Summary• Here, palaeobotanical and genetic data for common beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) in Europe are used to evaluate the genetic consequences of long-term survival in refuge areas and postglacial spread.• Four large datasets are presented, including over 400 fossil-pollen sites, 80 plant-macrofossil sites, and 450 and 600 modern beech populations for chloroplast and nuclear markers, respectively.• The largely complementary palaeobotanical and genetic data indicate that: (i) beech survived the last glacial period in multiple refuge areas; (ii) the central European refugia were separated from the Mediterranean refugia; (iii) the Mediterranean refuges did not contribute to the colonization of central and northern Europe; (iv) some populations expanded considerably during the postglacial period, while others experienced only a limited expansion; (v) the mountain chains were not geographical barriers for beech but rather facilitated its diffusion; and (vi) the modern genetic diversity was shaped over multiple glacialinterglacial cycles.• This scenario differs from many recent treatments of tree phylogeography in Europe that largely focus on the last ice age and the postglacial period to interpret genetic structure and argue that the southern peninsulas (Iberian, Italian and Balkan) were the main source areas for trees in central and northern Europe.

Records of past climate variability and associated vegetation response exist in various regions throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). To date, there has been no coherent synthesis of the existing palaeo-records. During an INTIMATE meeting (Cluj Napoca, Romania) focused on identifying CEE paleo-records, it was decided to address this gap by presenting the palaeo-community with a compilation of high-quality climatic and vegetation records for the past 60-8 kyrs. The compilation should also serve as a reference point for the use in the modelling community working towards the INTIMATE project goals, and in data-model inter-comparison studies. This paper is therefore a compilation of up to date, best available quantitative and semi-quantitative records of past climate and biotic response from CEE covering this period. It first presents the proxy and archive used. Speleothems and loess mainly provide the evidences available for the 60-20 ka interval, whereas pollen records provide the main source of information for the Lateglacial and Holocene. It then examines the temporal and spatial patterns of climate variability inferred from different proxies, the temporal and spatial magnitude of the vegetation responses inferred from pollen records and highlights differences and similarities between proxies and sub-regions and the possible mechanisms behind this variability. Finally, it identifies weakness in the proxies and archives and their geographical distribution. This exercise also provides an opportunity to reflect on the status of research in the area and to identify future critical areas and subjects of research.

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Proxy-based reconstructions of climate variability over the last millennium provide important insights for understanding current climate change within a long-term context. Past hydrological changes are particularly difficult to reconstruct, yet rainfall patterns and variability are among the most critical environmental variables. Ombrotrophic bogs, entirely dependent on water from precipitation and sensitive to changes in the balance between precipitation and evapotranspiration, are highly suitable for such hydro-climate reconstructions. We present a multi-proxy analysis (testate amoebae, plant macrofossils, stable carbon isotopes in Sphagnum, pollen, spores and macroscopic charcoal) from an ombrotrophic peat profile from the Rodna Mountains (northern Romania) to establish a quantitative record of hydro-climatic changes. We identify five main stages: wet surface mire conditions between AD 800 and 1150 and AD 1800 and 1950, and drying of the mire surface between AD 1300 and 1450, AD 1550 and 1750 and AD 1950 and 2012. Our multi-proxy reconstructions suggest that conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) period (AD 900–1150) were considerably wetter than today, while during most of the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA; AD 1500–1850), they were dry. Mire surface conditions in the Rodna Mountains have dried markedly over the last 40 years mainly as a result of anthropogenic climate change approaching the driest conditions seen over the last 1000 years. There is a marked difference between current hydro-climatic conditions (dry mire) and those of the MCA (wet mire). This implies that for the study region, the MCA cannot provide analogous climatic conditions to the contemporary situation. Our reconstructions are in partial agreement with water table estimates elsewhere in central and eastern Europe but generally contrast with those from NW Europe, especially during LIA. We suggest that these distinctive regional differences result from fluctuations in large-scale atmospheric circulation, which determine the relative influences of continental and oceanic air masses.

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