A thousand years of human impact in the northern Scandinavian mountain range: Long-lasting effects on forest lines and vegetation

Abstract

The vegetation history has been examined by pollen, microscopic and macroscopic charcoal analyses in the vicinity of two alpine Stállo settlement sites and one forested 'Reference area' with no settlement remains in northwestern Sweden in the northern part of the Scandinavian mountain range. The acquired data provide indications of the effects of human activities on local vegetation during the settlement phase, and on ecological processes in both long-and short-term perspectives. The results show that one settlement site, Gieddeålge, was established just above the forest line in the Betula treeline zone, and the other, Varenodjukke, in the Betula forest. At Gieddeålge an increase in herbs and graminoids appears to have occurred c. 700 cal. BP (during the thirteenth century) suggesting that the vegetation was altered by nutrient addition, most likely related to human activities associated with the settlement. At Varenodjukke, the Betula trees around the settlement were cut down and the site developed into an alpine heath dominated by Betula nana, which still characterizes the site today. In the Reference area evidence of changes to the vegetation probably caused by human impact was also found from c. 3500 to 700 cal. BP. In conclusion, the vegetation currently present at Gieddeålge and Varenodjukke has been strongly influenced by previous human activities, which have clearly had profound effects, both short and long term, on the composition of the vegetation and the properties of the ecosystems in these areas. Further, when studying processes, such as anticipated global warming that will influence future patterns of vegetation in these forest-line areas, legacies of land use must be taken into consideration.

Charcoal Dispersal from Alpine Stallo Hearths in Sub-Arctic Sweden: Patterns Observed from Soil Analysis and Experimental Burning

“…czerepanovii), based on identification criteria described by Hellberg and Carcaillet (2003), indicating that the settlers used this wood for firewood. Pollen analyses have also shown that mountain birch forests around Stállo settlements in four different areas were cut (Karlsson et al, 2007;, Staland et al, 2011. However, no remains of these buildings exist today, apart from the foundations.…”

“…In a multidisciplinary study of such Stállo settlements in northern Sweden, extensive dating of the charcoal found in the hearths indicated that these settlements were mainly used between AD 700 and 1150 (2σ) . The settlements were eventually completely abandoned, probably due to a shortage of firewood, and the lack of trees combined with a colder climate during the Little Ice Age subsequently prevented reforestation (Karlsson et al, 2007;, Staland et al, 2011. Hence, the vegetation changed from mountain birch forest with herbs to open alpine heath dominated by dwarf-shrubs due to human exploitation, nutrient-depleted soils and the harsh climate (Staland et al, 2011).…”

“…The settlements were eventually completely abandoned, probably due to a shortage of firewood, and the lack of trees combined with a colder climate during the Little Ice Age subsequently prevented reforestation (Karlsson et al, 2007;, Staland et al, 2011. Hence, the vegetation changed from mountain birch forest with herbs to open alpine heath dominated by dwarf-shrubs due to human exploitation, nutrient-depleted soils and the harsh climate (Staland et al, 2011). The presence of solitary tent hearths also indicates that most of these areas were visited sporadically after the Stállo period by nomadic visitors who probably used the last remnants of trees, shrubs and dwarf-shrubs as fuel (Hellberg 2004).…”

“…The peat cores from the Stállo settlements analyzed for pollen by Karlsson et al (2007; and Staland et al (2011) were sampled from small mires located between 50 and 150 m from the nearest settlement. The cited authors expected to detect relatively large amounts of charcoal together with the pollen in samples dating from the Stállo period.…”

People and pines 1555–1910: integrating ecology, history and archaeology to assess long-term resource use in northern Fennoscandia

“…in the more heavily populated areas of Europe (Kaplan et al 2009;Ludemann 2010) and elsewhere (Lev-Yadun et al 2010). Although our data suggest that Sami pre-industrial land uses had very weak effects on the availability of specific resources from a landscape perspective, specific case-studies have detected long-lasting local ecosystem effects, such as vegetation changes due to cutting of firewood (Josefsson et al 2010a;Staland et al 2011;Ö stlund et al 2015) and both above-and below-ground feedback effects of trampling and organic matter transfer (Freschet et al 2014). In addition, case studies have also detected strong cultural imprints in local hotspots (Berg et al 2011;Sjögren and Kirchhefer 2012;Rautio et al 2014).…”