproductive structures, leaves, wood, and palynomorphs), plant palaeoecology, palaeofloristics and palaeobiogeography. Cretaceous and Jurassic strata host very important groups of plant fossils, e.g. Corystospermales that increasingly appear to be one of the most probable ancestors of angiosperms. The study of the Cretaceous floras of East Asia demonstrates that the invasion of evolutionarily new angiosperm-rich Cretaceous vegetation into the Asian continental interiors was most probably gradual. We design this symposium to bring together scientists using different approaches offering a discussion platform for those interested in Cretaceous and Jurassic fossil plants.

Friðgeir Grímsson and Reinhard Zetter

This symposium seeks to convey new discoveries related to in situ or adhered pollen from fossil angiosperm flowers and animals (mostly insects) that help shed light on the taxonomic placement of flowers and the paleo-interactions between flowers and their animal visitors. Any comparison between in situ / adhered pollen vs dispersed pollen records from the same geological units are of interest. Methodological approaches introducing how to extract, prepare, and analyse in situ / adhered pollen are also welcome.

Evelyn Kustatscher, Hendrik Nowak & Jiří Bek

The study of reproductive organs of fossil plants is an important part of palaeobotanical research, while in-situ spores and pollen represent important aspects of palynological research. Reproductive organs, in-situ spores and pollen may be studied, e.g., for haptotypic marks, saccus/sporoderm development, tapetal membranes and orbicules, taxonomic variation, degrees of maturity, phylogenetic considerations, etc. One of the key applications is the reconstruction of vegetation based on the fossil record of dispersed spores and pollen. Detailed analysis of reproductive organs of fossil plants is often crucial for the precise identification and classification of the whole plant. Sporangia can be sampled from most individual reproductive organs, so that the range of variation can be established for different morphological characters. The combination of palaeobotanical and palynological study of reproductive organs of fossil plants and their in-situ spores and pollen will contribute to a better understanding of the biology and geological distribution of past floral elements, and to the evolutionary relationships between major plant groups.

Benjamin Adroit, Aixa Tosal, Tuncay H. Güner, Thomas Denk

Mediterranean-type ecosystems, hosting unique biodiversity, are amongst the most endangered on the planet, facing significant threats from ongoing Global Change. The flora and vegetation of these ecosystems are relatively young and antedated by long histories of changing vegetation and climate. Today, they are characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. They comprise 10% of the Earth’s plant species, which makes their conservation a global priority. This symposium seeks to bridge the geographical divide by connecting research from Mediterranean-type ecosystems in the world, such as the Californian chaparral, the Chilean matorral, the South African fynbos, the Australian mallee and sure, the Mediterranean macchia. All of them are commonly referred to as a single major terrestrial biome: The Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub biome. Fossil plants can provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history, ancient biogeographical relationships, and past environmental conditions that help understanding the development of their distinct modern floras. In bringing together palaeontological/botanical research from these diverse regions, the symposium aims at exploring common characteristics they share. The goal is to encourage collaboration and develop collective understanding of the origin of these unique ecosystems. We welcome a wide range of contributions from the fields of taxonomy, palaeogeography, taphonomy, as well as associated paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic studies.

Jessie Woodbridge, Andria Dawson, Anupama Krishnamurthy, Furong Li & Ralph Fyfe

The world has been significantly transformed by human agency, at least throughout the course of the Holocene, with implications for ecological functioning, climate regulation, etc. Central to furthering understanding of the timing, extent and impact of these transformations is quantification of vegetation cover and land-use at local, regional and continental scales, and at centennial to millennial timescales. This symposium explores recent developments in, and applications of, the quantification of land-cover and land-use from palaeobotanical and palynological data. This session is a contribution to the PAGES LandCover6k working group. The primary goal of LandCover6k is to use global empirical data on past land-use and anthropogenic land-cover change to evaluate and improve Anthropogenic Land-Cover Change scenarios for earth system modellers (e.g. the World Climate Research Programme CMIP and PMIP initiatives). The LandCover6k time-period of focus covers the Holocene to AD 1850. We welcome all contributions on methodological advances, and applications to historic and prehistoric long-term dynamics and drivers of land-use, anthropogenic land-cover and land-system change. These contributions may include pollen and other palaeobotanical approaches to land-use and land-cover change, archaeological and historical records and related palaeoecological data, as well as modelling studies on anthropogenic land-cover change (ALCC) and climate-land use interactions.

Anna Broström, Florence Mazier, Anneli Poska, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Ralph Fyfe & Anna-Kari Trondman

The last four decades of research development on quantifying land cover change and its implications for the biosphere has been intense. Environmental archives, including pollen, have become increasingly important for our understanding of past biosphere processes, and enable us to put current environmental change into a long-term perspective. Land-cover and land-use change affects biodiversity, water quality in lakes and streams, coastal marine ecosystems and the climate system on a local to global scale. Studying these processes on several scales in time and space has become possible through methodological developments within palynology, data collection, modelling, data model comparison and the building of large and long-lived research collaboration networks. In this session, state-of-the-art research and applications will be presented in the light of the huge effort of the recent decades’ research and development of quantification methods for fossil pollen records from all over the world.

Kartika Anggi Hapsari, Althea Davies & Hermann Behling

Palynological and palaeoecological records can span from decades to several centuries or even millennia, allowing them to provide long-term information that is difficult to obtain with simple observation and experiment. Such information is critical to understand matters that do not usually occur in a short period of time, like ecosystem processes, ecosystem responses or historical legacies. Palaeoecological information can contribute significantly to conservation and restoration assessments and strategy. However, this information seldom appears in biodiversity assessments, or conservation and restoration documentation. In part, this is due to unfamiliarity with palaeoecological evidence, and limited access to journal articles where we publish our findings. On the other hand, palaeoecologists also need to understand how conservation policies and practices work, and how to contextualize and integrate their knowledge into them. Palaeoecologists, ecologists and practitioners need opportunities and incentives to engage with one another, which goes beyond scientific publications. In an attempt to generate dialogue among palaeoecologists on how we address these challenges, we invite contributions relating to the potential practical application of palaeoecological information in present-day conservation and restoration practices, particularly examples where palaeoecologists are working with conservationists to help integrate long-term evidence into policy and management. We welcome contributions across all types of habitat, biomes and ecosystems from tropics to tundra, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, savannas and other terrestrial and coastal ecosystems.

Simon Connor, Sandra Nogué, Lea de Nascimento, Michela Mariani, Janelle Stevenson & Simon Haberle

There are over 100,000 islands on Earth, which support 20% of global biodiversity. Island ecosystems are globally significant for their unique evolutionary histories and high rates of endemism. With this uniqueness comes vulnerability, and islands have suffered disproportionately high rates of extinction as a consequence of human colonisation. In many cases the deep impacts of colonisation have left us with an incomplete picture of islands’ original ecological structure and functioning. Palaeoecological approaches can help to complete this picture by reconstructing past ecosystems, providing crucial data for developing sustainable futures for island biota in the context of changing climates, increasingly frequent extreme events and sea-level rise.

This symposium provides a forum for the latest advances in long-term ecological research on the world’s islands and archipelagos. The symposium invites contributions that address the question: how can palaeo-data contribute to knowledge of changing island ecosystems through time? We particularly invite contributions on (i) the use of novel techniques and proxies to quantify ecosystem change due to human colonisation, (ii) understanding the resilience of island ecosystems to disturbances and climate variability, and (iii) applying palaeoecological data to test key predictions of ecological and biogeographical theory. This session welcomes all scientific contributions that seek to better understand the long-term history of biodiversity change and identify patterns that have shaped current island ecosystems.

Vincent Montade, Christina Ani Setyaningsih, Hermann Behling & Paula A. Rodríguez-Zorro

Tropical forest areas have unique ecosystems, distributed from mountain lowlands to coastal regions, and they are acknowledged as ones of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, harbouring a large number of endemic species. However, their existence and diversity are severely threatened by climate change and human activities, which will affect the biodiversity and ecosystem function, as well as human communities. In order to understand the dynamics of tropical ecosystems and to highlight the effect of disturbance and change in the ecosystem, past reconstructions over long timescales are strongly needed. Multi-proxy palaeoecological reconstructions from sediment archives offer compelling insights into the main drivers of ecosystem change, as well as the response of these ecosystems to climate variability and disturbance, like volcanism, sea-level change and fire ecology, as well as human-landscape interaction. A synthesis of long-term ecosystem dynamics in tropical forests is important in order to assess future changes. This symposium welcomes contributions presenting results from tropical forest ecosystems focusing on the late Quaternary period. We addressed a robust contribution to regional and larger scale palaeodata synthesis to separate ecosystem response from climatic and natural disturbance or anthropogenic drivers.

Jean Nicolas Haas, Ana Ejarque, Niina Kuosmanen, Vachel Carter, Gabriela Florescu & Jennifer Clear

Mountain ecosystems are especially sensitive to changing environmental conditions. It is difficult, but essential, to predict how these ecosystems will respond to future anthropogenic and climatic pressures. Palynological and palaeoecological studies on Quaternary sediment archives, as well as other multi-proxy investigations (e.g. sedimentology, XRF-data) offer valuable short- and long-term perspectives, of past decadal to centennial ecosystem and landscape changes in mountain areas worldwide. Through precisely dated stratigraphies, palynological and palaeoenvironmental records allow the reconstruction and quantification of past plant diversity changes due to fire events, livestock grazing, wetland eutrophication by excrement overloading, sedimentary erosion, debris flows, snow avalanches and pathogen outbreaks. Understanding the immediate response of mountain ecosystems to past climatic and disturbance events and anthropic drivers will help predict how these vulnerable environments may respond to future changes. We aim to bring together research with varying spatial and temporal scales from all kinds of stratified deposits in mountainous environments (e.g. forests, mires, lakes, tree-line, alpine meadows, glacier ice, etc.) for a deeper understanding on the vulnerability of mountain ecosystems, from the high latitudes to the tropics. We would like to invite oral and poster contributions based on the dynamics, triggers and responses of ecosystem changes on (sub-) decadal to millennial time scales. We welcome quantitative analyses of all kinds of microfossils (e.g. pollen, diatoms, fungi, dinoflagellates, non-pollen palynomorphs) and plant macrofossils (e.g. seeds/fruits, charcoal), as well as other indicators of past ecosystem change, liek high-resolution, multi-proxy palaeoecological studies where all microfossil and macrofossil data are available from the same stratigraphy.

Alessia Masi, Assunta Florenzano & Katerina Koulir

The Holocene exhibits a series of significant climate fluctuations. Some of them are contemporary to important social processes and are linked to the fall of past civilizations. The severe climatic phenomena witnessed currently are often related to big disasters for populations, leading to the perception that humanity is vulnerable and weak. The study of the past, on the contrary, is characterized by examples of successful adaptive strategies that overcame past climatic crises. During the last decade, the publication of a number of high-resolution sequences combined to an improved accuracy and reliability of chronologies resulted in the acquisition of increased quality palaeoenvironmental data. This palaeoscience progress allows comparison with historical and archaeological sources aimed at a better understanding of the history of past societies. The proposed session aims to stimulate the discussion on successful adaptation strategies of past civilizations using proxy-based palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstructions from a variety of natural archives. This topic can be analyzed for every period from Prehistory to Modern Age, and for different cultural and geographical contexts. We strongly recommend multidisciplinary studies, using both classical and innovative approaches, including pollen, macroremains, charcoal and stable isotope analyses.

Martin Theuerkauf, Michela Mariani, Vojtech Abraham & Petr Kuneš

True quantitative interpretation of fossil pollen data is essential to produce realistic estimates of past changes in land cover and plant diversity, and hence crucial to understand how climatic change and disturbance have shaped landscapes of the past. However, pollen data are often dramatically skewed in favour of the taxa that produce the most pollen, which is an issue that has hampered quantitative vegetation reconstruction since the beginning of palynological research, over 100 years ago. Today, models for quantitative interpretation are available. Still, the first step towards their application is calibration of the modern pollen-vegetation relationship for estimation of pollen productivity, source areas and pollen dispersal patterns of key plant taxa. These parameters are presently scattered and variable in terms of the underlying methodological approaches and results. Modern pollen studies for such purposes are currently being undertaken all around the world, ranging from arctic tundra to tropical rainforests. This session welcomes studies that use modern pollen deposition in moss polsters, lake sediment or pollen traps to estimate pollen productivity, explore pollen dispersal patterns, calibrate pollen diversity or quantify taphonomy and other biases in the pollen record. The session also welcomes studies that explore pollen productivity in other ways, i.e. by counting pollen produced directly or with ROPES.

Fabienne Marret, Anne de Vernal, Martin Head & Vera Pospelova

The last decades have seen major advances in our understanding of dinoflagellates and their cysts as tracers of past environmental conditions. Dinoflagellates as a major phytoplankton group play an important role in regulating the carbon cycle. The capacity of their resting cysts to remain preserved in sediments for millions of years coupled with their diverse morphological attributes have made them excellent stratigraphical tools. Since the 1970s, their modern distribution has been used to trace past hydrological conditions, first in the Atlantic Ocean, then globally. Recent technical advances (genomic, chemistry) have helped clarify the elusive relationships between the cysts and their motile stages, as well as determine their trophic status. This session aims to gather recent developments in studying this group, and we welcome contributions on all geological time periods as well as marine, brackish and freshwater environments, from the poles to the tropics.

Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Piotr Kołaczek, Monika Karpinska-Kołaczek & Irene Tunno

Non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) represent a large, heterogeneous group of organism remains that appear as extra microfossils in pollen slides. Taxonomically, NPPs belong to a wide variety of fungi, animals, algae, and plants. Although many NPPs still remain unknown, they provide essential ecological information that can be used to interpret environmental and landscape changes in the past. NPPs record former environmental conditions, allowing assessment of trophic stage, moisture conditions, dry phases, pastoral activities, disturbances and erosion in the study area. Furthermore, they represent an essential tool for tracing biotic interactions in the last several thousands to millions of years. Identification of NPPs, improvements in understanding their ecological meaning, critical evaluation of their indicative values, biases and limitations of these proxies, are crucial questions for palaeoecological reconstructions. We welcome presenters exploring NPPs in a broad range of disciplines, including modern ecology, palaeoecology, palaeopalynology, forensic science and aerobiology to share their newly gained knowledge.

Angelica Feurdean, Vachel Carter & Gabriela Florescu

The frequency, severity, and spatial extent of disturbances play an important ecological role for species composition and coexistence. Among disturbance factors, fire is one of the most common causes of landscape change. In the context of changing disturbance–climate interactions, shifts in plant community composition and diversity can be expected. However, plant species cope with fire disturbance in different ways, and have developed a range of adaptive strategies. As a result, there is a range of species-specific responses to changes in disturbance regimes and their interaction with changing climate conditions.This session welcomes contributions examining changes in fire-vegetation feedbacks, under past, present and future environmental conditions, in particular: (i) the range of fire regime dynamics in various vegetation types; (ii) understanding fuel structure-fire regime relationships; (iii) identify plant traits related to fire resistance and regeneration after fire important for their resilience; (iv) fire as a promoter of evolution and spread of terrestrial plants.

Alistair W. R. Seddon & Daniela Festi

Molecular techniques (e.g., chemical palynology, ancient DNA, environmental DNA, sediment biomarkers) are becoming an increasingly important tool in palaeoecological and palaeobotanical research. These methods complement the insights gained from traditional methods such as pollen analysis, which have been used to reconstruct past floristic, vegetation, and environmental changes for over one hundred years. In general, advances in historical plant geography can only be made because of methodological advances in the identification and analysis of plant fossils. Molecular techniques are opening the door to address a new set of questions by (i) increasing taxonomic precision in the fossil record; and (ii) reconstructing new variables to allow new insights into drivers of vegetation change. However, robust inferences made from plant remains recorded in sediments are dependent on detailed understanding of environmental, taphonomic and diagenetic factors that influence the representation of palaeoecological proxies.Only when these uncertainties are understood can biogeographic and ecological questions be addressed with confidence. This session will bring together researchers working to develop new molecular proxies for palaeoecological and palaeobotanical research across a range of timescales and ecosystems. Methodological and applied studies on pollen chemistry, environmental DNA, aDNA, stable isotopes, biomarkers and other new techniques are welcome. Studies on both modern and palaeo archives, including different depositional environments (e.g., peatbogs, lake and marine sediments, glaciers, speleothems, etc.) are encouraged, with a specific focus on those that use these data to address new biogeographic and palaeoecological questions, or that attempt to unravel key processes related to improving any uncertainties in interpretation of these novel molecular records.

Phillip Jardine, Luke Mander

Morphological variety, and the evolutionary processes that create and maintain it, is a key component of biodiversity. The analysis of morphological diversity (also termed disparity) and the evolution of form can provide fundamental macroevolutionary insights, including the tempo and mode of evolution, extinction selectivity and post-extinction recovery dynamics, and extrinsic vs intrinsic evolutionary constraints. This symposium welcomes presentations on all aspects of plant morphological evolution, including morphospace occupation and disparity, trait evolution, morphological innovation and the evolution of complexity, the relationship between morphological diversity and other aspects of biodiversity (e.g. taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity), as well as methodological advances relating to the quantification of plant morphology. The symposium embraces contributions from across the plant tree of life and work that integrates data from extant and fossil plants.

Natalia Rudaya & Galina Levkovskaya

The suggested Symposium is different from all other specific-area symposia, as it is focused on a vide scope of methodological innovations important for enhancing the practicability of applied palynology. Emphasis will be on the developments of research groups and individuals that enable obtaining novel and more representative results, accelerate research and reduce costs. New and uncommon palynological methods and areas of their application will be specifically discussed. The symposium will be focused on: – new theoretical (general) approaches to research; – new areas of using of palynology; – new opportunities for multidisciplinary research; – new approaches to research equipment use; – improvement and extension of traditionally used research methods; – new research methods

Johannes Martin Bouchal and Silvia Ulrich

This symposium functions as a venue for those who wish to present palynological research within the framework of systematic and taxonomic palynology of extant plants, descriptive palynology, pollen from honey, everything related to airborne pollen, as well as palynological studies with focus on forensic science.

Federico Di Rita, Roberta Pini, Alessandra Celant, Thomas Denk, Donatella Magri, Cesare Ravazzi

Understanding the dynamics and distribution of trees through time and space is essential to identify, record, and manage perturbations affecting past and current biodiversity and its rates of change. Distribution and abundance of plants can be traced through micro- and macro-palaeobotanical records, which provide a unique framework of the history of plants in different ecoclimatic and biogeographical regions through time. Molecular markers from the organellar and nuclear genomes add information on both the geographical differentiation of lineages and more recent events of (genetic) speciation. Combining all available evidence of past distributions of woody taxa opens up new avenues to understand their spatio-temporal development and connects their geological past with the current distribution and ecology. We welcome contributions to the biogeography of woody taxa during the Neogene and Quaternary periods. Aspects related to long-term trends in tree species populations and range losses/shifts, ecology and biodiversity, endemism, population persistence, expansion, contraction, or disruption related to climate changes, the role of humans on the history of individual plant taxa, parasites, etc. are appreciated. Contributions focussing on specific time frames relevant for the biogeographical history of plants as well as reviews on the evolutionary history of living representatives of gymnosperm and angiosperm lineages are welcomed. This session is a contribution to the PRIN PNNR 2022 Project ALIVE (University Sapienza Rome and CNR-IGAG Milan).

Thomas Giesecke & Triin Reitalu, Simon Brewer

Palaeoecology offers a long-term perspective on ecological processes and ecosystem response to environmental shifts, and provides examples of ecosystem responses to rapid environmental change. Nevertheless, assumptions and concepts used in predicting the impact of climate change on vegetation are rarely tested using palaeoecological data. Ecological theory is seldom addressed, despite the potential to illustrate past rates of ecosystem change, ecosystem stability, resilience or alternative stable states in the face of well-documented environmental changes, including linear and non-linear responses. Also, the postglacial recolonisation of previously glaciated terrain and the introduction and spread of alien species are topics where ecological theory could find application. While experiments are difficult to design, as the reconstructed processes have already occurred, hypotheses can be tested by using multiproxy datasets, dataset syntheses or selecting a site in a specific location with a known history of environmental change. We invite contributions where palaeoecological data is used to test or explore ecological theory, in particular new and unpublished work.

Vasiliki Margari & Laura Sadori

Glacial-interglacial cycles can be thought of as a series of natural experiments in which the seasonal and latitudinal distribution of incoming solar radiation, the extent of continental ice sheets and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations varied considerably, with consequent effects on climate. Gaining insights into factors controlling the composition and character of long-term vegetation changes will improve our understanding of the response of terrestrial ecosystems to past climate change. We invite contributions from pollen studies, where both temporal and spatial comparisons will advance our knowledge on Glacial-Interglacial variability and its underlying mechanisms.

Boglarka Erdei, Steven Manchester, Edoardo Martinetto, Johanna Kovar-Eder, Lutz Kunzmann

Cenozoic vegetation history is not only important to explain why the present-day vegetation is distributed and composed like it is but it is increasingly used as a potential model to investigate changes of vegetation and adaptations of plants to changing climate and atmospheric composition. It is expected that knowledge of Cenozoic vegetation history will help to understand present-day and future distribution patterns of plants and vegetation under new climate conditions. There is a fresh and increasing need of knowledge from studying entire fossil floras – a classical task in palaeobotanical research – and their application in floristic, environmental and climate studies, in particular the application of modern, qualitative and quantitative approaches to fossil floras. This combined type of research was a lifetime goal of the late Zlatko Kvaček, a „doyen“ of Cenozoic palaeobotany, and his collaborators. The task investigating crucial and important Cenozoic floras and analysing their geological and palaeontological contexts as well as investigations of the response of particular taxa to environmental changes, is still not finished and several questions on the specific meachanisms of vegetation change are not resolved yet. Thus, our symposium would like to provide a platform for pushing forward new ideas and revised interpretations in this topic.

Torsten Utescher, Yusheng (Christopher) Liu, Cheng Quan & Atsushi Yabe

The Pacific Ocean represents the world´s largest reservoir of heat and water, and so can be expected to drive regional climate shifts around the globe. Today, coastal regions of the surrounding continental areas reflect oceanic circulation patterns. At high northern latitudes, both the warm Alaskan Gyre and the southward-flowing cold Oyashio Current collectively cause a significant meridional gradient of coastal temperatures between western North America and East Asia. In the northern mid-latitudes, the California Current and upwelling of cool subsurface water masses along the west coast of North America lead to summer drought in the continental interior. The mid-latitudinal coastal areas of East Asia, in contrast, are characterized by wet summers facilitated by the warm Kuroshio Current and dynamics of the East Asian Monsoon System. In the Cenozoic, the North Pacific realm was strongly impacted by tectonic processes involving oceanic gateways and continental uplift that affected the circulation modes of ocean and atmosphere, and thus the climate of the adjacent continental areas. Analysis of continental patterns on both sides of the North Pacific holds the key for a better understanding of changes in the ocean-atmosphere system in the past. Here we invite contributions on quantitative reconstructions of Cenozoic palaeoclimate and vegetation in continental areas bordering the North Pacific to gain a first insight into available palaeobotanical records and their potential in reconstructing larger-scale patterns that can be compared with results from modelling approaches.

Cédric Del Rio, Indah B. Huegele

The study of fossil fruits and seeds (paleocarpology) has made important contributions to the understanding of past flora, particularly during the Cenozoic era. However, the identification of fossil fruits and seeds remains problematic in many cases. The main difficulties arise from the absence of a unified descriptive system encompassing all the morphologies of fruits and seeds found in flowering plants. Recent research has significantly improved our understanding of fossil fruits and seeds. Paleobotanists have enhanced their knowledge of extant fruits and seeds across several families, creating databases, keys, and employing imaging techniques to study their diversity. High-resolution imaging techniques like micro-CT scans have notably improved the accuracy of identifying fossil fruits and seeds, allowing for the revision of the previous, historical fossil record. The development of phylogenetic techniques, including the study of fossil fruits and seeds, has provided an opportunity to determine whether the characters used to define taxonomic groups are synapomorphic. This symposium aims to bring together the community to discuss recent advances in paleocarpological studies and to define new directions to meet the challenges of identifying fossil fruits and seeds.

Tao Su, Yong-Jiang Huang & Robert A. Spicer

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the largest and highest plateau on Earth, has occupied scientists attention for more than one hundred years. However, our understanding of the evolution of the QTP is still far from complete. On one hand, the orogenic development is still under debate. On the other hand, the influence of that orogeny on biodiversity in deep time is not clear, largely due to lack of fossil evidence. In recent decades, numerous palaeobotanic investigations have been carried out on the plateau, and together with other evidence, indicate that the biodiversity of Tibet and adjacent areas was much higher than today, especially during the Paleogene. Moreover, the region played an important role on shaping modern global biodiversity. In this symposium, we will focus on the latest progress in understanding the plant diversity, orogenic evolution and palaeoclimate of Tibet and regions nearby, such as the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains. Any research related to this topic is welcome, as we hope to promote our understanding of the evolution of QTP through multidiscipline evidence, e.g., geology, palaeontology, phylogeny, geochemistry, and modelling.

Maria del Carmen Zamaloa, M. Alejandra Gandolfo, David Cantrill

Although the Southern Hemisphere (SH) has highly diverse floras and faunas, its biotic evolution is poorly known compared to the more intensively studied Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere comprises 32% of all landmasses. Antarctica, almost completely covered by thick ice, represents 20% of the SH land, leaving only 12% of potential surface for exploring fossiliferous layers. Our understanding of the floristic composition of Southern Hemisphere extant floras, combined with a better comprehension of distribution patterns, provides data for those researchers interested in morphological and molecular studies and the relationships of climate, flora, and biogeography. Unfortunately, this understanding is mainly based on modern data while ignoring the fossil record. Fossil record data are fundamental for comprehension of “deep time” plant distribution, plant diversity, and evolutionary processes, which are crucial in understanding the evolutionary history of the Southern Hemisphere as a whole. In this symposium, the participants will address the dramatic changes in the Southern Hemisphere Cenozoic ecosystems that modify the vegetational composition and community structure focusing on evolution patterns of selected clades and plant-animal interactions. They will also explore the ecological and evolutionary or historical reasons behind past and modern distribution patterns and discuss the roles of evolutionary processes in deep time.

Jakub Sakala, Vít Koutecký & Dimitra Mantzouka

The fossil wood symposium will be organised under the auspices of the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA), and all people interested in fossil wood are welcome to present their results during this specialized symposium, which will cover every aspect of fossil wood of all ages and areas, including systematical description, xylem evolution, climatic reconstruction, tree ring analysis, stable isotopes, biomechanics and functional biology. The evening social event for active participants and dinner in the University Wine Centre in Mělník covered by the IAWA will be part of this symposium. The symposium will be devoted to the two titans of European palaeoxylotomy, who have recently passed away: Prof. Dr. Herbert Süß (1920-2017) and Prof. Dr. Alfred Selmeier (1923-2018).

Brian A. Atkinson, Mario Coiro & Kelly K. S. Matsunaga

Fossils provide crucial data for understanding evolutionary relationships, patterns, and processes through time. Numerous methods have been developed to include fossil data in phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses, providing important insights into macroevolutionary dynamics across the tree of life. These methods include various phylogenetic approaches to investigate the systematic relationships of fossils, dating analyses that use fossils to understand evolutionary tempo, and phylogenetic comparative methods addressing a wide range of topics, including diversification dynamics and morphological evolution. Many palaeobotany research groups throughout the world have made important contributions to our knowledge of plant evolution, using phylogeny-based approaches. However, applying these phylogenetic tools to the fossil record remains an underexplored frontier in palaeobotany. This symposium brings together speakers who use phylogenetic and other analytical methods in plant macroevolution that directly incorporate fossils. We aim to have diverse participation, encompassing different methods, perspectives, and plant groups, with contributions from speakers of different nationalities and backgrounds. We hope the symposium will expose the wider palaeobotanical community to the many ways these methods are currently being used to understand plant evolution, and inspire interested palaeobotanists (especially students) to use similar approaches in their own research.

Kasia K. Sliwinska & Natasha Barbolini

Over the last decade there has been major progress in bringing palynology and palaeobotany into the digital era. Currently, the palynological and palaeobotanical communities have access to online search databases and data repositories, various statistical software, and program coding. Additionally, a set of new methods of scanning, digitising, and 3D printing can improve the presentation of palynological results, and visualise (external and internal) structures of new botanical fossils. There is also an increasing trend towards applying data science and machine learning to handling large palynological datasets, and progressing towards the automated recognition and counting of pollen and stomata. The purpose of this session is to discuss state-of-the-art techniques and approaches in digital palynology and palaeobotany that are advancing our understanding of fossil morphology, stratigraphy, and biogeochemistry, as well as improving field- and lab-based collecting, statistical, and preservation methods, using photogrammetry and/or UAVs (Unmanned aerial vehicles).

Zhuo Feng & Barbara Cariglino

Plants and insects are the two most species-rich groups among macroscopic organisms on Earth. They interact with each other to various extents and play a pivotal role in the structure and function of todays terrestrial ecosystems. Fossil plants contain diverse information on plant-insect interactions. However, this information has been empirically overlooked by palaeobotanists. In recent years, great progresses have been made in fossil plant-insect interactions based on the studies of insect damages on plant fossils, particularly in insect feeding strategies and insect mouthpart evolution. These achievements undoubtly shed new lights on the co-evolution history of plants and insects, as well as the deep time terrestrial ecosystems. The purpose of this symposium is not only to provide a platform to exchange new data and ideas, but also to inspire palaeobotanists to pay attention on the plant-insect interactions in their future studies.

Patrick Herendeen, Martin Head & Jiří Kvaček

Nomenclature is both a system of names as well as the rules for forming these names. Our system of naming plants, fungi, and algae relies on a set of rules that govern how these names are created and how the correct name is selected when multiple names are available for a taxon. The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN, or “the Code”) is the set of rules and recommendations that govern the scientific naming of all organisms traditionally treated as plants, including most algae and fungi. The ICN applies to both fossil and non-fossil taxa. The ICN is a comprehensive set of nomenclatural rules that cover the many different aspects of establishing new taxonomic names, and determining whether a previously published name should be used. But the rules of nomenclature can be challenging to understand without some training. The Code is a living document, which can be modified by the scientific community every six years at the International Botanical Congress. The field of Palaeobotany (and palaeopalynology) presents some unique complications for defining and naming taxa as compared to neobotany. Our system of names depends on nomenclatural types to fix the application of names, but here too our field is a source of complications. Discovering validly published taxonomic names can be challenging, especially in the older literature, but systems for registration of names are now greatly facilitating this important task. The Code now includes provisions to allow for online publication of new names, but there remain some complications that need to be discussed and addressed in future changes to the rules. This colloquium will address these and other subjects that are important for palaeobotany and palaeopalynology researchers to understand and discuss.

Martin Theuerkauf, Michela Mariani

Pollen productivity estimates (PPEs) are a key parameter in quantitative land-cover reconstructions with pollen data. PPEs are commonly calculated by calibrating modern pollen deposition in pollen samples from moss polsters, pollen traps or lake surface sediments against modern vegetation around the sample spots. For calibration, a variety of methods exists. We have implemented several of those methods in the R environment for statistical computing, in the disqover package. Functions from the package now cover the full workflow from map analysis and data preparation to the actual calculations. In the workshop, we will introduce and discuss the workflow using example data in the following steps: 1. Introduction into the various concepts of PPE calibration 2. Extracting vegetation data from digital maps (shapefiles) 3. Calculating PPEs in R with the different approaches (ERV, R-value approach, reverse REVEALS) 4. Setting up sensitivity studies with simulated data 5. Calculating PPEs from core pollen data with ROPES For active participation, please bring your own laptop with updated versions of R (if wanted also R-studio) and install the disqover-package from GitHub (not yet ready, needs to be updated). If you want to work with your own data, please contact us in advance.

William Matthaeus

The plant functional trait approach established by modern ecologists may be applied to the fossil record in some cases, allowing the estimation of “paleo traits”. Many plant parts are fossilized, which have not extensively been used in paleo-trait ecology, suggesting development potential. Further, additional supporting evidence may be available for existing paleo traits. However, the combination of resources and expertise required to develop paleo traits—e.g., access to and familiarity with fossil collections, understanding of morpho-chemical phenotypes of modern plants that result from generalizable or non-taxonomic developmental or ecological phenomena¬—may often require the cooperation of scientists across institutions and countries.

We invite paleo-scientists interested in developing novel functional trait approaches to their fossil collections, or improving uncertainty in existing approaches. Co-equally we invite plant ecologists interested in extending the impact of morphological and chemical correlates to plant function into deep time. We will initiate a broad collaborative exercise to evaluate researcher return on investment (ROI) and potential development areas for paleo-traits based on the participants’ input to an existing trait rating framework developed by the organizers, which will then be distributed broadly to improve cohesion and collaboration in this emerging field.