Drought as a stress driver of ecological changes in peatland - A palaeoecological study of peatland development between 3500 BCE and 200 BCE in central Poland

•We reconstructed 3300 years of the development history of the peatland, central Poland.•We use high-resolution multi-proxy palaeoecological approaches.•Our results demonstrate the high potential peat record to reconstruct palaeohydrological dynamics.•The studied time interval is characterised by two pronounced dry periods 2500–1700 BCE and 700–500 BCE.•Only current observations from peatlands and lake ecosystems may lead to a better interpretation of past climate changes.

We reconstructed 3300 years (3500 BCE and 200 BCE) of the development history of the Rąbień peatland located in central Poland, using pollen, macrofossil, testate amoebae, Cladocera, Chironomidae and geochemistry. Central Europe, particularly Poland, is characterised by a transitional climate that is influenced by continental and Atlantic air masses, which makes this region very sensitive to climate change. Our results demonstrate the high potential of the Rąbień peat record to reconstruct palaeohydrological dynamics. The studied time interval is characterised by two pronounced dry periods: from ~ 2500 to ~ 1700 BCE and from ~ 700 to ~ 500 BCE, and two significant increases in the water table: from ~ 1000 to ~ 800 BCE and from ~ 500 to ~ 250 BCE. The timing of the wet shift at 600 BCE corresponds to wet periods at different sites in Central and Eastern Europe. Our investigation reveals a more complicated and complex than previously assumed set of climatic relationships in Europe between 3500 BCE and 200 BCE, which might be linked through complex teleconnections of atmospheric circulation patterns. Only reconstructions that are based on an understanding of current observations from peatlands and lake ecosystems may lead to a better interpretation of past climate changes.