The last 7 millennia of vegetation and climate changes at Lago di Pergusa (central Sicily, Italy)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate climate changes and human activities under the lens of palynology. Based on a new high-resolution pollen sequence (PG2) from Lago di Pergusa (667 m a.s.l., central Sicily, Italy) covering the last 6700 yr, we propose a reconstruction of climate and landscape changes over the recent past in central Sicily. Compared to former studies from Lago di Pergusa (Sadori and Narcisi, 2001), this work provides a reconstruction of the evolution of vegetation and climate over the last millennia in central Sicily, indeed completing previous results with new pollen data, which is particularly detailed on the last 3000 yr. <br><br> Joint actions of increasing dryness, climate oscillations, and human impact shaped the landscape of this privileged site. Lago di Pergusa, besides being the main inland lake of Sicily, is very sensitive to climate change and its territory was inhabited and exploited continuously since the Palaeolithic. The lake sediments turned out to be a good observatory for natural phenomena that occurred in the last thousands of years. <br><br> Results of the pollen-based study are integrated with changes in magnetic susceptibility and a tephra layer characterization. The tephra layer was shown to be related to the Sicanians' event, radiocarbon dated at 3055 ± 75 yr BP (Sadori and Narcisi, 2001). <br><br> We performed palaeoclimate reconstructions by MAT (Modern Analogues Technique) and WAPLS (Weighted Average Partial Least Square). Palaeoclimate reconstructions based on the core show important climate fluctuations throughout the Holocene. Climate reconstruction points out four phases of cooling and enhanced wetness in the last three millennia (2600-2000, 1650-1100, 850-550, 400-200 cal BP, corresponding to the periods between 650-50 BC, and 300-850, 1100-1400, 1550-1750 AD, respectively)

Holocene environmental history of a small Mediterranean island in response to sea-level changes, climate and human impact

“…1; Sadori et al, 2013). In north-eastern Sardinia, a moderate vegetation opening is also attributed to the increase of agricultural and pastoral activities at Stagno di Sa Curcurica between ca.…”

“…The results from multi-proxy studies of lacustrine (Lago Accesa's lake-level, site 3 in Fig. 1) and marine records, Magny et al (2013) Beffa et al (2015) suggest that in northern-eastern Sardinia (Sa Curcurica), the prolonged dominance of Erica species (E. arborea and E. scoparia) and the absence of the evergreen oak forest until the period 7000-5500 cal. yr B.P.…”

“…But the question of when the current Mediterranean climate became established and what were the consequences of human impact in the spread of xeric vegetation across the Mediterranean region is complex and not completely solved (de Beaulieu et al, 2005;Jalut et al, 2009;Magny et al, 2013;Vannière et al, 2011). The drivers of Erica arborea clearance around ca.…”

“…in Corsica and Sardinia are matters of debate. For a long time, this vegetation shift was considered as a 'major event' too rapid for a climatic change explanation and resulting of anthropogenic actions (Reille, 1984(Reille, , 1992aReille et al, 1999) (Jalut et al, 2009;Magny et al, 2002Magny et al, , 2007Magny et al, , 2013Roberts et al, 2004;Vannière et al, 2011). The results from multi-proxy studies of lacustrine (Lago Accesa's lake-level, site 3 in Fig.…”

7300 years of vegetation history and climate for NW Malta: a Holocene perspective

“…This region is considered a hotspot of biodiversity (Médail and Quézel, 1999) as well as a climate change "hotspot" (Giorgi and Lionello, 2008). Recent research has highlighted possible anthropogenic influences along with the, often hard to separate, climatic signal through palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, such as to the west (Carrión et al, 2007;Estiarte et al, 2008;López Sáez et al, 2002;Pantaléon-Cano et al, 2003), centrally (Bellini et al, 2009;Calò et al, 2012;Combourieu Nebout et al, 2013;Di Rita and Magri, 2012;Noti et al, 2009;Sadori et al, 2013b;Tinner et al, 2009), as well as in eastern areas (Bottema and Sarpaki, 2003;Finkelstein and Langgut, 2014;Hajar et al, 2010;Jahns, 2005;Kaniewski et al, 2014;van Zeist et al, 2009).…”