Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland
We use pollen, stomata and plant-macrofossil records to infer Holocene timberline fluctuations and changes in forest composition at Lac Supérieur de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.), a small lake located near the modern regional timberline on a highland plateau in the Central Alps. Our records suggest that dur...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082552 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683607082552 |
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crsagepubl:10.1177/0959683607082552 2023-05-15T16:02:45+02:00 Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland Finsinger, Walter Tinner, Willy 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082552 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683607082552 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The Holocene volume 17, issue 8, page 1119-1127 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change journal-article 2007 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082552 2022-07-03T16:08:52Z We use pollen, stomata and plant-macrofossil records to infer Holocene timberline fluctuations and changes in forest composition at Lac Supérieur de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.), a small lake located near the modern regional timberline on a highland plateau in the Central Alps. Our records suggest that during the early Holocene vegetation was rather open on the plateau (eg, heaths of Dryas octopetala, Juniperus nana). The only tree that was able to build major stands was Betula. Other timberline trees (eg, Pinus cembra and Larix) expanded in the catchment of the lake after 8200 cal. BP, when Abies alba expanded at lower elevation. The late appearance of these timberline trees contrasts with previous plant-macrofossil records in the region, which show that the timberline had reached elevations up to at least 2350 m already at 11000 cal. BP. We suggest that local climatic conditions may have delayed the expansion of closed stands of coniferous trees in the catchment of Lac de Fully until c. 8200 cal. BP, when climate shifted to more humid and less continental conditions. After c . 4600 cal. BP vegetation around the lake primarily responded to human impact, which caused a local lowering of the timberline by at least 150 m. Article in Journal/Newspaper Dryas octopetala SAGE Publications (via Crossref) The Holocene 17 8 1119 1127 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SAGE Publications (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crsagepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change |
spellingShingle |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change Finsinger, Walter Tinner, Willy Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland |
topic_facet |
Paleontology Earth-Surface Processes Ecology Archeology Global and Planetary Change |
description |
We use pollen, stomata and plant-macrofossil records to infer Holocene timberline fluctuations and changes in forest composition at Lac Supérieur de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.), a small lake located near the modern regional timberline on a highland plateau in the Central Alps. Our records suggest that during the early Holocene vegetation was rather open on the plateau (eg, heaths of Dryas octopetala, Juniperus nana). The only tree that was able to build major stands was Betula. Other timberline trees (eg, Pinus cembra and Larix) expanded in the catchment of the lake after 8200 cal. BP, when Abies alba expanded at lower elevation. The late appearance of these timberline trees contrasts with previous plant-macrofossil records in the region, which show that the timberline had reached elevations up to at least 2350 m already at 11000 cal. BP. We suggest that local climatic conditions may have delayed the expansion of closed stands of coniferous trees in the catchment of Lac de Fully until c. 8200 cal. BP, when climate shifted to more humid and less continental conditions. After c . 4600 cal. BP vegetation around the lake primarily responded to human impact, which caused a local lowering of the timberline by at least 150 m. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Finsinger, Walter Tinner, Willy |
author_facet |
Finsinger, Walter Tinner, Willy |
author_sort |
Finsinger, Walter |
title |
Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland |
title_short |
Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland |
title_full |
Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland |
title_fullStr |
Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pollen and plant macrofossils at Lac de Fully (2135 m a.s.l.): Holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the Valais, Switzerland |
title_sort |
pollen and plant macrofossils at lac de fully (2135 m a.s.l.): holocene forest dynamics on a highland plateau in the valais, switzerland |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082552 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683607082552 |
genre |
Dryas octopetala |
genre_facet |
Dryas octopetala |
op_source |
The Holocene volume 17, issue 8, page 1119-1127 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082552 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1119 |
op_container_end_page |
1127 |
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1766398426258341888 |