Insights into the late Holocene vegetation history of the East European forest-steppe: case study Sudzha (Kursk region, Russia) (original) (raw)
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Quaternary International, 2019
The paper presents new pollen and plant macrofossil records of environmental changes at the southern boundary of the mixed coniferous-broadleaf forest zone in the northwestern part of the Mid-Russian Upland (central European Russia) during the middle and late Holocene. The obtained results show that, between 7000 and 5000 cal yr BP, the study area was situated in a wooded steppe vegetation zone and the boundary between forest and steppe biomes was disposed of 50e70 km further northwest in comparison to its present position. After 5000 cal yr BP the more humid climate conditions resulted in the expansion of broadleaf forests, which persisted in the study area until 2000 cal yr BP. Therefore, the pre-agrarian landscape of these regions was mixed broadleaf forests of Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus and Corylus. Since around 2000 cal yr BP, human activity has been increasingly dominant with enhanced burning, soil erosion, felling of trees and the rise of agriculture. During the last three centuries, human activity resulted in a strong landscape transformation. Nowadays the remnants of the primary forest vegetation are persisted in small locations only.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2003
The vegetation history of the Kargaly region has been reconstructed on the basis of pollen analysis of archaeological sediments and one peat bog, the only one found during some years of surveying this area. This latter, Novienky peat bog, located in the steppe transition zone, offers an interesting cultural and natural sequence. Palynological analysis reveals several palaeoecological phases from 4300 b.p. (Bronze Age) to the 18th–19th centuries a.d. (Russian period). Metallurgical activities in Kargaly caused deforestation from the Bronze Age onwards that mainly affected the distribution of birch forests in the region. The palaeoclimatic interpretation of the Novienki pollen diagram is based on the observed changes in the pollen curves of Picea (spruce), Pinus (pine), Abies (silver fir) and Betula (birch). These arboreal taxa are regarded as main climate indicators. The chronology is established on a 14C-dated pollen profile from the lowest peat layer as well as on the regional pollen sequences and archaeological stratigraphies.
In the floodplain of the Moskva-river near Nikolina Gora 3, well-developed buried soils have been revealed. The lower soil of Boreal-Atlantic age, a Chernozem, contains pollen of steppe plants but no pollen of conifers. Subboreal and Subatlantic soils have light humus-eluvial horizons. Subatlantic soils also have a well-developed Bt horizon. The pollen data shows the distribution of the spruce forests in the second half of the Holocene. Some signs of economic activities, such as the pollen of ruderal plants and coal, appear at the end of the formation of the Atlantic soil and correspond to the Neolithic. In the Subatlantic soils, there are many traces of intensive development of the floodplain associated with the economic activity of the population of Iron Age and early Middle Ages. The pollen and soil characteristics indicate deforestation of the floodplain and the continued existence of anthropogenic grasslands and meadows within a radius of 1 km from the settlements.
First pollen record from the Late Holocene forest environment in the Lesser Caucasus
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 2022
Pollen-based vegetation change has been inferred from sediments in Kalavan Red Lake. This small lake is placed in the beech-oak-hornbeam forest, about three kilometres away from archaeological remains. It has the potential to document the Holocene forest history and climate and human impacts on the Lesser Caucasus. However, this lake happens to be formed by a large landslide. Pollen and XRF analysis are provided over the last 3800 years. The basal age of the Kalavan sediment approximates the landslide age. This created a not vegetated slope including the lake catchment. Erosion and sedimentation processes brought coarse and heavy minerogenic elements, declining with the catchment revegetation by tall-grassland. This shift in the sedimentation continues, suggesting less erosion in the catchment when an admixture of Quercus and grasslands settled. Starting from 2000 cal. BP, arboreal pollen increases successively thanks to the step afforestation of Quercus, Carpinus orientalis and Fagus. The comparison with available pollen reconstruction illustrates the uniqueness of the vegetation dynamic recorded at Kalavan. However, the duration of this succession is also questionable. An intermediate hypothesis is proposed: the Kalavan's dynamic is first initiated J o u r n a l P r e-p r o o f Journal Pre-proof by the landslide with the tall-grass development, then paced by the regional vegetation dynamic. Linking vegetation history and erosion with regional climate and archaeological data helps to evidence short-term climate change and human impact. Antique arid phase (2000-1600 cal. BP), the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age affect the vegetation, while demography variations during the Medieval period and Modern Age are shown by pastoral activity.
Paleontological Journal, 2019
An environmental reconstruction of vegetation and climate is inferred from pollen records of Lake Rubskoe (Ivanovo region, Central Russia). The reconstruction suggests a general prevalence of pollen of broadleaved trees. The results suggest a relatively cold period during the earlier part of the record (500-400 cm) followed by a warmer period (400-160 cm). Climate conditions similar to modern ones are reconstructed for the youngest sediments (160-50 cm).
IOP conference series, 2020
The paper presents the first results of pollen and macrofossil analysis of a peat bog located near the Moscow city within the territory of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. Macrofossil data demonstrate that the bog development started from the stage of a spring calcetrophic fen at the very beginning of the Holocene. After 9.9 ka BP it became a mesooligotrophic herbaceous-sphagnum bog. Pollen data manifest early spread of spruce in the Moscow region (before 10.2 ka BP). Predominance of broad-leaved temperate deciduous forests is characteristic of the Holocene thermal optimum (8.5-4.8 ka BP). The new spread of spruce forests began after 4.8 ka BP. The first signs of deforestation for agriculture date back to 1.8-1.7 ka BP (Early Iron Age). The next massive deforestation for agriculture was recorded 0.7-0.4 ka BP (Middle Age). After the 17th century, anthropogenic activity decreased, as a result of the establishment of the reserve status.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2009
In this study we present a recent compilation of 286 modern surface pollen spectra from the southern part of the Russian Far East (42-54 N, 131-141 E) and use it to test the biome reconstruction method. Seventy terrestrial pollen taxa were assigned to plant functional types and then classified to eight regional biomes. When applied to 286 surface pollen spectra, the method assigns about 70% (201 sites) of the samples to the cool mixed forest biome, 17%-to the taiga, 2%-to the cool conifer forest, 3%-to the temperate deciduous forest, and 7%-to the steppe. The steppe reconstruction is characteristic of the pollen spectra from the agricultural areas around Lake Khanka. A visual comparison shows good agreement between pollen-derived biomes and actual vegetation distribution in the region. However, pollen and botanical data, compared with the potential vegetation distribution simulated from the modern climate dataset using the BIOME1 model, demonstrate that spatial distribution of cool mixed forest is underrepresented in the model simulation. The model sets the mean temperature of the coldest month of À15 C as the factor limiting distribution of the temperate deciduous broadleaf taxa, while vegetation and pollen data from the region demonstrate that this limit should be lowered to À26 C. Application of the method to the Gur 3-99 pollen record (50 00 0 N, 137 03 0 E) demonstrates that tundra vegetation predominated around the site prior to 14 ka BP (1 ka ¼ 1000 cal. years). However, the local presence of boreal trees and mixed forest-tundra vegetation is suggested by relatively high taiga scores. Soon after 14 ka BP the scores of taiga become slightly higher than tundra scores. During 11.4-10.5 ka BP a cool conifer forest is reconstructed. Establishment of the full interglacial conditions is marked by the onset of cool mixed forest by 10.5 ka BP. Between 10.3 and 2.5 ka BP the scores of temperate deciduous forest are close to those of cool mixed forest and become distinctly lower during the late Holocene.
Studia Quaternaria, 2017
The last one hundred years of land use history in the southern part of Valdai Hills (European Russia) were reconstructed on the base of high resolution pollen data from the peat monolith taken from the Central Forest State Reserve supplementing with historical records derived from maps of the General Land Survey of the 18th and 19th centuries and satellite images. According to the created age model provided by dating using radio-nuclides 210Pb and 137Cs, pollen data of the peat monolith allow us to reconstruct vegetation dynamics during the last one hundred years with high time resolution. The obtained data showed that, despite the location of the studied peatland in the center of the forest area and rather far away from possible croplands and hayfields, the pollen values of plants – anthropogenic indicators (Secale sereale, Centaurea cyanus, Plantago, Rumex, etc.) and micro-charcoal concentration are relatively high in the period since the beginning of the 20th century to the 1970s...
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
Gully deposits were studied in the vicinity of Early Medieval archaeological sites in the Volga River Bend region, Russia. Anthropogenic and natural causes of erosion were distinguished by a novel combination of sedimentological, palynological, and pedoanthracological methods. Within the 10 ka-old colluvial fan sequence deposited in the forest-steppe zone, sedimentation rates are reconstructed as negligible in the first half of the Holocene, increasing drastically in the first centuries AD. Seven episodes of erosion and stabilization were distinguished, each beginning with the deposition of coarser sediments enriched in charcoal and gravel. Erosional events were followed by local deforestation; tree taxa found in charcoal assemblages of each cycle generally mirrored the taxa of the previous cycle in the pollen spectra. The cycles chronologically matched known archaeological occupations in the area. First portions of colluvia in the sequence (1st to 3rd cent. AD) contained seeds of zoochores indicative of livestock husbandry; from the 3rd century AD to 16th cent. AD, colluvia contained micro-artifacts (1-20 mm), pollen of cultivated plants and their weeds, and pollen of taxa typical for trails and drove ways. We reconstruct a change in the type of cultivation techniques from pollen spectra in the gully deposits. Cerealia and Onagraceae pollen indicative of swidden agriculture is present in the 3rd-6th cent. AD, while Cerealia, Fagopyrum, Centaurea cyanus pollen and Riccia spores in the 8th-14th cent. AD are evidence of permanent fields within the catchment.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2007
This thesis took a long way to finish, and this would not be achieved without all scientific and mental support of all my colleagues, friends and family. First, I would like to thank to my supervisor Petr Pokorný for encouraging me to start with a very interesting but very incalculable topic, for keeping supporting me quite a long time, for fruitful discussions not only about palaeoeology and for friendship. Studying the Mesolithic would not be possible without cooperation with archaeologists. The one who had great influence is Petr Šída. I appreciate we could start cooperation on environmental topics concerning the hunter-gatherer populations. Another person I would like to thank is Dagmar Dreslerová, who supported me with fruitful discussions upon archaeological and palaeoclimatological topics, and who encouraged me when I was down. Another part of my work, which I really appreciate, is that I could join the team of Milan Chytrý working in southern Siberia. Milan is acknowledged for giving me great ideas, supporting me on expedition and for a great help during writing manuscripts. Barbora Luèenièová is thanked for cooperation during pollen determination and preparation of manuscripts. I am grateful to numerous members of Siberian vegetation-survey team. I thank to Vlasta Jankovská for general support and for providing her data. I am grateful to Marie Peichlová, Libor Petr, Petr Pokorný, Eliška Rybníèková and Helena Svobodová-Svitavská who also kindly provided data. During my Ph.D. studies I visited several times the group of palaeoecology at the IPS, University of Bern. I really appreciate a continuous support which gave Brigitta Ammann not only to me, but for the whole Czech palaeoecology. I also greatly thank to Jacqueline van Leeuwen and Pim van der Knaap for teaching me in the fields of palynology and palaeoecology, for many excursions we made (even the research trip to Galapagos) and for their friendship. I thank to Agnieszka Wacnik, Jacek Madeja and Ewa Wypasek all from Krakow for exchanging ideas, fruitful meetings and for making wonderful excursions, especially to the Great Masurian Lakes District. I am extremely grateful to my fellow colleagues Vojtìch Abraham, Radka Kozáková, Libor Petr for making a great atmosphere of inspiration. I also thank to Miloš Kaplan † who, hopefully, finally found peace. I acknowledge Tomáš Herben for continuous support for palaeoecology at the department and for encouraging me to start with it. I thank to Jan Zápotocký for giving me help with finalization and pre-print procedures of the manuscript. The research would not be possible without financial support of different projects. I was supported by long-term project of the Ministry of Education no. MSM0021620828, then by grants of the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences no. KJB6111305 and IAAX00020701. Parts of the research were financed under Ministry of Environment (project SE/620/7/03) and Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences (project IAA6163303). Tímto bych chtìl podìkovat svým rodièùm, kteøí mì podporovali po celou dobu mého studia, aè jim musela pøipadat neúmìrnì dlouhá. Chronologically, the period of interest starts with the oxygen isotopic stage 2 (OIS 2; 30 ka B.P., according to Bond et al., 1997) and ends after the last cooling event 8200 cal. B.P. with the beginning of the Holocene climatic optimum. Culturally, this is the period of late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, who finally vanished with oncoming neolitisation (Fig. 1). The late Pleistocene period, which had a huge significance for humans (Finlayson & Carrion, 2007), was traditionally depicted as harsh glacial maximum climate. But this, paradoxically, apply to a small fraction around 18 ka B.P. (21-21.5 ka cal. B.P.) only. Glacial climate before the last glacial maximum (LGM) and late-glacial climate after it was far less severe (van Andel & Tzedakis, 1996). The question remains how responded the vegetation to these changes. Modelling vegetation patterns during the glacial period is an issue since Frenzel (1968) proposed his concept. Even he suggests some forest vegetation in central-eastern Europe in the LGM. Recent simulations for the Interpleniglacial (OIS 3) place taiga vegetation to central Europe (Huntley et al., 2003). Even models for vegetation distribution in the LGM show boreal-forest or forest-tundra (Harrison & Prentice, 2003), however, pollen data from central Europe were missing for calibration of these models. Studying vegetation and climate changes has possible implications for understanding patterns of migration of human population during the OIS 2 as their adaptive responses (Svoboda, 2007). The afforestation process started due to warming and relatively stable climate at the beginning of the Holocene. New set of species immigrated and established climax broadleaf forests. The afforestation in central Europe was probably at the highest level that time. However, there are different views whether it was complete or there still existed a lot of open spaces (see Lo ek, 2004; Sádlo et al., 2005; Vera, 2000). This is especially important considering this period as the time of last hunter-gatherers. Human populations started to be less mobile and probably affected local environments more intensively. Although ecosystems are still considered as naturally evolved, humans could play very significant role in supporting survival of some steppic species in generally forested landscape. They also could act supporting intentional or unintentional migration of some species. On the other hand, humans probably contributed to final extinction of megafauna in central Europe, namely mammoth, rhinoceros or European bison (Burney & Flannery, 2005; Wroe et al., 2006). All of them were big herbivores and their dismissing could play very important role in vegetation development. Since, it is very difficult to find any significant traces of hunter-gatherers in central-European ecosystems by mean of palaeoecological methods, we find very useful, and this is a specific aim of the present thesis, to search for traces of human impact. Reconstruction and interpretation of various stages of glacial and early postglacial vegetation, climatically induced development of no-analog communities and evolution of human impact, which finally led to evolution of cultural landscape, are very important questions in palaeoecology. Vegetation during of the last glacial and early Holocene in central Europe Traditional views depicted vegetation development in central Europe since the pleniglacial to the Holocene as a final dominance of forest over treeless steppe or tundra vegetation. Cold glacial period was determined as treeless landscape, while warming up forced immigration of trees from the south at the end of the glacial. However, recently we have more sophisticated information about the glacial climate, which led to numerous suggestions and models, that central European landscape and vegetation did not suffer that much from such severe conditions during the whole glacial. Most recent views about the last glacial and early postglacial vegetation in central Europe are briefly described below. Vegetation and climate during the OIS 3 (Fig. 1) was widely studied by the OIS Three Project (Cambridge, 2003). It suggested that during the warmer interstadial phases central Europe could harbour parkland vegetation with coniferous trees, even with some admixture of broadleaf trees. These models were so far hardly supported by very few palaeobotanical data. Some records come from Western Europe and southern Poland. Palaeobotanical finds from Moravia and Hungary are discussed in Chapter 3. What we find crucial is correct interpretation of these finds. Even during the coldest stages of the pleniglacial there could still exist isolated populations of tree species in periglacial landscape (Lang, 1994). Their habitats could be most probably situated along rivers (already proposed by Frenzel (1968)) or in protected intermontane valleys (see Chapter 3). This also supports new theories about no-existent/discontinuous permafrost during warm/cold stages of the pleniglacial (Alfano et al., 2003). Although we have only modelled data for the LGM in central Europe, there exist records from southern and eastern Europe interpreting vegetation as glacial steppe (Elenga et al., 2000; Tarasov et al., 2000). Question is whether trees survived the LGM in central Europe? One positive answer can bring comparison of climate, which did not differ that much between warm and cold periods, and BIOME model of vegetation during the LGM (Harrison & Prentice, 2003). Another answer can bring new palaeobotanical finds presented in Chapter 3, showing that trees massively occurred in early late-glacial pollen records. Generally we may assume that climate during the OIS 3 and 2 most probably had large local or regional discrepancies, which influenced vegetation distribution and possible existence of local refugia. During the last interstadials in late Pleistocene, taiga vegetation developed. It retreated during cool stadial phases and spread again at the beginning of the Holocene. This is well documented by several pollen assemblages in central and central-eastern Europe (see (Williams & Jackson, 2007), compositionally unlike of any found today, and with no-analog climate conditions (lowered CO2, seasonality insulation or persistent ice-sheet). These assumptions can also influence possible convergence or divergence in relationship between vegetation and assemblages. Errors can arise from such sources in analog analysis. Scheme and main questions of the work Chapter 1 brings the general assumptions and introduction to the problem, which is being resolved in particular studies. They are sorted in this work chronologically. Chapter 2 'The relationship of modern pollen spectra, vegetation and climate along a steppe-forest-tundra transition in the Western Sayan Mts., southern Siberia, explored by decision...