Climate Change, Fire and Human Activity Drive Vegetation Change during the Last Eight Millennia in the Xistral Mountains of NW Iberia

An 8500-year record of high-resolution pollen, non-pollen palynomorph, microscopic charcoal and selected geochemical data (Ti, Zr and Pb) is presented from an ombrotrophic mire from the Xistral Mountains, Galicia, North-West Iberia. The results suggest that vegetation changes over the last eight mil...

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Published inQuaternary Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 5
Main Authors Mighall, Tim M., Martínez Cortizas, Antonio, Silva-Sánchez, Noemí, López-Costas, Olalla, López-Merino, Lourdes
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 2023
Subjects
Charcoal
Chemical elements
Climate change
Climatic changes
Deciduous forests
Decomposition
Earth sciences research
Environmental aspects
Fires
Forest management
geochemistry
Grain
Holocene
Human beings
Human impact
Human influences
Human-environment relationship
Influence on nature
Metallurgy
Mountains
Natural history
non-pollen palynomorphs
NW Iberia
ombrotrophic mire
Paleoecology
Pollen
Soil erosion
Spain
Titanium
Vegetation
Vegetation and climate
Vegetation changes
Zirconium
Spain
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Summary:An 8500-year record of high-resolution pollen, non-pollen palynomorph, microscopic charcoal and selected geochemical data (Ti, Zr and Pb) is presented from an ombrotrophic mire from the Xistral Mountains, Galicia, North-West Iberia. The results suggest that vegetation changes over the last eight millennia are primarily the result of human disturbance, fire and climate change. Climate and fire were the main factors influencing vegetation development during the early to mid-Holocene, including a short-lived decline in forest cover c. 8.2 cal. ka BP. Changes associated with the 4.2 and 2.8 cal. Ka BP events are less well defined. Human impact on vegetation became more pronounced by the late Holocene with major periods of forest disturbance from c. 3.1 cal. ka BP onwards: during the end of Metal Ages, Roman period and culminating in the permanent decline of deciduous forests in the post-Roman period, as agriculture and metallurgy intensified, leading to the creation of a cultural landscape. Climate change appears to become less influential as human activity dominates during the Late Holocene.
ISSN:2571-550X
2571-550X
DOI:10.3390/quat6010005