Facilities: Reno
Paleoecology Laboratory (S. Sharpe)

Paleoecological research encompasses a broad array of disciplines devoted to the reconstruction of past environmental conditions and the study of short- and long-term dynamics that link climate, geology, hydrology, biology, archaeology, and anthropology. DEES scientists are shedding light on past processes while helping to solve some of the problems facing managers and planners today. Plant macrofossils, pollen, phytoliths, charcoal, and mollusks acquired from aquatic and terrestrial sediments, packrat middens, and archaeological sites can provide detailed chronological records of vegetation change, climate change, fire frequency and intensity, the effects of wildfire and historic fire suppression on natural resources, past hydrology of lakes and wetlands, water composition, and sedimentation and erosion processes on local and regional scales.

Research conducted using the Paleoecology Laboratory includes woodrat (Neotoma) midden and pollen analyses for use in vegetation and climate history; vegetation and mollusk analysis in lake and playa sediments to reconstruct past ecology, hydrology and climate; and the use of terrestrial and aquatic mollusks and other biota for paleoenvironmental and paleohydrological reconstruction. A complete laboratory processing facilities and a reference collection of fossil and modern species is maintained. Reference collections include seeds, wood, charcoal, and herbarium specimens, mollusks, and library.

Paleoecology Laboratory:
Research areas & key equipment