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After the last glaciation, around 4000 BC, silver fir ( Abies alba Mill.) spread to the area that is now the Czech Republic. This spread was not restricted to high mountains, but also took place across both highland and lowland landscapes. Historical forestry records from around AD 1500 mention a massive expansion of Abies alba, favoured by forest pasturing, litter raking and selective tree cutting. According to the current interpretation of these historical records, this expansion in Czech forests was extensive and lasted until AD 1800. On the other hand, pollen data coming mostly from the Alps consider silver fir as a species that is extremely sensitive to human impact. In this paper, we compare historical forestry reports with pollen and charcoal data from the Czech Republic. Both pollen and charcoal records show that Abies alba reached its maximum during the Bronze (2200—800/750 BC) and Iron Ages (800/750 BC—AD 0). While charcoal records indicate that silver fir wood was important also during the High Medieval, pollen data show that the High Medieval and Modern times were periods of a general decline in Abies. Our data suggest that the expansion of silver fir documented by historical records was not general but rather fragmented, probably according to actual form and the intensity of human impact, as well as environmental conditions. These historical records have contributed much evidence regarding the wider ecological tolerance of Abies.

The invasion history of archaeophytes (i.e. alien taxa that were introduced into Europe prior to AD 1500), their effect on past vegetation and their present status based on their residence time were studied. The residence times of archaeophytes range from 7500 to 500 years. It is likely that species with other functional traits came at different times. We summarized assemblages of macroremains obtained from the Archaeobotanical Database of the Czech Republic. The data based on 202 archaeological sites cover the period from the Neolithic to the Early Middle Ages. We found 123 alien species and 94 synanthropic species native in the Czech Republic. Three waves of immigration of increasing magnitude were distinguished: (i) the Neolithic, (ii) the Bronze Age, and (iii) the Early Middle Ages. The first phase of synanthropic plant immigration was characterized by the prevalence of native and alien generalist species, which are still very abundant, sharing both ruderal and segetal habitats. Specialist weeds of cereal fields occurred only since the Eneolithic. In the ruderal flora, the successive development started from a stage dominated by species associated with disturbance of less fertile soils and species that need nutrient-rich soils prevailed later. The composition of the oldest grassland flora corresponded with that of short lawns at disturbed and/or trampled sites, whereas a sudden increase in meadow species occurred in the Late Bronze Age. Since the Middle Ages, pastural species, avoided by grazing animals, indicate the intense use of pastures and their expansion into wet conditions. The species that arrived early in this era, i.e. in the Neolithic, are currently more successful than the later arrivals. Such a trend cannot be explained by the length of time they have had to naturalize and spread because all archaeophytes have been here long enough, whether they arrived early or late, to be

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The aims of this article are, first, to investigate the middle- and upper-Holocene woodland history along the altitudinal gradient between the lowlands and uplands of Central Europe (190–550 m a.s.l.) and, second, to outline possible biases inherent in the charcoal record based on a comparison with the pollen record and its known biases. Our anthracological data set contains 42,547 determinations made in 120 charcoal samples taken at 69 sites. The lowest elevated part of the study region (below 200 m a.s.l.) is characterized by the long-term presence of a species-rich hardwood forest (mixed oak–elm–ash forest). Quercus charcoals dominated in the rest of the altitude zones during the Neolithic and Aeneolithic; however, shrub charcoals appearing in samples from areas with chernozem soils (generally up to 230 m a.s.l.) indicate open-canopy oak woodlands. The species composition differed along the altitudinal gradient during the Bronze Age period, when Carpinus, Fagus and Abies expanded to altitudes above 230 m a.s.l., while Fagus was more abundant above 290 m a.s.l. Broadleaved trees ( Quercus, Fraxinus, Ulmus, Acer and Carpinus) and shrubs are generally more represented in charcoals than pollen. Since broadleaved trees are usually nutrient demanding and able to re-grow easily after being felled, we suppose that their charcoal record is influenced by two main factors: bias of the initial location of the archaeological site and bias caused by long-term human influence on forest vegetation in the vicinity of settlements. These results underline that combining charcoal and pollen analysis has great potential for studying phenomena in cultural landscapes, as each of the methods approaches nature from the opposite side of the human–nature gradient.