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Although rare, temporally and taxonomically highly-resolved palaeoecological studies with high chronological precision are essential to perform detailed comparisons with precisely dated independent evidence such as archaeological findings, historical events, or palaeoclimatic data. Using a new highly-resolved and chronologically precise sedimentary record from Lago di Mezzano (central Italy), we reconstruct decadal-scale vegetation, species diversity, and fire dynamics, aiming to better understand the linkages between climate, land use, fire, and plant communities from the Neolithic to the Copper Age (c. 5100–3100 cal. BC). Closed, mixed beech-oak forests, including evergreen Quercus ilex, dominated the landscape around Lago di Mezzano during the Neolithic and were disturbed by repeated opening phases, with important implications for lake biogeochemistry and mixing regimes. This was in conjunction with increasing fire activity to promote agro-pastoral practices, as inferred from increasing charcoal, Cerealia type, Triticum type, Hordeum type, Plantago lanceolata type, and Urtica pollen. Fires, on their turn, augmented species diversity (richness and evenness). The comparison of the Mediterranean record from Lago di Mezzano with available continuous and high-precision submediterranean and cool-temperate palynological sequences suggests comparable land use pulses across Southern and Central European regions, most likely in connection with climate change. The outcomes of this study are not only of palaeoecological and archaeological interest; they may also help to improve projections of ecosystem dynamics under future global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plantscapes surrounding historical gardens hold significant value, reflecting the natural pristine state as well as demonstrating the cultural attributes of the landscape. This study aims to develop a method for identifying the characteristics of historic plantscapes and to recognize the authenticity of historic landscapes from the perspective of plant elements. Our method combines textual and geospatial data analysis to examine the plant species, their relationships and combinations, and spatial distribution. The case study focuses on the Beijing suburbs during the Qing Dynasty, as documented in A Collection of Past Events in Beijing. We identified 658 plants recorded, encompassing 44 families and 58 genera. These plants were categorized into 7 groups based on the growth type and morphological characteristics, leading to 54 plant relationship outcomes, 107 plant combination scenarios, 5 plant combination categories, and 7 representative plant combinations. Additionally, we mapped the spatial distribution of plants, forming 16 plantscape groups and depicting the spatial kernel density distribution of important plants. We also determined the characteristics of plantscapes in different directions in the suburb. Our findings advocate for respecting the historical development of the plantscape and understanding its evolution, particularly emphasizing the use of high-quality native plants and plant combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents a multi-proxy archive from hypersaline coastal Lake Chokrak in eastern Crimea, a steppe region which is particularly susceptible to moisture fluctuations. XRF, organic carbon and nitrogen, and palynological analyses are used to reconstruct the evolution of the lake and landscape development around it and to provide information about the driving forces behind those changes, such as climate and human impact. The findings show that the basin was an open marine bay between 7640 and 5500 cal. yr BP. After 5500 cal. yr BP, the low rates of sea-level rise led to gradual infilling of the basin. The prevalence of mesic herb-grass steppe around the site, as well as the expansion of broad-leaved trees in the Crimean mountains, indicate relatively warm and humid climate conditions during the Mid-Holocene. Elemental proxies and marine NPPs point to a transition to lagoonal conditions from 4270 cal. yr BP. The progressive shallowing of the basin was accompanied by the spread of more xeric Artemisia -grass steppe, which suggests a shift to arid conditions. The occurrence of cereal pollen from 3660 cal. yr BP may indicate the first signs of cultivation in the study area. The active build-up of a sand barrier from 3000 cal. yr BP led to a gradual separation of the basin from the sea. By 900 cal. yr BP, the fully-formed sand barrier resulted in a transformation of the lagoon into a hypersaline lake. The closing of the lagoon was accompanied by an expansion of halophytic communities around the site. Human-induced vegetation changes became more pronounced with the development of agrarian and pastoral activities around the site from ca. 750 cal. yr BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim of this study is to determine the Middle-Late Holocene vegetation history of the İğneada Longoz (Floodplain) Forests around Lake Mert, located in Kırklareli, using high-resolution palynological analysis conducted on the MRT-04 core. Pollen analyses was performed on sediment samples collected from 67 different levels within the core. Pollen counting and identification were performed using a Leica DM750 light microscope, with a minimum of 500 terrestrial pollen grains counted per sample. The age of the lake was determined to be 6600 years old through radiocarbon dating of the core. According to the findings from the pollen analysis, deciduous mixed oak forests have dominated the region in and around Lake Mert for the past 6600 years. Within these mixed oak forests, Quercus cerris type (deciduous oaks) is predominant, with notable contributions from Fagus , Carpinus , Corylus , and Tilia. This forest composition has displayed a consistent pattern, except for changes attributed to the expansion of temperate species and human influences. The distribution of mixed oak forests began to decline around 1360 BP, coinciding with a significant increase in the presence of Alnus , Fraxinus , and Ulmus. These trees are characteristic species of floodplain forest and indicate the initiation of the formation of the İğneada Longoz Forests after 1360 BP. Furthermore, around 420 BP, there was a substantial decrease in the pollen percentages of Quercus and Fagus. During this period of declining mixed oak forests, Plantago and Ambrosia appeared for the first time in the pollen diagram. The reduction in arboreal plant taxa and the rise of herbaceous taxa such as Plantago , Ambrosia , and Poaceae, which serve as indicators of human impact, signify the conversion of forested areas into agricultural and pasture lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to clarify the vegetation history of planted forests that are still in use today by comparing the types of land afforested in 1960 with the post-war afforestation period in Japan's Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Kinki regions. It was during that time that the majority of the planted forest in these regions was established. We calculated the afforestation ratios (afforested area of each type of land/total afforested area) for the smallest survey unit, the 1950 administrative sections, using data from the 1960 World Agriculture and Forestry Census on the afforested areas of various types of land (i.e., deforested areas resulting from natural forests, deforested areas resulting from planted forests, and areas other than forests). The afforestation ratios were then sorted into ten categories for each municipality in the three regions and mapped using GIS. The analysis results showed that the vegetation history in Kyushu, even within the same municipality, was frequently mixed in 1960; in Hokkaido, the afforestation ratio for deforested areas resulting from natural forests was extremely high, while the afforestation ratio for deforested areas resulting from planted forests was low. In contrast, the Kinki region has a low afforestation ratio for non-forest regions. This study provides useful information for ecosystem management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plantscapes surrounding historical gardens hold significant value, reflecting the natural pristine state as well as demonstrating the cultural attributes of the landscape. This study aims to develop a method for identifying the characteristics of historic plantscapes and to recognize the authenticity of historic landscapes from the perspective of plant elements. Our method combines textual and geospatial data analysis to examine the plant species, their relationships and combinations, and spatial distribution. The case study focuses on the Beijing suburbs during the Qing Dynasty, as documented in A Collection of Past Events in Beijing. We identified 658 plants recorded, encompassing 44 families and 58 genera. These plants were categorized into 7 groups based on the growth type and morphological characteristics, leading to 54 plant relationship outcomes, 107 plant combination scenarios, 5 plant combination categories, and 7 representative plant combinations. Additionally, we mapped the spatial distribution of plants, forming 16 plantscape groups and depicting the spatial kernel density distribution of important plants. We also determined the characteristics of plantscapes in different directions in the suburb. Our findings advocate for respecting the historical development of the plantscape and understanding its evolution, particularly emphasizing the use of high-quality native plants and plant combinations.

The prevailing paradigm about the Quaternary ecological and evolutionary history of Central European ecosystems is that they were repeatedly impoverished by regional extinctions of most species during the glacial periods, followed by massive recolonizations from southern and eastern refugia during interglacial periods. Recent literature partially contradicts this view and provides evidence to re‐evaluate this Postglacial Recolonization Hypothesis and develop an alternative one. We examined the long‐term history of the flora of the Carpathian (Pannonian) Basin by synthesising recent advances in ecological, phylogeographical, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatological research, and analysing the cold tolerance of the native flora of a test area (Hungary, the central part of the Carpathian Basin). We found that (1) many species have likely occurred there continuously since before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM); (2) most of the present‐day native flora (1404 species, about 80%) can occur in climates as cold as or colder than the LGM (mean annual temperature ≤+3.5°C); and (3) grasslands and forests can be species‐rich under an LGM‐like cold climate. These arguments support an alternative hypothesis, which we call the Flora Continuity Hypothesis. It states that long‐term continuity of much of the flora in the Carpathian Basin is more plausible than regional extinctions during the LGM followed by massive postglacial recolonizations. The long‐term continuity of the region's flora may have fundamental implications not only for understanding local biogeography and ecology (e.g. the temporal scale of processes), but also for conservation strategies focusing on protecting ancient species‐rich ecosystems and local gene pools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the long-term forest history in the forest–tundra ecotone of the Low Yenisei River basin. The new high-resolution pollen and macroscopic charcoal data were inferred from the 8.6 m long peat archive covering the last 6300 years. Climate reconstructions are based on the application of the best modern analogue technique using pollen data. Our findings suggest an alternation of phases of middle-taiga forests of Larix sibirica, Abies sibirica, Picea obovata, and Pinus sibirica (intervals of climate warming: 6320–6050, 5790–5370, 4480–4220, and 3600–2700 cal yr BP, respectively) and open larch woodlands with the participation of Betula, Picea, and Pinus sibirica, typical for northern taiga (intervals of climate cooling and increasing humidification: 5370–4480, 4220–3600 cal yr BP, respectively). The vegetation pattern of the region became similar to the modern one around 2700 cal yr BP. Climate warming caused a northward shift of vegetation-zone boundaries in Yenisei Siberia and an expansion of the range of Abies sibirica by about 200 km to the north compared to the present day. The increased frequency of fires and biomass burning during warm periods may promote the melting of the local permafrost, thereby enhancing the tree growth and regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant environmental DNA extracted from lacustrine sediments (sedimentary DNA, sedDNA) has been increasingly used to investigate past vegetation changes and human impacts at a high taxonomic resolution. However, the representation of vegetation communities surrounding the lake is still unclear. In this study, we compared plant sedDNA metabarcoding and pollen assemblages from 27 lake surface-sediment samples collected from alpine meadow on the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau to investigate the representation of sedDNA data. In general, the identified components of sedDNA are consistent with the counted pollen taxa and local plant communities. Relative to pollen identification, sedDNA data have higher taxonomic resolution, thus providing a potential approach for reconstructing past plant diversity. The sedDNA signal is strongly influenced by local plants while rarely affected by exogenous plants. Because of the overrepresentation of local plants and PCR bias, the abundance of sedDNA sequence types is very variable among sites, and should be treated with caution when investigating past vegetation cover and climate based on sedDNA data. Our finding suggests that sedDNA analysis can be a complementary approach for investigating the presence/absence of past plants and history of human land-use with higher taxonomic resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive human‐induced declines of large‐sized animals and trees (megabiota) from the Late Pleistocene to the Anthropocene have resulted in downsized ecosystems across the globe, in which components and functions have been greatly simplified. In response, active restoration projects of extant large‐sized species or functional substitutes are needed at large scales to promote ecological processes that are important for ecosystem self‐regulation and biodiversity maintenance. Despite the desired global scope of such projects, they have received little attention in East Asia. Here, we synthesise the biogeographical and ecological knowledge of megabiota in ancient and modern China, with relevant data mostly located in eastern monsoonal China (EMC), aiming to assess its potential for restoring functionally intact ecosystems modulated by megabiota. We found that during the Late Pleistocene, 12 mammalian megafaunal (carnivores ≥15 kg and herbivores ≥500 kg) species disappeared from EMC: one carnivore Crocuta ultima (East Asian spotted hyena) and 11 herbivores including six megaherbivores (≥1000 kg). The relative importance of climate change and humans in driving these losses remains debated, despite accumulating evidence in favour of the latter. Later massive depletion of megafauna and large‐sized (45–500 kg) herbivores has been closely associated with agricultural expansion and societal development, especially during the late Holocene. While forests rich in large timber trees (33 taxa in written records) were common in the region 2000–3000 years ago, millennial‐long logging has resulted in considerable range contractions and at least 39 threatened species. The wide distribution of C. ultima, which likely favoured open or semi‐open habitats (like extant spotted hyenas), suggests the existence of mosaic open and closed vegetation in the Late Pleistocene across EMC, in line with a few pollen‐based vegetation reconstructions and potentially, or at least partially, reflecting herbivory by herbivorous megafauna. The widespread loss of megaherbivores may have strongly compromised seed dispersal for both megafruit (fleshy fruits with widths ≥40 mm) and non‐megafruit plant species in EMC, especially in terms of extra‐long‐distance (>10 km) dispersal, which is critical for plant species that rely on effective biotic agents to track rapid climate change. The former occurrence of large mammals and trees have translated into rich material and non‐material heritages passed down across generations. Several reintroduction projects have been implemented or are under consideration, with the case of Elaphurus davidianus a notable success in recovering wild populations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, although trophic interactions with native carnivorous megafauna have not yet been restored. Lessons of dealing with human–wildlife conflicts are key to public support for maintaining landscapes shared with megafauna and large herbivores in the human‐dominated Anthropocene. Meanwhile, potential human–wildlife conflicts, e.g. public health risks, need to be scientifically informed and effectively reduced. The Chinese government's strong commitment to improved policies of ecological protection and restoration (e.g. ecological redlines and national parks) provides a solid foundation for a scaling‐up contribution to the global scope needed for solving the crisis of biotic downsizing and ecosystem degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses supported with radiocarbon dating were conducted on a Holocene core from the peat bog Beliya Kanton (1547 m a.s.l.) located in the Western Rhodope Mountains (South Bulgaria). In the early Holocene until ~10 000 cal. BP the mountain slopes were covered by Pinus , admixed with Betula , Juniperus and shrubland of Ephedra among herb communities dominated by Poaceae, Cichorioideae, Achillea , Artemisia , Brassicaceae species. Subsequently, the afforestation continued with the expansion of broadleaved oak forests with Tilia , Ulmus and Corylus which reached their maximum distribution ~8800 cal. BP. Gradually, these forests began to retreat, replaced at many places first by Corylus and later on by Picea abies , Abies alba and Fagus . The formation of the contemporary coniferous belt with the dominance of Pinus – Picea abies and fragmented mixed coniferous-deciduous communities in the late Holocene was attributed not only to climate change but also to diverse human interference in the natural forest cover. During the last 2000 years the continuous presence of Juniperus , Juglans , Rumex , Cirsium , P lantago lanceolata and Hordeum pollen indicated intensive stock-breeding, grazing and crop cultivation. The fragments of charred wood testify to tree felling and fire clearances on flat ground to obtain new pasture land.

Two coastal areas located on the North-Western side of Corsica Island have been investigated to reconstruct their Mid- to Late-Holocene landscape evolution together with the history of human occupation. Particular attention has been paid to the study of shoreline migration and vegetation history alongside land-use. Three boreholes were drilled to a maximum depth of 4.20 m and laboratory work comprised the identification of molluscs and pollen/NPPs as well as sedimentological analyses. Chronostratigraphy is based on a series of 18 radiocarbon datings and enabled to reconstruct the environments in the Fangu Estuary to the north of the World Heritage site over the last six millennia, and over the last four millennia on the Girolata coastal plain to the south. Palaeogeographic reconstruction of shoreline mobility is established for each site based on borehole chronostratigraphy analysis. In addition, two original pollen and NPPs diagrams have been established for the Girolata and Fangu sites. These reveal that anthropogenic activities began to significantly impact local vegetation cover ca. 2500 years BP at Girolata, and ca. 2000 years BP at Fangu. Of particular interest, our work records the first complete pollen sequence in Corsica for Roman times at Girolata: first, the exploitation of cereals, grapevines and the development of husbandry is observed during the Roman Republic (500 BCE–0), followed by the almost exclusive cultivation of Olea sp. during the Roman Empire (0–500 CE). Following this, and using other regional pollen studies obtained for NW Corsica, we propose a regional evolution of the complex human-environment interactions for the last six millennia. Our results reveal a peak of regional forest decline (the most intense event recorded for the Late-Holocene) from the 11th to the 16th centuries CE which can be attributed to the exploitation of wood resources during the Pisan and Genoese dominations of the island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fire‐prone ecosystems, knowledge of vegetation–fire–climate relationships and the history of fire suppression and Indigenous cultural burning can inform discussions of how to use fire as a management tool, particularly as climate continues to change rapidly. On Wiisaakodewan‐minis/Stockton Island in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore of Wisconsin, USA, structural changes in a pine‐dominated natural area containing a globally rare barrens community occurred after the cessation of cultural burning by the Indigenous Ojibwe people and the imposition of fire‐suppression policies, leading to questions about the historical role of fire in this culturally and ecologically important area. To help understand better the ecological context needed to steward these pine forest and barrens communities, we developed palaeoecological records of vegetation, fire, and hydrological change using pollen, charcoal, and testate amoebae preserved in peat and sediment cores collected from bog and lagoon sediments within the pine‐dominated landscape. Results indicated that fire has been an integral part of Stockton Island ecology for at least 6000 years. Logging in the early 1900s led to persistent changes in island vegetation, and post‐logging fires of the 1920s and 1930s were anomalous in the context of the past millennium, likely reflecting more severe and/or extensive burning than in the past. Before that, the composition and structure of pine forest and barrens had changed little, perhaps due to regular low‐severity surface fires, which may have occurred with a frequency consistent with Indigenous oral histories (~4–8 years). Higher severity fire episodes, indicated by large charcoal peaks above background levels in the records, occurred predominantly during droughts, suggesting that more frequent or more intense droughts in the future may increase fire frequency and severity. The persistence of pine forest and barrens vegetation through past periods of climatic change indicates considerable ecological resistance and resilience. Future persistence in the face of climate changes outside this historical range of variability may depend in part on returning fire to these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interprets the first archaeobotanical data to emerge from the island of Ustica (north-western Sicily, Italy). The excavation of the Neolithic site of Piano dei Cardoni (4600-4200 cal BC) and the Middle Bronze Age site of Faraglioni Village (1500-1250 cal BC), has made it possible to analyse plant macro-remains and compare them with data on local vegetation obtained from both historical literary sources and recent field surveys. The onset of agro-pastoral practices in the mid-5th millennium BC brought about significant changes to the local pristine plant communities. Indeed, the presence of holm oaks and pine trees in that period was recently detected for the first time. The evolution of the local vegetation following the first human settlement in the Neolithic has some crucial parallels with what happened following the recolonisation of the mid-eighteenth century. The massive presence of olive trees during the Middle Bronze Age suggests the deliberate introduction of this crop species on the island and attests to olives' paramount importance for the local economy at that time. The disappearance of some woody species shows that human occupation has had a powerful impact on the island's forest resources, which partially recovered during the repeated long phases of land abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape of central Europe is thought to have been dominated by steppe, forest-steppe, or tundra during the Last Glacial. This classical view is mostly based on the pollen records. However, as the pollen production and taphonomy during the cold periods are largely unknown, modern analogies of past landscapes need to be involved to provide more plausible vegetation reconstructions. Here we performed pollen analyses of recent samples from small lakes in Yakutia, eastern Siberia, a cold region where larch taiga forest is maintained by water from cyclically melting permafrost. We compared the pollen samples using multivariate (PCA) and analogue matching techniques with 830 fossil pollen samples from central Europe dated to MIS3–MIS1 (ca 35,000–11,700 cal BP). We have shown that the non-arboreal pollen proportion is around 50% in the lakes within Yakutian forested landscape, while such proportions have been interpreted as an indication of forestless landscape in European fossil records. Some central European fossil samples are more similar to samples from present-day Yakutia than to the South Siberian steppes so far considered analogous; this is especially true for samples from areas on unconsolidated bedrock with water-saturated permafrost from the Late Glacial, Bølling–Allerød interstadials. We advocate the idea of extending existing interpretations of past landscapes. The fossil pollen might not only reflect steppe–tundra vegetation, but, in addition to that, at least the Late Glacial pollen samples from central Europe may reflect a landscape forested by 'invisible' larch with spatially limited steppe patches, like the one found in present-day Yakutia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses supported with radiocarbon dating were conducted on a Holocene core from the peat bog Beliya Kanton (1547 m a.s.l.) located in the Western Rhodope Mountains (South Bulgaria). In the early Holocene until ~10 000 cal. BP the mountain slopes were covered by Pinus, admixed with Betula, Juniperus and shrubland of Ephedra among herb communities dominated by Poaceae, Cichorioideae, Achillea, Artemisia, Brassicaceae species. Subsequently, the afforestation continued with the expansion of broadleaved oak forests with Tilia, Ulmus and Corylus which reached their maximum distribution ~8800 cal. BP. Gradually, these forests began to retreat, replaced at many places first by Corylus and later on by Picea abies, Abies alba and Fagus. The formation of the contemporary coniferous belt with the dominance of Pinus - Picea abies and fragmented mixed coniferous-deciduous communities in the late Holocene was attributed not only to climate change but also to diverse human interference in the natural forest cover. During the last 2000 years the continuous presence of Juniperus, Juglans, Rumex, Cirsium, Plantago lanceolata and Hordeum pollen indicated intensive stock-breeding, grazing and crop cultivation. The fragments of charred wood testify to tree felling and fire clearances on flat ground to obtain new pasture land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We analyse the oldest available data on the high‐elevation vegetation on Tenerife's Mt. Teide, namely the species shown in A. von Humboldt's (1817) Tableau Physique des Iles Canaries (TPIC), which is based on his own 1799 visit and an 1815 visit by L. von Buch and C. Smith. The analysis is of interest in the context of climate change and biotic changes, such as the eradication of non‐native goats from the Teide National Park. Between 1944 and 2010, the summit region of Mt. Teide has warmed at a rate of 0.14°C/decade. Location: Mt. Teide on Tenerife, Canary Islands. Taxon: Vascular plants. Methods: We updated the taxonomy of the 197 species shown in the TPIC, data‐mined publications and letters, searched relevant herbaria for surviving collections, and compared historic and modern species presence, absence and elevational ranges. Results: Both Humboldt and Buch had to use formulas to convert barometer readings into elevations above sea level, and none of Humboldt's collections and few of Buch's are linked to precise elevations. The upper range limits of all 23 species for which we found data have shifted upward, with the average shift being 36.4 m per decade (1799/1815–2021). Four species that today are abundant were not recorded in 1815, suggesting population expansion, probably due to goat eradication. Main conclusions: While our data cannot disentangle the effects of climate change and changing herbivory, they provide the earliest available record on the vegetation on Mt. Teide and illustrate the magnitude of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kuril Islands stretch southwest from Kamchatka, Russia, to Hokkaido, Japan and separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the northern Pacific Ocean. A series of transgressions and regressions linked to variations in climatically affected global ice volume are among the most important drivers of Holocene environmental changes in the region. Despite a long research history, reconstructions of the Holocene palaeoenvironment are sparse with inconsistent interpretations, arising from insufficient dating control, different temporal resolutions, and specific local geographical features, such as high tectonic activity and the isolated nature of the area. We have investigated a 550 cm lake sediment section from Iturup Island, the largest among the Kuril Islands. The 6600 year old sediment section was studied using sedimentological, geochemical, chironomid, diatom, and pollen analyses to reconstruct environmental and climatic changes and sea level fluctuations (transgression – regression stages). During the warm late phase of the Middle Holocene (6600–4400 cal BP) an open bay or lagoon with shallow overgrown littorals existed at the sampling site. The cooling between 5600 and 4400 cal BP can be correlated with Neoglacial cooling. The cool period between 4200 and 3200 cal BP was a transition towards the formation of a freshwater lagoon and can be related to a decline of the Japan Late Jomon transgression (Sakaguchi, 1983). Between 3200 and 2800 cal BP the lagoon separated from the marine environment in response to a further sea level decrease during the Japan Latest Jomon cold stage and regression. The following increase in the share of broad-leaved pollen indicated a slight warming (Yayoi transition stage) that was interrupted by a short-term cooling spell between 1500 and 1400 cal BP (cold Japan Kofun stage). The period between ca 1100 and 800 cal BP can be related to the European Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) or relatively dry Japan Nara-Heian-Kamakura warm stage. The Little Ice Age cooling and Edo regression were evident after ca 800 cal BP. Modern warming however is not well seen in the investigated core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity has increasingly come under threat from human activity everywhere on Earth. China, with over 33,000 species of vascular plants, is a megadiverse region, in part because of its diversity in topography and climates. One of its most extensive biomes is broadleaved evergreen/warm mixed forest which dominates eastern Asia and Central China. There is some debate about how glacial/interglacial cycles across the Quaternary had an impact on this biome. There were certainly broad scale changes in distribution of many key species. Here, we examine the four palaeoecological records from Central China that contain both LGM and Mid-Holocene vegetation records and consider the degree of biodiversity in Central China with the aim of developing a broad overview of the history on plants in the region. It is clear that in the mountainous regions of Central China, many taxa survived the LGM in situ, showing that there was enough stable habitat to support key species. Some mountainous areas have high degrees of endemism which suggests that fragmentation of populations across glacial/interglacial cycles may have been an important component in favoring speciation. The consideration of past records and modern species distributions have significance in selecting conservation areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to clarify the vegetation history of planted forests that are still in use today by comparing the types of land afforested in 1960 with the post-war afforestation period in Japan’s Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Kinki regions. It was during that time that the majority of the planted forest in these regions was established. We calculated the afforestation ratios (afforested area of each type of land/total afforested area) for the smallest survey unit, the 1950 administrative sections, using data from the 1960 World Agriculture and Forestry Census on the afforested areas of various types of land (i.e., deforested areas resulting from natural forests, deforested areas resulting from planted forests, and areas other than forests). The afforestation ratios were then sorted into ten categories for each municipality in the three regions and mapped using GIS. The analysis results showed that the vegetation history in Kyushu, even within the same municipality, was frequently mixed in 1960; in Hokkaido, the afforestation ratio for deforested areas resulting from natural forests was extremely high, while the afforestation ratio for deforested areas resulting from planted forests was low. In contrast, the Kinki region has a low afforestation ratio for non-forest regions. This study provides useful information for ecosystem management.

This study presents the long-term forest history in the forest–tundra ecotone of the Low Yenisei River basin. The new high-resolution pollen and macroscopic charcoal data were inferred from the 8.6 m long peat archive covering the last 6300 years. Climate reconstructions are based on the application of the best modern analogue technique using pollen data. Our findings suggest an alternation of phases of middle-taiga forests of Larix sibirica, Abies sibirica, Picea obovata, and Pinus sibirica (intervals of climate warming: 6320–6050, 5790–5370, 4480–4220, and 3600–2700 cal yr BP, respectively) and open larch woodlands with the participation of Betula, Picea, and Pinus sibirica, typical for northern taiga (intervals of climate cooling and increasing humidification: 5370–4480, 4220–3600 cal yr BP, respectively). The vegetation pattern of the region became similar to the modern one around 2700 cal yr BP. Climate warming caused a northward shift of vegetation-zone boundaries in Yenisei Siberia and an expansion of the range of Abies sibirica by about 200 km to the north compared to the present day. The increased frequency of fires and biomass burning during warm periods may promote the melting of the local permafrost, thereby enhancing the tree growth and regeneration.

The genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) has occurred in Europe and Southwest Asia since the Eocene represented mostly by the fossil-species Z. zelkovifolia. Currently, relict populations of Z. abelicea, Z. sicula and Z. carpinifolia can be found in Crete, Sicily and the Euxino-Hyrcanian province, respectively. To reveal relationships between extinct and extant Zelkova species, we compared fossil Miocene leaves of Z. zelkovifolia and leaves of extant species using morphological leaf characteristics and statistical methods (Tukey's test, discrimination analysis, principal component analysis, agglomeration). The fossil leaves of Z. zelkovifolia appeared more variable and generally intermediate between all three extant species. The lowest level of significant differences was found between Z. zelkovifolia and Z. abelicea in the leaves from fertile shoots and between Z. zelkovifolia and Z. sicula leaves from vegetative long shoots. The intermediate positions of fossil leaves of Z. zelkovifolia between leaves of Z. abelicea, Z. sicula and Z. carpinifolia could indicate that the extinct species was an ancestor of all three extant taxa. Consequently, this result suggests divergence between Z. abelicea, Z. sicula and Z. carpinifolia no earlier than the late Miocene and/or during the Pliocene. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2022.2036849. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lateglacial period is marked by strong changes in environment and climate in Europe, associated to the different steps of the deglaciation. This paper aims to reconstruct the vegetation and climate changes from the deglaciation to the early Holocene (15.2–10.8 ka cal BP) in Western Europe. Pollen investigations are performed at a centennial resolution on a sedimentary core from the Lapsou peat bog (Cantal, France). The chronology is well constrained from three radiocarbon dates and a double tephra layer. The pollen record and quantitative climate reconstructions evidence strong changes associated with the Lateglacial period, in agreement with the regional vegetation and climate dynamics. At the onset of Lateglacial Interstadial (14.5–14.1 ka cal BP), a Juniperus - Betula succession is attributed to the Bølling. Associated climate reconstructions indicate a winter warming of 10 °C and precipitations above 1000 mm. A development of Pinus forests is then evidenced for the Allerød, for which rather constant warm conditions and lower precipitations (drop of 200 mm) are reconstructed. A two-phase pattern characterizes the Younger Dryas (12.6–11.5 ka cal BP): after a first phase with rather constant vegetation and climate conditions compared to the Allerød, a more steppic vegetation developed from 12.2 ka cal BP, indicating a marked cooling and a pronounced aridity (precipitations around 400 mm). Finally, the reconstruction of a cool deciduous forest dominated by Betula and temperate climate conditions defines the early Holocene. A comparison with chironomid-inferred reconstructions of July temperature from the close La Roustière site allows to support pollen-inferred climate quantifications, also showing the interest of applying multi-proxy approach in palaeo-environmental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The considerable intensification of human activity in the second and first centuries BC in Central Europe was related to the sudden appearance of a network of large fortified towns, which are known as oppida. Bibracte was one of the most important oppida in France, but knowledge about the evolution of its hinterland is still incomplete. This article addresses the evolution of the landscape surrounding this oppidum. Our research was based on a study of sedimentary profiles sampled around the archaeological site and examined by physical, geochemical and palaeoecological analyses. Sediment sequences indicate that the earliest human-induced erosion associated with geomorphological change occurred in the 4th–1st century BC. Geochemical results indicate ancient mining and metallurgy in the catchment during the same time. Palaeoecological proxies from the same period point to a mosaic of an open cultural landscape with locally suppressed forest vegetation and prevailing pastoralism. Anthropogenic impact resurged in the 11th–13th centuries AD and was associated with livestock grazing and rye (Secale cereale) cultivation. Thereafter, the reconstructed human impact from the 15th century AD onwards was probably related to forest management focused on timber floating as well as to the cultivation of chestnut (Castanea sativa) and hemp (Cannabis sativa). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation and development of the Kungur forest-steppe has been a controversial topic for almost 150 years due to its location within the belt of hemiboreal forests in the pre-Urals of European Russia. To further the knowledge on its manmade versus natural origin we conducted a palaeoecological study reconstructing the regional vegetation history in the Mid-Kama region as well as local bog development and additional archaeobotanical studies nearby. Detailed loss-on-ignition analysis, peat properties and high resolution radiocarbon dating were carried out to obtain long-term carbon accumulation rate estimates. The data document the presence of the pine-dominated forest-steppe with spruce and birch during the major part of the Holocene (∼9.7–5.5 ka) and the development of the modern hemiboreal forests from 5.5 ka onwards. Since 3.5 ka, the hemiboreal forests were increasingly influenced by human action, corresponding to the development of local archaeological cultures. The earliest human impact is observed during the Garinskaya culture (4.5–3.5 ka). It increased during the Early Iron Age with the Ananyino (2.8–2.2 ka) and Glyadenovo (2.2–1.6 ka) cultures and during the Medieval with the Nevolino culture (1.6–1.1 ka). Archaeobotanical data reveal consumption of Triticum aestivum and T. aestivum/spelta by bearers of the Nevolino culture as well as a local cultivation of emmer. The formation of the recent Pinus-Betula forest-steppe took place in the last 300 years during the Russian colonisation. In conclusion, continental and warm climatic conditions as well as fire activities were maintaining semi-open landscapes of the forest-steppe during the Early and Middle Holocene, while land use became the dominant factor since 3.5 ka. • Pine-dominated forest-steppe was replaced by hemiboreal forests ∼5.5 cal ka BP. • Dry continental climate and enhanced fires maintained semi-open landscapes. • The openings of the vegetation were operated by humans since 3.5 cal ka BP. • Humans played the major role in shaping of the modern Kungur forest-steppe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents the result of analysis of anthracological remains excavated from four archaeological sites located in the Bale Mountains. The samples were collected from the early LateStone Age occupation phase to the early arrival of pastoralists in the Bale Mountains (46.5 ka-1.2 ka). The aims of the study are: to reconstruct firewood collection, vegetation history, to shed new light on the poorly understood environmental conditions during human occupation phases in the Bale Mountains, and to understand interactions between past humans and their environment in African high-altitude ecozone. The investigation was conducted on a total of 485 charcoal macro-remains, from which,a total of 328 were identified intotaxa and seven different plant species were recorded. The recorded taxa include Erica cf. arborea type(n=75), Myrsinetype (n=69), Solanumtype (n=48), Artemisia cf. afratype (n=44), Hageniaabyssinica (n=42), Hypericumtype (n=29) and Juniperus type (n=21). This study addresses various important issues, including firewood collection, vegetation cover, palaeoenvironment, prehistoric human ecological preferences, and adaptation strategies in the afro-alpine region of the Bale Mountains.

A late Würmian and Holocene pollen profile from Tüttensee near Chiemsee, Bavaria, covering 14 millennia of vegetation history, shows the late Würmian reforestation of the area, Holocene woodland development, and later the human impact on the landscape. In the early Holocene a distinct Ulmus phase preceded the Corylus and Quercus expansion. Afterwards, between 6000 and 4000 BCE, Picea was most common. The expansion of Fagus and Abies started at 4000 BCE, together with the decline of Ulmus . Fagus was more common than Abies . From 500 BCE Abies started to decline, Fagus has also declined from 1000 CE onwards. Before the modern times Picea / Pinus phase Quercus is prevailing. The prehistoric human impact is rather weak. A short reforestation phase at ~ 1 BCE – 1 CE hints at the rather complex migration history in this region with so called Celts, Germanic people and Romans involved. Strong human impact indicated by cereals, Plantago lanceolata , other human indicators and deforestation started at 900 CE.

This article extends the findings of our previous research “Preliminary reconstruction of climate changes and vegetation cover inferred from pollen study of the arctic lake bottom sediments from the southwestern part of the Yamal Peninsula” (G.R. Nigamatzyanova, N.M. Nigmatullin, B.I. Gareev, O.N. Tumanov, L.A. Frolova, 21st International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM. 4 (2021) 415-421. https://doi.org/10.5593/sgem2021/4.1/s19.53) [1].The Late Holocene vegetation history of the southern part of the Yamal Peninsula was reconstructed using the pollen data obtained from bottom sediments of the tundra lake K1 (68°15.320′ N, 69°07.675′ E) near the Yerkuta research station in the Yerkuta River basin. A 30-cm-long sediment core was drilled during the expedition to the lake in 2014. A total of 15 samples were taken at 1-cm intervals for palynological analysis. To extract pollen grains, prior chemical treatment of the samples by the standard methods. The palynological dataset was exported in Excel sheets, one listing the raw pollen counts and the other containing the pollen percentages determined with respect to the total pollen counts for all taxa. The palynodiagram illustrating the variations in pollen and spore percentages with depth is given. These palynological records yield insight into the vegetation dynamics on the Yamal Peninsula in response to the climate forcing and may be of practical importance in regional syntheses of the vegetation history in the region.

Detailed knowledge of the periglacial flora is essential to assess the vegetation dynamics in deglaciated regions of northern and north eastern Europe, previously covered by the ice sheet of the Late Weichselian Glaciation. Therefore, the territory of Belarus, which stretches in the periglacial zone of the Last Glaciation and the most part of which was free of ice during the Last Glacial maximum, is off particular importance in analysing the postglacial floral establishment and the subsequent vegetation dynamics in this part of the continent. In this study, results of palaeobotanical (pollen and plant macrofossil), lithological (measurements of magnetic susceptibility, MS) and isotopic (14C) investigations were obtained to fill the existing gap in reconstructing the peculiarities of the terrestrial and aquatic vegetation dynamics throughout the Lateglacial - Early Holocene period in the central Belarus. The investigated sediment profile, comprising organically enriched gyttja at 13,400–13,100 cal yr BP, carbon enriched and sandy gyttja at 13,100–9700 cal yr BP and unconsolidated mud after 9500 cal yr BP, provides clear evidence proving the flourishing of a pine-birch predominated forest with occasional spruce stands during the Allerød in area. Three occasions of change in the vegetation structure were noted within the Younger Dryas, i.e. 12,900–12,700 cal yr BP, 12,200–12,000 cal yr BP and 11,900–11,700 cal yr BP, suggesting negative climatic excursion taken place in area and facilitating flourishing of a Picea -predominating forest that culminated at about 12,300 and 12,000 cal yr BP. Pollen record suggests the Early Holocene vegetation shifts occurring at about 11,300–11,200 cal yr BP, 10,800–10,600 cal yr BP and 10,300–10,100 cal yr BP evidence the general response to the global-scale climatic events i.e. Preborael Oscillation or " 10,2 ka " while fluctuations triggered by local or regional-scale climatic events have been identified as well. About 10,800–10,700 cal yr BP, formation of the forest with an increasing representation of thermophilous taxa (Ulmus, Tilia, Quercus) started in area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) has been a region of great significance for palynological studies featuring the combination of unique tropical vegetation, tectonics determining frequent volcanic eruptions, and a long settlement history. This palynological study aims at reconstructing ecosystem processes and is based on a long-term analysis of vegetation composition in the mountainous region of Sumatra. The research question focused on the influence of natural disturbance such as climate and volcanism, and anthropogenic impacts and fire on vegetation dynamics in the KSNP in the Sumatran highlands. A 2300-year-old lake sediment record of Danau Belibis at 2078 m asl. provides insights into the changes in vegetation composition over time in a mountainous tropical rainforest region in Jambi province. Over the entire record, Taxus was the most dominant genus. Volcanic eruptions caused continuous competition between volcanophile taxa like Casuarina and Myrica , and primary forest taxa. Settlements and agricultural activity are represented throughout the whole record. Forest clearings for wood exploitation and cultivation took place in the period from 1600 to 1000 years BP and from 600 years BP to the present. Crops were already introduced at the beginning of the record in the Kerinci highland region. The charcoal record illustrates only occasional fire events caused by natural forces. Our findings refer to the vulnerability of vegetation dynamics concerning important environmental drivers and suggest volcanic events as an important factor for environmental changes in the highlands of Sumatra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two millennia, European Alpine ecosystems have experienced major changes in response to the important, yet fluctuating, impact of human activities. This study aims to reconstruct the environmental history of the last 1800 years on the western edge of the Alps by analyzing sediments from Lake Aiguebelette, a large lake located in the perialpine area. We have combined analyses of pollen and other palynomorphs, such as coprophilous fungal spores, together with sedimentary DNA (from plants and mammals) in order to reconstruct both vegetation and land-use histories. A sedimentological and geochemical analysis was also conducted in order to gain an understanding of changes in erosion dynamics in response to landscape modifications that were influenced by climate and human activities. This work highlights alternating phases of anthropization and agricultural abandonment allowing forest recovery. While pollen reflects the major phases of regional deforestation and afforestation related to the dynamic of farming activities, plant DNA provides precise information on the plants cultivated in fields, orchards and vegetable gardens over the past centuries. The combination of mammal DNA and coprophilous fungal spores completes this work by documenting the history of pastoral practices.

The Middle Miocene Zhangpu biota (∼ 14.7 Ma)—from the Fotan Formation in the Zhangpu area, southeastern China—indicates that the rainforest had reached at least 24.2°N at that time. In this study, pollen analysis was carried out in six outcrop sections of this formation in the Zhangpu area. Based on the succession of palynoflora, three developmental stages of vegetation were recognized. From the late Early Miocene to the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO) (the first stage), the vegetation underwent frequent disturbances associated with the volcanic activities, in which two sub-stages are recognizable. During the earlier sub-stage (late Early Miocene), the vegetation was similar to the modern subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest and exhibited a warming trend; then during the later sub-stage (MMCO), the tropical forest developed with the appearance of diverse tropical and subtropical taxa. The second stage, which was also within the MMCO, should be an intermission of volcanic eruptions, during which the tropical forest, especially the tropical montane rain forest, steadily developed without disruptions. And during the third stage (Middle to Late Miocene), the altitudinal vegetation belts of tropical montane rain forest significantly lowered which was accompanied by the occurrence of drought-tolerant taxa, implying the significant climatic cooling and moisture reduction. The above evolutionary phases of the vegetation in the Zhangpu area show a close relationship with the Miocene global climatic variations, which might be the main driving force of the vegetation changes in the southeast coast area of China during that period. • Pollen analysis was conducted in the Fotan Formation. • Miocene vegetation history was reconstructed from Zhangpu, SE China. • Miocene vegetation evolution in Zhangpu well responded to global climatic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have long debated the degree to which Native American land use altered landscapes in the Americas prior to European colonization. Human–environment interactions in southern South America are inferred from new pollen and charcoal data from Laguna El Sosneado and their comparison with high-resolution paleoenvironmental records and archaeological/ethnohistorical information at other sites along the eastern Andes of southern Argentina and Chile (34–52°S). The records indicate that humans, by altering ignition frequency and the availability of fuels, variously muted or amplified the effects of climate on fire regimes. For example, fire activity at the northern and southern sites was low at times when the climate and vegetation were suitable for burning but lacked an ignition source. Conversely, abundant fires set by humans and infrequent lightning ignitions occurred during periods when warm, dry climate conditions coincided with ample vegetation (i.e., fuel) at midlatitude sites. Prior to European arrival, changes in Native American demography and land use influenced vegetation and fire regimes locally, but human influences were not widely evident until the 16th century, with the introduction of nonnative species (e.g., horses), and then in the late 19th century, as Euro-Americans targeted specific resources to support local and national economies. The complex interactions between past climate variability, human activities, and ecosystem dynamics at the local scale are overlooked by approaches that infer levels of land use simply from population size or that rely on regionally composited data to detect drivers of past environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of macrofossils indicate that the vegetation near Regstrup in north-west Sjælland, Denmark, from c. 13 600 to 13 500 cal. years BP was dominated by dwarfshrub heaths. Betula pubescens (downy birch) arrived at c. 13 500 cal. years BP and became common after c. 13 200 cal. years BP. Open forests with B. pubescens and Populus tremula (aspen) dominated until c. 12 500 cal. years BP, indicating that an Allerød-type environment persisted for c. 350 years after the cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas, which is dated to c. 12 850 years BP in ice cores from Greenland. Betula nana was common after c. 12 500 cal. years BP, indicating a return to a tundra-like landscape with dwarf-shrub heaths. The fauna included Rangifer tarandus (reindeer), Castor fiber (Eurasian beaver) and possibly Lemmus lemmus (Norway lemming). The lake deposits contain remains of many species of aquatic plants and animals, including three species of fish. The flora and fauna indicate that the lake water was fairly nutrient-rich and alkaline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in climate and fire regime have long been recognized as drivers of the postglacial vegetation history of Yellowstone National Park, but the effects of locally dramatic hydrothermal activity are poorly known. Multi-proxy records from Goose Lake have been used to describe the history of Lower Geyser Basin where modern hydrothermal activity is widespread. From 10,300 cal yr BP to 3800 cal yr BP, thermal waters discharged into the lake, as evidenced by the deposition of arsenic-rich sediment, fluorite mud, and relatively high δ13Csediment values. Partially thermal conditions affected the limnobiotic composition, but prevailing climate, fire regime, and rhyolitic substrate maintained Pinus contorta forest in the basin, as found throughout the region. At 3800 cal yr BP, thermal water discharge into Goose Lake ceased, as evidenced by a shift in sediment geochemistry and limnobiota. Pollen and charcoal data indicate concurrent grassland development with limited fuel biomass and less fire activity, despite late Holocene climate conditions that were conducive to expanded forest cover. The shift in hydrothermal activity at Goose Lake and establishment of the treeless geyser basin may have been the result of a tectonic event or change in hydroclimate. This record illustrates the complex interactions of geology and climate that govern the development of an active hydrothermal geo-ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A late Würmian and Holocene pollen profile from Tüttensee near Chiemsee, Bavaria, covering 14 millennia of vegetation history, shows the late Würmian reforestation of the area, Holocene woodland development, and later the human impact on the landscape. In the early Holocene a distinct Ulmus phase preceded the Corylus and Quercus expansion. Afterwards, between 6000 and 4000 BCE, Picea was most common. The expansion of Fagus and Abies started at 4000 BCE, together with the decline of Ulmus. Fagus was more common than Abies. From 500 BCE Abies started to decline, Fagus has also declined from 1000 CE onwards. Before the modern times Picea/Pinus phase Quercus is prevailing. The prehistoric human impact is rather weak. A short reforestation phase at ~ 1 BCE -- 1 CE hints at the rather complex migration history in this region with so called Celts, Germanic people and Romans involved. Strong human impact indicated by cereals, Plantago lanceolata, other human indicators and deforestation started at 900 CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kungur forest-steppe is the northernmost outpost of European forest-steppe, located in the western pre-Urals within the boreal climatic zone. The co-existence of boreal, nemoral and steppe species with relicts and endemics results in a high plant diversity, making it an important biodiversity hotspot. Under current climate change and strong agricultural impacts, the Kungur forest-steppe is rapidly degrading. In order to develop sustainable management strategies, we studied the vegetation history over the last 3500 years in the natural reserve area Spasskaya Gora. Palynological data indicate that the territory of Spasskaya Gora was largely covered by hemiboreal forests with high proportion of elm during the late Holocene. An opening of the vegetation strongly correlates with erosion, both indicating anthropogenic activities such as lumbering, agriculture, grazing and hay making. The modern Pinus and Betula dominated forests combined with large areas dominated by grasses and herbs appear in the last 300 years and caused by human activity. The data support the 'anthropogenic' hypothesis of the Kungur forest-steppe development, suggesting that Pleistocene steppe was replaced by hemiboreal forests during the Holocene. Steppe elements survived on exposed rocks. The recent forest-steppe landscapes dominated by pioneer birch and poplar were formed due to anthropogenic deforestation. With respect to nature conservation, our data demonstrate that prohibition of any anthropogenic activities at Spasskaya Gora will lead to loss of diversity of steppe assemblages over the mid-term. We emphasize that conservation of the high plant diversity of the Kungur forest-steppe must include disturbance factors in the form of selective lumbering, prescribed burning, moderate grazing or traditional mowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about past ecosystem dynamics and human activities is stored in the ice of Colle Gnifetti glacier in the Swiss Alps. Adverse climatic intervals incurred crop failures and famines and triggered reestablishment of forest vegetation but also societal resilience through innovation. Historical documents and lake sediments record these changes at local—regional scales but often struggle to comprehensively document continental‐scale impacts on ecosystems. Here, we provide unique multiproxy evidence of broad‐scale ecosystem, land use, and climate dynamics over the past millennium from a Colle Gnifetti microfossil and oxygen isotope record. Microfossil data indicate that before 1750 CE forests and fallow land rapidly replaced crop cultivation during historically documented societal crises caused by climate shifts and epidemics. Subsequently, with technology and the introduction of more resilient crops, European societies adapted to the Little Ice Age cold period, but resource overexploitation and industrialization led to new regional to global‐scale environmental challenges. Plain Language Summary: Sophisticated microscopy and geochemistry analyses of glacier ice from the Monte Rosa Massif in the Swiss Alps reveal close linkages among European climate, vegetation, agriculture, pollution, pests, and fire during the past millennium. Our novel time series shows that societal and environmental dynamics were mainly controlled by climate, pandemics, and technological innovations. By placing the glacial information into historical context, we reveal some of the mechanisms that created prosperity and peril in Europe's past. Industrialization and import of maize and other new crops enabled European societies to transcend the crop failures and famines of the Little Ice Age climate period during the 19th century, but unintended environmental consequences resulted, which are now culminating in global warming and species loss. Key Points: Novel ice core microfossil data reveal large‐scale dynamics among ecosystems, land use, and climate in EuropeProxies preserved in ice cores link land‐use change to societal challenges caused by climate events and epidemicsAgricultural reforms and industrialization disrupted links between climate and land use and led to current environmental challenges [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses an important debate in Amazonian studies; namely, the scale, intensity, and nature of human modification of the forests in prehistory. Phytolith and charcoal analysis of terrestrial soils underneath mature tierra firme (nonflooded, nonriverine) forests in the remote Medio Putumayo-Algodón watersheds, northeastern Peru, provide a vegetation and fire history spanning at least the past 5,000 y. A tree inventory carried out in the region enables calibration of ancient phytolith records with standing vegetation and estimates of palm species densities on the landscape through time. Phytolith records show no evidence for forest clearing or agriculture with major annual seed and root crops. Frequencies of important economic palms such as Oenocarpus, Euterpe, Bactris, and Astrocaryum spp., some of which contain hyperdominant species in the modern flora, do not increase through prehistoric time. This indicates pre-Columbian occupations, if documented in the region with future research, did not significantly increase the abundance of those species through management or cultivation. Phytoliths from other arboreal and woody species similarly reflect a stable forest structure and diversity throughout the records. Charcoal 14C dates evidence local forest burning between ca. 2,800 and 1,400 y ago. Our data support previous research indicating that considerable areas of some Amazonian tierra firme forests were not significantly impacted by human activities during the prehistoric era. Rather, it appears that over the last 5,000 y, indigenous populations in this region coexisted with, and helped maintain, large expanses of relatively unmodified forest, as they continue to do today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26,500–15,000 bp) members of the Eastern Beringia (now Alaska-Yukon, northwest North America) vascular flora were recognized based on their contemporary co-occurrence in easternmost Siberia (formerly part of Western Beringia). Of 1,633 indigenous terrestrial Alaska-Yukon taxa, 835 also occur in easternmost Siberia, including 526 arctic/alpine and 90 subarctic taxa. Archival macrofossil and DNA evidence corroborated the occurrence of 55 LGM taxa and indicated the presence of an additional 13 non–Western Beringian taxa. The total (848) was double the number of taxa previously considered amphi-Beringian, but likely, still an underestimate. Most Eastern Beringian arctic/alpine and subarctic taxa were perennials (94%) and forbs (64%), with herbaceous plants having average median heights of ≤ 37 cm. Arctic/alpine taxa were associated with xeric to submesic environments (54%), whereas the subarctic taxa favoured moister conditions. Both arctic/alpine and subarctic taxa were potentially present in unglaciated Eastern Beringia. However, some subarctic taxa may have migrated from refugial areas peripheral to Western Beringia during the Late Wisconsinan, prior to opening of the Bering Strait (11,000 bp), rather than being migrants from mid-latitude North America because of timing and distance considerations. Currently, former LGM Eastern Beringian taxa dominate (> 80% content) the flora and plant canopy cover of Alaska-Yukon arctic vegetation, but their frequency decreases curvilinearly (~ 0.102 taxon km−1) from Alaska to Hudson Bay, and from Yukon to southern British Columbia (p < 0.05). More than half of these taxa occur > 1,400 km from Eastern Beringia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of charcoal particles preserved in lake sediments has been frequently used to reconstruct fire, vegetation and climate history. Larger macroscopic particles (>125 μm) are attributed to local fires, whereas microscopic charcoal particles (<125 μm), observed on pollen slides, are a signal of regional fire. Taxonomic identification of the charcoal particles adds to the fire-history reconstruction by providing information about fuel composition and past fire conditions. Identification of charcoal can unravel one of the longstanding questions regarding past fire regimes, namely what was burning. This paper describes an analysis of charcoal particles preserved in the sediments of a small closed-basin lake in Yellowstone National Park. Blacktail Pond (44.954°N, 110.604°W; 2012 m elev) is located in steppe vegetation surrounded by conifer forest. Previous studies of the site have presented a multi-proxy environmental history of the last 14,650 years. The focus of this investigation was on the fire history of the early-Holocene (11,500–9900 cal yr BP). Thirty-nine sediment samples were taken at 0.5 cm intervals to examine macroscopic charcoal particles, with attention on two large charcoal peaks at 10,970 and 10,200 cal yr BP that registered large or near-site fires. Twenty-eight samples contained 243 large-enough particles (180–250 μm) to be examined with scanning electron microscopy. We were able to identify charcoal of conifers (Pinus , Picea, and Abies or Juniperus), Artemisia and unidentified deciduous shrubs, and unidentified monocotyledons. The first fire burned a mixture of fuels, whereas the second episode burned Artemisia , shrubs and herbs but no conifers. The results are consistent with previous pollen interpretations at Blacktail Pond that indicate an open mixed-conifer forest in the early Holocene prior to 10,750 cal yr BP, replaced by Pinus contorta forest on the slopes and steppe in the valley. The relative dominance of Pinus contorta -type charcoal points to the importance of fire as a catalyst for the spread of this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the resilience of African savannas to global change, quantitative information on the long-term dynamics of vegetation is required. Past dynamics can be reconstructed with the REVEALS model, which requires pollen productivity estimates (PPE) that are calibrated using surface pollen and vegetation data. Here we calculated PPE values for five savanna taxa using the extended R-value (ERV) model and two pollen dispersal options: the Gaussian plume model (GPM) and the Lagrangian stochastic model (LSM). The ERV calculations failed to produce a reliable PPE for Poaceae. We therefore used Combretaceae as the reference taxon – although values obtained with Poaceae as the reference taxon are presented in the supplement. Our results indicate that Combretaceae is the taxon with the highest pollen productivity and Grewia the taxon with the lowest productivity. Acacia and Dichrostachy s are intermediate pollen producers. We find no clear indication of whether the GPM PPEs or the LSM PPEs are more realistic, but the differences between these values confirmed that the pollen fall speed has a greater effect in the modelling of GPM than in the LSM. We also applied REVEALS to the pollen record of Lake Otjikoto (northern Namibia) and obtained the first quantitative reconstruction of the last 130 years of vegetation history in the region. Cover estimates for Poaceae indicate the predominance of a semi-open landscape throughout the 20th century, while cover values below 50% since the 21st century correspond to a thick savanna. This change in grass cover is associated with the spread of Vachellia, Senegalia and Grewia reflecting an encroached state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides natural climate variations, human activities can also cause significant changes in regional vegetation composition, especially during the late Holocene period. Southwest China has experienced a long history of human activities in terms of deforestation and agricultural development. Here we present a continuous fossil pollen record covering the past 2,100 years from Beihai Wetland in western Yunnan Province, for a better understanding of regional vegetation history and potential human activities. The pollen results indicate that the forest components show decreasing trends, including Alnus dominated deciduous broadleaved forest and evergreen broadleaved forest represented by evergreen Quercus. On the other hand, herbs such as Poaceae and Artemisia expanded along with the decline of forest, especially during the period after ad 1120. The results of ordination analysis further confirm such a pattern in which the first PCA component (PC1, capturing 42.2% of total variance) represents an increasing trend, which is subsequently interpreted as an index of human activities. Our findings show broadly identical patterns to previously published sedimentary records from Yunnan as well as historical documents. The human activities increased following the expansion in regional population, in the form of deforestation and regional agricultural development. They may also have caused the expansion of herbs, especially Poaceae, which replaced forest. Therefore, as indicated by the fossil pollen record from the Beihai Wetland, human activities in southwest China increased gradually during the past 2,100 years and more rapidly after ad 1120. Results of sediment influx and grain size analyses showed generally consistent patterns with the signs of summer monsoons captured by stable oxygen isotope records from stalagmites, indicating limited influence from human activities within the wetland system compared to the regional landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located in the eastern Carpathian Basin, a substantial part of the Banat region is characterized by wide undulating plains in which numerous prehistoric sites have been found, from Early Neolithic settlements to some of the largest known Late Bronze Age fortifications in Europe such as Corneşti-Iarcuri. Since palynological archives have proven to be extremely rare, respective studies used to concentrate on peat bogs in mountainous areas which occur at minimum distances of 100 km. This paper counters the generalization of such data by presenting the first available pollen records from lowland sites, where an open woodland mainly composed of Tilia , Quercus and Corylus prevailed throughout most of the Holocene. Human impact has been documented since the Early Neolithic, around 6000 cal. BC, but is especially evident in a drastic reduction of tree cover between the Copper and the Early Bronze Age (after 3000 cal. BC), in which fires seem to have played an essential role. From the Late Bronze Age onwards (after 1600 cal. BC), the landscape was eventually transformed into a cultural steppe by intensified land use under increasingly arid conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]