Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland)
Since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; end ca. 19 000 cal BP) central European plant communities have been shaped by changing climatic and anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding long-term ecosystem reorganizations in response to past environmental changes is crucial to draw conclusions about the im...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b2f583d7e5a14c9ebfef5f3fc22d3c13 2023-05-15T18:40:20+02:00 Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) F. Rey E. Gobet C. Schwörer A. Hafner S. Szidat W. Tinner 2020-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1347-2020 https://doaj.org/article/b2f583d7e5a14c9ebfef5f3fc22d3c13 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/16/1347/2020/cp-16-1347-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-16-1347-2020 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/b2f583d7e5a14c9ebfef5f3fc22d3c13 Climate of the Past, Vol 16, Pp 1347-1367 (2020) Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1347-2020 2022-12-31T09:28:47Z Since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; end ca. 19 000 cal BP) central European plant communities have been shaped by changing climatic and anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding long-term ecosystem reorganizations in response to past environmental changes is crucial to draw conclusions about the impact of future climate change. So far, it has been difficult to address the post-deglaciation timing and ecosystem dynamics due to a lack of well-dated and continuous sediment sequences covering the entire period after the LGM. Here, we present a new paleoecological study with exceptional chronological time control using pollen, spores and microscopic charcoal from Moossee (Swiss Plateau, 521 m a.s.l.) to reconstruct the vegetation and fire history over the last ca. 19 000 years. After lake formation in response to deglaciation, five major pollen-inferred ecosystem rearrangements occurred at ca. 18 800 cal BP (establishment of steppe tundra), 16 000 cal BP (spread of shrub tundra), 14 600 cal BP (expansion of boreal forests), 11 600 cal BP (establishment of the first temperate deciduous tree stands composed of, e.g., Quercus, Ulmus, Alnus ) and 8200 cal BP (first occurrence of mesophilous Fagus sylvatica trees). These vegetation shifts were caused by climate changes at ca. 19 000, 16 000, 14 700, 11 700 and 8200 cal BP. Vegetation responses occurred with no apparent time lag to climate change when the mutual chronological uncertainties are considered. This finding is in agreement with further evidence from southern and central Europe and might be explained by the proximity to the refugia of boreal and temperate trees ( <400 km) and rapid species spreads. Our palynological record sets the beginning of millennial-scale land use with periodically increased fire and agricultural activities of the Neolithic period at ca. 7000 cal BP. Subsequently, humans rather than climate triggered changes in vegetation composition and structure. We conclude that Fagus sylvatica forests were resilient to long-term anthropogenic and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Climate of the Past 16 4 1347 1367 |
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English |
topic |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 F. Rey E. Gobet C. Schwörer A. Hafner S. Szidat W. Tinner Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) |
topic_facet |
Environmental pollution TD172-193.5 Environmental protection TD169-171.8 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; end ca. 19 000 cal BP) central European plant communities have been shaped by changing climatic and anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding long-term ecosystem reorganizations in response to past environmental changes is crucial to draw conclusions about the impact of future climate change. So far, it has been difficult to address the post-deglaciation timing and ecosystem dynamics due to a lack of well-dated and continuous sediment sequences covering the entire period after the LGM. Here, we present a new paleoecological study with exceptional chronological time control using pollen, spores and microscopic charcoal from Moossee (Swiss Plateau, 521 m a.s.l.) to reconstruct the vegetation and fire history over the last ca. 19 000 years. After lake formation in response to deglaciation, five major pollen-inferred ecosystem rearrangements occurred at ca. 18 800 cal BP (establishment of steppe tundra), 16 000 cal BP (spread of shrub tundra), 14 600 cal BP (expansion of boreal forests), 11 600 cal BP (establishment of the first temperate deciduous tree stands composed of, e.g., Quercus, Ulmus, Alnus ) and 8200 cal BP (first occurrence of mesophilous Fagus sylvatica trees). These vegetation shifts were caused by climate changes at ca. 19 000, 16 000, 14 700, 11 700 and 8200 cal BP. Vegetation responses occurred with no apparent time lag to climate change when the mutual chronological uncertainties are considered. This finding is in agreement with further evidence from southern and central Europe and might be explained by the proximity to the refugia of boreal and temperate trees ( <400 km) and rapid species spreads. Our palynological record sets the beginning of millennial-scale land use with periodically increased fire and agricultural activities of the Neolithic period at ca. 7000 cal BP. Subsequently, humans rather than climate triggered changes in vegetation composition and structure. We conclude that Fagus sylvatica forests were resilient to long-term anthropogenic and ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
F. Rey E. Gobet C. Schwörer A. Hafner S. Szidat W. Tinner |
author_facet |
F. Rey E. Gobet C. Schwörer A. Hafner S. Szidat W. Tinner |
author_sort |
F. Rey |
title |
Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) |
title_short |
Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) |
title_full |
Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) |
title_fullStr |
Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at Moossee (Switzerland) |
title_sort |
climate impacts on vegetation and fire dynamics since the last deglaciation at moossee (switzerland) |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1347-2020 https://doaj.org/article/b2f583d7e5a14c9ebfef5f3fc22d3c13 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Climate of the Past, Vol 16, Pp 1347-1367 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/16/1347/2020/cp-16-1347-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9324 https://doaj.org/toc/1814-9332 doi:10.5194/cp-16-1347-2020 1814-9324 1814-9332 https://doaj.org/article/b2f583d7e5a14c9ebfef5f3fc22d3c13 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-1347-2020 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
16 |
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4 |
container_start_page |
1347 |
op_container_end_page |
1367 |
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