Aim  Interpretation of fossil pollen assemblages may benefit greatly from comparisons with modern palynological and vegetation analogues. To interpret the full‐ and late‐glacial vegetation in eastern‐central Europe we compared fossil pollen assemblages from this region with modern pollen assemblages from various vegetation types in southern Siberia, which presumably include the closest modern analogues of the last‐glacial vegetation of central Europe. Location  Czech and Slovak Republics (fossil pollen assemblages); Western Sayan Mountains, southern Siberia (modern pollen assemblages). Methods  Eighty‐eight modern pollen spectra were sampled in 14 vegetation types of Siberian forest, tundra and steppe, and compared with the last‐glacial pollen spectra from seven central European localities using principal components analysis. Results  Both full‐ and late‐glacial pollen spectra from the valleys of the Western Carpathians (altitudes 350–610 m) are similar to modern pollen spectra from southern Siberian taiga, hemiboreal forest and dwarf‐birch tundra. The full‐glacial and early late‐glacial pollen spectra from lowland river valleys in the Bohemian Massif (altitudes 185–190 m) also indicate the presence of patches of hemiboreal forest or taiga. Other late‐glacial pollen spectra from the Bohemian Massif suggest an open landscape with steppe or tundra or a mosaic of both, possibly with small patches of hemiboreal forest. Main conclusions  Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that during the full glacial and late glacial, the mountain valleys of the north‐western Carpathians supported taiga or hemiboreal forest dominated by Larix, Pinus cembra, Pinus sylvestris and Picea, along with some steppic or tundra formations. Forests tended to be increasingly open or patchy towards the west (Moravian lowlands), gradually passing into the generally treeless landscape of Bohemia, with possible woodland patches in locally favourable sites.

Aim: The regional co-occurrence of contrasting bioclimatic elements (warm-temperate, continental, boreal, arctic-alpine) may be shaped by the distribution of their glacial or post-glacial refugia. We tested this hypothesis using pollen proxies in a region where such refugia are expected, but not unequivocally demonstrated.Location: East-Central Europe (Western Carpathians and adjacent regions). Methods:We compiled pollen spectra from 112 sites distributed across various landscapes for six time-periods from the Late Glacial to the present. Compositional patterns were assessed by principal coordinates analyses (PCoA) with a sensitivity analysis based on a bootstrap technique. Site PCoA scores were interpolated geographically and correlated with palaeoclimatic models.Results: Consistently over the last 15,000 years, the first ordination axis sorted samples according to the proportion of deciduous temperate trees, while the second axis consistently followed an altitudinal gradient that coincided with temperature.The principal gradient was more important than the altitudinal gradient except for the Late Glacial and Bronze & Iron Ages, when both gradients were of similar importance. The fine-grained pattern in the present mountain landscape was formed as late as during early modern colonization.Main conclusions: Since the Late Glacial, the landscape has been differentiated into temperate, continental and cold regions. This finding supports the hypothesis that refugia are a key factor for understanding current biogeography in Central Europe.The Late Glacial occurrence of temperate trees is unlikely to be explained only by gradual migrations from southern Europe. Humid but relatively warm mountains hence might have acted as glacial refugia of temperate forest species, while lowlands and leeward basins might have acted as post-glacial refugia of steppe grasslands. The strong contrast between forested (temperate) and more open continental landscapes during the Early Holocene seems to correspond with recent diversity patterns. Our results highlight the relevance of integrating past landscape trajectories into modern biogeographical models.

The easternmost parts of the Hercynian mid-mountains of Central Europe, namely Hrubý Jeseník and Králický Sněžník, are characterised by extensive alpine areas at altitudes above approximately 1300 m a.s.l. In order to determine the contribution of human activities to the extent of these summit grasslands we analysed charcoal assemblages and pollen profiles taken from high elevation sites. The first burn was dated to the Iron Age (about the first to second centuries BC), with successive fire events recorded in the early Mediaeval epoch from about AD 670. Significant human influence as recorded in pollen diagrams was detected as late as during the High Middle Ages (about the twelfth to thirteenth centuries AD). Charcoal assemblages reveal similar trends in species composition. The oldest and/or deepest samples are represented by charcoal fragments of Picea abies and various broadleaf trees and shrubs such as Betula sp., Sorbus sp., Juniperus sp. and Salix sp. Towards the surface, Picea abies gradually becomes dominant and then Vaccinium charcoal particles dominate the charcoal pool. Radiocarbon data of individual charcoal fragments did not, however, confirm a stratification of charcoal in the soil. According to anthracomass, pollen and macrofossils, the pattern of forest-free areas was originally determined by terrain morphology. While forest-free patches occurred on exposed summits and the convex edges of summit plateaus, open canopy tree growths dominated high elevation summit flats, and closed canopy forests occurred on adjacent slopes.

The study focuses on the High Sudetes that represent the most distinctive islands of alpine forest-free area among hercynian mid-mountains of Central Europe. Based on data from newly taken cores and previously published pollen profiles, comparison of the development of the alpine timberline position is carried out. The first of the analysed pollen profilesthe Labský důl core in the Krkonoše Mts spans the whole period of the Holocene, the Keprník and Mezikotlí profiles in the Hrubý Jeseník Mts bring information from the Subboreal/older Subatlanticum turn to the present. An exceptional position of the Krkonoše Mts in terms of permanent presence of the alpine belt throughout the Holocene was confirmed. Three oscillations of the alpine timberline during the Lower Holocene were detected in the profile from the Labský důl site. In the Hrubý Jeseník Mts a temperature dependent forest-free area existed at least since Subboreal to the present.

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