The large‐scale shifts in the salinity of the Baltic Sea over the Holocene are well understood and have been comprehensively documented using sedimentary proxy records. More recent work has focused on understanding how past salinity fluctuations have affected other ecological parameters (e.g. primary productivity, nutrient content) of the Baltic basin, and salinity changes over key events and over short time scales are still not well understood. The International Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 cored the Baltic basin in order to collect basin‐wide environmental records through a glacial–interglacial cycle. Site M0059 is located in the Little Belt between the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A composite splice section from Site M0059 was analysed at a decadal resolution to study changes in salinity, nutrient conditions and other surface water column parameters based on changes in diatom assemblages and on quantitative diatom‐based salinity inferences. A mesotrophic slightly brackish assemblage is seen in the lowermost analysed depths, corresponding to 7800–7500 cal. a BP. An increase in salinity and nutrient content of the water column leads into a meso‐eutrophic brackish phase. The observed salinity increase is rapid, lasting from 7500 to 7150 cal. a BP. Subsequently, the Little Belt becomes oligotrophic and is dominated by tychopelagic diatoms from c. 7100 to c. 3900 cal. a BP. This interval contains some of the highest salinities observed followed by diatom assemblages similar to those of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, composed primarily of cosmopolitan open ocean marine diatoms. A return to tychopelagic productivity is seen from 3850 to 980 cal. a BP. Anthropogenic eutrophication is detected in the last 300 years of the record, which intensifies in the uppermost sediments. These results represent the first decadally resolved record in the region and provide new insight into the transition to a brackish basin and subsequent ecological development.

The Baltic Sea is a geologically and evolutionarily young part of the coastal ocean that experienced, in its past, several severe environmental changes. In its present state, the Baltic Sea is characterized by both horizontal and vertical gradients of environmental conditions. As a huge estuary, it shows a west to east/south to north surface salinity gradient from 24 in Kattegat to nearly freshwater in the Bothnian Bay. The vertical salinity and oxygen gradients result in stratification which causes hypoxic and sulfidic anoxic conditions in deep basins. These gradient systems are impacted by natural and anthropogenic changes due to physico-chemical driving forces, varying over time and space. Gradient environments produce an imprint on both the structure and function of the biological systems and influence biogeochemical cycling. Besides, coastal seas in general and the Baltic Sea in particular, experience constant and direct influence from land with consequences to matter and energy cycles, biogeochemical interactions, energy fluxes, and sediment dynamics. “Living along gradients: past, present, future” in the Baltic are today’s very important aspects that rise questions like which of the effects we are detecting occur naturally, and which are driven by human activities. Deciphering past environmental changes and their causes provide keys to understand and simulate possible future scenarios, all of which should rise societal awareness and implementation of appropriate marine and coastal policies. Present-day knowledge on the dynamics of gradient systems, on the processes that affect the coastal sea environment, the results of interaction between coastal seas and society, the detection or reconstruction of past and present changes on time scales from inter-annual to millennial, and future change models are summarized here, with the idea to stimulate scientific exchange on most complex questions, addressing them from different perspectives.

Sediment cores from three sites along the east-coast of Sweden, north-western Baltic Proper, have been studied with respect to lithologies, geochemistry and diatom assemblages to trace and date early human impact with emphasis on nutrient discharge. The three sites Bråviken, Himmerfjärden and Ådfjärden, have been impacted to various degree during the last millennia by multiple stressors like excessive nutrient discharge and hazardous substances, leading to coastal hypoxia, eutrophication and pollution. These stressors are mainly caused by drivers in the drainage area as increased human population, changed land use and point sources as industries and a sewage treatment plant. Even though their detailed history differs, the results show similar general patterns for all three sites. We find no evidence in our data from the coastal zone supporting the hypothesis that the extensive areal distribution of hypoxia in the open Baltic Sea during the Medieval Climate Anomaly was caused by human impact. Timing of the onset of man-made eutrophication, as identified from d¹⁵N and changes in diatom composition, differs between the three sites, reflecting the site specific geography and local environmental histories of these areas. The onset of eutrophication dates to 1800 CE in Bråviken and Himmerfjärden areas, and to 1900 CE in the less urban area of Ådfjärden. We conclude that the recorded environmental changes during the last centuries are unique in a thousand year perspective.

Anthropogenic forcing has led to an increased extent of hypoxic bottom areas in the Baltic Sea during recent decades. The Baltic Sea ecosystem is naturally prone to the development of hypoxic conditions due to its geographical, hydrographical, geological, and climate features. Besides the current spreading of hypoxia, the Baltic Sea has experienced two extensive periods of hypoxic conditions during the Holocene, caused by changing climate conditions during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM; 8–4.8 cal ka BP) and the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 1–0.7 cal ka BP). We studied the variations in surface and bottom water salinity and primary productivity and their relative importance for the development and termination of hypoxia by using microfossil and geochemical data from a sediment core retrieved from the Landsort Deep during IODP Expedition 347 (Site M0063). Our findings demonstrate that increased salinity was of major importance for the development of hypoxic conditions during the HTM. In contrast, we could not clearly relate the termination of this hypoxic period to salinity changes. The reconstructed high primary productivity associated with the hypoxic period during the MCA is not accompanied by considerable increases in salinity. Our proxies for salinity show a decreasing trend before, during and after the MCA. Therefore, we suggest that this period of hypoxia is primarily driven by increasing temperatures due to the warmer climate. These results highlight the importance of natural climate driven changes in salinity and primary productivity for the development of hypoxia during a warming climate.

Coastal environments have experienced large ecological changes as a result of human activities over the last 100−200 years. To understand the severity and potential consequences of such changes, paleoenvironmental records provide important contextual information. The Baltic Sea coastal zone is naturally a vulnerable system and subject to significant human-induced impacts. To put the recent environmental degradation in the Baltic coastal zone into a long-term perspective, and to assess the natural and anthropogenic drivers of environmental change, we present sedimentary records covering the last 1000 years obtained from a coastal inlet (Gåsfjärden) and a nearby lake (Lake Storsjön) in Sweden. We investigate the links between a pollen-based land cover reconstruction from Lake Storsjön and paleoenvironmental variables from Gåsfjärden itself, including diatom assemblages,organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents, stable C and N isotopic ratios, and biogenic silica contents. The Lake Storsjön record shows that regional land use was characterized by small-scale agricultural activity between 900 and 1400 CE, which slightly intensified between 1400 and 1800 CE. Substantial expansion of cropland was observed between 1800 and 1950 CE, before afforestation between 1950 and 2010 CE. From the Gåsfjärden record, prior to 1800 CE, relatively minor changes in the diatom and geochemical proxies were found. The onset of cultural eutrophication in Gåsfjärden can be traced to the 1800s and intensified land use is identified as the main driver. Anthropogenic activities in the 20th century have caused unprecedented ecosystem changes in the coastal inlet, as reflected in the diatom composition and geochemical proxies.

The Baltic Sea has experienced a complex geological history, with notable swings in salinity driven by changes to its connection with the Atlantic and glacio-isostatic rebound. Sediments obtained during International Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 allow the study of the effects of these changes on the ecology of the Baltic in high resolution through the Holocene in areas where continuous records had not always been available. Sites M0061 and M0062, drilled in the Ångermanälven Estuary (northern Baltic Sea), contain records of Holocene-aged sediments and microfossils. Here we present detailed records of palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental changes to the Ångermanälven Estuary inferred from diatom, palynomorph and organic-geochemical data. Based on diatom assemblages, the record is divided into four zones that comprise the Ancylus Lake, Littorina Sea, Post-Littorina Sea and Recent Baltic Sea stages. The Ancylus Lake phase is initially characterized as oligotrophic, with the majority of primary productivity in the upper water column. This transition to a eutrophic state continues into the Initial Littorina Sea stage. The Initial Littorina Sea stage contains the most marine phase recorded here, as well as low surface water temperatures. These conditions end before the Littorina Sea stage, which is marked by a return to oligotrophic conditions and warmer waters of the Holocene Thermal Maximum. Glacio-isostatic rebound leads to a shallowing of the water column, allowing for increased benthic primary productivity and stratification of the water column. The Medieval Climate Anomaly is also identified within Post-Littorina Sea sediments. Modern Baltic sediments and evidence of human-induced eutrophication are seen. Human influence upon the Baltic Sea begins c. 1700 cal. a BP and becomes more intense c. 215 cal. a BP.

The past of the Baltic Sea has been intensively investigated using a wealth of techniques. By far the largest number of studies has focused on sea level and salinity changes, driven by global climate and isostatic crustal rebound after the Baltic Sea emerged underneath the Weichselian Ice Sheet ca. 15,000 cal. years BP. The post-glacial history of the Baltic has included both freshwater and brackish water stages depending on the connection of the Baltic Sea with the world’s oceans. As the Baltic is one of the most polluted sea areas in the world, many studies have also focused on both the long-term trends in nutrients and productivity and the relatively recent anthropogenic eutrophication. The long-term changes in the trophic state of the Baltic Sea have been found to be linked to changes in climate, which controls freshwater discharge from the catchment and weathering rates, as well as marine water inflow from the North Sea. The productivity of the Baltic Sea has followed major climate patterns: it was high during warm periods and lower during phases of deteriorating climate. Recent eutrophication of the Baltic Sea can mainly be explained by a marked increase in discharge of nutrients caused by a growing population and changes in the agricultural practice, although long-term climate variability also plays a part. Signs of recovery have recently been detected, however, the Baltic Sea is still far from its pre-industrial trophic state.

Sediment records recovered from the Baltic Sea during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 provide a unique opportunity to study paleoenvironmental and climate change in central and northern Europe. Such studies contribute to a better understanding of how environmental parameters change in continental shelf seas and enclosed basins. Here we present a multi-proxy-based reconstruction of paleotemperature (both marine and terrestrial), paleosalinity, and paleoecosystem changes from the Little Belt (Site M0059) over the past  ∼  8000 years and evaluate the applicability of inorganic- and organic-based proxies in this particular setting. All salinity proxies (diatoms, aquatic palynomorphs, ostracods, diol index) show that lacustrine conditions occurred in the Little Belt until  ∼  7400 cal yr BP. A connection to the Kattegat at this time can thus be excluded, but a direct connection to the Baltic Proper may have existed. The transition to the brackish–marine conditions of the Littorina Sea stage (more saline and warmer) occurred within  ∼  200 years when the connection to the Kattegat became established after  ∼  7400 cal yr BP. The different salinity proxies used here generally show similar trends in relative changes in salinity, but often do not allow quantitative estimates of salinity. The reconstruction of water temperatures is associated with particularly large uncertainties and variations in absolute values by up to 8 °C for bottom waters and up to 16 °C for surface waters. Concerning the reconstruction of temperature using foraminiferal Mg  /  Ca ratios, contamination by authigenic coatings in the deeper intervals may have led to an overestimation of temperatures. Differences in results based on the lipid paleothermometers (long chain diol index and TEX^L₈₆) can partly be explained by the application of modern-day proxy calibrations to intervals that experienced significant changes in depositional settings: in the case of our study, the change from freshwater to marine conditions. Our study shows that particular caution has to be taken when applying and interpreting proxies in coastal environments and marginal seas, where water mass conditions can experience more rapid and larger changes than in open ocean settings. Approaches using a multitude of independent proxies may thus allow a more robust paleoenvironmental assessment.

"Why is the Baltic Sea so special to live in", is the main question the authors here give several arguments or answers for. Geographical position, geological development, hydrographical features, climate and physical drivers together create the Baltic Sea environment. The Baltic Sea water is brackish and characterized by pronounced salinity gradients, both in horizontal and vertical directions, because of the large volume of freshwater runoff from over 100 rivers, which mixes with the saline water from the Kattegat that enters the Baltic Sea via narrow shallow straits. Being a semi-enclosed continental sea with a large drainage area compared to its water volume , the Baltic Sea ecosystem is heavily impacted by the surrounding landmasses. The water residence time in the Baltic Sea is long (30–40 years), and therefore discharged nutrients and toxic compounds circulate within the sea for a long time, which contributes to its vulnerability to eutrophication and chemical contamination by hazardous substances. The Baltic Sea Area is geologically young and the Baltic Sea ecosystem is extremely young in an evolutionary perspective. Only few macroscopic species are fully adapted to its low-salinity environment. In an ecosystem-wide perspective, the large-scale Baltic Sea gradient is the principal ecological characteristic of the Baltic Sea.

The well-known and widespread replacement of oysters (abundant during the Mesolithic period) by cockles and mussels in many Danish Stone Age shell middens ca. 5900 cal yrs BP coincides with the transition to agriculture in southern Scandinavia. This human resource shift is commonly believed to reflect changing resource availability, driven by environmental and/or climatic change at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition rather than cultural choice. While several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the “Mesolithic-Neolithic oyster decline”, an explanation based on a sudden freshening of the inner Danish waters has received most attention. Here, for the first time, we test and refute this long-standing hypothesis that declining salinity explains the marked reduction in oysters identified within numerous shell middens across coastal Denmark at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition using quantitative and qualitative salinity inference from several, independent proxies (diatoms, molluscs and foraminifera) from multiple Danish fjord sites. Alternatively, we attribute the oyster decline to other environmental causes (particularly changing sedimentation), ultimately driven by external climatic forcing. Critical application of such high-quality environmental archives can reinvigorate archaeological debates and can aid in understanding and managing environmental change in increasingly impacted coastal regions.