For previous blog posts, please have a look at my PAGES ECN blog posts:
About the PAGES Early-Career Network: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325687826_The_PAGES_Early-Career_Network About ways to...
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A Little About Me
Nature, insects, and the past have fascinated me since I was little. This made me decide to start a Bachelor's in Biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and later specialize in Paleoecology during my Master's. I chose an exciting but challenging path to specialize even further and to become a Quarternary entomologist. I finished my my PhD in Quaternary entomology at the Czech University of Life Sciences (CZU), where I participated in Czech paleoecological science projects for seven years. In 2022-2023, I worked at CZU as a forest modeler, focusing on future forest pest invasions. Since April 2024, I started my individual postdoc project on Quaternary entomology in Vilnius, but keeping ties with Prague. In my free time, I'm singing in a small choir and go to nearby forests to catch beetles for my personal collection.
If you're interested in my CV, you can download it HERE.
My Research
Climate, insect biodiversity and changes in landscapes through time
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The Early Holocene climate and landscape of the Baltic Region
The Lithuanian Research Council has granted me a two-year individual postdoc project (2024-2026) to collect samples of old sediment (11,000-8000 years) deep out of the ground from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, identify the beetle remains, and reconstruct past climate and landscapes based on these beetle assemblages. Work is in collaboration with Siim Veski, Normunds Stivrins, and Mariusz Lamentowicz and his group. I am based at the Nature Research Centre in Vilnius, supported by the head of the paleo-laboratory Vaida Šeiriene.
Paleoecology projects
My work in paleoecology mainly concerns the use of fossil beetle records from peat bogs to reconstruct the surrounding landscape, specifically the identification and quantification of bark beetle fossils to record past outbreaks.
See all my research at
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nick_Schafstall
Selected published articles in scientific journals are:
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Schafstall, Kuosmanen, Fettig et al. (2020) Late Glacial and Holocene records of tree-killing conifer bark beetles in Europe and North America: Implications for forest disturbance dynamics. The Holocene
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Schafstall, Whitehouse, Kuosmanen et al. (2020). Changes in species composition and diversity of a montane beetle community over the last millennium in the High Tatras, Slovakia: Implications for forest conservation and management. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology
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Schafstall, Kuosmanen, Kuneš et al. (2022) Sub-fossil bark beetles as indicators of past disturbance events in temperate Picea abies mountain forests. Quaternary Science Reviews
Schafstall, Svitavská-Svobodová, Kadlec et al. (2023) The Absence of Disturbances Promoted the Expansion of Silver Fir (Abies Alba) in the Bohemian Forest Under Drier Conditions. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology
Future research
Future work on fossil bark beetle remains has the potential to give us more insight in historical natural disturbances in both Europe and North America. Other than that, entomo-archeology remains an important tool to gather evidence of human occupation in a region. Fossil beetles have proven to be a useful tool to quantify the efffect of human settlement on local biodiversity. Why do some beetle species live close to humans, while others stay away as far as possible?
PAGES ECN
The PAGES Early-Career Network was created in 2018, for early-career researchers in paleo sciences. It provides a platform for researchers to network, share job opportunities and improve their scientific skills. Besides the monthly newsletter, an active blog, webinars and workshops are important products of the network. With more than 500 members and growing, PAGES ECN is becoming an important global network within the community of paleo scientists.
Contact Me
Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic
Department of Forest Ecology
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