Fenland: Its Ancient Past and Uncertain Future

Davis, D. J.; Godwin, H.

doi:10.2307/634405

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Referring to pelicans and other Fenland subfossils, Wentworth-Day (1970) noted that 'what has been discovered in the past is probably not a tithe or a tittle of what may be discovered in the future'. However, Medieval and subsequent peat cutting and extensive wasting of drained peats in recent centuries have removed Roman and post-Roman peat layers, so these environmental archives no longer represent a continuous chronological record and lack information from the crucial late Holocene pelican 'extinction window' (Godwin 1978, Coles & Coles 1986). Faunal preservation across British wetland environments is further influenced by local conditions, with Holocene zooarchaeological assemblages only known from localized areas of Somerset where acidic peatland is buffered by clay deposits or inwash of minerals from nearby slopes (Coles & Coles 1986).…”

Section: Summary Of Past Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regional marine transgression–regressions occurred around 4200–3300 bp , 3000 bp and 3000–1900 bp (Shennan 1986, French & Pryor 1993, Waller 1994, Smith et al . 2010), causing peat accumulation that blocked natural drainage and created large open freshwater bodies during the Roman and post‐Roman periods (Godwin 1978, Smith et al . 2010, 2012).…”

Section: Dalmatian Pelican Landscapes and Landscape Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2010, 2012). Subsequent flooding of Medieval peat excavations created further open water bodies (Godwin 1978). The rising groundwater table probably increased seasonal flooding across the Holocene (Howard et al .…”

Section: Dalmatian Pelican Landscapes and Landscape Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regional marine transgression-regressions occurred around 4200-3300 BP, 3000 BP and 3000-1900 BP (Shennan 1986, French & Pryor 1993, Waller 1994, Smith et al 2010, causing peat accumulation that blocked natural drainage and created large open freshwater bodies during the Roman and post-Roman periods (Godwin 1978, Smith et al 2010. Subsequent flooding of Medieval peat excavations created further open water bodies (Godwin 1978). The rising groundwater table probably increased seasonal flooding across the Holocene (Howard et al 2003), with anthropogenic forest clearance and landscape opening from the early Neolithic further contributing to rising water levels (Waller 1994).…”

Section: East Anglian Fensmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Challenges for incorporating long‐term baselines into biodiversity restoration: A case study of the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) in Britain

Crees

Oxley

Schreve

et al. 2022

Ibis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Species reintroductions are a core component of conservation but require critical assessment of past baselines. The Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus formerly occurred in Britain during the Holocene and there is interest in its possible reintroduction, but its regional extinction dynamics remain poorly understood. Pelican bones are known from subfossil and zooarchaeological contexts at 11 British Holocene sites in three regions (East Anglian Fens, Somerset Levels and Moors, Humber Valley). Dalmatian Pelican is positively identified from four of these sites, with other specimens only identified to genus level. Pelican populations were probably only present periodically in Britain during intervals of suitable climate and available habitat: there is little evidence for pelicans before the Bronze Age, and most sites are known or inferred to be Iron Age. There is a suggested Medieval specimen but no secure evidence of pelican presence after the Roman period. However, no specimens are directly dated, with age estimation reliant upon indirect dates or inference. Climatic niche modelling indicates that southern Britain was the northwestern limit of pelican climate tolerance under postglacial conditions, and pelicans may have been unable to persist regionally until the mid-or late Holocene. Considerable pelican breeding and foraging habitat might have existed until the Medieval period, but availability of suitable habitat fluctuated throughout the Holocene. Probabilistic analysis suggests possible mean extinction date estimates between AD 589 and AD 1587, highlighting uncertainty associated with indirect data, and hindering our ability to correlate pelican disappearance with putative extinction drivers (overexploitation, human modification of wetlands, or non-anthropogenic environmental changes). Improving our understanding of conditions associated with past pelican occurrence is essential for potential reintroduction decision-making, and direct dating of bones from all sites is needed to establish a secure chronological framework for correlating pelican presence and disappearance with regional landscape change. This review provides a robust framework for how to integrate past environmental baselines into conservation decisionmaking and reintroduction feasibility assessments.

show abstract

Section: Summary Of Past Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%