Multiproxy palaeoecological data for lake Dallund S0, Denmark, were synthesized to explore the link between changes in the terrestrial environment (from pollen, and sediment physical properties) with those in the aquatic environment (from diatom, macrofossil, zooplankton and Pediastrum data) since the introduction of agriculture c. 6000 years ago. The lake was relatively insensitive to catchment disturbance during the Neolithic (3870-1700 BC) and Early Bronze Age (1700-1000 BC) periods but was dramatically impacted by environmental changes associated with a major deforestation phase at the transition from the Late Bronze Age (1000-500 BC) to the Pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BC-AD 0). A major eutrophication of the lake took place as a result of a changing agricultural system and also the retting of flax and hemp during the Mediaeval period (AD 1050-1536). Analyses of the data sets representing the terrestrial and aquatic environments demonstrate that human activities over thousands of years have not only impacted and shaped the Danish landscape but have also played a major role in lake development.

Diatom, macrofossil, pollen, Pediastrum and biogenic silica analyses were carried out on an 1 --m sediment sequence from the Danish lake Dallund S0, demonstrating major changes in the aquatic ecosystem over the last 7000 years. A diatom-phosphorus calibration model was applied to the fossil diatom record to reconstruct in-lake total phosphorus (TP) concentrations over this period. Prior to the introduction of agriculture to the region, c. 6000 years ago, the lake was relatively deep and had low diatom-inferred TP concentrations (c. 20 jg TP/L), with limited macrophyte growth. Moderate nutrient enrichment of the lake was inferred during the Bronze Age (1700-500 Bc) and Iron Age (500 BC -AD 1050) periods and evidence for water-level lowering was observed. Marked eutrophication of the lake (reconstructed TP levels consistently > 100 gg/L) was associated with major changes in agriculture during the Mediaeval period (AD 1050-1536) and continued to the present day. These data document the long-term anthropogenic impact on Dallund S0, a lake in an area with a long history of human activity.

1. A weighted averaging (WA) regression and calibration model for diatoms and total phosphorus (TP) was developed from a dataset of 45 surface‐sediment samples from Swedish lakes. Jack‐knifed error statistics were comparable with those for similar diatom–TP datasets: r2jack=0.47, root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP)=0.24 log10μg TP L–1 and mean bias=–0.002 log10 μg TP L–1 for the simple WA model; r2jack=0.36, RMSEP=0.27 log10 μg TP L–1 and mean bias=0.017 log10 μg TP L–1 for WA with tolerance downweighting. 2. The model was used to estimate TP concentrations for the Ekoln basin of Lake Mälaren using a 210Pb‐dated sediment core record. Highly eutrophic conditions developed in the basin in the 1960s as a result of nutrient inputs from cultivated land and the city of Uppsala. A reduction in the supply of phosphorus from sewage outlets in the late 1960s resulted in less eutrophic conditions. 3. The model results indicated levels of 50–60 μg TP L–1 prior to 1900. The rapid eutrophication of the lake basin after the 1950s and the subsequent recovery were evident from the diatom data. 4. Diatom‐inferred TP (DI–TP) values were validated by comparison with monitored data for the period 1966–95. The diatom model tended to underestimate TP at high levels (> 80 μg L–1) but overestimate at lower concentrations. 5. A good agreement was observed between the trends in TP concentration and the DI–TP concentration and the timing of the maximum was well reflected by the diatom‐based reconstruction. A significant correlation (r2=0.69, P < 0.01) was found between DI–TP and measured TP at this site.