Palaeoecological and functional guild changes in fungal palynomorphs from Irish peatlands: Evidence from Clara Bog

Peatlands are globally important ecosystems that function as major carbon stores and preserve detailed records of environmental change. Palaeoecological reconstructions of peatlands have traditionally relied on pollen and plant macrofossils, while fungal remains have received comparatively little attention, particularly in Irish peatlands. Although fungal palynomorphs are increasingly recognised as sensitive indicators of ecological processes such as hydrological change, vegetation dynamics and decomposition, their application in Ireland has remained limited and largely confined to morphotype approaches using identifying acronyms. Here, fungal assemblages from Clara Bog are shown to be diverse and variable through time, with shifts in guild composition suggesting sensitivity to ecological change. The dominance of saprotrophic taxa throughout the core highlights the central role of fungi in decomposition processes, while variation within saprotrophic sub-guilds, alongside the occurrence of pathogenic and disturbance associated taxa indicates periods of ecological transition. By adopting a taxonomic approach to fungal identification, this study improves the resolution of ecological interpretation beyond traditional operational taxonomic unit frameworks. More broadly, these findings demonstrate the value of integrating fungal proxies within multi-proxy palaeoecological reconstructions. This approach provides a basis for establishing baseline ecological conditions and supports the use of fungal indicators in peatland monitoring and restoration within conservation frameworks such as Natura 2000.