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This article belongs to the Section Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals., The mineral content of peat has received little attention until the last few decades, when peat cores have been increasingly used to study past dust deposition. Paleodust deposition is commonly reconstructed through elemental datasets, which are used to infer deposition rates, storminess patterns, mineral composition, source identification, and fertilization effects. To date, only a few studies have directly analyzed the mineralogy (by XRD and SEM) and particle size of peat mineral matter, and the conducted studies have usually been constrained by the need to remove a large amount of organic matter, which risks altering the mineral component. One alternative is to use quick, nondestructive techniques, such as FTIR-ATR, that require little sample preparation. In this study, we analyzed by FTIR-ATR both the bulk peat and ash fractions of a sequence taken in a minerogenic mire that covered a wide inorganic matter content range (6%–57%). Aided by principal component analysis on transposed IR spectral data, we were able to identify the main minerals in bulk peat and ash, quartz, mica (likely muscovite), K feldspar (likely microcline), and plagioclase (likely anorthite), which are consistent with the local geology of the mire catchment. Changes in mineral composition during the last ca. 2800 years were coeval with previously reconstructed environmental changes using the same core. Our results suggest that FTIR-ATR has great potential to investigate peat mineral matter and the processes that drive its compositional change., This research was funded by the grant Grupos de Referencia Competitiva (ED431C 2021/32) of Xunta de Galicia. L.L.M was supported by the Madrid Talent Attraction Program (Programa de Atracción de Talento de la Comunidad de Madrid, modalidad 1, 2019-T1/AMB-12782).

Understanding the long-term environmental forcings driving Caspian Sea (CS) water levels is of utmost importance, not only owing to its large size, or to the surrounding developing economies but also to improve global climate models and forecasts. However, Late Quaternary CS level changes and their amplitude are mostly documented from incomplete coastal sediment records. Because of the CS idiosyncrasies, that behaves neither as a sea nor as a lake, the methods used to reconstruct water levels in the global ocean or in freshwater lakes do not always apply. Here, we propose a first step toward the use of dinoflagellate cysts records to reconstruct qualitative changes in water mass, focusing on new and published deep-water sedimentary sequences from the south and middle CS basins. Trends in water level changes are reconstructed on the relative proportions of dinocyst assemblages with different levels of brackishness. A higher highstand than previously seen is reconstructed post-Mangyshlak lowstand. A reverse water flow gradient from S to N, not previously detected, is identified at 8.5–8 to 4 cal ka BP. A major turnover in dinocyst assemblage is found at 4 cal ka BP. While the Volga River is the main source of water nowadays, we propose that the source of water to maintain the 8.5–8 to 4 cal ka BP highstand is the now-disconnected drainage basin of the Amu-Darya. The CS was at that time most likely strongly influenced by low latitude climates, with more precipitation over the Karakum and, perhaps, even indirect monsoonal influence.

Mediterranean seasonal wetlands are amongst the world’s most endangered ecosystems. Although seasonal wetlands’ conservation is a European continental-scale priority, their long-term ecological dynamics are not well known, hampering the detection of baseline conditions. However, a long-term ecological viewpoint could aid in the detection of spatiotemporal factors controlling wetland development. We have applied a multi-proxy palaeoecological approach (palynological, microcharcoal, magnetic susceptibility, loss on ignition and diversity estimates analyses) on a 360-cm core retrieved from the El Sopeton (ElSo), a temporary wetland nested between dunes in the paradigmatic Donana coastal area. The palaeoecological analyses reveal ~ 300–500-year-long wetland phases linked to dune immobilisation during humid periods. During the first wetland phase (AD ~ 40–315), upland and wetland vegetation diversity dynamics follow opposite trends owing to the different effect that dune proliferation had on them. Fixed dune landscapes provided upland spatial diversification, while they promoted a longer hydro-period in ElSo, simplifying wetland vegetation. During the second wetland phase (AD ~ 1550–2012), land-use change drove environmental dynamics. The mid-eighteenth-century pine afforestation to fix moving dunes marked an environmental tipping point, with the ElSo wetland transitioning from seasonal to permanent. This translated into a rising trend in upland diversity and a decreasing trend in the wetland one. Despite the recent pine afforestation, the palaeoecological findings evidence the autochthonous character of Pinus pinea, as well as the naturalness of the wetland species Hydrocharis morsus-ranae and Ricciocarpos natans. The geomorphological dynamism of the diverse Donana coastal setting is the baseline for the area, modulating wetland-upland water connectivity and, ultimately, controlling biodiversity trends. The preservation of Donana natural dynamism and landscape heterogeneity should be considered for the management, conservation and restoration of its seasonal wetlands.

Posidonia oceanica is a marine phanerogam that buries a significant part of its belowground production forming an organic bioconstruction known as mat. Despite Posidonia seagrass mats have proven to be reliable archives of long-term environmental change, palaeoecological studies using seagrass archives are still scarce. Here we reconstruct four millennia of environmental dynamics in the NE coast of Spain by analysing the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic composition of P. oceanica sheaths, the proportion of different seagrass organs throughout the seagrass mat and other sedimentological proxies. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction informs on long-term ecosystem productivity and nutrient loading, which have been linked to global (e.g., solar radiation) and local (e.g., land-use changes) factors. The long-term environmental records obtained are compared with previous palaeoecological records obtained for the area, showing a common environmental history. First, a relative seagrass ecosystem stability at ~4000 and 2000 cal. yr BP. Then, after a productivity peak at ~1400-800 cal. yr BP, productivity shows an abrupt decline to unprecedented low values. The fluctuations in ecosystem productivity are likely explained by increases in nutrient inputs related to human activities – mostly in the bay watershed – concomitantly with changes in total solar radiation. Cumulative anthropogenic stressors after Roman times may have started to affect ecosystem resilience, dynamics and productivity, with more abrupt regime shifts during the last millennium. These results add into recent research showing the potential of seagrass archives in reconstructing environmental change and seagrass post-disturbance dynamics, hence providing unvaluable information for improving the efficiency in managing these key coastal ecosystems.

En este trabajo se presenta el estudio palinológico del yacimiento de Peña Larda (Laguardia, Álava). Los resultados obtenidos, en las 13 muestras estudiadas, han aportado interesantes datos sobre el paisaje vegetal existente en la vertiente sur de la Sierra de Cantabria durante la Edad del Bronce, así como sobre las evidencias de antropización.

Marine influence on low-salinity environments can trigger aquatic ecosystem shifts, including biodiversity turnovers. High-resolution palaeoenvironmental records of marine connection events are particularly valuable, as they provide natural laboratories to understand analogous oceanographic and biodiversity turnover events in present-day climate- and anthropogenically-induced incursions. One such incursion event occurred across the Plio-Pleistocene transition when water from the open ocean spilled into the Eurasian continental interior, inundating the Caspian area. Here we record the so-called Akchagylian marine incursion using well-dated palynological and geochemical records of the Lokbatan section (Azerbaijan). Immediately prior to the intensification of northern hemisphere glaciations (~2.75 Ma), fresh-brackish peri-Paratethyan dinocyst assemblages were replaced by monospecific assemblages of the marine dinocyst, Operculodinium centrocarpum sensu Wall and Dale (1966) . This indicates that the Caspian Sea experienced a marine incursion during a period of global high sea level. The marine incursion also registered in the geochemical record as a peak in excess‑strontium and carbonate content. Marine influence on the Caspian ceased after ~2.46 Ma and a second biological turnover took place, with low-salinity tolerant peri-Paratethyan dinoflagellate communities replacing the marine assemblages. The large-scale Akchagylian marine incursion episode shows the extreme degree of biodiversity change that marine influence on fresh-brackish water basins could trigger. Similar processes are increasingly relevant to present-day marginal and landlocked basins, which face ever-greater incursions from marine species and water due to both climate-mediated sea-level rise and human-made infrastructure projects.

Mediterranean mountains played an essential role during glacial periods as vegetation refugia. The SE Iberia Late Pleistocene woody angiosperm fossil and floristic evidences are reviewed in the context of phylogeographical studies aiming to identify (i) spatial patterns related to woody angiosperms glacial survival, (ii) structural and functional characteristics of montane refugia, and (iii) gaps in knowledge on the woody angiosperm patterns of survival in Mediterranean mountains. The distribution of palaeobotanical data for SE Iberia refugia has been found to be taphonomically biased due to the scarcity of available and/or studied high-altitude Late Pleistocene sites. However, Siles Lake data together with floristic inference provide evidences for woody angiosperms' survival in a high-altitude Mediterranean area. The main features boosting survival at montane contexts are physiographic complexity and water availability. Phylogeography studies have mainly been conducted at a continental scale. Although they cohere with palaeobotanical data to a broad scale, a general lack of sampling of SE Iberian range-edge populations, as well as misconceptions about the origin of the populations sampled, impede to infer the proper location of woody angiosperms' mountain refugia and their importance in the post-glacial European colonisation. We conclude that floristic, geobotanical, palaeobotanical, ethnographical and genetic evidence should be merged to gain a deeper understanding on the role played by Mediterranean mountains as glacial refugia in order to explain the current distribution of many plants and the large biodiversity levels encountered in Mediterranean mountain areas. This is hallmark for effective and efficient conservation and management.

Mediterranean mountainous environments are biodiversity hotspots and priority areas in conservation agendas. Although they are fragile and threatened by forecasted global change scenarios, their sensitivity to long-term environmental variability is still understudied. The Sierra Nevada range, located in southern Spain on the north-western European flanks of the Mediterranean basin, is a biodiversity hotspot. Consequently, Sierra Nevada provides an excellent model system to apply a palaeoecological approach to detect vegetation changes, explore the drivers triggering those changes, and how vegetation changes link to the present landscape in such a paradigmatic mountain system. A multi-proxy strategy (magnetic susceptibility, grain size, loss-on-ignition, macroremains, charcoal and palynological analyses) is applied to an 8400-year long lacustrine environmental archive from the Laguna de la Mosca (2889 masl). The long-term ecological data show how the Early Holocene pine forests transitioned towards mixed Pinus-Quercus submediterranean forests as a response to a decrease in seasonality at ~7.3 cal. kyr BP. The mixed Pinus-Quercus submediterranean forests collapsed drastically giving way to open evergreen Quercus formations at ~4.2 cal. kyr BP after a well-known aridity crisis. Under the forecasted northward expansion of the Mediterranean area due to global change-related aridity increase, mountain forests inhabiting territories adjacent to the Mediterranean Region could experience analogous responses to those detected in the Sierra Nevada forests to the Mid to Late Holocene aridification, moving from temperate to submediterranean and then Mediterranean formations.

The southern European Donana wetlands host a highly biodiverse landscape mosaic of complex transitional ecosystems. It is one of the largest protected natural sites in Europe, nowadays endangered by intensive agricultural practices, and more recently tourism and human-induced fires. Its present-day spatial heterogeneity has been deeply investigated for the last three decades. However, a long-term perspective has not been applied systematically to this unique landscape. In this new study, a palaeoecological approach was selected in order to unravel patterns of landscape dynamism comparing dry upland and aquatic ecosystems. A 709 cm-long sediment core was retrieved and a multi-proxy approach applied (palynological, microcharcoal, grain size, magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition and multivariate statistical analyses). Pollen signatures show how sensitive aquatic wetland vegetation was to environmental changes while terrestrial vegetation was stable at millennial scale. The impact of several high energy events punctuates the Early and Middle Holocene sequence, two of which relate to the local tsunami record (~ 6.6 and ~ 9.1 cal. kyr BP). Contrasting impacts of these two events in the aquatic and upland ecosystems show the importance of landscape configuration and the contingent history as key elements for coastal protection.

The domestication of the one-grained einkorn (Triticum monococcum) in the Near East is relatively well known. However, an independent two-grained einkorn-like domestication has been archaeobotanically detected and scarce information is available. Triticum urartu, a wild wheat, was not fully described until the 1970s because the phenology does not allow it to be distinguished easily from wild einkorn (Triticum boeoticum subsp. thaoudar), although a genetic separation exists. Both species are mostly two grained and could potentially be the relatives of the extinct two-grained form. Pollen grains of several genetically well-identified wheat species, including T. urartu and T. boeoticum subsp. thaoudar, were studied by measuring the grain diameter and examining the exine sculpturing with phase-contrast microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to gain an insight into differences enabling taxonomic identification. This work showed that, although T. urartu pollen is smaller on average, grain diameter is not sufficient because of the size overlap between the species, but T. urartu presents a different exine sculpturing (scabrate) from other Triticum spp. (aerolate). This outcome is useful for taxonomists and archaeobotanists. First, it will allow a simple re-classification of herbarium materials. Second, further research could establish whether T. urartu was cultivated. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 177, 278–289.

Little is known about the impact of human activities during Roman times on NW Iberian mining landscapes beyond the geomorphological transformations brought about by the use of hydraulic power for gold extraction. We present the high-resolution pollen record of La Molina mire, located in an area intensely used for gold mining (Asturias, NW Spain), combined with other proxy data from the same peat core to identify different human activities, evaluate the strategies followed for the management of the resources and describe the landscape response to human disturbances. We reconstructed the timing and synchronicity of landscape changes of varying intensity and form occurred before, during and after Roman times. An open landscape was prevalent during the local Late Iron Age, a period of relatively environmental stability. During the Early Roman Empire more significant vegetation shifts took place, reflected by changes in both forest (Corylus and Quercus) and heathland cover, as mining/metallurgy peaked and grazing and cultivation increased. In the Late Roman Empire, the influence of mining/metallurgy on landscape change started to disappear. This decoupling was further consolidated in the Germanic period (i.e., Visigothic and Sueve domination of the region), with a sharp decrease in mining/metallurgy but continued grazing. Although human impact was intense in some periods, mostly during the Early Roman Empire, forest regeneration occurred afterwards: clearances were local and short-lived. However, the Roman mining landscape turned into an agrarian one at the onset of the Middle Ages, characterized by a profound deforestation at a regional level due to a myriad of human activities that resulted in an irreversible openness of the landscape., This work was funded by the projects HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST, CGL2010-20672 (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation), 10PXIB200182PR (General Directorate of I+D, Xunta de Galicia), and CDS-TCP (CSD2007-00058, Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010)

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Forest clearance is one of the main drivers of soil erosion and hydrological changes in mires, although climate may also play a significant role. Because of the wide range of factors involved, understanding these complex links requires long-term multi-proxy approaches and research on the best proxies to focus. A peat core from NW Spain (Cruz do Bocelo mire), spanning the last ~3000 years, has been studied at high resolution by physical (density and loss on ignition (LOI)), geochemical (elemental composition) and palynological (pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs) analyses. Proxies related to mineral matter fluxes from the catchment (lithogenic tracers, Glomus and Entorrhiza), rainfall (Bromine), mire hydrology (HdV-18), human pressure (Cerealia-type, nitrophilous taxa and coprophilous fungi) and forest cover (mesophilous tree taxa) were the most useful to reconstruct the evolution of the mire and its catchment. Forest clearance for farming was one of the main drivers of environmental change from at least the local Iron Age (~2685 cal. yr BP) onwards. The most intense phase of deforestation occurred during Roman and Germanic times and the late Middle Ages. During these phases, the entire catchment was affected, resulting in enhanced soil erosion and severe hydrological modifications of the mire. Climate, especially rainfall, may have also accelerated these processes during wetter periods. However, it is noteworthy that the hydrology of the mire seems to have been insensitive to rainfall variations when mesophilous forest dominated. Abrupt changes were only detected once intense forest clearance commenced during the Iron Age/Roman transition (~2190 cal. yr BP) phase, which represented a tipping point in catchment's ability to buffer impacts. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of studying ecosystems' long-term trajectories and catchment-wide processes when implementing mire habitat protection measures. This work was funded by the projects CGL2010-20672 (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and 10PXIB200182PR (General Directorate of I+D, Xunta de Galicia). N Silva-Sánchez and L López-Merino are currently supported by a FPU predoctoral scholarship (AP2010-3264) funded by the Spanish Government and a MINT postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Brunel Institute for the Environment, respectively.

Extensive mining took place in Spain during the Iron Age and Roman times, although a detailed chronology is still lacking due to the inherent difficulties in dating mining structures. In this study ...

There is a wealth of studies dealing with the reconstruction of past environmental changes and their effects on vegetation composition in NW Iberia, but none of them have focused specifically on the post-disturbance dynamics (i.e. the type of response) of the vegetation at different space and time scales. To fill this gap, we analysed the record of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) of a 235-cm thick colluvial sequence spanning the last ~13,900years. The aims were to detect the changes in vegetation, identify the responsible drivers and determine the type of responses to disturbance. To extract this information we applied multivariate statistical techniques (constrained cluster analysis and principal components analysis on transposed matrices, PCA tr) to the local (hydro-hygrophytes and NPP) and regional (land pollen) datasets separately. In both cases the cluster analysis resulted in eight local and regional assemblage zones, while five (local types) and four (regional types) principal components were obtained by PCA tr to explain 94.1% and 96.6% of the total variance, respectively. The main drivers identified were climate change, grazing pressure, fire events and cultivation. The vegetation showed gradual, threshold and elastic responses to these drivers, at different space (local vs. regional) and time scales, revealing a complex ecological history. Regional responses to perturbations were sometimes delayed with respect to the local response. The results also showed an ecosystem resilience, such as the persistence of open Betula-dominated vegetation community for ~1700years after the onset of the Holocene, and elastic responses, such as the oak woodland to the 8200calyr BP dry/cold event. Our results support the notion that palaeoecological research is a valuable tool to investigate ecosystem history, their responses to perturbations and their ability to buffer them. This knowledge is critical for modelling the impact of future environmental change and to help to manage the landscape more sustainably. © 2012 Elsevier B.V., Lourdes López-Merino is currently supported by a post-doctoral research grant of the Spanish Government at Brunel University (UK). This work was funded by the projects CDS2007-00058 and PGIDT02CCP60601.

9 páginas, 8 figuras, 2 tablas.-- Trabajo presentado al 9th Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Society of Chromatography and Related Techniques, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, 28–30 October 2009.-- El PDF es la versión pre-print., Peatlands are peculiar ecosystems in which well-adapted communities grow and develop, recording the variation in climate and hydrological conditions inland. In addition necromass is well preserved and therefore peatlands can be used as palaeo-archives for environmental variation. In this work a peat core of depth 60 cm dated at the bottom of the peat deposit as ca. 250 cal AD from Huelga de Bayas (Asturias, Northern Spain) was studied to a resolution of 2–4 cm to investigate the evolution of the environmental conditions in the area. Samples were extracted with a dichloromethane/methanol ratio of 3:1 and studied by means of gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (GC–MS) in order to identify possible biomarkers of climatic variation during the period of peat formation. Lipid biomarker study allows the identification of periods in which Sphagnum or higher plants preferentially contributed to the peat profile. The absolute dating of the profile combined with the n-alkane record displayed five episodes of wetter conditions around ca. 250 cal AD (Roman Warm Period), 1080 and 1270 cal AD (Medieval Warm Period), 1460 cal AD (Little Ice Age) and 1920 cal AD (Recent warming), which are consistent with climate evolution in the region. Pentacyclic triterpenoids with hopane skeleton derived from microorganisms and with oleanane skeleton derived from higher plants were identified. The presence of their ketone and acetyl-derivatives, along with the presence of unstable hopane configurations indicates a low maturity of the peat profile. A tendency for the functionalised triterpenoids to decrease with depth was observed in the profile., This study was funded by projects IB08-072C2 (PCTI of the Principality of Asturias), HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Ministry of Education and Science, Spain) and CSD2007- 00058 (Consolider Program, CSIC, Spain). Their financial support is gratefully acknowledged.

A phytogeographic approach of Abies alba Mill. populations in the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Range is provided. The methodology is based on “Species distribution models” (SDMs) and palaeopalynological Quaternary records from Pyrenees. Articulating the results derived from the SDMs (topo-climatic perspective), and a review of the Quaternary fossil record (climate and anthropic approach), we try to build a historical understanding of the dynamics of these forests. Both tools reveal that Abies alba only occupy a small proportion of their potential distribution range (30%) and offer geographic evidence demonstrating that these populations had a wider altitudinal distribution in the past. We suggest the use of SDMs to reinforce assumptions about the Quaternary distribution of the Iberian Abies alba forest, and to locate refugia for the long-term persistence.

12 páginas, 5 figuras., [ES] Se presentan los resultados de una caracterización palinológica realizada en un perfil en el cual se ha identificado una probable estructura de cultivo artificial (terraza) de finales de la Edad del Hierro, asociada a un castro en Galicia. El análisis combinado de las evidencias estratigráficas y palinológicas permite proponer una secuencia de transformación del paisaje en la que, de forma poco esperable, la mayor intensificación en el uso de la zona, correspondiente a la ocupación del castro y el desarrollo de estructuras agrarias, coincide con un episodio de incremento de los espacios forestales en el entorno. Sin embargo, el análisis realizado permite documentar la progresiva construcción de un paisaje cada vez más antropizado y donde los efectos de la acción humana se van haciendo más visibles., [EN] A series of samples extracted from the stratigraphic profile of a possible cultivation terrace located in the surroundings of an Iron Age hillfort in Galicia were used for pollen analysis. The combined results of both the stratigraphic information and the pollen analysis allow the proposal of a sequence of landscape transformation where, rather unexpectedly, the greater intensification in the use of the area, corresponding to the occupation of the hillfort and the construction of cultivation structures, coincides with an increase in the forested areas in the environment. However, the results of the analysis also document the construction of a landscape in which the effects of human action are progressively more visible.

14 páginas, 7 figuras, 1 apéndice.-- El PDF es la versión post-print., Macroscopic charcoal, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs were isolated from a colluvial soil located on a small hill in Campo Lameiro (NW Spain) in order to elucidate the vegetation history of the area and its relation to fire and human activities. The presence of macroscopic charcoal throughout the 2.10 m thick soil (42 samples) is evidence of frequent fires during the last c. 6300 years. The charcoal record was dominated by Quercus (probably Q. robur), Ericaceae (probably Arbutus unedo and Erica arborea) and Fabaceae (mainly Genista type). Abrupt changes in the charcoal assemblage are less explicit in the pollen sequence, probably as a result of pollen inflow from the downhill surroundings of the study site. Combined results indicated that the original oak woodland was gradually replaced by pyrophytic shrubs (Ericaceae and Fabaceae) as a result of fire recurrence. Non-pollen palynomorphs strongly suggested that vegetation was deliberately ignited by past human societies to facilitate grazing. No evidence of local agricultural practices was found. Episodes of accelerated shrubland expansion occurred c. 6000-5500 cal. BP, c. 4000-3500 cal. BP and c. 1700 cal. BP, the latter of which caused the definitive settlement of shrublands dominated by Ericaceae and Fabaceae which are nowadays widespread in NW Iberia., Yolanda Carrión was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Ministerio Español de Ciencia e Innovación, developed in the UMR CReAAH 6566 (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Archéosciences, Université Rennes 1 (France), where the analysis of the charcoal from PRD-2 was undertaken as a part of the project ‘Interactions Sociétés-milieu et évolution de l’environnement dans l’Arc Atlantique européen durant l’Holocène’. Joeri Kaal is supported by a Marie Curie Early Stage Research Training Fellowship of the European Community’s Sixth Framework Programme under contract number MEST-CT-2004-513915. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

Although archaeological research suggests that mining/metallurgy already started in the Chalcolithic (3rd millennium BC), the earliest atmospheric metal pollution in SW Europe has thus far been dated to ~3500-3200 cal.yr. BP in paleo-environmental archives. A low intensity, non-extensive mining/metallurgy and the lack of appropriately located archives may be responsible for this mismatch. We have analysed the older section (2100 cal.yr. BP) of a peat record from La Molina (Asturias, Spain), a mire located in the proximity (35-100 km) of mines which were exploited in the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age, with the aim of assessing evidence of this early mining/metallurgy. Analyses included the determination of C as a proxy for organic matter content, lithogenic elements (Si, Al, Ti) as markers of mineral matter, and trace metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb) and stable Pb isotopes as tracers of atmospheric metal pollution. From ~8000 to ~4980 cal.yr. BP the Pb composition is similar to that of the underlying sediments (Pb 15 ± 4 μg g(-1); (206)Pb/(207)Pb 1.204 ± 0.002). A sustained period of low (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios occurred from ~4980 to ~2470 cal.yr. BP, which can be divided into four phases: Chalcolithic (~4980-3700 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios decline to 1.175 and Pb/Al ratios increase; Early Bronze Age (~3700-3500 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb increase to 1.192 and metal/Al ratios remain stable; Late Bronze Age (~3500-2800 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb decline to their lowest values (1.167) while Pb/Al and Zn/Al increase; and Early Iron Age (~2800-2470 cal.yr. BP), (206)Pb/(207)Pb increase to 1.186, most metal/Al ratios decrease but Zn/Al shows a peak. At the beginning of the Late Iron Age, (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios and metal enrichments show a rapid return to pre-anthropogenic values. These results provide evidence of regional/local atmospheric metal pollution triggered by the earliest phases of mining/metallurgy in the area, and reconcile paleo-environmental and archaeological records.

Large amounts of viable seeds from Mediterranean grassland species have been found in herbivore dung; however which species produce seeds that can survive and germinate after ingestion by herbivores is still not well understood. This paper evaluates the importance of seed size, shape and coat impermeability in the endozoochorous dispersal process of 20 abundant species from central Iberian rangelands. Seed survival, germination percentages and germination speed were analysed in controlled experiments on the chewing and gut passage process by inserting seeds in the rumen of fistulated sheep, followed by simulated acid–pepsin digestion. Higher germination percentages in the control than the simulated sheep ingestion treatment were found in 75% of seeds. All species showed lower survival following the treatment, two species had a higher germination speed and five had a lower rate. Large-seeded species generally had higher survival percentages than small-seeded species. Species with impermeable seed coats had higher germination percentages following treatment although no significant differences were noted for either seed survival or germination speed.

Understanding long-term fire ecology is essential for current day interpretation of ecosystem fire responses. However palaeoecology of fire is still poorly understood, especially at high-altitude mountain environments, despite the fact that these are fire-sensitive ecosystems and their resilience might be affected by changing fire regimes. We reconstruct wildfire occurrence since the Lateglacial (14.7. cal. ka BP) to the Mid-Holocene (6. cal. ka BP) and investigate the climate-fuel-fire relationships in a sedimentary sequence located at the treeline in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Pollen, macro- and micro-charcoal were analysed for the identification of fire events (FE) in order to detect vegetation post-fire response and to define biomass-fire interactions. mean fire intervals (mfi) reduced since the Lateglacial, peaking at 9-7.7. cal. ka BP while from 7.7 to 6. cal. ka BP no fire is recorded. We hypothesise that Early Holocene maximum summer insolation, as climate forcing, and mesophyte forest expansion, as a fuel-creating factor, were responsible for accelerating fire occurrence in the Central Pyrenees treeline. We also found that fire had long-lasting negative effects on most of the treeline plant communities and that forest contraction from 7.7. cal. ka BP is likely linked to the ecosystem's threshold response to high fire frequencies. © 2014 Elsevier B.V., This research has been funded by the projects DINAMO (CGL2009-07992) (funding EGPF — grant ref. BES-2010-038593 and MSC), DINAMO2 (CGL2012-33063), ARAFIRE (2012 GA LC 064), GRACCIE-CONSOLIDER (CSD2007-00067). GGR was funded by the Juan de la Cierva Program (grant ref. JCI2009-04345) and JAE-Doc CSIC Program, LLM was supported by a postdoctoral MINT fellowship funded by the Institute for the Environment (Brunel University), AMC is a Ramón y Cajal fellow (ref: RYC-2008-02431), APS holds a grant funded by the Aragon Government (ref. 17030G/5423/480072/14003) and JAE holds a grant funded by the Basque Country Government (BFI-2010-5). We are indebted to Beatriz Bueno and Aida Adsuar for sampling processing and laboratory analyses and to César Morales del Molino for productive discussions on the ideas of this paper. We are grateful to Steven M. Holland for providing the free software to calculate rarefaction (Analytic Rarefaction), which is available at http://strata.uga.edu/software/.

This article has been made available through Open Access by the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Late Pleistocene and/or Holocene high-resolution palynological studies are available for the south basin of the Caspian Sea (CS), the world's largest lake. However, the north and middle basins have not been the object of high-resolution palynological reconstructions. This new study presents the pollen, spores and dinoflagellate cysts records obtained from a 10m-long sediment core recovered in the middle basin, which currently has brackish waters and is surrounded by arid and semi-arid vegetation.An age-depth model built based on six radiocarbon dates on ostracod shells indicates that the sequence spans the period from 14.47 to 2.43cal.kaBP. The present palaeoenvironmental study focuses on the top 666cm, or from 12.44 to 2.43cal.kaBP.At the vegetation level, the Younger Dryas is characterised by an open landscape dominated by desert vegetation composed by Amaranthaceae with shrubs and salt-tolerant plants. However, although the Early Holocene is also characterised by desert vegetation, it is enriched in various shrubs such as Ephedra and Calligonum, but tree expansion is not important at the Holocene onset. After a major shift at 8.19cal.kaBP, the Middle Holocene displays now both the character of desert and of steppe, although some trees such as Quercus and Corylus slightly spread. The Late Holocene records steppe vegetation as dominant, with more tree diversity.Regarding the lacustrine signal, the dinocyst assemblage record fluctuates between slightly brackish conditions highlighted by Pyxidinopsis psilata and Spiniferites cruciformis, and more brackish ones - similar to the present day - with the dominance of Impagidinium caspienense. The Late Pleistocene is characterised by low salinities, related to the Khvalynian highstand. From 11.56cal.kaBP, slightly more saline waters are reconstructed with an increase of I.caspienense for a period of 1000 years, which could be attributed to the Mangyshlak lowstand. From 10.55cal.kaBP, low salinity conditions return with remains such as Anabaena and Botryococcus abundant until 8.83cal.kaBP, followed by a slow, progressive decrease of P. psilata and S. cruciformis until 4.11cal.kaBP, which is the main assemblage change at lacustrine scale. Since then, higher salinities, similar to the present one, are reconstructed. Finally, Lingulodinium machaerophorum starts its development only at 2.75cal.kaBP, in the Late Holocene.The present research revealed fundamental differences from previously published sea-level curves, in that a 6000yr-long highstand suggested by low salinities is shown between 10.55 and 4.11cal.kaBP. Amongst other arguments, using a comparison to a similar palynological regard but in the south basin, a N-S salinity gradient that is the reverse of the present one across the CS, suggests that the Amu Darya was flowing in the CS. Hence the CS levels during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene were influenced by a combination of precipitation over the high European latitudes and the indirect influence of the Indian summer monsoon over the Pamirs. © 2014. This study has been conducted within the European Contract INCO-Copernicus “Understanding the Caspian Sea erratic fluctuations” n IC15-CT96-0112. This was funded by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique within the framework of the INSUDYTEC (DYnamique de la Terre et du Climat) Program (France).

1. Priority question exercises are becoming an increasingly common tool to frame future agendas in conservation and ecological science, used to identify research foci which are relevant to the needs of the scientific community and which also have high policy and conservation relevance. 2. To date there has been no coherent synthesis of key questions and priority research areas for palaeoecology, which combines biological, geochemical and molecular techniques in order to reconstruct ecological and environmental systems far into the past. 3. We adapted a well-established methodology to identify 50 priority research questions in palaeoecology. We used a set of criteria that were designed to identify realistic and achievable research goals, and selected questions from a pool submitted by the international palaeoecology research community and relevant policy practitioners. Questions are not ranked by priority but are grouped thematically, and are generally focussed on the late Cenozoic onwards (past c. 65 Ma). 4. The major difference in our methodology compared to other, similar exercises was the integration of online participation both before and during the workshop, representing an important development for increasing engagement and visibility. 5. The questions selected are structured around six themes: human-environment interactions in the Anthropocene; biodiversity, conservation, and novel ecosystems; biodiversity over long timescales; ecosystem processes and biogeochemical cycling; comparing, combining and synthesising information from multiple records; and methodological approaches to palaeoecology. 6. Future opportunities in palaeoecology are related to improved incorporation of uncertainty into reconstructions, an enhanced understanding of ecological and evolutionary dynamics and processes, and the continued application of long-term data for better-informed landscape management. 7. SYNTHESIS: The 50 priority questions selected in this exercise present palaeoecological science as a vibrant and thriving discipline, and highlight its vast potential for resolving both pure (e.g. theoretical) and applied (e.g. environmental) research questions directly related to ecological science and global change.

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Pollen and dinoflagellate cysts have been analysed in a core from the south basin of the Caspian Sea, providing a picture of respectively past vegetation and water salinity for the Late Pleistocene to middle Holocene. A relatively sharp lithological change at 0.86 m depth reflects a shift from detrital silts to carbonates-rich fine silts. From this depth upwards, a Holocene chronology is built based on ten radiocarbon dates on ostracod shells and bulk carbonates. From the vegetation point of view, the Late Pleistocene deserts and steppes were partially replaced in the most sheltered areas by an open woodland with Pinus, Juniperus-Hippophae-Elaeagnus and even Alnus-Quercus-Pterocarya and Fraxinus, related to the Allerød palynozone. This was interrupted by the Younger Dryas palynozone when Artemisia reaches a maximum in a first instance followed by a very dry phase with only a slight return of Pinus and Quercus and the rare presence of Ulmus-Zelkova. From 11.5 to 8.4 cal. ka BP, an open landscape dominated by shrubs such as Ephedra and progressively increasing Quercus appeared. The final spread of diverse evergreen and deciduous trees is delayed and occurs after 8.4 cal. ka BP. It is suggested that this delay is caused by an arid climate in the Early Holocene linked to high insolation and perhaps to a lake effect. The dinocyst assemblages fluctuate between slightly brackish (Pyxidinopsis psilata and Spiniferites cruciformis, 7 psu and lower) and more brackish (Impagidinium caspienense, ∼13 psu). In the Lateglacial (Khvalynian highstand), the assemblages remained dominated by relative low salinity taxa. A late and brief increase of salinity occurred prior to 11.2 cal. ka BP associated with the Mangyshlak lowstand. It is suggested that it was caused by a brief drop in meltwater flow from both the north and the southeast (Uzboy) and a likely evaporation increase. This lowstand occurs quasi at the same time as the end of a longer lowstand in the Black Sea. The freshest waters are then inferred as having occurred between 8.4 and ≤4.4 cal. ka BP, linked to a connection with the Amu Darya and the melting glaciers on the Pamir Mountains. The Caspian Sea is a sensitive environment, easily perturbed by global climatic changes, such as the Allerød and Holocene warming, and the Lateglacial and Younger Dryas cooling, as well as by regional changes in its hydrography, such as shifts in the Eurasian meltwater and the Volga and Amu Darya inflows. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France

Título del postprint: The last two centuries of environmental history in Picos de Europa National Park as assessed from sediments of a mountain lake (Lago Enol, N Iberia), We present a study of two short sediment cores recovered from Lago Enol, in the Picos de Europa National Park, Cantabrian Mountains, northern Iberia. We inferred past climate conditions and anthropogenic impacts using geochemical and biological (pollen and diatoms) variables in the dated sequences, in conjunction with temperature and precipitation data collected since 1871 at meteorological stations in the region. The record provides evidence of environmental changes during the last 200 years. At the end of the Little Ice Age (~1800-1875 AD) the region was characterized by an open landscape. Long-term use of the area for mixed livestock grazing in the mountains, and cultivation of rye during the nineteenth century, contributed to the expansion of grassland at the expense of forest. Warmer temperatures since the end of the nineteenth century are inferred from a change in diatom assemblages and development of the local forest. Socioeconomic transformation during the twentieth century, such as livestock changes related to dairy specialization, planting of non-native trees, mining activities, and management of the national park since its creation in 1918, caused profound changes in the catchment and in the lake ecology. The last several decades (~1970-2007 AD) of the Lago Enol sediment record are strikingly different from previous periods, indicating lower runoff and increasing lake productivity, particularly since AD 2000. Today, the large number of tourists who visit the area cause substantial impacts on this ecosystem. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

16 páginas, 11 figuras, 6 tablas.-- El PDF es el manuscrito de autor., This article focuses on the analysis of plant remains (seeds/fruits, charcoal, pollen, spores, and non-pollen palynomorphs) from two archaeological sites (pre-Roman and Roman) located in Las Me´dulas, a cultural landscape, in the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The article explores the way the communities living in the area managed their environment and the impact of productive activities on the landscape. This research has shown the multiplicity of needs this landscape satisfied and the various ways these communities managed the surrounding environment through different productive activities (agriculture, animal husbandry, and mining amongst others)., This article is part of the research carried our within two projects: ‘‘Paisajes culturales y naturales del Bierzo: Geoarqueología, Paleoambiente y Paleobiología (BierzoRVN)’’ (PIF 06-055) (Cultural and natural landscapes in El Bierzo: palaeoenvironment and palaeobiology) and the Spanish Consolider Program (CSD2007-00058). In addition, the archaeological research has been funded by the Junta de Castilla y León.

11 páginas, 5 figuras, 3 tablas., A multi-proxy study (pollen and NPPs, geochemical composition and radiocarbon dating), combined with principal components analysis, was applied to a core sampled in the Monte Areo mire (Asturias, N Spain), which covers the last 11,600 years cal BP. Both signals of Holocene climate change and transformations by human activities were recorded. The cooler stage of the early Holocene, the Hypsithermal and the Neoglaciation periods, were indentified but later Holocene abrupt climate changes seem not to have been recorded due to the particular evolution of the fen/mire system and the impact of human activities on the local hydrology. Evidence for human activity included a first phase of pastoralism by 7300 cal BP, and an extraordinary record of adoption and establishment of agriculture. The first evidence of cereal pollen, dated to approximately 6700 cal BP, represents one of the earliest records of agriculture in northern Spain. Contrary to previous studies which, based on assumed biogeographical limitations, proposed a late adoption of agriculture in the area, our results indicate a rapid expansion of agriculture in northern Spain from the eastern to the westernmost areas more in agreement with recent archaeobotanical investigations ([Zapata et al., 2004] and [Zapata et al., 2005]). The research also indicates that climate and human activities interplayed to determine the evolution of the studied area, and that a multi-proxy approach applied to natural archives appropriately located (in areas with evidence of past human occupation) is a productive way to obtain circumstantial evidence of early human activity., This work was funded by the projects HAR2008-06477-C03-03/ HIST (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain), CDS-TCP (CSD2007-00058, Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010) and AGRIWESTMED (ERC-Advanced Grants, proposal no 230561).

15 páginas, 4 figuras, 1 tabla., This article describes the patterns and processes of vegetation change and fire history in the Late Holocene (c. 2400 calendar year BP) palaeoecological sequence of Lanzahíta, Sierra de Gredos in central Spain, and provides the first Iberian pollen sequence undertaken within a monospecific Pinus pinaster woodland. These new data reassess not only the autochthonous nature of this pine species in the region and the Iberian Peninsula, but also the naturalness of well-developed cluster pine forests. Conflicts of palaeoecological evidence with phytosociological models of vegetation dynamics in the study region, and the relationships of P. pinaster with fire occurrence in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, are discussed., This study was funded by the projects HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST, CGL-2006-2956-BOS (Plan Nacional I + D + i, Ministry of Education and Science, Spain), CSD2007-00058 (Consolider Program, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain) and Paleodiversitas Network (Fundación Séneca, Murcia).

16 páginas, 5 figuras, 1 tabla., The paucity of modern pollen-rain data from the Iberian Peninsula is a significant barrier to understanding the Late Quaternary vegetation history of this globally important southwestern mediterranean region. The relationships between current vegetation, the available environmental data and modern pollen are examined in Central Spain for both natural and human-induced vegetation types, as an aid for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. A set of 60 surface moss polsters was sampled from different vegetation and land-use types in the Madrid autonomous region, and analysed to obtain modern pollen analogues of ancient cultural landscapes. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to divide the main pollen taxa into two major groups and ten subgroups representing the anthropic and natural vegetation types and the main communities within them. Statistically distinctive taxa were identified using principal components analysis (PCA). The results indicate that human-influenced communities have pollen assemblages that are different from those of natural vegetation types. When modern pollen assemblages are compared, the three Holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia) communities of Madrid, representing two phytogeographical provinces and three subprovinces, are easily distinguishable by their pollen spectra., This research was funded by the Technology Research ‘Consolider’ Program (TCP-CSD2007 – 00058), by the R&D National Plan of the Spanish Government (HAR2008 – 06477-C03 – 03/HIST project), and by the CSICCAM Consolidation project (CCG07-CSIC/HUM-1924).

18 páginas, 13 figuras., Recent, high-resolution palaeoecological records are changing the traditional picture of post-glacial vegetation succession in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition to the influence of Lateglacial and Early Holocene climatic changes, other factors are critical in the course of vegetation development and we observe strong regional differences. The floristic composition, location and structure of glacial tree populations and communities may have been primary causes of vegetation development. Refugial populations in the Baetic cordilleras would have been a source, but not the only one, for the early Lateglacial oak expansions. From Mid to Late Holocene, inertial, resilient, and rapid responses of vegetation to climatic change are described, and regional differences in the response are stressed. The role of fire, pastoralism, agriculture, and other anthropogenic disturbances (such as mining), during the Copper, Bronze, Iberian, and Roman times, is analysed. The implications of ecological transitions in cultural changes, especially when they occur as societal collapses, are discussed., This research has been funded by the national projects CGL-2009- 6988, CGL-2006-2956-BOS and HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST, LIMNOCAL (CGL2006-13327-C04-01), GRACCIE (CSD2007-00067) and Hum2004-04939 MCYT (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Madrid), PEPLAN (Dirección General del Medio Natural Región de Murcia), and Paleodiversitas Network (Fundación Séneca, Murcia).

26 páginas, 13 figuras., [ES] Los autores plantean una lectura de síntesis sobre las dinámicas de asentamiento y explotación de los territorios comprendidos entre el Sistema Central y las campiñas al sur del río Duero entre la implantación romana y los momentos altomedievales. Para estudiar el poblamiento se ha recurrido a los datos de prospección extensiva de los inventarios provinciales, con el concurso de los resultados de recientes excavaciones en yacimientos rurales y urbanos. A partir de esta información arqueológica se ha ensayado una evaluación cuantitativa de los usos del suelo en el Valle Amblés (Ávila), midiendo los territorios de explotación de algunos sitios mediante un Sistema de Información Geográfica. Se integra la información paleopalinológica procedente tanto de sondeos en turberas como de muestreos en yacimientos excavados. El trabajo atiende a la transformación de las pautas agropastoriles desde la colonización altoimperial y hasta la ocupación aldeana de comienzos del Medievo, siguiendo unos ejes diacrónicos que pivotan sobre la proliferación del hábitat rural, la creciente intensificación agraria y la especialización productiva., [EN] The authors propose an overview of the dynamics of settlement and land use in the region between the Central System and the territory south of the Duero River. The time span is the period between the Roman establishment and the Early Middle Ages. In order to study the settlement patterns, data from a field survey contained in the provincial inventories have been used. In addition, information from recent excavations in rural and urban sites has also been taken into account. Based on this data, a quantitative evaluation of land use in the Amblés Valley (Ávila) has been attempted. To do so, Geographical Information Systems have been applied in order to measure land exploitation. As a complement, palaeopalynological data both from peat bogs and from samples from archaeological sites have been added. The paper focuses on the agropastoral transformations that took place from the Flavian colonization up to the Early Middle Ages. The main aspects discussed following a diachronic point of view are: the spread of the rural habitat, the increasing agrarian intensification and the growing specialization of production.

Correlations between ecological and cultural changes occurred during a short period between the end of Subboreal and the beginning of Subatlantic in the Amblés Valley (Ávila, central Spain) are analyzed, taking into account palaeopalynological and archaeological data. Plant dynamics from pollen analyses, both from archaeological sites and peat bogs, have been interpreted in relation to human settlements and the transformation of economic practices. These provided a comprehensive hypothesis on human/climate interactions at the beginning of the 1st millennium cal BC. There was an ecological crisis in the region that lasted for a century (ca. 850-760 cal BC). This was especially sharp due to both the geographical constraints of the area and its previous agrarian history. This event implied a sudden and abrupt climatic change from xeric and warm conditions (Subboreal) to more humid and cooler ones (Subatlantic). Environmental stress derived from climatic crisis could be an important factor in the explanation of the historical process, whose main consequences were both the origin of the Iron Age peasant villages and the end of the 'dehesa' type landscape. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.

10 páginas, 5 figuras, 1 tabla., A high-resolution sedimentary sequence sampled from the Portlligat Bay (NEIberianPeninsula) has been studied in order to assess its palaeoecologicalpotential. This sedimentary sequence is considered a very particular one, as it is a peat-like deposit derived from the accumulation of the belowground dead parts of the marine phanerogam Posidonia oceanica through the last 1600 years. This study represents the first attempt to explore the palaeoecologicalpotential of such deposits from a palynological point of view, and has allowed the reconstruction of the vegetation dynamics and changes, human impact and the palaeoclimatic characteristics, demonstrating the value of these sedimentary records in palaeopalynological studies., This work was supported by the PALEOMED and CARBOMED projects, respectively funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (McyT-BOS2002-02247) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (PIF-CSIC 20050F0231). LLM has benefited from a CSIC-ESF research contract (I3P predoctoral program).

23 páginas, 6 figuras, 3 tablas.-- Publicado Online.-- El PDF del artículo es su versión post-print., We present the Holocene sequence from Lago Enol (43°16′N, 4°59′W, 1,070 m a.s.l.), Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. A multiproxy analysis provided comprehensive information about regional humidity and temperature changes. The analysis included sedimentological descriptions, physical properties, organic carbon and carbonate content, mineralogy and geochemical composition together with biological proxies including diatom and ostracod assemblages. A detailed pollen study enabled reconstruction of variations in vegetation cover, which were interpreted in the context of climate changes and human impact. Four distinct stages were recognized for the last 13,500 years: (1) a cold and dry episode that includes the Younger Dryas event (13,500–11,600 cal. year BP); (2) a humid and warmer period characterizing the onset of the Holocene (11,600–8,700 cal. year BP); (3) a tendency toward a drier climate during the middle Holocene (8,700–4,650 cal. year BP); and (4) a return to humid conditions following landscape modification by human activity (pastoral activities, deforestation) in the late Holocene (4,650–2,200 cal. year BP). Superimposed on relatively stable landscape conditions (e.g. maintenance of well established forests), the typical environmental variability of the southern European region is observed at this site., This research was funded through the projects LIMNOCLIBER (REN2003-09130-C02-02), IBERLIMNO (CGL2005-20236-E/CLI), LIMNOCAL (CGL 2006-13327-C04-01) and GRACCIE (CSD2007-00067), provided by the Spanish Inter-Ministry Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT). Additional funding was provided by the Spanish National Parks agency through the project ‘‘Evolución climática y ambiental del Parque Nacional de Picos de Europa desde el último máximo glaciar—ref: 53/2006’’. A. Moreno acknowledges funding from the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Program (Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowships, proposal 021673-IBERABRUPT) and from the Spanish Ministry of Science (‘‘Ramón y Cajal’’ program). L. López-Merino was supported by a CSIC-ESF (European Social Fund) research contract (I3P pre-doctoral program).

The palynological record of Puerto de Serranillos provides insights into the late Holocene vegetation history of Sierra de Gredos in the Central Mountain System of the Iberian Peninsula. Overgrazing around the timberline has occurred at least throughout the past two millennia, related to the human management of the landscape. Before the 12th century AD, Pinus sylvestris forests were dominant with a diversity of accompanying trees and understorey. The current landscape of the Gredos Range is clearly anthropogenic, and includes a combination of forest patches, pastures, dense shrubby formations and prostrate junipers, overall generated during the transition between the 17th and 18th centuries AD, when continued human activity in the mountain pine forests, using fire and intensifying grazing practices, caused a progressive deforestation, and the expansion of the current fire-prone scrub. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., We are indebted to the Spanish Consolider Program (CSD2007-00058), HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST and CGL-2006-2956-BOS projects (Plan Nacional de I + D + i), and Paleodiversitas Network (Fundación Séneca, Murcia) for financial and technical support. We wish to thank to Dr. Leonor Peña, Dr. Julio Escalona and Guillermo-Sven Reher for valuable suggestions, as well as Marta Fernández and Rodolfo Pozuelo for technical help. One of the authors (L. López-Merino) was supported by a CSIC-ESF research contract (I3P predoctoral program).

El análisis palinológico de un registro fósil obtenido en la Bahía de Port Lligat (Girona) ha permitido reconstruir la historia de la vegetación litoral del noreste de la Península Ibérica y del Pirineo oriental catalán durante los últimos 1600 años, en directa relación con la antropización de los ecosistemas forestales y los cambios climáticos acontecidos.

In this paper we present a review of the available pollen analyses in the north-western Iberian Range with the aim of studying Fagus glacial refugia and Holocene expansion. The work collects the available pollen analyses in the area (24 sites and 58 14C dates). Based on the available palynological data, we try to reconstruct the changes that occurred in the distribution of Fagus sylvatica in the north-western Iberian Range during the late Pleistocene and the Holocene, its spread patterns and the possible causes for such changes. Results from pollen analyses allow establishing at the Middle Holocene the beginnings of Fagus expansion mostly in relation to anthropic activities. Also, the pollen data demonstrate the existence of Fagus glacial refuge during the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene. Therefore, we hypothesize that present-day beech forests, in the area under study, are the direct result of the relic populations that survived the last glaciations and that have been favoured by both environmental conditions and human activities. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., One of the authors (L. López-Merino) was supported by a CSIC-ESF (European Social Fund) research contract (I3P predoctoral program).

Poster presentado en el XVIII INQUA-Congress: Quaternary sciences, the view from the mountains, celebrado en Berna (Suiza) del 21 al 27 de julio de 2011