Anthropogenic transformation of the vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the settlement complex in Poganowo (Mrągowo Lakeland, NE Poland)

Abstract

The re sults of pol len, non-pol len palynomorph and microcharcoal par ti cle anal y ses of de pos its from a small pond in north east ern Po land are pre sented. The study fo cused on hu man-in duced veg e ta tion changes that oc curred in a close vi cin ity of the set tle ment com plex at Poganowo dur ing the Mid dle Ages (ca 10th–16th cen tu ries). We dis tin guished three phases of hu man im pact. First and third phases cor re spond to in ten si fied set tle ment ac tiv ity. The sec ond phase was a pe riod when hu man ac tiv ity de creased and wood land re gen er a tion took place. The high in ci dence of the par a - sitic fun gus Kretzschmaria deusta in a lo cal for est stand dur ing the third phase was si mul ta neous with nu mer ous spores of coprophilous fungi (Sordaria-type and Cercophora-type). We con sider that Kretzschmaria deusta in hab ited the roots and bases of tree trunks dam aged by dig ging and graz ing an i mals