High montane–subalpine soils in the Montafon Valley (Austria, northern Alps) and their link to land-use, fire and settlement history

Roepke, Astrid Kirsten; Krause, Rüdiger

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.01.022

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…; Walsh et al . ; Roepke & Krause ). Around Lake Anterne, the introduction of livestock to the system induced a dramatic shift in the plant community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Europe, the first large-scale human impacts on the environment occurred during the Neolithic with sedentarization, development of agriculture and the associated forest clearance (Behre 1988). The onset of strong human impacts on plant cover and ecosystems at high altitude has been dated to the Bronze Age (Schmidt et al 2002;Koinig et al 2003;Lotter et al 2006;Walsh et al 2007;Roepke & Krause 2013). Around Lake Anterne, the introduction of livestock to the system induced a dramatic shift in the plant community.…”

Section: Role Of Anthropogenic and Abiotic Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reconstructing long‐term human impacts on plant communities: an ecological approach based on lake sediment DNA

et al. 2015

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Paleoenvironmental studies are essential to understand biodiversity changes over long timescales and to assess the relative importance of anthropogenic and environmental factors. Sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) is an emerging tool in the field of paleoecology and has proven to be a complementary approach to the use of pollen and macroremains for investigating past community changes. SedaDNA-based reconstructions of ancient environments often rely on indicator taxa or expert knowledge, but quantitative ecological analyses might provide more objective information. Here, we analysed sedaDNA to investigate plant community trajectories in the catchment of a high-elevation lake in the Alps over the last 6400 years. We combined data on past and present plant species assemblages along with sedimentological and geochemical records to assess the relative impact of human activities through pastoralism, and abiotic factors (temperature and soil evolution). Over the last 6400 years, we identified significant variation in plant communities, mostly related to soil evolution and pastoral activities. An abrupt vegetational change corresponding to the establishment of an agropastoral landscape was detected during the Late Holocene, approximately 4500 years ago, with the replacement of mountain forests and tall-herb communities by heathlands and grazed lands. Our results highlight the importance of anthropogenic activities in mountain areas for the long-term evolution of local plant assemblages. SedaDNA data, associated with other paleoenvironmental proxies and present plant assemblages, appear to be a relevant tool for reconstruction of plant cover history. Their integration, in conjunction with classical tools, offers interesting perspectives for a better understanding of long-term ecosystem dynamics under the influence of human-induced and environmental drivers.

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“…; Walsh et al . ; Roepke & Krause ). Around Lake Anterne, the introduction of livestock to the system induced a dramatic shift in the plant community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Role Of Anthropogenic and Abiotic Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing long‐term human impacts on plant communities: an ecological approach based on lake sediment DNA

et al. 2015

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“…The absence of stratification in temperate climate soils is an important limitation to the interpretation of charcoal distribution (Carcaillet 2001). We also decided to study a soil sedimentary context (pit Berna 1) because this kind of site has shown its usefulness for reconstructing the chronology of past fire events (Knapp et al 2013;Röpke and Krause 2013). Colluviation, the displacement of soil, may occur with erosive events.…”

Section: Colluvial Sediment Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The removal of trees favours the movement of soil down slopes by erosion under the influence of water or wind (Knapp et al 2013). If clearing by fire causes or has contributed to erosion, a large amount of charcoal is also likely to be removed with the soil and when redeposited it may form charcoal layers (Röpke and Krause 2013). Thus, a great increase in the amount of charcoal at the bottom of a slope can represent a well-adapted proxy to study the history of burning practices.…”

Section: Colluvial Sediment Inputmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of late Holocene local vegetation dynamics and responses to land use changes in an ancient charcoal making woodland in the central Pyrenees (Ariège, France), using pedoanthracology

Saulnier

Artigas

Foumou

et al. 2019

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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tailié, et al.. A study of late Holocene local vegetation dynamics and responses to land use changes in an ancient charcoal making woodland in the central Pyrenees (Ariège, France), using pedoanthracology. Abstract Human activities have profoundly transformed mountain woodland landscapes, particularly in the Pyrenees where they have intensified and diversified since the Bronze Age. Quantification of the role played by past practices with regard to woodland cover is critical for accurate assessment of how ongoing global environmental change may affect its dynamics in the future. A local study was made of charcoal remains from an ancient charcoal-making woodland (ca. 30 ha), the forêt de Bernadouze, located on a north-facing slope in the Vicdessos valley in the French central Pyrenees. This valley is well known as having had a long history of human influence related to pastoralism, iron ore mining and smelting. A total of 1,695 charcoal pieces from soils in three sampling pits was extracted, identified, quantified and dated in order to identify tree canopy openings and patterns of change in the woodland driven by past human uses. The results provide new and original insights regarding 1, the past higher biodiversity and the ancient character of the forêt de Bernadouze, 2, the dynamics and history of the main trees and 3, successive phases of human activity. We show that the current woodland has resulted from several millennia of human activities such as pasturing and use of the wood for making charcoal. From the Bronze Age, humans have progressively transformed a natural fir-dominated wood into a managed beech-dominated one, and caused the elimination of Taxus baccata L. (yew). 2

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“…Similar studies of the Holocene colluvial record of human-induced landscape change are increasingly common in the mountains of Europe , Favilli et al, 2010Roepke et al, 2011;Dotterweich et al, 2013;Roepke and Krause, 2013) and elsewhere (Okunaka et al, 2011). Such place-based colluvial investigations are particularly useful for reconstructing land use activities in localities where paleoenvironmental records from bogs and lakes may be unavailable, distant, or in completely different watersheds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Colluvial legacies of millennial landscape change on individual hillsides, place-based investigation in the western Pyrenees Mountains

Leigh

Gragson

Coughlan

2016

Quaternary International

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We detect transition to agropastoral land use in a mountain landscape by radiocarbon dating physical signatures (sedimentation rates, charcoal concentrations, magnetic susceptibility) of conversion from native forest to pasture contained within colluvial stratigraphic sections. Focus is on two study sites located on toeslopes directly beneath zero-order hollows draining several hectares in the commune of Larrau (Pyrénées Atlantiques, France) along the international drainage divide of the western Pyrenees. Sample sites maximize likelihood of spatially and temporally uniform slopewash sedimentation. This constitutes a place-based approach to decipher the chronology of agropastoral activities within individual fields, which is applicable to other mountain ranges of the world. Stratigraphic columns were augured in contiguous 10 cm sample levels, which produced temporal resolution of decades to several centuries. We interpret relatively high concentrations of charcoal, rapid sedimentation, and magnetic susceptibility patterns as evidence of the intentional use of fire to transform forests into pastures. Results indicate that intentional burning and clearing probably were initiated by the Late Neolithic (ca. 5000-6000 cal. BP). However, intense burning, extensive forest clearance, and erosional degradation occurred later during the Bronze Age at one site, and during the Iron Age at the other site. This non-synchronous pattern of charcoal abundance and sedimentation rates is consistent with human agency of land clearance driving the chronology rather than paleoclimatic drivers. Stratigraphic zones of rapid sedimentation at both sites constitute-legacy‖ sediment of great antiquity. Our results are consistent with similar shifts in fire regimes and vegetation assemblages derived from direct association with anthropogenic proxies (e.g. pastoral pollen taxa, fungal spores of sheep dung, and archaeological sites) elsewhere in the Pyrenees and other

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High montane–subalpine soils in the Montafon Valley (Austria, northern Alps) and their link to land-use, fire and settlement history

Cited by 24 publications

References 20 publications

Reconstructing long‐term human impacts on plant communities: an ecological approach based on lake sediment DNA

Reconstructing long‐term human impacts on plant communities: an ecological approach based on lake sediment DNA

A study of late Holocene local vegetation dynamics and responses to land use changes in an ancient charcoal making woodland in the central Pyrenees (Ariège, France), using pedoanthracology

Colluvial legacies of millennial landscape change on individual hillsides, place-based investigation in the western Pyrenees Mountains

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