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• Main Authors: Ian T. Lawson, Kevin J. Edwards, Mike J. Church, Anthony J. Newton, Gordon T. Cook, Freddy J. Gathorne-hardy, Andrew J. Dugmore
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Sandoy; Faroes; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.661.2872; http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/5981/1/Lawson_et_al_J_Biogeogr_ms_FINAL.pdf

2 Aim To investigate the form and dynamics of ecosystems on an isolated island in the North Atlantic before human settlement in the first millennium AD, and the effects of human activities thereafter. Location The island of Sandoy, Faroes (61º 50’N, 6º 45’W). Methods Two sequences of lake sediments and one of peat were studied using pollen analysis and sedimentological techniques. Age models were constructed on the basis of radiocarbon dating and, in one case, tephrochronology. The data were analysed statistically and compared with existing data from the region. Results The pollen data indicate that early Holocene vegetation consisted of fell-field communities probably growing on raw, skeletal soils. These communities gave way to grass- and sedge-dominated communities, which in turn were largely replaced by dwarf shrub-dominated blanket mire communities well before the first arrival of humans. There is evidence for episodic soil erosion, particularly in the uplands. Changes in the records attributable to human impact are minor in comparison with many other situations in the North Atlantic margins, and with certain published