Elemental composition of peat organic matter as an indicator of trophic conditions of marsh ecosystems in the south of the Baikal region

Abstract

Based on measurements of the concentrations of C, N, P, and chlorophyll-a, as well as on palynological analysis of the core Vdr 2011 of peaty sediments from the Vydrinaya River along the southern coast of Lake Baikal, the geochemical characteristics of eutrophy were compared to pollen indices of changes in the environment and the mode of marsh ecosystem transformations into various trophic states was specified. It was shown that geochemical parameters of the changes in the environment may be considered as the characteristics of trophic conditions in ecosystems in the course of paleo-reconstructions.