Climate warming and vegetation response after Heinrich event 1 (16 700–16 000 cal yr BP) in Europe south of the Alps

Samartin, Stéphanie; Heiri, Oliver; Lotter, André F.; Tinner, Willy

doi:10.5194/cp-8-1913-2012

Cited by 36 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Instead rather mild summer conditions prevailed ~ 31,000-17,000 cal yr BP with average temperatures ~ 13.5 °C, which most likely allowed survival of temperate tree taxa in the warmest (and/or moistest) Kühl et al, 2002Kühl et al, , 2007Kühl and Moschen, 2012;Tab. 2) even in the plain around the lake, where climatic conditions were probably colder and harsher than inside the sheltered Euganean Hills. The presence of Acer and Tilia in the pollen record, both insect pollinated species (no long distance wind dispersal), with minimum July air temperature requirements of 14-16 °C, suggests that summer temperatures in the refugia inside the Euganean Hills were probably 0.5-2.5 °C warmer (14-16 °C vs 13.5 °C, Kühl et al, 2002Kühl et al, , 2007Kühl and Moschen, 2012) (Tinner et al, 1999;Samartin et al, 2012), Lago Grande di Monticchio (Watts et al, 1996;Allen et al, 1999), Ioannina (Tzedakis et al, 2004), Kopais (Tzedakis et al, 1999(Tzedakis et al, , 2002, Tenaghi Philippon (Tzedakis et al, 2002(Tzedakis et al, , 2006, Fehér lake (Sümegi et al, 2013), Les Échets (Wohlfahrt et al, 2008, and marine SST records (blue circles), such as BS79-38 (Cacho et al, 2001), and MD95-2043 (Cacho et al, 1999(Cacho et al, , 2000. The map was made using the free and open source Geographic Information System Quantum GIS (QGIS, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To provide an indication of whether the sub-thermal springs that presently feed into the lake influenced chironomid-inferred temperatures for Lago della Costa we compared the reconstructed values with a temperature reconstruction from Lago di Origlio (416 m a.s.l.) situated ~ 230 km to the west of our study site (Samartin et al, 2012). Inferred temperatures for Lago di Origlio are corrected to the altitude of Lago della Costa (7 m a.s.l.)…”

Section: Full and Late Glacial Temperature Development At Lago Della mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Europe, these so-called transfer functions have successfully been used to elucidate millennialand centennial scale climate variations during the Lateglacial period (e.g. Heiri et al, 2014Heiri et al, , 2015Larocque-Tobler et al, 2011;Samartin et al, 2012). However, chironomid-based temperature reconstructions which extend into the LGM and preceding periods are rare (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstruction of full glacial environments and summer temperatures from Lago della Costa, a refugial site in Northern Italy

Samartin

Heiri

Kaltenrieder

et al. 2016

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Vegetation and climate during the last ice age and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~ 23,000-19,000 cal BP) were considerably different than during the current interglacial (Holocene). Cold climatic conditions and growing ice-sheets during the last glaciation radically reduced forest extent in Europe to a restricted number of so-called "refugia", mostly located in the southern part of the continent. On the basis of paleobotanical analyses the Euganian Hills (Colli Euganei) in northeastern Italy have previously been proposed as one of the northernmost refugia of temperate trees (e.g. deciduous Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus, Fraxinus excelsior, Acer, Abies alba, Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus and Castanea) in Europe. In this study we provide the first quantitative, vegetation independent summer air temperature reconstruction for Northern Italy spanning the time ~ 31,000-17,000 cal yr BP, which covers the coldest periods of the last glacial, including the LGM and Heinrich stadials 1 to 3. Chironomids preserved in a lake sediment core from Lago della Costa (7m a.s.l.), a small lake at the southeastern edge of the Euganean Hills, allowed quantitative reconstruction of Full and Late Glacial summer air temperatures using a combined Swiss-Norwegian temperature inference model based on chironomid assemblages from 274 lakes. Chironomid and pollen evidence from Lago della Costa derives from finely stratified autochthonous organic gyttja sediments, which excludes major sediment mixing or reworking. After reconstructing paleotemperatures, we address the question whether climate conditions were warm enough to permit the local survival of temperate tree species during the LGM and whether local expansions and pollen-inferred contractions of temperate tree taxa coincided with chironomid-inferred climatic changes. Our results suggest that chironomids at Lago della Costa have responded to major climatic fluctuations such as temperature decreases during the LGM and Heinrich stadials. The vegetation of the Euganean Hills shows responses to these climatic oscillations although the effects of temperature changes were probably also strongly influenced by changes in humidity. Reconstructed July air temperatures at Lago della Costa 3 never fell below 10-13 °C (error range of reconstruction ~ ±1.5-1.6 °C), which is considerably above the limit considered necessary for forest growth (8-10°C). Instead rather mild climatic conditions prevailed ~ 31,000-17,000 cal yr BP with average summer temperatures between ~ 12 and 16 °C, which most likely allowed survival of temperate tree taxa in the warmest (and moistest) microhabitats of the Euganean Hills during the LGM. Only assuming local survival it is possible to explain the repeated expansions and collapses of temperate trees at Lago della Costa which faithfully accompanied the climatic oscillations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Full and Late Glacial Temperature Development At Lago Della mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstruction of full glacial environments and summer temperatures from Lago della Costa, a refugial site in Northern Italy

Samartin

Heiri

Kaltenrieder

et al. 2016

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…(Pini 2002)). These major vegetation and environmental changes are likely the response to Late-Glacial warming of c. 2.5 °C higher summer temperatures after Heinrich event 1 (Samartin et al 2012).…”

Section: Deglaciation and Vegetation Dynamics During The Oldest Dryasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vescovi et al 2007;Pini et al 2016). While north of the Alps forest vegetation established in response to the Bølling warming, south of the Alps similar vegetation dynamics were caused by warming after Heinrich event 1 (Samartin et al 2012). We assume that pre-Bølling warming (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetational and agricultural dynamics at Burgäschisee (Swiss Plateau) recorded for 18,700 years by multi-proxy evidence from partly varved sediments

Rey

Gobet

Leeuwen

et al. 2017

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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Little is known about the timing and the vegetation dynamics shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) on the Swiss Plateau 19,000−15,000 cal B.P. Subsequent Late Glacial and Holocene vegetation changes are better known; however, it is unclear if the few available palynological and macrofossil records are able to capture the entire vegetation variability of the region. A new palaeoecological multiproxy study using pollen, spores, charcoal and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) from Burgäschisee (Swiss Plateau, 465 m a.s.l.) is used to reconstruct vegetation, fire and land use for the past 19,000 cal. years. Steppe tundra vegetation established at c. 18,700 cal B.P. only c. 300 years after the end of the LGM and deglaciation. A shift from steppe tundra (Artemisia, Helianthemum) to shrub tundra (Betula nana, Salix, Juniperus) with sporadic tree Betula stands occurred around 16,000 cal B.P., most likely in response to climate warming after the end of Heinrich event 1. Abundant spores of coprophilous fungi (Sporormiella, Cercophora) may reflect the presence of Pleistocene large herbivores (e.g. Mammuthus primigenius, Bison bonasus, Rangifer tarandus). Afforestation started more than 2,000 years later with Juniperus and tree Betula around 14,500 cal B.P. Mixed Betula and Pinus sylvestris forests persisted until the onset of the Holocene at 10,800 cal B.P., when mixed elm forests expanded into the region in response to climate warming. Around 8,200 cal B.P., mesophilous Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba partly replaced more heliophilous species in the forests, when climate became less continental and more moist. Pollen of Cerealia, Plantago lanceolata and other crops and weeds suggest that agricultural activities became significant during the Neolithic around 6,500 cal B.P. (4,550 cal B.C.). Archaeological findings from Neolithic pile dwellings around 5,950 cal B.P. (4,000 cal B.C.) indicate local settlements around the lake. The lake sediments are laminated for most of the last c. 6,800 years. With two independent proxies (XRF and pollen), we can demonstrate that these laminations are annual, suggesting short-term mixing of the lake water due to a more open landscape in response to land use. Our study shows that the annually laminated (varved) sediments from Burgäschisee have a great potential for high resolution multi-proxy analyses covering the past c. 6,800 years. They can provide accurate ages of cultural phases that might be compared with dendro-chronologically dated evidence from lake dwellings.

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20,000 years of interactions between climate, vegetation and land use in Northern Greece

Gassner

Gobet

Schwörer

et al. 2019

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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Detailed knowledge about the history of vegetation, fire and land use is scarce in Northern Greece. We analysed lake sediments from Limni Zazari (Northern Greece) to reconstruct the past local vegetation and fire history with a special focus on land use and its impacts on erosion and lake eutrophication. Our data suggest a rather dense steppic vegetation after ca 20,000 cal bp (18050 cal bc). Forest expansion with Pinus sylvestris and admixed Quercus pubescens started around 14,500 cal bp (12550 cal bc). After the onset of the Holocene, mixed deciduous sub-mediterranean oak forests expanded, accompanied by rapidly decreasing soil erosion rates and increasing aquatic biological productivity. Pollen of cereals and Plantago lanceolata suggests continuous farming activities in the region after 8,200 cal bp (6250 cal bc), in agreement with archaeological evidence. Fairly closed mixed pine-oak forests dominated the landscape until ca 3,500 cal bp (1550 cal bc) that were only temporarily reduced during the Neolithic around 7,100 and 6,500 cal bp (5150 and 4550 cal bc). Land cover changes and aquatic biogeochemistry were closely linked during this period. Forest phases corresponded to lake eutrophication and hypolimnetic anoxia (meromixis), whereas during periods of deforestation (e.g. around 8,200 cal bp/6250 cal bc) soil erosion rates and lake mixing increased, while aquatic productivity decreased. After 3,500 cal bp (1550 cal bc) humans disrupted forests and open land vegetation expanded (e.g. Artemisia, Rumex-type, Cichorioideae, Chenopodiaceae). With the onset of the Iron Age (ca. 3,050 cal bp/1100 cal bc) grassland communities expanded massively and pine-oak forests gradually declined. Anthropogenic pressure on forests increased even more during the past 500 years. Finally, forest recovery during the recent decades led to decreased erosion and increased lake productivity. We conclude that over the millennia, intense pastoral and arable activities shaped both aquatic and terrestrial environments, ultimately creating a humanized vegetation mosaic in which the original natural mixed deciduous oak forests only form relict stands. Future climate warming and decreasing anthropogenic pressure may release a rapid spread of mixed deciduous oak forests around Limni Zazari.

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Climate warming and vegetation response after Heinrich event 1 (16 700–16 000 cal yr BP) in Europe south of the Alps

Abstract: Abstract. Chironomids preserved in a sediment core from Lago di Origlio (416 m a.s

Cited by 36 publications

References 73 publications

Reconstruction of full glacial environments and summer temperatures from Lago della Costa, a refugial site in Northern Italy

Reconstruction of full glacial environments and summer temperatures from Lago della Costa, a refugial site in Northern Italy

Vegetational and agricultural dynamics at Burgäschisee (Swiss Plateau) recorded for 18,700 years by multi-proxy evidence from partly varved sediments

20,000 years of interactions between climate, vegetation and land use in Northern Greece

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