Peat bog and alluvial deposits reveal land degradation during 16th and 17th century colonisation of the western Carpathians (Czech Republic)

Wallachian (shepherd) colonisation of the upper parts of Carpathians, the second largest mountain range in Europe, provides a unique opportunity to study human-induced ecological changes and subsequent sediment mobilisation within slope and fluvial systems. The Wallachians came to the nearly pristine landscape in the Czech part of the Western Carpathians during the 16–17th Century bringing large scale deforestation and grazing to the upper parts of its ridges. Despite the importance of this event, there is a lack of high-resolution multi-proxy reconstructions to help to decipher the relative influence of anthropogenic and climate factors on this landscape. Here we provide a ca. 2.1 kyr record obtained from a peat bog where, using chronological, sedimentological and pollen analyses, we were able to differentiate between environmental conditions before, during and after colonisation. Prior to colonisation, climate deterioration following the onset of Little Ice Age caused changes in forest composition and erosion events (causing a ~AD 0–1500 gap in the record). Abrupt human-induced deforestation detected in the pollen record, together with the abundant fine-grained minerogenic content of peat deposits between AD ~1640 and AD 1870, correspond to increased runoff and sheet erosion on slopes; enhanced by Little Ice Age climate deterioration. The sedimentary record in alluvial deposits downstream indicates that the colonisation of the mountain slopes in this region not only had a local effect on soil degradation, but it also increased the net aggradation of overbank deposits within valley floors. After reforestation, net aggradation was replaced by river incision into alluvia

Natural vs anthropogenic streams in Europe: History, ecology and implications for restoration, river-rewilding and riverine ecosystem services

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordIn Europe and North America the prevailing model of “natural” lowland streams is incised-meandering channels with silt-clay floodplains, and this is the typical template for stream restoration. Using both published and new unpublished geological and historical data from Europe we critically review this model, show how it is inappropriate for the European context, and examine the implications for carbon sequestration and Riverine Ecosystem Services (RES) including river rewilding. This paper brings together for the first time, all the pertinent strands of evidence we now have on the long-term trajectories of floodplain system from sediment-based dating to sedaDNA. Floodplain chronostratigraphy shows that early Holocene streams were predominantly multi-channel (anabranching) systems, often choked with vegetation and relatively rarely single-channel actively meandering systems. Floodplains were either non-existent or limited to adjacent organic-filled palaeochannels, spring/valley mires and flushes. This applied to many, if not most, small to medium rivers but also major sections of the larger rivers such as the Thames, Seine, Rhône, Lower Rhine, Vistula and Danube. As shown by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating during the mid-late Holocene c. 4–2 ka BP, overbank silt-clay deposition transformed European floodplains, covering former wetlands and silting-up secondary channels. This was followed by direct intervention in the Medieval period incorporating weir and mill-based systems – part of a deep engagement with rivers and floodplains which is even reflected in river and floodplain settlement place names. The final transformation was the “industrialisation of channels” through hard-engineering – part of the Anthropocene great acceleration. The primary causative factor in transforming pristine floodplains was accelerated soil erosion caused by deforestation and arable farming, but with effective sediment delivery also reflecting climatic fluctuations. Later floodplain modifications built on these transformed floodplain topographies. So, unlike North America where channel-floodplain transformation was rapid, the transformation of European streams occurred over a much longer time-period with considerable spatial diversity regarding timing and kind of modification. This has had implications for the evolution of RES including reduced carbon sequestration over the past millennia. Due to the multi-faceted combination of catchment controls, ecological change and cultural legacy, it is impractical, if not impossible, to identify an originally natural condition and thus restore European rivers to their pre-transformation state (naturalisation). Nevertheless, attempts to restore to historical (pre-industrial) states allowing for natural floodplain processes can have both ecological and carbon offset benefits, as well as additional abiotic benefits such as flood attenuation and water quality improvements. This includes rewilding using beaver reintroduction which has overall positive benefits on river corridor ecology. New developments, particularly biomolecular methods offer the potential of unifying modern ecological monitoring with the reconstruction of past ecosystems and their trajectories. The sustainable restoration of rivers and floodplains designed to maximise desirable RES and natural capital must be predicated on the awareness that Anthropocene rivers are still largely imprisoned in the banks of their history and this requires acceptance of an increased complexity for the achievement and maintenance of desirable restoration goals.OSL dating from the Severn-Wye Basin was undertaken at the Geochronology Laboratories, University of Gloucestershire under grants from the EU Leader+ Programme (administered by English Heritage) and the Leverhulme Flood and Flow Project (RPG-2016-004)

Natural environment and human settlement in later prehistoric central Europe

This work analyses the adaptive relationship between early farming settlement and natural environment in Central Europe between 3500 (cal.) BC and AD 400. The primary data-base consists of fourteen alluvial and archaeological pollen sites from the Czech and Slovak Republics. Primary analyses trace divergent vegetation histories in temperate (Hercynian) and continental (Pannonian) bio-geographic zones, and focus on human impact on these biomes. Syn-anthropic impact is registered in agricultural floral expansion, eforestation and dry-steppe formation, vectors which are equated with higher farming population densities. A methodological review allows for an assessment of land-areas represented at the fom1een pollen sites, while the understanding of pollen taphonomy on alluvial accretion surfaces is advanced at the principal site of Vranskỳ potok. Secondary analyses then reconstruct a comparative settlement and climate history in the later Holocene of Central Europe. Importantly, settlement reconstructions exhibit a cyclical pattern of growth and decline at century-level time-scales. When compared to the primary geobotanicalrecord, an alignment of settlement maxima with high levels of human impact on t1ora and soils affirms the reality of this archaeologically perceived settlement cycle. A similar alignment of agricultural maxima with favorable agro-climate furthermore implies that food production is generally limited by secular climate change, while an anthropogenic limitation of agriculture through dry-steppe formation is supported in the Pannonian geo-botanical database. Ultimately, a theoretical treatment of the adaptation concept is attempted after cultural ecologic data presented. Beyond subsistence, this treatment incorporates the ecologic constructs of direct competition (after evidence for warfare) and mean mating-distance (after populationreconstructions). Dia-chronic patterns of cultural distributions suggest that an early linkage of archaeological cultures with distinctive environmental zones is reduced as evidence for warfare and socio-political complexity becomes pervasive. Cultural adaptation thus becomes less a function of optimising subsistence and more one of group defense-population integration

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: Geologic Resources Inventory Report

This report accompanies the digital geologic map for Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska, which the Geologic Resources Division produced in collaboration with its partners. It contains information relevant to resource management and scientific research. This document incorporates preexisting geologic information and does not include new data or additional fieldwork. Formerly a working ranch in sparsely populated northwestern Nebraska, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the most important paleontological sites in the world for studying Miocene-age mammals and the evolving Miocene world which existed around 20 million years ago. The main bonebeds at Carnegie Hill and University Hill (collectively known as ‘Fossil Hills’) were the first major concentrated deposits of Tertiaryage mammals discovered in North America. The bonebeds produced the most complete and bestpreserved skeletons of Dinohyus (now known as Daeodon) yet discovered. The corkscrew burrow, Daemonelix, is one of the more unusual features discovered in the Monument. The much younger fossils and burrows at Beardog Hill represent the oldest denning community of carnivores known in the fossil record. Furthermore, 100 or more of the tiny camelid, Stenomylus, were found mummified and mostly articulated in a quarry east of Fossil Hills. The fossil birds recovered from Agate Fossil Beds National Monument add to the Monument’s faunal diversity and help verify paleoenvironmental interpretations. New genera and species have been identified from the collections, including the first record of a crane, Gruiformes. Significantly, the paleoavifauna represents a worldwide fauna that has only recently been recognized at a few other localities. Protection and preservation of the extraordinary paleontological resources are primary geologic issues at the Monument. The carnivore den site at Beardog Hill and the fossils in the Stenomylus Quarry are subject to erosion, weathering, and occasional vandalism. The historic quarries at Fossil Hills are easily accessible to visitors and are not monitored. A comprehensive fossil taxa list for the Fossil Hills, Beardog Hill, and the Stenomylus Quarry could prove useful to resource managers. The fossil collections from Agate Fossil Beds National Monument continue to provide paleontologists with valuable information about the Miocene ecosystem. Further research at the Monument could include testing the east side of Carnegie Hill as well as a significant rock layer in the Stenomylus Quarry for mammal fossils. Agates, which give the park its name, are found in a thin band along ash deposits just above the Miocene bonebeds. Visitors have easy access to the agates, known for their polish and luster. Collecting agates is a legal activity in the U.S. Forest Service Oglalla National Grassland, which is located north of the park, and many visitors come to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument expecting to collect these rocks. Rockfall areas at University Hill and Carnegie Hill pose a potential hazard to both visitors and researchers. Signs have been posted warning visitors of the hazard. Exploration wells for oil and gas were drilled just south of the park more than sixty years ago to test the Agate anticline, but no oil or gas was discovered. Minimally productive wells exist about 32 km (20 mi) south of the Monument and potential exploration drilling in the area remains a minor concern for Monument management. The Miocene landscape was one of broad savannas with vast herds of plant-eating mammals and the carnivores that preyed upon them. Perhaps the Rocky Mountains blocked moisture from reaching the Great Plains of western Nebraska during the Miocene. Drought ensued and the fluctuating climate stressed the habitat of the browsers and grazers. As waterholes evaporated, the animals died, were buried, and became the fossilized deposits so treasured today by paleontologists and visitors to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is located on an area of the High Plains in the Niobrara Valley that escaped glaciation during the last glacial advance of the Pleistocene Ice Age. Because glaciers did not erode the Pleistocene and Holocene sediments, significant climatic variations during the past 12,000–15,000 years are recorded in the geomorphology, stratigraphy, and paleosols of the Niobrara Valley. The Niobrara River meanders through the park, creating 18 km (11 mi) of riverbank and riparian wetlands. The rich collection of fauna and associated paleoenvironments at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument provide a rare glimpse into the ecology of the carnivore community during the Early Miocene and significant insight into Tertiary global climate change. Specimens discovered in the fossil quarries continue to help scientists piece together the past. The great bonebed at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument remains one of the most impressive and scientifically interesting paleontological sites in North America

Impacts of Landscape Change on Water Resources

Changes in land use and land cover can have many drivers, including population growth, urbanization, agriculture, demand for food, evolution of socio-economic structure, policy regulations, and climate variability. The impacts of these changes on water resources range from changes in water availability (due to changes in losses of water to evapotranspiration and recharge) to degradation of water quality (increased erosion, salinity, chemical loadings, and pathogens). The impacts are manifested through complex hydro-bio-geo-climate characteristics, which underscore the need for integrated scientific approaches to understand the impacts of landscape change on water resources. Several techniques, such as field studies, long-term monitoring, remote sensing technologies, and advanced modeling studies, have contributed to better understanding the modes and mechanisms by which landscape changes impact water resources. Such research studies can help unlock the complex interconnected influences of landscape on water resources in terms of quantity and quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this Special Issue, we published a set of eight peer-reviewed articles elaborating on some of the specific topics of landscape changes and associated impacts on water resources

Antropogénni vliv na změny krajiny a vegetace odrážející se v pylových spektrech ze středovýchodní Evropy.

Prezentovaná práce je zaměřena na vliv lidských společenství na změny vegetace a transformace krajiny v regionu střední Evropy. Hlavním cílem studie bylo zhodnotit, jak se minulé lidské činnosti odráží v pylových spektrech z různých typů a většinou malých lokalit. Člověk svou činností přispěl ke vzniku a šíření různých typů otevřených stanovišť, změnil složení vegetace introdukováním nových druhů, ovlivnil strukturu a složení lesů a podpořil zrychlení geomorfologických procesů, jako je eroze půdy a akumulace sedimentů. Změny ve složení vegetace vyvolané činností člověka se odráží v pylových spektrech. Za přímý důkaz lidské činnosti v pylových spektrech je považována přítomnost pylových zrn pěstovaných rostlin. Existuje také několik nepřímých stop indikujících lidský vliv na krajinu, jako je šíření sekundárních antropogenních indikátorů (apofyty), fluktuace v pylových křivkách dřevin jako důsledek změn v pokryvu krajiny nebo složení lesa, zvýšením množství mikro-uhlíků v důsledku lidmi založených požáru nebo erozní procesy způsobené lidskou aktivitou. V kapitole 1 se potvrdil předpoklad, že dopad neolitické lidské činnosti v krajině je v pylových spektrech téměř neviditelný, nicméně, několik nepřímých stop indikují přítomnost lidských komunit v těsné blízkosti místa studie. V kapitole 2 a 4 je...The present thesis focuses on the impact of human communities on postglacial vegetation changes and landscape transformation in the region of Central-Eastern Europe. The main aim of the study was to evaluate how past human activities are reflected in pollen spectra from different types of mostly small-sized sites. Since the Middle Holocene onwards, human impact contributed to the formation and spread of various types of open habitats, altered the vegetation composition by introducing new species, influenced forest structure and supported the acceleration of geomorphic processes such as soil erosion or sediment accumulation. Human-induced alteration of the landscape cover and vegetation composition is reflected in pollen spectra, but it is often difficult to identify. Considered as direct evidence of human activities are the presence of pollen grains of cultivated plants in pollen spectra. Besides, there are several indirect traces of human impact on the landscape such as the spread of secondary anthropogenic indicators (apophytes), fluctuation in pollen curves of trees as a consequence of change in landscape cover or woodland composition, increases of micro-charcoal particles due to human-induced fire or erosion processes. Chapter 1 presents confirmation of the assumption that Neolithic human...Department of BotanyKatedra botanikyFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult