Persistence of a vegetation mosaic in a peripheral region: could turbulent medieval history disrupt Holocene continuity of extremely species-rich grasslands?

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F18%3A43897519" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/18:43897519 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/67985939:_____/18:00493057 RIV/00216224:14310/18:00103688

Result on the web

<a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00334-017-0660-9.pdf" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00334-017-0660-9.pdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00334-017-0660-9" target="_blank" >10.1007/s00334-017-0660-9</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Persistence of a vegetation mosaic in a peripheral region: could turbulent medieval history disrupt Holocene continuity of extremely species-rich grasslands?

Original language description

Fluctuations in intensity of human impact and corresponding vegetation changes have been reported from different parts of Europe for the period from the beginning of the 1st millennium ad to the high Middle Ages. In the Bil, Karpaty mountains (White Carpathians), a region well-known for its biologically valuable ancient grasslands, an extensive spread of woodland could have occurred in the Migration period (4th-6th century) and especially in the Confinium period (11th-12th century), when settling of this border region was legally prohibited. However, Holocene continuity of non-woodland vegetation was suggested as an explanation for the unique species richness of the local grasslands. If this explanation is true, then the turbulent times in medieval history could not have led to complete re-establishment of woodland. To test this idea palaeoecologically, we analysed four new profiles from wetland deposits for pollen, macrofossils and abiotic proxies, and re-dated some old profiles from the area. The results show the continual presence of human impact indicators since the Migration period in the southwest of the Bil, Karpaty, where these unique grasslands occur. Agricultural activities were indicated by pollen of crops, ruderals, weeds and grassland taxa and by macrofossils of fen-grassland plants. Grazing and burning seem to have been the main disturbances during the older period, while mowing of meadows by scythe became more important since the 17th century. Fossil records differed among the sites as a consequence of differences in altitude and disturbance regimes, but converged gradually with time. Despite intensification of human activities, the landscape remained mosaic-like. Indicators of undisturbed woodlands have been detected only in the northeast. Continuous yet perhaps never too intensive disturbances might therefore have maintained the ancient grassland species pool in the long term.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10611 - Plant sciences, botany

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA16-10100S" target="_blank" >GA16-10100S: Origin of diversity of Central European landscapes: using recent pollen and vegetation models to reconstruct historical biodiversity changes</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2018

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Vegetation history and archeobotany

ISSN

0939-6314

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

27

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

20

Pages from-to

591-610

UT code for WoS article

000434254600004

EID of the result in the Scopus database

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