Holocene environmental history of a small Mediterranean island in response to sea-level changes, climate and human impact

Poher, Yoann; Ponel, Philippe; Mèdail, Frédéric; Andrieu‐Ponel, Valérie; Guiter, Frédéric

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.10.037

Cited by 23 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…This vegetation pattern is the results of more complex environmental dynamics triggered by a decrease in the rate of sea level rise that determined deep geomorphic and sedimentological changes in the river floodplains, consistent with coastal barrier accumulation, lagoon habitat formations, river mouth modifications, and peat deposition among others (Di Rita et al, 2015). The regional woodlands were mostly composed of evergreen Quercus forests and Ericaceae scrublands, rich in other evergreen elements such as Quercus suber, Olea, Pistacia and Arbutus, as also documented in other coastal sites of Sardinia and Corsica at that time (Reille, 1992;Beffa et al, 2016;Currás et al, 2017;Poher et al, 2017). Significant frequencies of Chenopodiaceae (9%), accompanied by occurrences of foraminiferal linings and dinocysts, suggest the local presence of a salt-marsh environment, whose development was influenced by sea water input into the sedimentary basin, as also reported in many other coastal sites in the central Mediterranean region (Bellotti et al, 2011;Di Rita, 2013;Di Rita and Melis, 2013;Poher et al, 2017).…”

Section: Pollen Analysismentioning

confidence: 78%

Mid to late Holocene environmental changes along the coast of western Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea)

Melis

Depalmas

Rita

et al. 2017

Global and Planetary Change

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Multiproxy analysis composed of biostratigraphy and pollen analysis allowed reconstructing the palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Tirso river coastal plain in Sardinia (NW Mediterranean) in the last 6 millennia. We demonstrated that interplay between littoral and fluvial processes have significantly controlled the environmental evolution of the area and have played a key role in the pattern of historical and prehistorical settlements of this wide portion of western Sardinian coastline. At the end of Neolithic period (ca. 6.0 to 5.5 cal. ka BP) the area close to the shoreline was most likely characterized by large coastal lagoons intermittently connected to the open sea. Such saltwater influence is corroborated by faunal and pollen assemblages found in the landward portion of the Tirso coastal plain up to 2 km inland from the modern shoreline. Our data robustly document the end of the transgressive trend at ca. 5.5 cal. ka BP, and a dominant fluvial sedimentation since Final Neolithic period. At this time, a progradational trend started, causing the seaward migration of shoreline and, consequently, of the barrier-lagoon system. The major landscape modification tracked along the last 6 millennia may also explain the low density of historical and prehistorical remains in the Tirso coastal plain, especially if compared to the nearby rocky area of Sinis Peninsula densely inhabited since the Neolithic. Our data further provide new insights into the Relative Sea Level (RSL) evolution in this sector of the Mediterranean. In particular, we improved the mid-Holocene RSL record in Sardinia, where only scarce data were previously available

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Section: Pollen Analysismentioning

confidence: 78%

Mid to late Holocene environmental changes along the coast of western Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea)

Melis

Depalmas

Rita

et al. 2017

Global and Planetary Change

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“…One possible explanation for the increased presence of anthropogenic indicators at the same time as a forest decline in response to a climate change towards aridity is that a dry event may have spurred the expansion of agriculture and the diffusion of human settlements in southern Italy and Sicily by thinning the woodland, thereby aiding its clearance by farmers (Magri, 1995;Yll et al, 1997;Lawson et al, 2004). Archeological evidence indicates that the beginning of the Neolithic era occurred earlier in dry areas of Sicily and southern Italy (Natali and Forgia, 2018) than in comparatively wetter areas of central and northern Italy (Radi and Petrinelli Pannocchia, 2018). In addition, ecosystems and vegetation were less resilient and more vulnerable to human disturbance with increasing heat and drought along a northsouth gradient.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12. Greco Pond is a coastal wetland located on Cavallo Island (Lavezzi archipelago; Corsica) (Poher et al, 2017). Mean annual precipitation is ca.…”

Section: Lago Padulementioning

confidence: 99%

The 4.2 ka event in the vegetation record of the central Mediterranean

Rita

Magri

2019

Clim. Past

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Abstract. In this paper, the variation in forest cover in the central Mediterranean region, reflected by percentage changes in the arboreal pollen record, has been examined in relation to the 4.2 ka event. A total of 36 well-dated and detailed pollen records from latitudes between 45 and 36∘ N were selected and their vegetation dynamics between 5 and 3 ka examined in relation to the physiographic and climatic features of the study area and to the influence of human activity on past vegetation, as suggested by anthropogenic pollen indicators. We have found that the sites located between 43 and 45∘ N do not show any significant vegetation change in correspondence with the 4.2 ka event. Several sites located on the Italian Peninsula between 39 and 43∘ N show a marked opening of the forest, suggesting a vegetation response to the climate instability of the 4.2 ka event. Between 36 and 39∘ N, a forest decline is always visible around 4.2 ka, and in some cases it is dramatic. This indicates that this region was severely affected by a climate change towards arid conditions that lasted a few hundred years and was followed by a recovery of forest vegetation in the Middle Bronze Age. Human activity, especially intense in southern Italy, may have been favored by this natural opening of vegetation. In Sardinia and Corsica, no clear change in vegetation is observed at the same time. We suggest that during the 4.2 ka event southern Italy and Tunisia were under the prevalent influence of a north African climate system characterized by a persistent high-pressure cell.

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“…Analysis of coleopteran fossils preserved in a 7000 year sedimentary record showed that 60% of past wetland beetle fauna became locally extinct as a result of regime shift in this freshwater pond. The largest impoverishment occurred 3700 years ago when the relative Mediterranean sea-level rose more than 1.5 ± 0.3 m (Poher et al 2017a).…”

Section: Impact Of Sea-level Risementioning

confidence: 98%

The specific vulnerability of plant biodiversity and vegetation on Mediterranean islands in the face of global change

2017

Self Cite

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To cite this version:Frederic Medail. The specific vulnerability of plant biodiversity and vegetation on Mediterranean islands in the face of global change.Abstract The numerous Mediterranean islands ([10,000) are very important from a biodiversity point of view, both in term of plant species (numerous endemics, presence of 'climate relicts') and of ecosystems' assemblage. These patterns can be explained by complex interactions between a highly heterogeneous historical biogeography and ecological processes related to diverse island conditions. Furthermore, most of the ups and downs of this biodiversity were closely linked with human pressures which have changed many times through the long socio-ecological history of these island landscapes since the Neolithic period. At present, insular plant biodiversity and rural landscapes are threatened by diverse global environmental changes related to urbanization, habitat fragmentation, unsustainable tourism and other practices (e.g. overgrazing, forest fires), and by other more recent drivers such as climate warming and aridification, sea-level rise and biological invasions. Some of these impacts will be exacerbated on islands because of no (or highly limited) adjacent areas of expansion, notably on the smallest ones (i.e. size \ ca. 1000 ha). With regards to the biome crisis facing the Mediterranean basin and induced by human activities, islands constitute key ecological systems and 'current refugia' to ensure the long-term preservation of coastal plant biodiversity. They also represent fascinating ecological systems to disentangle the role of environmental versus human pressures on spatially simplified communities of the Mediterranean coastal areas. Future detailed studies of these 'natural island microcosms' could greatly improve our knowledge of the functional and evolutionary processes induced by rapid environmental changes in this region.

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Holocene environmental history of a small Mediterranean island in response to sea-level changes, climate and human impact

Cited by 23 publications

References 89 publications

Mid to late Holocene environmental changes along the coast of western Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea)

Mid to late Holocene environmental changes along the coast of western Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea)

The 4.2 ka event in the vegetation record of the central Mediterranean

The specific vulnerability of plant biodiversity and vegetation on Mediterranean islands in the face of global change

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