People

 Mykola Sadovnik, Alumni

Alumnus

Mykola Sadovnik (Ukraine, 1970)

Dipl.-Ing. in Environmental Protection and Regional Planning

PhD project
Reconstruction of the Forest and Land Use History from Neolithic to the Present in the Westensee Area, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Using a Multiproxy Approach.
This project focuses on the reconstruction of land use and forest history in the Westensee moraine region in Northern Germany. With a combination of palaeoecological investigations including archaeological and radiocarbon data, the main objective of this investigation was the identification of interactions between natural processes of woodland dynamics and human impact. A chronology for three pollen records was established from 31 14C AMS radiocarbon dates. Chronological modeling was estimated with Bayesian-statistics using OxCal 4.1.7, which was intended to provide radiocarbon calibration and statistical analysis of chronological information. In this manner, an exact chronology of woodland composition and changes of the vegetation under anthropogenic influence in the study area was to be both chronologically and spatially reconstructed.

The palaeorecords indicate that different land use practices occurred in the area from the beginning of the Neolithic period. The presence of frequent forest fires between 4100 and 3600 cal yr BC is inferred from the Brunsrade mire archive (core MDK) and it was interpreted as a consequence of hunting practices of people during Megalithic and Neolithic periods. At Krähenberg (core KRM), a study site with five megalithic graves, the deciduous forests experienced a reduction in their canopy around 3500 cal yr BC, suggesting an increased human impact. This could be possibly associated with the construction of the megalithic graves located in vicinity. Following the period of anthropogenic activity, forest regeneration occurred over a period of ca. 400 years.

We assumed that the surrounding area of the megaliths was mainly covered by deciduous mixed forests during the Funnel Beaker Culture and the megaliths were not exposed in the landscape. Based upon a very low occurrence of anthropogenic indicators , it is assumed that the closed surrounding of the megalithic graves was not used during the Funnel Beaker Culture or solely used as a specialised ritual place around 3500 cal. BC. During the Neolithic period the study site was isolated from settlements and arable fields. Although forest disturbance occurred during the Neolithic period, intense human impact associated with arable farming first commenced during the Bronze Age.

In contrast, the Lünsee pollen diagram (core LNS-1) suggests an onset of cereal cultivation around 3800 cal yr BC. Only few cerealia-type pollen grains were identified for the Early Neolithic, probably indicating small and local arable fields in the study area. The past vegetation cover of the lake was reconstructed by applying the LOVE and REVEALS models. The results of the analyses show that Corylus and Tilia are underestimated in the pollen percentages of pollen records. The presence of Tilia as an indicator of forest regeneration and the role of Corylus in the Neolithic semi-opened landscapes are yet to be better understood.

Research interests Paleoecology, forest history and monitoring, landscape planing, human-landscape interaction, environmental reconstruction, radiocarbon dating, forest climate change
Education

since 2008
PhD-Student at the Institute for Ecosystem Research and Graduate school “Human development in landscapes”, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Holder of the DFG Scholarship

2007
Advanced course in Paleobotany at the Institute of Botany, TU Dresden

2003 - 2006
Postgraduate study “Environmental Protection and Regional Planning”. Faculty of Forest Sciences, TU Dresden. Diploma in Engineering, Department of Forest Sciences
Holder of the DAAD STIBET Scholarship

2001 - 2003
Student of the Department of Landscaping, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel

Work experience

2008
Scientific assistant on the AMOCINT climate research project, Institute Polaire Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV), France. Oceanographic cruise MD 168, Research Vesel “MARION DUFRESNE”

2000
2003 - 2006 Scientific assistant at the Institute of Botany, TU Dresden

2000
2003 - 2004 Scientific assistant on the UNESCO/BMBF research project “Transformational processes in the Dnister-Region (Western Ukraine)”, Institute of Forest Economy and Forest Management Planning - Institute of Forest Botany and Zoology, TU Dresden

2000
2002 - 2003 Scientific assistant at the Institute of Crop Science and Plant Breeding, Christian-Albrechts- University, Kiel

2002
Scientific assistant at the Institute of Marine Sciences, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel. ICES – Project “IHLS”, Journey 194, “ALKOR” Research Vesel

Selected publications

Forthcoming
Sadovnik M., & O. Nelle: Pollen diagram from the Lünsee lake, Northern Germany. To be submitted to Vegetation History and Archaeobotany

Forthcoming
Sadovnik M., Cui Q-Y., V. Robin, Gaillard-Lemdahl M.-J. & O. Nelle: New aspects of Neolithic forest composition and human impact in the Westensee area, Northern Germany inferred from palaeoecological and archaeological evidence. To be submitted to Journal of Archaeological Science

In press
Sadovnik, M., Bork, H-R., Nadeau, M-J., Nelle, O.: Can the period of Dolmens construction be seen in the pollen record? Pollen analytical investigations of Holocene settlement and vegetation history in the Westensee area, Germany. Series of Heritage & Landscape, Amsterdam University Press.

2011
Sadovnik M., Robin V., Nadeau M-J., D. Bork H-R., & O. Nelle: (submitted): Human impact on landscapes in the immediate surroundings of megalithic graves: palaeoecological evidence from the Krähenberg, Northern Germany The Holocene

2011
Sadovnik, M., Bork, H-R., Nadeau, M-J., Gaillard-Lemdahl, M-J., Nelle, O.: Holocene woodland dynamics of the Westensee morane region, Northern Germany, based on three pollen records. In: Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,000 Years: The Creation of Landscapes II. Terra Nostra Vol.2011/1, 75-76.

2010
Sadovnik, M., Schafferer, G., Mischka, C., Nelle, O.: Pollendiagramm und Magnetogramm. In: Archäologische Nachrichten aus Schleswig-Holstein 2010, Wachholz Verlag, Band 16, 23-29.

2005
VITSEGA R. & M. SADOVNIK: Forest monitoring is basis of researches of the modern state of forest ecosystem (On example of the model space “DNISTER”) in: Kiseluk, O. I. (Hrsg.): Wissenschaftliche Berichte der internationalen Tagung zum 25-jährigen Bestehen des Karpatischen Nationalparks. Jaremche, Ukraine, 1-3.

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