No abstract

No abstract

This chapter explores how and why selected species that have a particular significance in the character of the European forest, have declined or increased. Particularly, the chapter focuses on: the aurochs (the wild ox), which would have been important in creating openness in the early Holocene landscape; large carnivores, such as wolves, that affect the abundance and behaviour of deer and other herbivores; beavers as important shapers of the riverine environments; and squirrels and deer that currently have major effects on woodland regeneration and management.

Abstract:The recent reappearance of wolves in many areas of Europe has stimulated an interest in the past relationships between the species and humans in various different geographical locations and historical epochs. The image of wolves approaching and entering human settlements is a potent image of the wild, ‘natural’ world encroaching on that of the domestic and ‘cultural’. This paper examines the existence of the wolf in the psychological and physical landscape through a micro-historical analysis of a vernacular manuscript from the mid sixteenth century in north-west Italy. The paper demonstrates that the wolf existed both as a ‘mythological beast’ and as a ‘biological animal’ that was a normal, frequently encountered component of the Ligurian faunal assemblage.

The historical rural landscapes of the Val Borbera (Piedmont) and the Val di Vara (Liguria) were characterized by intensive agro-silvo-pastoral systems. This paper explores the comparative bio-cultural history of apiculture, beekeeping and the production of honey and wax in these areas of the northwest Italian Apennines during the past 200 years. In 1798-99, an enquiry (inchiesta) into the quality, production and territorial needs of the Republic of Liguria included a question concerning the nature, extent and practices associated with apiculture and beekeeping, but also on the landscapes where this rural practice were performed. Through contextualizing these written and oral sources on a landscape scale alongside historical cartography and later aerial photography, this paper discusses the temporal and spatial evolution of apiculture, beekeeping and the production of these practices from the late eighteenth century to the modern day. In doing so, apiculture and beekeeping are shown to be important components within and indicative of the bio-cultural diversity and heritage in these parts of the northwest Italian Apennines and indeed elsewhere across Europe.