Some problems of forest transformation at the transition to the oligocratic/ Homo sapiens phase of the Holocene interglacial in northern lowlands of central Europe

A charcoal record of Holocene woodland succession from sandstone rock shelters of North Bohemia (Czech Republic)

“…a decline of Quercetum Mixtum associated with an expansion of Picea) reached its maximum around 3500 BP, when Abies started to occur. Such a vegetation history may be attributed to general acidification of the local environment that, according to Pokorný and Kune s (2005), has predominantly natural causes and can be ascribed to the most dynamic mid-interglacial phase of the Iversen cycle (Iversen, 1958;Ralska-Jasiewiczowa et al, 2003;Birks and Birks, 2004). Although Fagus-Abies forests had been locally dominant since that time until almost recently, Picea retained its importance.…”

Long-term hydrological dynamics and fire history over the last 2000 years in CE Europe reconstructed from a high-resolution peat archive

“…2). Ralska-Jasiewiczowa et al (2003) report that the Migration Period (~550 AD) was the most advantageous time for the spread of this species.…”

Forest history, peatland development and mid- to late Holocene environmental change in the southern taiga forest of central European Russia

“…Pollen records from lakes and peatlands throughout Europe show signs of human impacts on vegetation beginning in the mid-Holocene (Behre, 1981;Kalis et al, 2003;Ralska-Jasiewiczowa et al, 2003;Kaplan et al, 2009;Niinemets and Saarse, 2009;Marquer et al, 2014;Kunes et al, 2015). However, the CFSNBR is distant from major rivers and trade routes, and therefore it remained untouched by human activity until recently (Novenko et al, 2009b).…”

“…At the same time, the organic matter content of the peat dropped sharply, indicating a rise in mineral influx from the surrounding area that could be related to vegetation disturbance resulting from forest clearance for agriculture. Plant communities in the areas adjacent to the study site feature various taxa indicative of anthropogenic disturbance, erosion, and grasslands (Behre, 1981;Ralska-Jasiewiczowa et al, 2003), including Centaurea cyanus, Plantago, Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, Asteraceae, Cichorioideae, Rubiaceae, and Poaceae. The pollen record from Staroselsky Moch peatland suggests that woodland coverage around the now abandoned village of Staroselie dropped to 30-40% (Novenko et al 2014).…”