Stand-scale reconstruction of late Holocene forest succession on the Gdańsk Upland (N. Poland) based on integrated palynological and macrofossil data from paired sites

Abstract

This study concerns the stand-scale palaeoecological reconstruction of the subsequent stages of late Holocene vegetation development on habitats recently covered by beech-dominated woodland in the southern Baltic region. The data, based on pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, macrofossil and charcoal analyses from two close-lying sites, demonstrated that each of the subsequent late Holocene shifts in dominating forest communities took place because of human impact coupled with climatic events or episodic human-made disturbances. Shifts from the Tilia dominated forest to the Quercus-Corylus plant community at around 3300 BC was most probably driven by the coupled effect of climate change and human activity. Human impact was the primary driver of the final Corylus decline and concurrent major Carpinus expansion at c. 460 BC, and the Carpinus decline followed by Fagus expansion at c. AD 900. Carpinus had been lingering on the edge of a major expansion in the local forest for at least 2,500 years while Fagus had persisted in a small admixture for no fewer than 1,500 years before becoming important forest constituents. Our data illustrate the role of episodic disturbances as turning points that initiate long-term vegetation changes.

Holocene fire activity during low-natural flammability periods reveals scale-dependent cultural human-fire relationships in Europe

“…As 80% of the records derive from basins smaller than 90 ha, individual CHAR records represent fires with potential source areas within 100 kilometers of the sampling site (Adolf et al, 2018;Marlon et al, 2016) and thus integrate fire events of an extra-local area. We used only microscopic charcoal records from pollen slides, as few continuous macroscopic charcoal records have been published from this region (Feurdean et al, 2017;Marcisz et al, 2015;Pędziszewska and Latałowa, 2016).…”

“…2). Additionally, the expansion of beech (Fagus sylvatica) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) in Germany and northern Poland further reduced fire-prone pine forest cover (Marquer et al, 2017;Pędziszewska and Latałowa, 2016). Although societal responses to climatic changes are complex and difficult to decipher at millennial time scales (Haldon, 2016), the reduction in fire activities during that time suggests an altered use of fire in land management.…”

Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech: a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium

“…The data from Kluizen show that, at least in certain areas where settlements were abandoned for a long timespan following the Roman period, Fagus did become an important element in the woodland vegetation, with pollen percentages of 20-30%, after a long succession of the woodland vegetation. An important increase of Fagus during the late Holocene has been observed in several other regions of northwestern, northern and central Europe and is mostly explained by Fagus being promoted by human disturbance of the vegetation, especially along its northern range limit (Küster, 1997;Bradshaw et al, 2010;Pędziszewska & Latałowa, 2016). At many sites, this sudden increase of Fagus can be dated between AD 300 and 800 (e.g.…”

Environmental changes and plant use during the 5th-14th centuries in medieval Gdańsk, northern Poland

“…Information on environmental changes around the town has been obtained from the Gołębiewo pollen site, Wysoczyzna Gdańska ("Gdańsk Upland") ( Fig. 1b) (Pędziszewska and Latałowa 2016).…”

“…2 a Simplified pollen diagram from Gołębiewo I; lithology, 1, Sphagnum peat; 2, Sphagnum-Eriophorum peat; 3, Sphagnum peat with variable proportion of Eriophorum sp. and Ericaceae (after Pędziszewska and Latałowa 2016). b simplified pollen and macrofossil diagram from site 15; lithology, 1, herbaceous peat with high proportion of silt and charcoal; 2, herbaceous peat with detritus gyttja, silt, sand and wood; 3, silt with detritus gyttja and fine sand (after Święta-Musznicka unpubl.).…”