Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPPs) and palynofacies of lake sediments from the Baćina Lakes (Croatia) as indicators of Holocene paleoenvironmental changes

Selected multi-proxy data (NPP, palynofacies, Chironomidae, Cladocera, total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC)) and a radiocarbon-supported chronological framework of the Holocene period in the Baćina Lakes, on the eastern Adriatic coast (southern Dalmatia), facilitated a comprehensive regional paleoenvironmental assessment. In this study, we analyzed an 8.4 m long lake sediment core BAJ-7 (extracted from the central part of Lake Crniševo). A high number of non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) were documented and results show that abundances of phytoplankton and zoobenthos NPPs seem to have comparable trends with other environmental factors such as organic matter, TOC, N and others over time. However, zoobenthos such as Chironomidae and Cladocera, as isolated NPPs, provide limited information on their own, and should be interpreted together with other NPPs and pollen data. The studied NPPs indicate that Lake Crniševo underwent multiple transitions from oligotrophic to eutrophic conditions. This research represents the first paleoecological study with zoological NPP-s as complementary bioindicators among others, within Croatian karst lakes, highlighting their strong potential for paleolimnological reconstructions.