Palaeoecology@UiB

The Palaeoecology@UiB team is doing multidisciplinary research on ecosystem dynamics using long-term ecological data covering different spatial and temporal scales. Our focus is on drivers, responses, and effects on ecosystems caused by natural and human influences, mainly in the current interglacial. In collaboration with heritage management at the University Museum of Bergen, we investigate aspects of cultural landscape development - prehistoric settlements, land use, cultivation practices, Medieval city life, and trading networks.

Composite of a sediment core, some pollen grains, an archeological section, and some pine plantsn
Palaeoecology in action Photo: Anne Bjune, Lene Halvorsen, Mayke Nieuwkerk

What we do

Currently our research is organised into three main themes: 

  • Global change through time
  • Environmental archaeology
  • New methods in pollen chemistry 

Responses to past changes can be on many levels ranging from species abundances to biome distributions. In our group we mainly use fossil pollen and plant macrofossils together with other plant-related fossils from lakes, bogs, and archaeological settings as data sources to get a comprehensive understanding of the past.  

Ecosystem responses are mainly studied as responses to past climate change and other natural factors such as wildfires and floods. They can be important for predicting future climate-change impacts and conservation strategies.

Together with climate impacts, human activities also alter ecosystems leaving traces in the fossil record. Through archaeological rescue excavations the University Museum has built up a palaeobotanical collection of pollen and macrofossil samples from archaeological contexts that serves as an archive and a live research facility on prehistoric and historic human impact on environments.

Implementing molecular techniques and analysing chemical compounds in pollen is providing new knowledge about past ecosystems and biodiversity and their responses to environmental change. 

The laboratories that we use are in BIOLOGEN (external link) and are co-run by the Department of Biological Sciences and the University Museum. Within Palaeoecology@UiB, method development and robust ways of analysing data are important. 

Global changes through time

Reconstructing vegetation and climate over the last 12,000 years or older

To be able to understand the present-day changes in vegetation, environment, and climate we need to have an in-depth understanding of changes over longer timescales. In the Bergen Palaeoecology Lab we mainly use fossil plant remains (pollen and spores, macrofossils) to reconstruct past flora and vegetation and infer climate since the end of the last ice age (about 12 000 years ago), but other proxies are also relevant. 

Natural archives such as lakes and bogs preserve fossils well and can be used to trace past shifts in temperature and precipitation affecting vegetation distribution and abundance, it can tell us about past human activities such as agriculture and livestock husbandry. Critical questions such as:  

  • How does climate fluctuate across time and space during the Holocene?
  • What types of vegetation dominated different regions—and when did they change? How does biodiversity change over time?
  • How did early human populations interact with and alter their environments?
  • What can past resilience teach us about future sustainability? 

can be answered using fossil proxies and give valuable input to the understanding of future patterns, give data to model studies, and guide conservation, management, and restoration. 

Environmental archaeology

Unveiling the secrets of the past through archeological analyses

Pollen and macrofossil samples from a wide range of archaeological contexts provide information on cultural aspects of environmental change. Through archaeological rescue excavations, irreplaceable source material is secured from cultural/agricultural layers, a variety of settlement contexts and post holes from house structures. Pollen and macrofossil samples provide information on prehistoric cultivation methods, plant use, local vegetation, and human utilisation of the landscape. Samples from archaeological contexts make up a large part of the accessions of the University Museums palaeobotanical collections and serves as an archive and live research facility for prehistoric and historic human impact on environments.

New methods in pollen chemistry

Assessing how pine pollen may respond to UV-B

Student opportunities

If you like some (or all) of the following, you should consider doing a Master's with us: 

  • mud and field work
  • laboratory work and experiments
  • data analysis and numbers
  • open science 

We welcome students to work with us and are happy to develop projects with you. To do a Master thesis with us you need to be enrolled as a Master student in Biology at our Department. The Master thesis is one year’s work and equals 60 ECTS. Another possibility is to do a 10 ECTS Research practice in biology project (BIO299) to get experience within palaeoecological methods and theories. The course is open to all students at the Department of Biological Sciences, UiB. 

We also welcome exchange students through the Erasmus network.

Contact us to discuss potential projects or come and find us (see list of People below). We aim to provide an inclusive and welcoming community for all lab members and are always interested in developing or collaborating on new research projects.

If you are looking for a PhD or post doc opportunity all positions at UiB are advertised openly and can be found on JobbNorge (external link).  

Facilities

Research in the Palaeoecology@UiB team is done in the Bergen Palaeoecology Laboratory (BPL) run jointly by Department of Biological Sciences and the University Museum of Bergen. The lab facilities provide equipment and infrastructure for palaeoecologists to generate reconstructions of past ecosystems based on proxy remains as well as doing pollen chemistry. The sediment-coring facilities within BPL allow for sample collection from lakes and bogs, modern samples, and traps.

Pollen analysis is one of the main methods for reconstructing past biosphere and ecosystem change and is complemented by plant macrofossil analysis. Our lab facilities and services include: 

  • a number of light microscopes, inverted microscopes, and stereo-microscopes
  • a light microscopy classification library of key pollen types for Northern Europe, which can be used by researchers for automated classification of palaeo-samples
  • a sediment lab for sub-sampling
  • a sample-processing lab
  • gas chromatography
  • freezer/refrigerated storage

The BPL houses a large seed reference collection focusing on taxa from Northern Europe. This collection mainly constitutes fresh, dried material, but also modern charred material comprising charcoal samples of common woody taxa in Scandinavia (trees, shrubs, dwarf shrubs).

Affiliations

Terrestrial Ecology

University Museum of Bergen

People

Last updated: 17.11.2025