LATE GLA CIAL AND HO LO CENE MOL LUS CAN AS SEM BLAGES IN DE POS ITS FILL ING PALAEOLAKES IN NORTH ERN PO LAND
Late Gla cial and Ho lo cene car bon ate lac us trine de pos its de vel oped as lac us trine chalk and cal car e ousgyttja are fairlywide spread across north ern Po land. They form fill ings of palaeolakes which de vel oped dur ing the deglaciation. Thesefor ma tions are usu ally cov ered by peat. Rich and di ver si fied malacofauna has been found in the afore men tioned sed i -ments. The pro files from 154 sites de scribed and pub lished by var i ous au thors were sub jected to malacological anal y- sis. In the whole ma te rial, 18 mol lus can as sem blages were dis tin guished, rep re sent ing three types of hab i tats: terres-trial, of tem po rary wa ter bod ies, and of per ma nent wa ter bod ies. The com po si tion and struc ture of these as sem blagesal lowschar ac ter iz in g cli mate and dif fer en ti at ing hab i tatsThe . time-se quencesof malacological as sem blages pro vided pos si bil ity to de fine three types of malacological se quences. On the ba sis of these suc ces sions, a scheme of the lakewa ter bod ies evo lu tion dur ing Late Gla cial and in north ern Po land was elab o rated.
Nat u ral and anthropogenic changes in the en vi ron ment dur ing the Ho lo cene at the Kraków re gion ( South ern Po land ) from study of mol lusc as sem blages
Malacological anal y sis was used to re con struct Ho lo cene en vi ron men tal changes from pro files of cal car e ous tufa and flu vial de pos its ex posed in the Kobylanka Stream Val ley, sev eral ki lo me tres west of Kraków in south ern Po land. The abun dant and di ver si fied mol lusc fauna was char ac ter ized by clear vari abil ity within the ver ti cal suc ces sion where five types of mol lus can as sem blages were dis tin guished. The pat tern of sed i men tary and mol lus can fa cies al lowed char ac ter iza tion of two main in ter vals of en vi ron men tal change dur ing Ho lo cene. In the lower in ter val, un til the end of the Mid dle Ho lo cene, hu man ac tiv ity was not de tected and en vi ron men tal pro cesses were con trolled by nat u ral fac tors. In the up per in ter val, cor re spond ing to the Late Ho lo cene, hu man im pact can be seen, in the form of rapid de for es ta tion and ag ri cul tural de vel op ment. Anthropogenic im pact has been par tic u larly ev i dent dur ing the last mil len nium. The mol lusc as sem blages stud ied al lowed ac cu rate re con struc tion of nat u ral and anthropogenic fac tors af fect ing the nat u ral en vi ron ment.
Indian Fig Cactus (Opuntia Ficus-Indica (L.) Miller) in the Americas: an Uncertain History
Abstract: 
 Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller is a globally important cactus species with a long history of human use. In addition to the importance of O. ficus-indica as a food for humans and livestock, it also has long served a role in the production of cochineal, a once important textile dye. This cactus also is intimately interwoven into the story of Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (South American cactus moth), one of the best-known examples of biological weed control. In this regard, O. ficus-indica has been a target weed as well as an unintended host in C. cactorum invasion. Although the distribution and human-assisted movement of this cactus throughout much of the world is well documented, surprisingly little has been written about its history and movement within the Americas. Literature associated with Opuntia and their phytophagous pests in North and South America was examined in an attempt to determine the history of O. ficus-indica in the Americas. Available information suggests with some certainty that O. ficus-indica originated in present-day Mexico, but the timing of its introduction to South America is much less clear. Taxonomic difficulties associated with distinguishing among Opuntia species and the long pre-Columbian history of exchange between South American and Mesoamerican cultures are two primary complicating factors associated with dating the dispersal of this species to South America. Additionally, previous evidence in support of a pre-Columbian introduction to South America relied on questionable identification of insect-based textile dyes. These uncertainties are significant because clearer knowledge of the history of O. ficus-indica introduction to South America could provide a more complete biological and ecological context to efforts at managing this species in its native and introduced ranges, particularly with respect to the threat posed by C. cactorum in North American and Argentinean plantations.