Multiproxy evidence for rapid and enduring anthropogenic vegetation change during the Late Holocene from an abandoned channel of the Mississippi River, Wapanocca Bayou, Arkansas, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-365
Author(s):  
Michael Aiuvalasit ◽  
Tim Riley ◽  
Joseph Schuldenrein
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Abandoned Channel ◽  
Anthropogenic Vegetation

The Tilia decline: vegetation change in lowland Britain during the mid and late Holocene

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 394-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Grant ◽  
Martyn P. Waller ◽  
Jon A. Groves
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change

An assessment of historic human impact on south-eastern Australian environmental systems, using late Holocene rates of environmental change

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Dodson ◽  
Stuart D. Mooney
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Relative Equilibrium ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Environmental Systems ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
South Eastern Australia

The late Holocene of south-eastern Australia was typified by stable climate, vegetation and sedimentary regimes, in relative equilibrium with Aboriginal land use and fire management. The arrival of Europeans, with the associated vegetation clearance, introduction of exotic plants and animals, notably for grazing and agriculture and a change in fire regimes, resulted in changes in vegetation and sedimentary patterns. Impacts varied in type and magnitude through the region and evidence of impacts that is preserved varies with sedimentary setting. Here we take a number of proxy measures of vegetation change, fire history, erosion and weathering from six sediment sections across south-eastern Australia and use an index to measure overall rate of change. This shows that the vegetation and environmental systems of south-eastern Australia have been very sensitive to human impact following European settlement.

scholarly journals Uncoupling human and climate drivers of late Holocene vegetation change in southern Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Robinson ◽  
Jonas Gregorio De Souza ◽  
S. Yoshi Maezumi ◽  
Macarena Cárdenas ◽  
Luiz Pessenda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Southern Brazil

scholarly journals Pollen-inferred regional vegetation patterns and demographic change in Southern Anatolia through the Holocene

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 728-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Woodbridge ◽  
C Neil Roberts ◽  
Alessio Palmisano ◽  
Andrew Bevan ◽  
Stephen Shennan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Demographic Change ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Population Expansion ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Significant Area ◽  
The Mediterranean

Southern Anatolia is a highly significant area within the Mediterranean, particularly in terms of understanding how agriculture moved into Europe from neighbouring regions. This study uses pollen, palaeoclimate and archaeological evidence to investigate the relationships between demography and vegetation change, and to explore how the development of agriculture varied spatially. Data from 21 fossil pollen records have been transformed into forested, parkland and open vegetation types using cluster analysis. Patterns of change have been explored using non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and through analysis of indicator groups, such as an Anthropogenic Pollen Index, and Simpson’s Diversity. Settlement data, which indicate population densities, and summed radiocarbon dates for archaeological sites have been used as a proxy for demographic change. The pollen and archaeological records confirm that farming can be detected earlier in Anatolia in comparison with many other parts of the Mediterranean. Dynamics of change in grazing indicators and the OJCV ( Olea, Juglans, Castanea and Vitis) index for cultivated trees appear to match cycles of population expansion and decline. Vegetation and land use change is also influenced by other factors, such as climate change. Investigating the early impacts of anthropogenic activities (e.g. woodcutting, animal herding, the use of fire and agriculture) is key to understanding how societies have modified the environment since the mid–late Holocene, despite the capacity of ecological systems to absorb recurrent disturbances. The results of this study suggest that shifting human population dynamics played an important role in shaping land cover in central and southern Anatolia.

Two Tephra Layers Bracketing Late Holocene Paleoecological Changes in Northern Germany

2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel van den Bogaard ◽  
Walter Dörfler ◽  
Rainer Glos ◽  
Marie-Josée Nadeau ◽  
Pieter M. Grootes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Explosive Volcanism ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Tephra Layers ◽  
Petrology And Geochemistry

AbstractPaleoecological records from two Holocene peat bogs in northern Germany are linked by two microscopic volcanic ash layers, correlated by petrology and geochemistry to explosive volcanism on Iceland. The younger “Microlite tephra” cannot be correlated to any known eruption, while the older tephra layer is identified as a deposit of the Hekla 3 eruption. The tephra layers are dated by an age–depth regression of accelerator mass spectrometry 14C ages that have been calibrated and combined in probability distributions. This procedure gives an age of 730–664 cal yr B.C. for the “Microlite tephra” event and 1087–1006 cal yr B.C. for the Hekla 3 event. Accordingly, the tephra layers were deposited during the late Bronze Age. At this time, human settlement slowly increased pressure on the environment, as indicated by changes in woodland pollen composition at the two bogs. The tephra-marker horizons further show that the palynologically defined transition from the Subboreal to the Subatlantic Period is synchronous in the investigated area. However, the macroscopic visible marker in peat, the change from fibrous to sapric peat, the “Schwarztorf-Weißtorf-Kontakt,” is asynchronous. Bog vegetation did not immediately react in unison to a climatic change at this pollen zone boundary; instead, the timing of vegetation change depended on the location within the bog.

Late Holocene environmental reconstruction using cave sediments from Belize

2007 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason S. Polk ◽  
Philip E. van Beynen ◽  
Philip P. Reeder
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Fulvic Acids ◽  
Groundwater Extraction ◽  
Cave Sediments ◽  
Maya Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Areas

AbstractCave sediments collected from Reflection Cave on the Vaca Plateau, Belize show variations in the δ13C values of their fulvic acids (FAs), which indicate periods of vegetation change caused by climatic and Maya influences during the late Holocene. The δ13C values range from − 27.11‰ to − 21.52‰, a shift of ∼ 5.59‰, which suggests fluctuating contributions of C3 and C4 plants throughout the last 2.5 ka, with C4 plant input reflecting periods of Maya agriculture. Maya activity in the study area occurred at different intensities from ∼ 2600 cal yr BP until ∼ 1500 cal yr BP, after which agricultural practices waned as the Maya depopulated the area. These changes in plant assemblages were in response to changes in available water resources, with increased aridity leading to the eventual abandonment of agricultural areas. The Ix Chel archaeological site, located in the study area, is a highland site that would have been among the first agricultural settlements to be affected during periods of aridity. During these periods, minimal water resources would have been available in this highly karstified, well-drained area, and supplemental groundwater extraction would have been difficult due to the extreme depth of the water table.

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