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Fire—vegetation interactions during the Mesolithic—Neolithic transition at Lago dell'Accesa, Tuscany, ItalyPaleoecology, Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland, daniele.colombaroli{at}ips.unibe.ch, Environmental Change Research, Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1251, USA
LCE - UMR 6565 CNRS - Univ. F-Comté, 16 route de Gray, F-25030 Besançon cedex, France
Geological Institute, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
LCE - UMR 6565 CNRS - Univ. F-Comté, 16 route de Gray, F-25030 Besançon cedex, France
Paleoecology, Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Sciences, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland A new core from the centre of Lago dell'Accesa (Tuscany, Italy) was sampled for pollen and charcoal analyses to provide a high-resolution sequence from 8400 to 7000 cal. yr BP. We combined series of microscopic charcoal, macroscopic charcoal and pollen to address the response of vegetation to fire at different spatial scales. Before 7900 cal. yr BP, broadleaved evergreen forests of Quercus ilex were the most important vegetational type in the area of Lago dell'Accesa. The subsequent decline of Q. ilex occurred when human-induced fires increased at the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition (c. 8000 cal. yr BP). Cross-correlation analyses show that fire was a key factor for vegetational change. Higher fire incidence affected the forest composition, converting evergreen forests to high-diversity open, partly deciduous forests and shrubby communities. The correlation is more pronounced at a local scale (macroscopic charcoal), whereas at a regional scale (microscopic charcoal) the vegetation followed the fire intervals with a more marked time lag (10—100 years). Climatic change, such as wetter periods inferred from lake levels, may have directly influenced the vegetational change, exacerbating the effect of human impact. Our study suggests that the disruption of evergreen broadleaved forests occurred when mean fire interval reached values as high as those of today's highly disturbed Mediterranean ecosystems. Hence broadleaved evergreen forests may not be as fire-resilient as assumed according to modern ecological paradigms. In view of the projected increase in fire frequency as a consequence of global warming, the present relict forests of Quercus ilex will be strongly affected.
Key Words: Fire ecology • fire history • Mediterranean vegetation • Quercus ilex • climate change • microscopic charcoal • macroscopic charcoal • Mesolithic • Neolithic • Tuscany • Italy • Holocene.
The Holocene, Vol. 18, No. 5,
679-692 (2008) This article has been cited by other articles:
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