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Pollen, microscopic charcoal, palaeohydrological and dendrochronological analyses are applied to a radiocarbon and tephrochronologically dated mid Holocene (ca. 8500–3000 cal B.P.) peat sequence with abundant fossil Pinus (pine) wood. The Pinus populations on peat fluctuated considerably over the period in question. Colonisation by Pinus from ca. 7900–7600 cal B.P. appears to have had no specific environmental trigger; it was probably determined by the rate of migration from particular populations. The second phase, at ca. 5000–4400 cal B.P., was facilitated by anthropogenic interference that reduced competition from other trees. The pollen record shows two Pinus declines. The first at ca. 6200–5500 cal B.P. was caused by a series of rapid and frequent climatic shifts. The second, the so-called pine decline, was very gradual (ca. 4200–3300 cal B.P.) at Loch Farlary and may not have been related to climate change as is often supposed. Low intensity but sustained grazing pressures were more important. Throughout the mid Holocene, the frequency and intensity of burning in these open Pinus–Calluna woods were probably highly sensitive to hydrological (climatic) change. Axe marks on several trees are related to the mid to late Bronze Age, i.e., long after the trees had died

This paper appraises the role of prehistoric human societies in modifying the natural woodland biodiversity of several regions throughout Scotland. It draws attention to the likelihood that, contrary to popular belief, biodiversity was enhanced by interactions between agricultural communities and woodlands. The possible purposefulness of such interactions is discussed. Mindful of the present concern to re-establish 'native' woodlands in many parts of northern Britain, we then review three approaches to the identification of native tree types in Scotland, and conclude that insufficient attention in reafforestation schemes is being paid to (a) the palaeoecological record as a record of native woodland or (b) the likely former high taxonomic diversity of woodlands. Both these failings will lead to the creation of new woodlands lacking in species diversity.

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