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Past uppermost tree limit in the Central European Alps (Switzerland) based on soil and soil charcoal

Institut of Plant Science, University of Bern, Altenbergrain, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland adriana.carnelli{at}ips.unibe.ch

Jean-Paul Theurillat

Centre Alpien de Phytogéographie, Fondation J.-M. Aubert, CH-1938 Champex, Switzerland and Laboratoire de Biogéographie, Département de Botanique et de Biologie végétale, Université de Genéve, 1 ch. de l'Impératrice, CH-1292 Chambésy, Switzerland

Michel Thinon

Institut méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (IMEP, UMR CNRS 6116), Case 461, FST Saint-Jêrome, Université d'Aix-Marseille III, F-13397 Marseille cedex 20, France

Gaëlle Vadi

Laboratoire d'Ecologie végétale, Université de Neuchâtel, Emile Argand 11, CP 2, 2007 Neuchâtel

Brigitte Talon

Institut méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie (IMEP, UMR CNRS 6116), Case 461, FST Saint-Jêrome, Université d'Aix-Marseille III, F-13397 Marseille cedex 20, France

The uppermost limits of past treelines in the Alps are established using soil type and soil charcoal mass. In all the studied sites, a sharp decrease of soil charcoal mass is correlated with the upper altitudinal limit of podzols. On the basis of this evidence, the uppermost tree limit reached 2500±100m a.s.l. in the Valaisan Alps during the Holocene, i.e., it was 250±100 m higher than today's potential treeline. Consequently, the timberline would have reached 2400±100m a.s.l.. From the strong decline of charcoals concentration in soils above 2500m a.s.l., we infer that conifer species were rare or very rare above this altitude during the Holocene. Joint interpretation of charcoal, pollen, soil and macrofossil data suggest that alpine meadows with at most scattered conifers were present throughout the Holocene in the today's middle and upper alpine belt.

Key Words: Holocene • Alps • alpine • soil charcoal • pedoanthracology • podzol • subalpine • timberline • treeline

The Holocene, Vol. 14, No. 3, 393-405 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/0959683604hl715rp


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