Legacies of past human activities on one of the largest old-growth forests in the south-east European mountains

Cagliero, Eleonora; Morresi, Donato; Paradis, Laure; Čurović, Milić; Spalević, Velibor; Marchi, Niccolò; Meloni, Fabio; Motta, Renzo; Garbarino, Matteo; Lingua, Emanuele; Finsinger, Walter

doi:10.1007/s00334-021-00862-x

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…BP. It coincides with the decrease in fire frequency and the regular appearance of Triticum pollen, suggesting that human activities could also influence the establishment of the beech forest (Cagliero et al, 2022;Küster, 1997). The high mountain massifs were mostly colonized during the late medieval times (Vrška et al, 2009), but these areas could have been used before for grazing and tree cutting by the local population of the valleys (Dabkowski et al, 2019;Vrška et al, 2009).…”

Section: Spruce To Beech Forest Transitionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The local closed‐canopy spruce forests forming stable conditions at the site could have prevented beech from expanding and prevailing in the vegetation. However, during this period, the high fire frequency and intensity could indicate that Fagus is more adapted to drought than Picea (Cagliero et al, 2022) and could occupy post‐fire habitats (Maringer et al, 2020) and gradually expand and establish locally. Similar beech forest development has been recorded from hemiboreal forests in Scandinavia (Bradshaw & Lindbladh, 2005) but also in the Southern Carpathians (Feurdean et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of high diversity beech forest in the eastern Carpathians

Lestienne

Jamrichová

Kuosmanen

et al. 2023

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim In recent decades, a surge in the number of significant and uncontrolled wildfires has occurred worldwide. Global warming may amplify this trend and threaten most ecosystems worldwide. Deciduous forests are characterized by high plant diversity, and understanding their long‐term dynamics is crucial to anticipate changes in these ecosystems during ongoing global warming. The aim of this study is to understand how European beech forests have colonized the inner Eastern Carpathians and how changes in fire regime and human activities have affected their biodiversity. Location Inner Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia. Taxon Plantae, gymnosperms, angiosperms. Methods Peat core was extracted from the centre of Ďurova mláka mire in 2018. A multi‐proxy approach has been applied to investigate the development of beech forest. Charcoal analysis has been done each centimetre to reconstruct the fire signal. Pollen analysis has been done at 2 cm resolution to reconstruct the vegetation composition and dynamics, and the variation in palynological richness (PRI), evenness and turnover has been analysed. Macro‐remains analysis has been performed at 10 cm resolution to add more information about the local vegetation. Results Low diversity spruce forest was dominant until 5200 cal. BP during a fire‐prone period due to specific climatic conditions (drier climate than the following period). The higher fire frequency and intensity following this period is simultaneous with the first expansion of Fagus which indicate that Fagus could occupy post‐fire habitats, at least at the local scale. However, its dominance coincided with major gaps in fire events from 3900 cal. BP. The PRI has increased during the transition from spruce to beech forest highlighting the importance of beech forests in maintaining plant biodiversity. However, the stronger increase in the richness is synchronous with the increase in human activities around 2000 cal. BP, and then 350 cal. BP. Main Conclusions Climate‐driven fire frequency has been a natural driver of vegetation changes in the Carpathians by promoting the emergence of high diversified beech forest. These changes were significantly modified by later increase in human activities.

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Section: Spruce To Beech Forest Transitionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of high diversity beech forest in the eastern Carpathians

Lestienne

Jamrichová

Kuosmanen

et al. 2023

Journal of Biogeography

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“…The long time horizon of palaeoecological records permits to study ecosystem responses under substantially different environmental conditions than the present ones, including temperatures analogous to those predicted by future climate changes (approximately 1-2 o C higher than present; Carter et al, 2018;Morales-Molino et al, 2021;Samartin et al, 2017). Moreover, current ecosystems and ecological processes often carry legacy effects of past environmental changes and anthropogenic impacts (Cagliero et al, 2022;Feurdean et al, 2009;Grindean et al, 2019;Morales-Molino et al, 2022), which have often altered species-environment relationships (Tinner et al, 2013). Thus, taking into account long-term records may be important to gain more accurate environmental-change response assessments, especially in Europe, where anthropogenic manipulation of nature started several millennia ago (Birks and Tinner, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) and spruce ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) old-growth forests (Cagliero et al, 2022; Motta et al, 2011; Sabatini et al, 2018). As these tree species are widespread and often form mixed forests in European mountains (Hilmers et al, 2019), exploring their long-term responses under low land-use pressure may be useful to improve knowledge on the role of disturbances by fire and climate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of fire disturbances, human activities and climate change for long-term forest dynamics in upper-montane forests of the central Dinaric Alps

Cagliero

Paradis

Marchi³

et al. 2023

The Holocene

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We present the first high-resolution Holocene pollen, plant-macrofossil, and charcoal records from the upper-montane zone in the central Dinaric Alps. Drawing on these new records from well-dated lacustrine sediments of Zminje Jezero (ca. 1500 m a.s.l.; Montenegro) and on independent chironomid-inferred summer temperatures, we explore long-term ecosystem responses to variations in climate, fire disturbances and land use, as well as legacy effects of past environmental changes. A mixed spruce-fir forest established in the upper-montane zone around 9500 cal BP, and Fagus sylvatica became co-dominant with the two conifers after 5000 cal BP. Prehistoric land-use pressure was overall remarkably low, but increased since 2000 cal BP and was highest after the Middle Ages. We found a significant positive relationship between biomass burning and summer temperature, indicating that fires were mostly climate driven. Picea abies was insensitive to summer temperature, biomass burning and human impact, which supports the view that spruce forests may not be significantly impacted by fire. In contrast, Abies alba and other disturbance-sensitive trees ( Tilia, Ulmus, Fraxinus excelsior-type) show significant negative responses to land-use pressure and positive responses to summer temperature. This supports the notion that these species may be well-adapted to warmer-than present summer temperatures and that their populations declined in recent millennia due to land-use activities. Conversely, F. sylvatica was sensitive to summer temperatures but was promoted by low biomass burning, indicating that its expansion in the spruce-fir dominated forest was enhanced by the onset of cooler and possibly also moister climatic conditions as well as by fire disturbances.

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“…The remarkable paucity of macrofossil‐stratigraphic records from the mountains of Southern Europe (Allen et al, 1996; Cagliero et al, 2021; Leunda et al, 2019; Morales‐Molino et al, 2021; Sánchez Goñi & Hannon, 1999; Tinner et al, 2016; Turner & Hannon, 1988) has seriously hampered tracking forest and tree line shifts through time in response to environmental and anthropogenic forcing. Moreover, although recent research has underlined the usefulness of integrating pollen, plant macrofossils, conifer stomata, charcoal and coprophilous fungi to investigate the timing and impact of transhumant herding and fire on the high‐elevation landscapes of Southern Europe, studies applying the multiproxy approach are still notably rare (e.g., Cagliero et al, 2021; Leunda et al, 2019; López‐Merino et al, 2009). Additionally, most available palaeoecological records from the mountains of Southern Europe do not have sufficiently precise chronologies for the Late Holocene because they often focused on older periods (see Table 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Millennial land use explains modern high‐elevation vegetation in the submediterranean mountains of Southern Europe

Morales‐Molino

Leunda

Morellón

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: Pinewood decline and scrubland expansion are major features of Late Holocene vegetation history in the Cantabrian Range. However, the drivers of this remarkable vegetation shift remain to be investigated. Here, we aim at disentangling the role of past land use and climate in shaping the high-elevation Cantabrian landscape during the past two millennia.Location: Cantabrian Range (northern Iberia).

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Legacies of past human activities on one of the largest old-growth forests in the south-east European mountains

Cited by 7 publications

References 118 publications

Development of high diversity beech forest in the eastern Carpathians

Development of high diversity beech forest in the eastern Carpathians

The role of fire disturbances, human activities and climate change for long-term forest dynamics in upper-montane forests of the central Dinaric Alps

Millennial land use explains modern high‐elevation vegetation in the submediterranean mountains of Southern Europe

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