Holocene peat initiation in the Ligurian Apennines, northern Italy

A new Late-glacial and Holocene record of vegetation and fire history from Lago del Greppo, northern Apennines, Italy

“…A clearer sign of opening at Agoraie, Casanova, Lago Pratignano and Lago del Greppo is evident only during the Roman period (Cruise 1990b;Watson 1996). Typical crops of the Roman period such as Olea, Castanea and Juglans (Gobet et al 2000;Branch 2004) are uncommon in the analyzed sequences, the only sites consistently recording their presence in the area are Lago del Greppo, Pavullo nel Frignano and Bargone (Cruise 1990a;Vescovi 2007). Usually the sites analyzed in the northern Apennines are above 1,000 m, and the late Holocene lack of intense human activity may primarily result from low intensity land use at this elevation.…”

“…During the late Holocene, Fagus continued to dominate the woodland vegetation in the northern Apennines at Lago delle Lame, Prato Spilla and Lago Padule, with only a slight opening of the woods (Cruise 1990a;Lowe 1992;Watson 1996). A clearer sign of opening at Agoraie, Casanova, Lago Pratignano and Lago del Greppo is evident only during the Roman period (Cruise 1990b;Watson 1996).…”

“…4500-3000 cal B.P. in the western part (Cruise 1990a;Watson 1996), but these estimates mainly rely on dates from bulk samples that are often chronologically imprecise.…”

“…The influence of climatic change, human impact including fire, a combination of both, or other factors have been invoked to explain the Holocene behaviour of these two taxa (Cruise 1990b;Lowe et al 1994a, b). Watson (1996) showed that in seven of 16 sites that she examined, for example Casanova and Prato Mollo (Cruise 1990a), organic sedimentation started during the Holocene (ca. 5800 cal B.P.)…”

“…At most sites in the montane belt of the northern Apennines, the rise of Fagus followed or was at the same time as the decline of Abies, while below 800-900 m a.s.l. Quercus replaced Abies (Pavullo and Bargone; Bertolani Marchetti et al 1994;Cruise 1990a;Vescovi 2007). This process was probably not synchronous in the region.…”