As a first piece in a series of Late Quaternary paleoecological studies on the glacial lake sediments of the Retezat Mountains, this study discusses radiocarbon chronology and sediment accumulation rate changes in two sediment profiles in relation to lithostratigraphy, organic content, biogenic silica and major pollenstratigraphic changes. A total of 25 radiocarbon dates were obtained from sediments of two lakes, Lake Brazi (TDB-1; 1740 m a.s.l.) and Lake Gales (Gales-3; 1990 m a.s.l.). Age-depth modeling was performed on TDB-1 using calibrated age ranges from BCal and various curve-fitting methods in psimpoll. Our results suggest that sediment accumulation began between 15,124-15,755 cal yr BP in both lakes and was continuous throughout the Late Glacial and Holocene. We demonstrated that local ecosystem productivity showed delayed response to Late Glacial and Early Holocene climatic changes in the subalpine and alpine zones most likely attributable to the cooling effect of remnant glaciers and meltwater input. However, regional vegetation response was without time lag and indicated forestation and warming at 14,450 and 11,550 cal yr BP, and cooling at ca. 12,800 cal yr BP. In the Holocene one major shift was detected, starting around 6300 cal yr BP and culminating around 5200 cal yr BP. The various proxies suggested summer cooling, shorter duration of the winter ice-cover season and/or increasing size of the water body, probably in response to increasing available moisture.Addresses: E. K.

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The role of soils in the global carbon cycle and in reducing GHG emissions from agriculture has been increasingly acknowledged. The '4 per 1000' (4p1000) initiative has become a prominent action plan for climate change mitigation and achieve food security through an annual increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks by 0.4%, (i.e. 4‰ per year). However, the feasibility of the 4p1000 scenario and, more generally, the capacity of individual countries to implement soil carbon sequestration (SCS) measures remain highly uncertain. Here, we evaluated country-specific SCS potentials of agricultural land for 24 countries in Europe. Based on a detailed survey of available Poland National 10,400 20 Reduced tillage, crops residues, manure 1.6 Portugal National 90 10 Sown biodiverse permanent pastures rich in legumes (SBPPR) 0.16 Spain National 7650.6 10 No-tillage 2.9 Sweden National 1760 30 Perennials, intensification of leys, no bare fallowing, cover crops or catch crops 0.324 National 600 20 Cover crops and agroforestry 0.144

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Soil erosion by water is one of the most significant forms of soil degradation globally, especially in Europe. A new soil erosion risk map of Hungary has been compiled and published recently, using the combined outputs of the Universal Soil Loss Equation and Pan‐European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment models. Our study aimed at providing evaluation of the map by using semiquantitative validation data obtained from the Hungarian Soil Degradation Subsystem of the National Environmental Information System. The Soil Degradation Subsystem database contained information at farm level as well as indicators based on laboratory data for 5‐ha representative plots. On the basis of the semiquantitative analysis, the map results align well with the farm‐based degradation data and provide viable information not only at the regional scale but also at the farm scale. However, indicators from representative plots did not support model results, indicating possible conflict between farm‐ and plot‐level data. Cross‐comparison of these indicators showed only limited correlation between farm‐ and plot‐level indicators.