Persistence of a vegetation mosaic in a peripheral region: could turbulent medieval history disrupt Holocene continuity of extremely species-rich grasslands?

Hájková, Petra; Jamrichová, Eva; Petr, Libor; Roleček, Jan; Gálová, Andrea; Dresler, Petr; Novák, Jan; Hájek, Michal

doi:10.1007/s00334-017-0660-9

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…We suppose that most charcoals identified as Picea / Larix refer to P . abies , but Larix could locally have occurred as well according to pollen analyses, especially at the Machová site (Hájková et al, ). The same holds for Populus spp.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The archaeological finds were compiled from available literature, unpublished site reports, and the National Archaeological List of the Czech Republic. Detailed information on the sites is presented in previous studies (Hájková et al, , ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrary to this view, several earlier scholars (Ložek, ; Martinovský, ; Podpěra, ) hypothesized that grasslands in the region are of ancient origin but were unable to support their claims with reliable palaeoecological evidence. We developed this line of thinking and suggested that a long continuity of grasslands in the White Carpathians determines their large species pool and enables a high alpha diversity at favourable circumstances (Hájek et al, ; Hájková et al, ; ; Roleček, Čornej, & Tokarjuk, ). However, paucity of data on environmental history of the region has hampered proper testing of this hypothesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, paucity of data on environmental history of the region has hampered proper testing of this hypothesis. The area lacks natural lakes and bogs, whereas spring fens and fossiliferous alder carrs harbour fossil records dating back 2,000 years at most (Hájková et al, ). Deeper deposits of calcareous tufa (Ložek, ) occur outside the forest‐steppe‐like part of mountain range or have proved to be poorly stratified (Hájek et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity

et al. 2019

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The south‐western White Carpathians (Czech Republic, Slovakia) are one of the few places in low‐elevation Central Europe where a diverse landscape, including extremely species rich meadows, scattered oak trees, and mixed oak woodlands, has escaped modern transformation. We studied C14‐dated and taxonomically identified macroscopic soil charcoal record to elucidate the genesis of this landscape. Thirteen soil profiles were sampled in grasslands along a gradient of elevation and history of human settlement. We identified clear pattern in the taxonomic composition of woody soil charcoal and anthracomass along this gradient, which we ascribe to different pathways of landscape development. Charcoal assemblages of chernozem‐like soils in the promontories of the mountain range have a low anthracomass and are dominated by heliophilous and semishade species (Quercus, Pinus), with the oldest charcoals dated to pre‐Neolithic times. Soils of the middle elevations have a high anthracomass and often show pronounced differences in charcoal composition at different soil depths; the oldest charcoal samples date back between the Neolithic and Early Middle Ages, and heliophilous species increase towards the topsoil. The soil of the summit area shows a medium anthracomass and charcoal assemblage dominated by shade‐tolerant trees; the charcoal dates from the Middle Ages. Our results suggest continuity of an open to semiopen landscape in lower elevations of the White Carpathians, whereas middle and higher elevations experienced a forested period. Humans and fire played an important role in landscape development, as indicated by both soil charcoal and available palaeoecological and archaeological evidence. Local meadows with extremely high biodiversity thus appear to be a continuation of an ancient forest‐steppe‐like ecosystem.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity

et al. 2019

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“…The regional landscape openness during the Middle Holocene is hence hypothesized to be one of the most important predictors of current grassland species richness. Hájková et al () even demonstrated that the turbulent medieval history connected with the changes in settlement density did not disrupt the Holocene continuity of steppe grasslands in an important region of their occurrence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

Divíšek

Hájek

Jamrichová

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Current species‐richness patterns are sometimes interpreted as a legacy of landscape history, but historical processes shaping the distribution of species during the Holocene are frequently omitted in biodiversity models. Here, we test their importance in modelling current species richness of vascular plants in forest and grassland vegetation. Location Western Carpathians and adjacent regions. Taxon Vascular plants. Methods Numbers of all species and of habitat specialists were extracted from plot records of forest and grassland vegetation. For each plot, environmental and historical data were derived from thematic maps. Historical data related to the persistence of (a) temperate taxa during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, (b) open‐landscape taxa during the Middle Holocene and (c) taiga taxa during the Late Holocene were based on 112 fossil pollen profiles. Boosted regression trees were used to model spatial patterns in species richness. Results Historical variables always appeared among the best predictors of current species richness. In light forests, species richness highly mirrored both the Late Glacial (12.5% contribution) and Middle‐Holocene (8.6%) landscape history. The latter factor became an important predictor also for species richness of steppe grasslands (8.3%) along with temperature seasonality (11.9%). Species richness of dark coniferous forests was best predicted by the Late‐Holocene occurrence of taiga forests (14.8%), which had an even stronger effect on the richness of habitat specialists (20.5%). Main conclusions Landscape changes since the Last Glacial Maximum are important predictors of current plant species richness. The historical effects were found to be habitat specific and, because they may interact with recent environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures, they often show a nonlinear relationship with species richness. We provide one possible direction of incorporating past landscape changes to the models of species richness.

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Botanical composition of meadows and pastures and their role in the functioning of early medieval semi-artificial lake islands in Ziemia Lubuska (Lubusz land), western Poland

Maciejewska

Badura

Noryśkiewicz

2022

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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Continuation of archaeobotanical and palaeoecological research on three semi-artificial lake islands, Nowy Dworek, Chycina and Lubniewice, has provided new information on the history, development and use of grasslands in Ziemia Lubuska (Lubusz land) in western Poland during the early Middle Ages. Pollen analysis reveals that the reduction in woodland and opening up of the regional landscape and the appearance of grassland communities there began around the 7th century ad, which preceded the construction of the islands in the lakes. The analysis of plant macroremains collected from the settlement layers on these islands, of pollen from cores in the lakes and studies of the phytosociological plant communities of recent vegetation have helped to describe the botanical composition of these past meadows and pastures. The results show strong similarities between the three sites, which suggests that the local populations were using the same grassland types, which were on soils ranging from damp to rather dry and sandy. The main grassland in the vicinity of the islands included the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea syntaxonomical class of communities, although Festuco-Brometea grasslands were also present. The presence of plant remains associated with various other types of meadows and pastures shows the diversity of habitats represented by the plant remains.

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Persistence of a vegetation mosaic in a peripheral region: could turbulent medieval history disrupt Holocene continuity of extremely species-rich grasslands?

Cited by 14 publications

References 48 publications

Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity

Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity

Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

Botanical composition of meadows and pastures and their role in the functioning of early medieval semi-artificial lake islands in Ziemia Lubuska (Lubusz land), western Poland

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