19 research outputs found
Is Neolithic land use correlated with demography? An evaluation of pollen-derived land cover and radiocarbon-inferred demographic change from Central Europe
The transformation of natural landscapes in Middle Europe began in the Neolithic as a result of the introduction of food-producing economies. This paper examines the relation between land-cover and demographic change in a regionally restricted case study. The study area is the Western Lake Constance area which has very detailed palynological as well as archaeological records. We compare land-cover change derived from nine pollen records using a pseudo-biomisation approach with 14C date probability density functions from archaeological sites which serve as a demographic proxy. We chose the Lake Constance area as a regional example where the pollen signal integrates a larger spatial pattern. The land-cover reconstructions for this region show first notable impacts at the Middle to Young Neolithic transition. The beginning of the Bronze Age is characterised by increases of arable land and pasture/meadow, whereas the deciduous woodland decreases dramatically. Changes in the land-cover classes show a correlation with the 14C density curve: the correlation is best with secondary woodland in the Young Neolithic which reflects the lake shore settlement dynamics. In the Early Bronze Age, the radiocarbon density correlates with open land-cover classes, such as pasture, meadow and arable land, reflecting a change in the land-use strategy. The close overall correspondence between the two archives implies that population dynamics and land-cover change were intrinsically linked. We therefore see human impact as a key driver for vegetation change in the Neolithic. Climate might have an influence on vegetation development, but the changes caused by human land use are clearly detectable from Neolithic times, at least in these densely settled, mid-altitude landscapes
The role of human disturbance in the local Late Holocene establishment of Fagus and Picea forests at Flahult, Western Sm�land, Southern Sweden
Long-term forest composition and its drivers in taiga forests in NW Russia
Understanding the processes behind long-term
boreal forest dynamics can provide information that assists
in predicting future boreal vegetation under changing
environmental conditions. Here, we examine Holocene
stand-scale vegetation dynamics and its drivers at the
western boundary of the Russian taiga forest in NW Russia.
Fossil pollen and conifer stomata records from four small
hollow sites and two lake sites are used to reconstruct local
vegetation dynamics during the Holocene. Variation partitioning
is used to assess the relative importance of the
potential drivers (temperature, forest fires and growing site
wetness) to the long-term stand-scale dynamics in taiga
forest. All the main tree taxa, including the boreal keystone
species Picea abies (Norway spruce) and Larix sibirica
(Siberian larch), have been locally present since 10,000 cal
yr BP. The constant Holocene presence of L. sibirica at
three small hollow sites suggests a fast postglacial immigration
of the species in northern Europe. Picea was present
but not dominant at all study sites until its expansion
between 8,000 and 7,000 cal yr BP markedly changed the
forest structure through the suppression of Betula (birch),
Pinus (pine) and Larix. Our results demonstrate that in
general, the Holocene forest dynamics in our study region
have been driven by temperature, but during short intervals
the role of local factors, especially forest fires, has been
prominent. The comparison between sites reveals the
importance of local factors in stand-scale dynamics in taiga
forests. Therefore, the future responses of taiga forest to
climate change will be predominantly modulated by the
local characteristics at the site
Early Holocene environmental history of sunken landscapes: pollen, plant macrofossil and geochemical analyses from the Borkum Riffgrund, southern North Sea
Genetic variation of chloroplast and nuclear markers in natural populations of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) in Germany
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Early–Middle Holocene vegetation history, climate change and human activities at Lago Riane (Ligurian Apennines, NW Italy)
The radiocarbon-dated palaeoecological study of Lago Riane (Ligurian Apennines, NW Italy) presented here forms part of a wider investigation into the relationships between Holocene vegetation succession, climate change and human activities in the northern Apennines. The record of vegetation history from Lago Riane indicates that, since the end of the last glaciation, climate change and prehistoric human activities, combined with several local factors, have strongly influenced the pattern and timing of natural vegetation succession. The pollen record indicates an important change in vegetation cover at Lago Riane at ~8500–8200 cal. years b.p., coincident with a well-known period of rapid climate change. At ~6100 cal. years b.p., Fagus woodland colonised Lago Riane during a period of climate change and expansion of Late Neolithic human activities in the upland zone of Liguria. A marked decline in Abies woodland, and the expansion of Fagus woodland, at ~4700 cal. years b.p., coincided with further archaeological evidence for pastoralism in the mountains of Liguria during the Copper Age. At ~3900–3600 cal. years b.p. (Early to Middle Bronze Age transition), a temporary expansion of woodland at Lago Riane has been provisionally attributed to a decline in human pressure on the environment during a period of short-term climate chang