More than agriculture: Analysing time-cumulative human impact on European land-cover of second half of the Holocene

Zapolska, Anhelina; Serge, Maria Antonia; Mazier, Florence; Quiquet, Aurélien; Renssen, H.; Vrac, Mathieu; Fyfe, Ralph; Roche, Didier M.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108227

Cited by 6 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…The source area for each record, and hence the appropriate area for the calculation of mean tree cover, was calculated using Prentice's (1985) source area formula for 70% of pollen, and lake or bog area from 145 the SMPDS. The original source area formula used species-specific FS values, but here we use the median FS (0.03) from Githumbi et al (2022) and Serge et al (2023) since the tree cover map represents the broad species community around each record location. We assumed basin areas were circular to calculate the radius.…”

Section: Selection and Treatment Of Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The explanatory variables included AP%, SP%, %needleleaf, site elevation, site type (lake or bog) and arboreal pollen SI values. The AP% and SP% are expected to explain most of the variability in tree cover, but %needleleaf was also included to reflect 170 potential broad differences in pollen productivity and transport between needleleaf and broadleaf species (see Table 1 from Serge et al, 2023). Although records above 1000m were excluded from the data set, site elevation was included as an explanatory variable to capture any residual impacts of elevation on tree cover.…”

Section: Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The final predictions were compared to modern reconstructions of tree cover by Serge et al (2023) and195 Zanon et al (2018), where modern is the interval 100 cal. BP and the present day in Serge et al (2023) and between 125 cal. BP and present for Zanon et al (2018).…”

Section: Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For each of the 1º grid cells in Serge et al (2023), tree cover was calculated from the sum of the 200 appropriate vegetation types. Time series of the change in median tree cover were constructed using 2023) data were initially constructed using the single grid cell values provided.…”

Section: Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each of these approaches presents challenges. The REVEALS approach is data demanding as it requires, and is sensitive to, estimates of relative pollen productivity (RPP) and pollen fall speeds (FS) for individual species (Bunting and Farrell, 2022;Githumbi et al, 2022;Serge et al, 2023). For instance, landscape-level reconstructions are problematic if RPP and FS information is not available for 80 relatively common taxa.…”

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confidence: 99%

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European forest cover during the Holocene reconstructed from pollen records

Sweeney,

Harrison,

Vander Linden

2024

Preprint

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Abstract. Changes in tree cover influence many aspects of the Earth System. Recent regional changes in tree cover, as documented by remote-sensed observations, are insufficient to capture the response to large climate changes or to differentiate the impacts of human activities from natural drivers. Pollen records provide an opportunity to examine the causes of changes in tree cover in response to large climate changes in the past and during periods when human influence was less important than today. Here we reconstruct changes in tree cover in Europe through the Holocene using fossil pollen records, using the modelled relationship between observed modern tree cover and modern pollen samples. At a pan-European scale, tree cover is low at the beginning of the Holocene but increases rapidly during the early Holocene and is maximal at ca. 6,500 cal. BP, after which tree cover declines to present-day levels. The rapidity of the post-glacial increase in tree cover and the timing and length of maximum tree cover varies regionally, reflecting differences in climate trajectories during the early and mid-Holocene. The nature of the subsequent reduction in tree cover also varies, which may be due to differences in climate but may also reflect different degrees of human influence. The reconstructed patterns of change in tree cover are similar to those shown by previous reconstructions, but our approach is more robust and less data-demanding than previously applied methods and therefore provides a useful approach to reconstructing tree cover in regions where data limitations preclude the use of alternative methods.

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Section: Selection and Treatment Of Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%