THE LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF BATORLIGET, NE HUNGARY

A sedimentary sequence extending back into the last glacial has been o btained from Batorliget marsh in N.E. Hungary. Reconstruction of the e nvironmental history of the region using the techniques of pollen anal ysis, molluscan analysis and geochemistry has revealed an important la te Quaternary refugium. During the last glacial, a refugium for temper ate flora and fauna existed within a landscape dominated by coniferous forest predominantly made up of Pinus and Picea. The lateglacial/post glacial transition at 10,000 yr B.P. resulted in a dramatic shift from coniferous (but also including Betula) woodland to deciduous woodland . Following the lateglacial/postglacial transition, a highly diverse w oodland became established in the early postglacial, accompanied by an equally diverse molluscan assemblage. This diversity remained through out the early postglacial although the types present within the woodla nd changed a number of times. At c. 7000 yr B.P. anthropogenic disturb ance resulted in the destruction of the mixed forest and the developme nt of agricultural land. The importance of this region as a refugial a rea both in the lateglacial and early postglacial is discussed and the influence that it had on the postglacial development of the fauna and flora of northeastern Hungary is reviewed.