Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe: The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climate adaptation

Brown, Antony G.; Fallu, Daniel J.; Walsh, Kevin; Cucchiaro, Sara; Tarolli, Paolo; Zhao, Pengzhi; Pears, Ben; Oost, Kristof Van; Snape, Lisa; Lang, Andreas; Albert, Rosa Maria; Alsos, Inger Greve; Waddington, Clive

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107579

Cited by 36 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 190 publications

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“…Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique has been widely applied for sediment dating (Brown, et al, 2021). To establish a chronology of soil burial along the terrace sequence, OSL data was obtained using a portable OSL reader.…”

Section: Soil Burial Age and Soil Geochemical Properties Along Terracesmentioning

confidence: 99%

SOC stabilization mechanisms and temperature sensitivity in old terraced soils

Zhao

Fallu

Cucchiaro

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Being the most common and widest spread man-made landform, terrace construction has resulted in an extensive perturbation of the land surface. Our mechanistic understanding of soil organic carbon (SOC) (de-) stabilization mechanisms and of the persistence of SOC stored in terraced soils, however, is far from complete. Here we explored the factors controlling SOC stability and temperature sensitivity (Q10) of abandoned prehistoric agricultural terrace soils in NE England, using soil fractionation and temperature sensitive incubation in combination with measurements of terrace soil burial age. Results showed that although buried terrace soils contained 1.7 times more unprotected SOC (i.e., coarse particulate organic carbon) than non-terraced soils at comparable soil depths, a significantly lower potential soil respiration was observed, relative to a control (non-terraced) profile. This suggests that burial of former topsoil due to terracing provided a mechanism for enhanced C stabilization. Furthermore, we observed a shift in SOC fraction composition from particulate organic C towards mineral protected C with increasing burial age. This clear shift to more processed recalcitrant SOC with soil burial age also contributes to SOC stability in terraced soils. Temperature sensitivity incubations revealed that the dominant controls on Q10 depend on the terrace soil burial age. At relatively younger ages of soil burial, the reduction of substrate availability due to SOC mineral protection with ageing attenuates the intrinsic Q10 of SOC decomposition. However, as terrace soil becomes older, SOC stocks in deep buried horizons are characterized by a higher temperature sensitivity, potentially resulting from the poor SOC quality (i.e., soil C : N ratio). In conclusion, terracing in our study site has stabilized SOC as a result of soil burial during terrace construction. The depth-age patterns of Q10 and SOC fraction composition of terraced soils observed in our study site differ from those seen in non-terraced soils and this has implications when assessing the effects of climate warming or terrace abandonment on the terrestrial C cycle.

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Section: Soil Burial Age and Soil Geochemical Properties Along Terracesmentioning

confidence: 99%

SOC stabilization mechanisms and temperature sensitivity in old terraced soils

Zhao

Fallu

Cucchiaro

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…To engage in debates concerning top-down vs bottom-up agricultural intensification (Thurston 2006;Erickson 2006) a landscape approach is required and the recognition of phases of development and relationships to nonagricultural features that may indicate the cultural context and influences. This is highly relevant to the examination of the non-linear relationship between climate change and erosion and the often stated proposition that terracing was a development designed to control slope erosion (Vanwalleghem et al 2017;Brown et al 2021).…”

Section: Demography Intensification and Diversificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the use of remote sensing and terrace extraction algorithms. This can then be combined with cadastral data (Figure 6), direct sediment dating and palaeoecology along with contextual historical and archaeological information (Brown et al 2021). The recent convergence of remote sensing, particularly LiDAR and TLS (terrestrial laser scanning, with new sediment-based dating techniques (particularly sediment luminescence dating) and land-use proxies, have finally provided a suite of analytical techniques that can tackle the terrace problem.…”

Section: Towards a Scientific And Socially Integrated Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequent excavation, sediment-based dating and analytical work will further this spatial and historical framework. The application of techniques, particularly optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), has driven a resurgence of interest in terraces (Gibson 2015;Gibson and Lewis 2017;Gadot et al 2016;Kinnaird et al 2017;Brown et al 2021) and offers for the first time an archaeologically independent way of documenting the life-histories of terraces and lynchets (Dennell 1982).…”

Section: Towards a Scientific And Socially Integrated Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper explores the theoretical aspects of terrace research focussing on European systems in the light of new scientific methodologies. Here we concentrate on theory and interpretive aspects, but for more detail on scientific methods see a companion paper (Brown et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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European agricultural terraces and lynchets: from archaeological theory to heritage management

et al. 2020

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Terraces are highly productive, culturally distinctive socioecological systems. Although they form part of time/place-specific debates, terraces per se have been neglected-fields on slopes or landscape elements. We argue that this is due to mapping and dating problems, and lack of artefacts/ecofacts. However, new techniques can overcome some of these constraints, allowing us to reengage with theoretical debates around agricultural intensification. Starting from neo-Broserupian propositions, we can engage with the sociopolitical and environmental aspects of terrace emergence, maintenance and abandonment. Non-reductionist avenues include identifying and dating different phases of development within single terrace systems, identifying a full crop-range, and other activities not generally associated with terraces (e.g. metallurgy). The proposition here is that terraces are a multi-facetted investment that includes both intensification and diversification and can occur under a range of social conditions but which constitutes a response to demographic pressure in the face to fluctuating environmental conditions.

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Exploring the past through lynchet landscapes in the Vosges Mountains and the Lorraine Plateau (France)

Keller,

Vincent,

Schwartz

et al. 2024

Geoarchaeology

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Lynchets are ridges formed by erosion and sediment accumulation downstream of agricultural plots and offer valuable insights into past agricultural activity. These microtopographies cover vast areas and serve as indicators of historical changes in land use. As a result, their ubiquity across Europe makes them particularly interesting. In this study, we propose a geoarchaeological approach to analyze six lynchets, four in the Vosges Mountains and two on the Lorraine Plateau (France). The lynchets can be considered soil archives with no stratigraphic organization or chronological sequence from bottom to top, making it difficult to determine the age of the lynchets and identify changes in land use over time. To this end, we propose the analysis of historical and geo‐historical archives combined with the “pedosedimentary” archives of lynchets through charcoal identification and dating combined with near‐infrared spectroscopy to determine the age, vegetation, and past land use changes associated with lynchet landscapes. By combining these multiple data sources, we are better able to show the chronological development of these ancient agricultural systems and uncover valuable information on landscape history. Charcoal dating suggests a higher frequency of fires from the Middle Ages. The dating aligns with the regional dynamics of anthropogenic fires, indicating a potential use of fire for cultural purposes. We also demonstrate the difficulty of extrapolating the dating of a lynchet to the entire lynchet system. Our results highlight the difficulties of interpreting the formation and dating of lynchets and the lynchet system on the sole basis of charcoal analysis. However, we highlight the value of applying pedoanthracology to lynchets to determine the dynamics of land use change in former fields.

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Ending the Cinderella status of terraces and lynchets in Europe: The geomorphology of agricultural terraces and implications for ecosystem services and climate adaptation

Cited by 36 publications

References 190 publications

SOC stabilization mechanisms and temperature sensitivity in old terraced soils

SOC stabilization mechanisms and temperature sensitivity in old terraced soils

European agricultural terraces and lynchets: from archaeological theory to heritage management

Exploring the past through lynchet landscapes in the Vosges Mountains and the Lorraine Plateau (France)

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