European pollen-based REVEALS land-cover reconstructions for the Holocene: methodology, mapping and potentials

Quantitative reconstructions of past land cover are necessary to determine the processes involved in climate–human–land-cover interactions. We present the first temporally continuous and most spatially extensive pollen-based land-cover reconstruction for Europe over the Holocene (last 11 700 cal yr BP). We describe how vegetation cover has been quantified from pollen records at a 1∘ × 1∘ spatial scale using the “Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites” (REVEALS) model. REVEALS calculates estimates of past regional vegetation cover in proportions or percentages. REVEALS has been applied to 1128 pollen records across Europe and part of the eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian corridor (30–75∘ N, 25∘ W–50∘ E) to reconstruct the percentage cover of 31 plant taxa assigned to 12 plant functional types (PFTs) and 3 land-cover types (LCTs). A new synthesis of relative pollen productivities (RPPs) for European plant taxa was performed for this reconstruction. It includes multiple RPP values (≥2 values) for 39 taxa and single values for 15 taxa (total of 54 taxa). To illustrate this, we present distribution maps for five taxa (Calluna vulgaris, Cerealia type (t)., Picea abies, deciduous Quercus t. and evergreen Quercus t.) and three land-cover types (open land, OL; evergreen trees, ETs; and summer-green trees, STs) for eight selected time windows. The reliability of the REVEALS reconstructions and issues related to the interpretation of the results in terms of landscape openness and human-induced vegetation change are discussed. This is followed by a review of the current use of this reconstruction and its future potential utility and development. REVEALS data quality are primarily determined by pollen count data (pollen count and sample, pollen identification, and chronology) and site type and number (lake or bog, large or small, one site vs. multiple sites) used for REVEALS analysis (for each grid cell). A large number of sites with high-quality pollen count data will produce more reliable land-cover estimates with lower standard errors compared to a low number of sites with lower-quality pollen count data. The REVEALS data presented here can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.937075 (Fyfe et al., 2022)

Vėlyvojo ledynmečio ir holoceno miškų augalijos raida Lietuvoje LRA (Kraštovaizdžio atkūrimo algoritmo) modeliavimo duomenimis

Most widely used applications of quantitative past vegetation reconstruction are based on pollen-vegetation relationship functions. To carry out detail vegetation reconstruction using this method, large amount of geographic data pre-processing is necessary. For this reason, large scale vegetation reconstructions are extremely rare. In this study data processing is carried out using automated GIS tools. Application of GIS enabled precise and detail reconstruction of the Late Glacial and Holocene forest vegetation composition, as well as the development of vegetation in Lithuania. New pollen investigations from cores and outcrops, created Lithuanian pollen database, evaluation of pollen-vegetation relationship functions in the environment of Lithuania and reconstruction of main tree species composition in the Late Glacial and Holocene, according to pollen database and selected pollen-vegetation relationship function are presented in this study. The created palaeovegetation maps enbled considerable detalization of knowledge about past vegetation in Lithuania. Consequently, main vegetation migration and distribution patterns were defined

Environment and man in the Baliuliai-Perūnas microregion (Švenčionys district) in the holocene : an interdisciplinary study

Straipsnis skirtas Baltulių kaimo ir Perimo ežero apylinkių (Švenčionių r.) mikroregiono apgyvendinimo raidai. Sugretinus anksčiau turėtų ir vykdant projektų „Archeokraštovaizdis" atliktų tyrinėjimų metu surinktų informacijų apie archeologijos paminklus su paimtų paleobotaninių mėginių analizės duomenimis, bandoma nustatyti tikėtinų žmogaus veiklos intensyvumų mikroregione įvairiais laikotarpiais nuo paleolito iki istorinių laikų. Remiantis archeologijos ir paleoekologijos mokslų duomenimis, pateikiama mikroregiono apgyvendinimo schema.Article is devoted to the development of the habitation of the microregion in the vicinity of Baliuliai village and Lake Perimas (Švenčionys District). After comparing the archaeological data, which were previously available, and the information collected during the fieldwork conducted in implementing the "Archacolandscape" project with data from an analysis of the palaeobotanical samples that were taken, an attempt was made to determine the likely intensity of the human activity in the microregion during various periods from Palaeolithic to historical times. On the basis of the archaeological and palaeoecological science data, the article presents a scheme of the microregion's habitation

Features of the natural and cultural development in the area between lakes Amalvas and Žuvintas

The research of the area between Lakes Amalvas and Žuvintas was conducted as part of the topic "Reconstruction of the Development of the Social Structure and Economic Activity in the Late Ice Age - Early Holocene (Wth-lst millennia BC) society in the Trans-Nemunas region (Užnemunė)" within the framework of the "Archaeolandscape" scientific research project. The fertile top soils of the Dovinė basin encouraged the expansion of the farmed land and the adaptation of the area to farming. This caused the reconstruction of the hydrographic network, which occurred in the Amalvas and Žuvintas basins as early as the mid-19th century. The first news of isolated archaeological finds discovered in ameliorating Amalvas Bog reaches us from that time. The few stray finds did not receive any attention from archaeologists, the only investigated object in the microregion being Varnupiai hillfort, which was excavated by P. Kulikauskas in 1971. The complex investigation of the microregion, which included a pollen analysis of the sediments of Lake Amalvas, supported by abundant radiocarbon dates of the layers, and archaeological research, which were supported by a critical analysis of the sources, the precise location of long known and newly discovered stray finds, and the detection of new objects, created opportunities to look more deeply at the natural and cultural development in the microregion from the oldest times to historical times

Holocene vegetation patterns in southern Lithuania indicate astronomical forcing on the millennial and centennial time scales

The Earth’s biota originated and developed to its current complex state through interacting with multilevel physical forcing of our planet’s climate and near and outer space phenomena. In the present study, we focus on the time scale of hundreds to thousands of years in the most recent time interval – the Holocene. Using a pollen paleocommunity dataset from southern Lithuania (Čepkeliai bog) and applying spectral analysis techniques, we tested this record for the presence of statistically significant cyclicities, which can be observed in past solar activity. The time series of non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) scores, which in our case are assumed to reflect temperature variations, and Tsallis entropy-related community compositional diversity estimates q* revealed the presence of cycles on several time scales. The most consistent periodicities are characterized by periods lasting between 201 and 240 years, which is very close to the DeVries solar cycles (208 years). A shorter-term periodicity of 176 years was detected in the NMDS scores that can be putatively linked to the subharmonics of the Gleissberg solar cycle. In addition, periodicities of ≈3,760 and ≈1,880 years were found in both parameters. These periodic patterns could be explained either as originating as a harmonic nonlinear response to precession forcing, or as resulting from the long-term solar activity quasicycles that were reported in previous studies of solar activity proxies

European pollen-based REVEALS land-cover reconstructions for the Holocene : Methodology, mapping and potentials

Quantitative reconstructions of past land cover are necessary to determine the processes involved in climate-human-land-cover interactions. We present the first temporally continuous and most spatially extensive pollen-based land-cover reconstruction for Europe over the Holocene (last 11g€¯700g€¯calg€¯yrg€¯BP). We describe how vegetation cover has been quantified from pollen records at a 11 spatial scale using the "Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites"(REVEALS) model. REVEALS calculates estimates of past regional vegetation cover in proportions or percentages. REVEALS has been applied to 1128 pollen records across Europe and part of the eastern Mediterranean-Black Sea-Caspian corridor (30-75° N, 25° W-50° E) to reconstruct the percentage cover of 31 plant taxa assigned to 12 plant functional types (PFTs) and 3 land-cover types (LCTs). A new synthesis of relative pollen productivities (RPPs) for European plant taxa was performed for this reconstruction. It includes multiple RPP values (≥2 values) for 39 taxa and single values for 15 taxa (total of 54 taxa). To illustrate this, we present distribution maps for five taxa (Calluna vulgaris, Cerealia type (t)., Picea abies, deciduous Quercus t. and evergreen Quercus t.) and three land-cover types (open land, OL; evergreen trees, ETs; and summer-green trees, STs) for eight selected time windows. The reliability of the REVEALS reconstructions and issues related to the interpretation of the results in terms of landscape openness and human-induced vegetation change are discussed. This is followed by a review of the current use of this reconstruction and its future potential utility and development. REVEALS data quality are primarily determined by pollen count data (pollen count and sample, pollen identification, and chronology) and site type and number (lake or bog, large or small, one site vs. multiple sites) used for REVEALS analysis (for each grid cell). A large number of sites with high-quality pollen count data will produce more reliable land-cover estimates with lower standard errors compared to a low number of sites with lower-quality pollen count data. The REVEALS data presented here can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.937075 (Fyfe et al., 2022)

European pollen-based REVEALS land-cover reconstructions for the Holocene: methodology, mapping and potentials

Quantitative reconstructions of past land cover are necessary to determine the processes involved in climate–human–land-cover interactions. We present the first temporally continuous and most spatially extensive pollen-based land-cover reconstruction for Europe over the Holocene (last 11 700 cal yr BP). We describe how vegetation cover has been quantified from pollen records at a 1∘ × 1∘ spatial scale using the “Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites” (REVEALS) model. REVEALS calculates estimates of past regional vegetation cover in proportions or percentages. REVEALS has been applied to 1128 pollen records across Europe and part of the eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian corridor (30–75∘ N, 25∘ W–50∘ E) to reconstruct the percentage cover of 31 plant taxa assigned to 12 plant functional types (PFTs) and 3 land-cover types (LCTs). A new synthesis of relative pollen productivities (RPPs) for European plant taxa was performed for this reconstruction. It includes multiple RPP values (≥2 values) for 39 taxa and single values for 15 taxa (total of 54 taxa). To illustrate this, we present distribution maps for five taxa (Calluna vulgaris, Cerealia type (t)., Picea abies, deciduous Quercus t. and evergreen Quercus t.) and three land-cover types (open land, OL; evergreen trees, ETs; and summer-green trees, STs) for eight selected time windows. The reliability of the REVEALS reconstructions and issues related to the interpretation of the results in terms of landscape openness and human-induced vegetation change are discussed. This is followed by a review of the current use of this reconstruction and its future potential utility and development. REVEALS data quality are primarily determined by pollen count data (pollen count and sample, pollen identification, and chronology) and site type and number (lake or bog, large or small, one site vs. multiple sites) used for REVEALS analysis (for each grid cell). A large number of sites with high-quality pollen count data will produce more reliable land-cover estimates with lower standard errors compared to a low number of sites with lower-quality pollen count data. The REVEALS data presented here can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.937075 (Fyfe et al., 2022)