Reconstruction of the dynamics of Cenozoic ecosystems in Europe based on arachnids preserved in amber

Arachnids preserved in European (Baltic, Bitterfeld and Rovno) amber (Eocene/Oligocene) will be used for ecosystem and climate reconstructions. Using detailed morphological and statistical analyses, the arachnid faunas of the different amber types will be documented and four hypotheses on the ecosystems reflected in the respective ambers will be tested.

Our project covers the following aspects: a) diversity and assemblages within the major European amber deposits, b)differences between the different amber types, c)impact of ecosystem changes and climate variability from the Cretaceous to the present from the arachnid perspective and d)evolutionary trends and biogeographical scenarios that can be inferred from the different amber faunal assemblages. Several thousand arachnid fossils from European amber deposits are known and are held in both museum and private collections. However, there are only a few projects that exploit the potential of these fossils for ecological trait analyses, biogeographical and palaeo-climatological reconstructions and evolutionary biology studies.