ID:
publications-1724
Type:
Peer reviewed articles
Year:
2023
Authors:
Esmeralda Cruz-Silva, Sandy P. Harrison, I. Colin Prentice, Elena Marinova
Title:
Holocene vegetation dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean region: Old controversies addressed by a new analysis
Venue/Journal:
Journal of Biogeography
DOI:
10.1111/jbi.14749
Research type:
IoT & Sensors
Water System:
Wastewater Treatment Plants
Technical Focus:
Abstract:
AbstractAimWe reconstruct vegetation changes since 12 ky in the Eastern Mediterranean to examine four features of the regional vegetation history that are controversial: the extent of nonâanalogue vegetation assemblages in the transition from the Late Glacial to the early Holocene, the synchroneity of postglacial forest expansion, the geographical extent of temperate deciduous forest during the midâHolocene and the timing and trigger for the reâestablishment of droughtâtolerant vegetation during the late Holocene.LocationThe Eastern MediterraneanâBlack Sea Caspian Corridor.TaxonVascular plants.MethodsWe reconstruct vegetation changes for 122 fossil pollen records using a method that accounts for withinâbiome variability in pollen taxon abundance to determine the biome with which a sample has greatest affinity. Perâbiome affinity threshold values were used to identify samples that do not belong to any modern biome. We apply time series analysis and mapping to examine space and time changes.ResultsSites with nonâanalogue vegetation were most common between 11.5 and 9.5 ky and mostly in the Carpathians. The transition from open vegetation to forest occurred at 10.64â±â0.65 ky across the whole region. Temperate deciduous forest was not more extensive at 6 ky; maximum expansion occurred between 5.5 and 5 ky. Expansion of forest occurred between c. 4 and 2.8âk, followed by an abrupt decrease and a subsequent recovery. This pattern is not consistent with a systematic decline of forest towards more droughtâtolerant vegetation in the late Holocene but is consistent with centennialâscale speleothem patterns linked to variations in moisture availability.Main ConclusionsWe show the occurrence of nonâanalogue vegetation types peaked during early Holocene, forest expansion was synchronous across the region and there was an expansion of moistureâdemanding temperate trees around 5.5 to 5 ky. There is no signal of a continuous late Holocene aridification, but changes in forest cover appear to reflect climatic rather than anthropogenic influences.
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