The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia
QuestionsWe investigated the changing role of climate, forest fires and human population size in the broad-scale compositional changes in Holocene vegetation dynamics before and after the onset of farming in Sweden (at 6,000cal yr BP) and in Finland (at 4,000calyr BP). LocationSouthern and central S...
Published in: | Journal of Vegetation Science |
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Language: | English |
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John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111)
2021
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/326616 |
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/326616 2024-01-07T09:43:09+01:00 The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia Kuosmanen, Niina Marquer, Laurent Tallavaara, Miikka Molinari, Chiara Zhang, Yurui Alenius, Teija Edinborough, Kevan Pesonen, Petro Reitalu, Triin Renssen, Hans Trondman, Anna-Kari Seppa, Heikki Department of Geosciences and Geography Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Department of Cultures Archaeology 2021-02-17T08:48:01Z 11 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/326616 eng eng John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111) 10.1111/jvs.12601 PEDECO; Czech Science Foundation (GACR); EBOR; Academy of Finland Kuosmanen , N , Marquer , L , Tallavaara , M , Molinari , C , Zhang , Y , Alenius , T , Edinborough , K , Pesonen , P , Reitalu , T , Renssen , H , Trondman , A-K & Seppa , H 2018 , ' The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia ' , Journal of Vegetation Science , vol. 29 , no. 3 , pp. 382-392 . https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12601 ORCID: /0000-0003-2494-7955/work/47218523 ORCID: /0000-0003-2965-5177/work/47222294 ORCID: /0000-0001-9252-7309/work/101794896 ORCID: /0000-0003-4076-7305/work/132078781 85042097777 be4da367-6a3e-41c6-9a9d-c55be6de6812 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/326616 000438651900004 unspecified openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess climate fire human population size pollen REVEALS plant abundance variation partitioning NEOLITHIC LAND-USE SOUTHERN SWEDEN NORTHERN EUROPE REGIONAL VEGETATION BOREAL FOREST QUANTITATIVE RECONSTRUCTIONS LANDSCAPE DYNAMICS CHARCOAL RECORDS MODEL 1172 Environmental sciences Article acceptedVersion 2021 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:08:26Z QuestionsWe investigated the changing role of climate, forest fires and human population size in the broad-scale compositional changes in Holocene vegetation dynamics before and after the onset of farming in Sweden (at 6,000cal yr BP) and in Finland (at 4,000calyr BP). LocationSouthern and central Sweden, SW and SE Finland. MethodsHolocene regional plant abundances were reconstructed using the REVEALS model on selected fossil pollen records from lakes. The relative importance of climate, fires and human population size on changes in vegetation composition was assessed using variation partitioning. Past climate variable was derived from the LOVECLIM climate model. Fire variable was reconstructed from sedimentary charcoal records. Estimated trend in human population size was based on the temporal distribution of archaeological radiocarbon dates. ResultsClimate explains the highest proportion of variation in vegetation composition during the whole study period in Sweden (10,000-4,000cal yr BP) and in Finland (10,000-1,000cal yr BP), and during the pre-agricultural period. In general, fires explain a relatively low proportion of variation. Human population size has significant effect on vegetation dynamics after the onset of farming and explains the highest variation in vegetation in S Sweden and SW Finland. ConclusionsMesolithic hunter-gatherer populations did not significantly affect vegetation composition in Fennoscandia, and climate was the main driver of changes at that time. Agricultural communities, however, had greater effect on vegetation dynamics, and the role of human population size became a more important factor during the late Holocene. Our results demonstrate that climate can be considered the main driver of long-term vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia. However, in some regions the influence of human population size on Holocene vegetation changes exceeded that of climate and has a longevity dating to the early Neolithic. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandia HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Journal of Vegetation Science 29 3 382 392 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
climate fire human population size pollen REVEALS plant abundance variation partitioning NEOLITHIC LAND-USE SOUTHERN SWEDEN NORTHERN EUROPE REGIONAL VEGETATION BOREAL FOREST QUANTITATIVE RECONSTRUCTIONS LANDSCAPE DYNAMICS CHARCOAL RECORDS MODEL 1172 Environmental sciences |
spellingShingle |
climate fire human population size pollen REVEALS plant abundance variation partitioning NEOLITHIC LAND-USE SOUTHERN SWEDEN NORTHERN EUROPE REGIONAL VEGETATION BOREAL FOREST QUANTITATIVE RECONSTRUCTIONS LANDSCAPE DYNAMICS CHARCOAL RECORDS MODEL 1172 Environmental sciences Kuosmanen, Niina Marquer, Laurent Tallavaara, Miikka Molinari, Chiara Zhang, Yurui Alenius, Teija Edinborough, Kevan Pesonen, Petro Reitalu, Triin Renssen, Hans Trondman, Anna-Kari Seppa, Heikki The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia |
topic_facet |
climate fire human population size pollen REVEALS plant abundance variation partitioning NEOLITHIC LAND-USE SOUTHERN SWEDEN NORTHERN EUROPE REGIONAL VEGETATION BOREAL FOREST QUANTITATIVE RECONSTRUCTIONS LANDSCAPE DYNAMICS CHARCOAL RECORDS MODEL 1172 Environmental sciences |
description |
QuestionsWe investigated the changing role of climate, forest fires and human population size in the broad-scale compositional changes in Holocene vegetation dynamics before and after the onset of farming in Sweden (at 6,000cal yr BP) and in Finland (at 4,000calyr BP). LocationSouthern and central Sweden, SW and SE Finland. MethodsHolocene regional plant abundances were reconstructed using the REVEALS model on selected fossil pollen records from lakes. The relative importance of climate, fires and human population size on changes in vegetation composition was assessed using variation partitioning. Past climate variable was derived from the LOVECLIM climate model. Fire variable was reconstructed from sedimentary charcoal records. Estimated trend in human population size was based on the temporal distribution of archaeological radiocarbon dates. ResultsClimate explains the highest proportion of variation in vegetation composition during the whole study period in Sweden (10,000-4,000cal yr BP) and in Finland (10,000-1,000cal yr BP), and during the pre-agricultural period. In general, fires explain a relatively low proportion of variation. Human population size has significant effect on vegetation dynamics after the onset of farming and explains the highest variation in vegetation in S Sweden and SW Finland. ConclusionsMesolithic hunter-gatherer populations did not significantly affect vegetation composition in Fennoscandia, and climate was the main driver of changes at that time. Agricultural communities, however, had greater effect on vegetation dynamics, and the role of human population size became a more important factor during the late Holocene. Our results demonstrate that climate can be considered the main driver of long-term vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia. However, in some regions the influence of human population size on Holocene vegetation changes exceeded that of climate and has a longevity dating to the early Neolithic. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Department of Geosciences and Geography Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Department of Cultures Archaeology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kuosmanen, Niina Marquer, Laurent Tallavaara, Miikka Molinari, Chiara Zhang, Yurui Alenius, Teija Edinborough, Kevan Pesonen, Petro Reitalu, Triin Renssen, Hans Trondman, Anna-Kari Seppa, Heikki |
author_facet |
Kuosmanen, Niina Marquer, Laurent Tallavaara, Miikka Molinari, Chiara Zhang, Yurui Alenius, Teija Edinborough, Kevan Pesonen, Petro Reitalu, Triin Renssen, Hans Trondman, Anna-Kari Seppa, Heikki |
author_sort |
Kuosmanen, Niina |
title |
The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia |
title_short |
The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia |
title_full |
The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia |
title_fullStr |
The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia |
title_full_unstemmed |
The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia |
title_sort |
role of climate, forest fires and human population size in holocene vegetation dynamics in fennoscandia |
publisher |
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (10.1111) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/326616 |
genre |
Fennoscandia |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandia |
op_relation |
10.1111/jvs.12601 PEDECO; Czech Science Foundation (GACR); EBOR; Academy of Finland Kuosmanen , N , Marquer , L , Tallavaara , M , Molinari , C , Zhang , Y , Alenius , T , Edinborough , K , Pesonen , P , Reitalu , T , Renssen , H , Trondman , A-K & Seppa , H 2018 , ' The role of climate, forest fires and human population size in Holocene vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia ' , Journal of Vegetation Science , vol. 29 , no. 3 , pp. 382-392 . https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12601 ORCID: /0000-0003-2494-7955/work/47218523 ORCID: /0000-0003-2965-5177/work/47222294 ORCID: /0000-0001-9252-7309/work/101794896 ORCID: /0000-0003-4076-7305/work/132078781 85042097777 be4da367-6a3e-41c6-9a9d-c55be6de6812 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/326616 000438651900004 |
op_rights |
unspecified openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Journal of Vegetation Science |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
382 |
op_container_end_page |
392 |
_version_ |
1787424401208115200 |