The late Miocene macroflora of the La Cerdaña Basin, Eastern Pirenees, Spain. Towards a Synthesis

The fossil plant-bearing beds of the Tortonian (late Miocene) intramontane basin of La Cerdanya (Eastern Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain) have been investigated for more than a century, and 165 species from 12 outcrops have been described in previous publications. The sediments with rich plant fossil assemblages, which correspond to lacustrine diatomitic deposits, contain large numbers of plant remains, mainly leaf compressions and impressions. These assemblages are well preserved, a consequence of the rapid accumulation of plant remains in the sediments of the basin's ancient lake, and the often close proximity of its shores to wetland and upland vegetation. This paper provides a comprehensive taxonomic and nomenclatural review of the historic and new collections of late Miocene macroflora for the La Cerdanya Basin. Examination of the newer materials allowed emendments to be made to the diagnoses ofAbies saportana, Acer pyrenakum,Alnus occidentalis, Quercus hispanka and Tilia vidali provided by REROLLE for the basin at the end of the 19th century. In addition, 24 species of vascular plants are identified for the basin for the first time, including one horsetail, three conifers, 19 arboreal or bushy dicotyledonous angiosperms, and one monocotyledonous angiosperm. Indeed, this is the first time that Cedrela helkonia (UNGER) KNOBLOCH, Decodon sp„ Hedera cf multinervis KOLAKOVSKII, Mahonia cf pseudosimplex KVACEK & WALTHER, Smilax cf. aspera L. vm.fossilis and Ulmus cf. plurinervia UNGER have been recorded anywhere in the Iberian Peninsula. The La Cerdanya Basin plant assemblages of the late Miocene mainly consisted of conifers and deciduous broadleaved taxa of Arctotertiary origin; evergreen Palaeotropical elements were less well represented. This flora is similar to those recorded at coeval sites in northern Greece, northern Italy and central and eastern France. Within the Iberian Peninsula, the late Miocene macroflora reported for the nearby Seu d'Urgell Basin is the most similar

Pinus uncinata Ramond ex DC.: Conservation and proposal of management at its southwestern limit of distribution (Castillo de Vinuesa, Soria, Spain)

Pinus uncinata forms forests in the centre and southwest of the Alps and in the subalpine Pyrenees (at around 1700 – 2600 m) (Costa Tenorio et al., 1997). The species reaches the southwestern limit of its distribution at the top of Mount Castillo de Vinuesa (Soria, Spain). The small population on this mountain occupies just 66 ha, but is very important from a geobotanical viewpoint since it is just one of two populations (the other being in the Sierra de Gúdar range in Teruel, Spain) isolated from the main area where the species is found in the Iberian Peninsula (The Pyrenees

Microrreservas de flora en Castilla y León: una herramienta legal para la conservación de Senecio coincyi

En junio de 2007 el Boletín Oficial de Castilla y León publicó el Decreto 63/2007 por el cual se estableció el Catálogo de Flora Protegida de Castilla y León y la figura de protección denominada Microrreserva de Flora. Ambos, Catálogo y microrreservas, se han convertido en instrumentos legales complementarios de enorme importancia para la conservación de la flora amenazada de esta comunidad autónoma. El objetivo de las microrreservas de flora es declarar como espacios protegidos áreas de reducida extensión -menos de 200 hectáreas- que presenten el máximo interés por albergar poblaciones sobresalientes de las especies más amenazadas incluidas en el Catálogo de Flora Protegida de Castilla y León. Para desarrollar esta ley (Decreto 63/2007), la Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Castilla y León estableció en el año 2008 un convenio específico con la Universidad de León con el fin de realizar los necesarios trabajos científicos y técnicos que permitan identificar áreas susceptibles de ser declaradas microrreservas de flora

Floristic changes in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands (south-west Europe) during the Cenozoic

AIM  The aim of this work was to identify the main changes in the flora and vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula over the Cenozoic Era, to record the disappearance of taxa associated with these changes and to determine the influence of climate and human activity on these events. Location  The Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. METHODS  A critical review was made of the palaeobotanical literature with the aims of detecting patterns of floristic change and extracting information on the disappearance of different taxa over the Cenozoic. These data are viewed alongside the most recent data for the climate of this period. A critical analysis is made of the role of Palaeotropical and Arctotertiary taxa in the forest communities of the Iberian Peninsula throughout the Cenozoic. RESULTS  Although the Eocene–Oligocene transition was a time when many taxa disappeared, the most outstanding events occurred between the end of the Oligocene and throughout the Miocene. Substantial floristic changes took place over this period, including the disappearance of 177 Palaeotropical taxa. This was probably related to acute cooling and aridification; no evidence exists that the Messinian Salinity Crisis had any important effect in the Iberian Peninsula. The last great disappearance of Palaeotropical taxa (36 in total) ended in the Middle–Late Piacenzian; Arctotertiary taxa were most affected during the Pleistocene. The Lower–Middle Pleistocene transition, best represented by marine isotopic stages (MIS) 36–34 and 20–18 and characterized by a change in glacial cyclicity, was the time of the last notable disappearance of taxa. MAIN CONCLUSIONS  This work provides the first chronogram of extinctions for the Iberian flora, and records the disappearance of 277 taxa during the Cenozoic. A clear relationship was detected between the main climatic events and the latest appearances of the different taxa

Late Holocene vegetation dynamics in response to human activities in the Teleno Mountain Range (NW Iberia)

Teleno Mountains are a good area to address these questions. Today are almost completely deforested, and it is commonly assumed that Romans were the culture responsible of this situation, as they developed important mining activities all over this mountains. Our main aim has been to track human impact on the landscape of this Iberian mountainous area along the second half of the Holocene and confirm the role of Roman culture in this process. For this purpose, we have obtained a new palaeoecological record from the Teleno Mountain

Conservación del elemento boreo-alpino del sistema central: Microrreserva de los circos de Cerezuelo y Buitrera

El entorno del Pico del Lobo es uno de los enclaves del Sistema Central con una mayor diversidad de taxones eurosiberianos y boreo-alpinos, presentando además diversos hábitats de carácter atlántico y orófilo bien conservados. La presencia en la zona de dos especies del Catálogo de Flora Protegida regional,Swertia perennis L. y Huperzia selago (L.) Bernh. ex Schrank & Mart .subsp. selago y en el marco del Decreto 63/2007 de la Junta de Castilla y León, se propone la creación de la presente Microrreserva de Flora

Long-term persistence of Mediterranean pine forests in the Duero Basin (central Spain) during the Holocene: The case of Pinus pinaster Aiton

In the southern Duero Basin of central Spain, there are vast areas of aeolian sand sheets and dune fields. A comprehensive survey of the sand quarries in this area identified a number of palaeosols in sedimentary sequences. The identification and AMS radiocarbon dating of soil charcoal fragments collected in these palaeosols indicate the persistence of Pinus pinaster in this area throughout most of the Holocene. Although potential natural vegetation models have usually considered the Pinus pinaster forests in this inland area of artificial origin, soil charcoal analysis provides firm evidence of a natural origin. Our data fit perfectly with the pattern of Holocene vegetation development for inland areas of Iberia, which are characterised by stability of pine forests throughout the Holocene. Finally, the growing body of palaeobotanical evidence from Iberia (macrofossils and pollen) is contributing to improve our knowledge of P. pinaster ecology, showing that this species has been present in most Iberian regions during the Holocene, where it has inhabited areas characterised by a very diverse set of climatic and soil conditions

Subfossil macroremains in the iberian central range: preliminary results from new sites

Análisis dendroecológico de maderas holocenas en un yacimiento de Castilla la Mancha (España)

Extinciones y Cambios Florísticos en el Cenozoico de la Península Ibérica

La revisión de los datos paleopalinológicos del Cenozoico de la Península Ibérica que se conocen hasta la actualidad permite realizar un análisis crítico a cerca de la extinción de taxones paleotropicales y arctoterciarios en esta región. Los eventos climáticos que se produjeron a lo largo del Cenozoico influyeron en la evolución de la flora ibérica, poniéndose de manifiesto una relación entre la evolución del clima y la extinción de un gran número de taxones vegetales. La mayor parte de las desapariciones que se produjeron desde el Eoceno al Plioceno corresponden a vegetales de tipo paleotropical, destacándose el Oligoceno como el período en el que tuvo lugar la mayor tasa de extinción. Durante el Mioceno las extinciones de elementos paleotropicales ocurrieron de forma gradual. La crisis del Messiniense no parece afectar de forma relevante a este proceso. De acuerdo con la caída brusca de temperaturas que aconteció en el Plioceno, en el Plasenciense se constata la última gran extinción de taxones paleotropicales. A partir del Gelindense, los taxones arctoterciarios son los que muestran una mayor taxa de extinción a causa de las glaciaciones pleistocenas. Hace 1.2-0.7 Ma, coincidiendo con el cambio de ciclicidad glacial se produjo la última desaparición masiva de taxones. Sin embargo, durante el Pleistoceno y el Holoceno aún se pueden detectar en la Península Ibérica un relevante conjunto de taxones de presencia constante durante el Cenozoico

Macrorrestos holocenos en el sector oriental del Sistema Central ibérico

Se presentan los primeros datos de macrorrestos analizados en el sector oriental del Sistema Central de gran interés paleoecológico y que hasta el momento son los más antiguos del sistema central ibérico