Vegetational changes and human presence in the low-alpine and subalpine zone in Val Febbraro, upper Valle di Spluga (Italian central Alps), from the Neolithic to the Roman period

Moe, Dagfinn; Fedele, Francesco; Maude, Agnete Engan; Kvamme, Mons

doi:10.1007/s00334-006-0088-0

Cited by 32 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The area was probably transformed into a pasture at the same time of the nearby "Pian dei Cavalli", where the earliest registered modification of vegetation composition, due to human activity, dates back to 5200 B.P., and a steady, widespread transformation of woods into meadows is registered between 5000 and 3000 B.P. at altitudes between 1800 and 2300 m (Moe et al, 2007). Archeological studies (Fedele, 1999) have also determined rough estimates of soil development since the Mesolithic (9000-5500 B.P.)…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

A plant ecology approach to digital soil mapping, improving the prediction of soil organic carbon content in alpine grasslands

2012

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

A plant ecology approach to digital soil mapping, improving the prediction of soil organic carbon content in alpine grasslands

2012

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“…In Europe, the Alpine zone has been expanded downwards by human activity, with grasslands as well as mountain forests shaped by logging, burning, and pastoral uses (McNeill, 2002). Palaeoecological evidence based on micro-and macrofossils from natural archives (e.g., lakes, mires, ice, soil) and wood charcoal fragments found in soil profiles confirm widespread human disturbance, even at higher elevations (e.g., Carcaillet & Brun, 2000;Moe, Fedele, Maude, & Kvamme, 2007;Talon, 2010;Tinner, Ammann, & Germann, 1996). It is commonly thought that logging and pastoralism at high elevations have affected the tree line position (Colombaroli, Henne, Kaltenrieder, Gobet, & Tinner, 2010;Malanson et al, 2011;Schwörer, Colombaroli, Kaltenrieder, Rey, & Tinner, 2015), but for the Apennines, robust evidence is still lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic and environmental factors affect the tree line position of Fagus sylvatica along the Apennines (Italy)

Bonanomi

Rita

Allevato

et al. 2018

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim High‐elevation forest line or tree line is an ecological ecotone representing the upper elevation thermal limit for forest development. The current tree line position is the result of the past human activity interacting with climatic and topographic conditions. In this study, we investigate how climate, local topographic factors and anthropogenic disturbance currently affect tree line distribution. Location Apennine Mountains, 900 km latitudinal gradient along the Italian Peninsula. Methods Overall, 302 mountain peaks were studied, comprising 3,622 km of measured tree lines. The position of the Fagus sylvatica tree line in all peaks was assessed and correlated with 58 selected variables representing climate, topography and human disturbance. Results The mean tree line elevation was 1,589 m a.s.l., with considerable variability among peaks. Contrary to our expectations, the tree line elevation was lower in the warmer southerly exposed slopes compared to north‐facing aspects, where we found the highest tree line (2,141 m a.s.l.). Correlation analysis indicates that both climatic and human density variables are associated with tree line elevation, with the climate having more influence in high elevation mountains, while human impact plays a prominent role in low elevation mountain peaks. Specifically, we found negative correlations between density of the resident population around each peak and tree line elevation at all examined dates (1861, 1921, and 2011), suggesting a pervasive negative impact of human activity on tree lines. As regards climatic variables, tree line elevation showed a stronger negative correlation with winter and spring months temperature than with mean annual temperature. Noteworthy, climatic variables had stronger effect on high elevation peaks (>1,900 m a.s.l.) compared with low elevation ones (<1,900 m a.s.l.). Main Conclusion Our data provide evidence that the current position of the F. sylvatica tree line in the Apennines is heavily depressed as a result of a complex interaction between climatic factors and the past human pressure.

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“…grazing) and using a fossil archive (i.e. pollen) can lead to simplistic and deterministic accounts that are no different than earlier prime-mover explanations (Cunill et al 2013;Ejarque et al 2011;Moe et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agropastoralism is the primary means by which humans modified European mountain landscapes over the course of the Holocene (Bal et al 2015;Cunill et al 2013;Ejarque et al 2011; Moe et al 2007), but the geomorphic, topographic, climatic, and vegetative heterogeneity of these landscapes means that results obtained in one region may not be valid for interpreting mountain landscapes elsewhere (Ejarque et al 2011;Mazier et al 2009;Brun 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colluvial legacies of millennial landscape change on individual hillsides, place-based investigation in the western Pyrenees Mountains

Leigh

Gragson

Coughlan

2016

Quaternary International

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We detect transition to agropastoral land use in a mountain landscape by radiocarbon dating physical signatures (sedimentation rates, charcoal concentrations, magnetic susceptibility) of conversion from native forest to pasture contained within colluvial stratigraphic sections. Focus is on two study sites located on toeslopes directly beneath zero-order hollows draining several hectares in the commune of Larrau (Pyrénées Atlantiques, France) along the international drainage divide of the western Pyrenees. Sample sites maximize likelihood of spatially and temporally uniform slopewash sedimentation. This constitutes a place-based approach to decipher the chronology of agropastoral activities within individual fields, which is applicable to other mountain ranges of the world. Stratigraphic columns were augured in contiguous 10 cm sample levels, which produced temporal resolution of decades to several centuries. We interpret relatively high concentrations of charcoal, rapid sedimentation, and magnetic susceptibility patterns as evidence of the intentional use of fire to transform forests into pastures. Results indicate that intentional burning and clearing probably were initiated by the Late Neolithic (ca. 5000-6000 cal. BP). However, intense burning, extensive forest clearance, and erosional degradation occurred later during the Bronze Age at one site, and during the Iron Age at the other site. This non-synchronous pattern of charcoal abundance and sedimentation rates is consistent with human agency of land clearance driving the chronology rather than paleoclimatic drivers. Stratigraphic zones of rapid sedimentation at both sites constitute-legacy‖ sediment of great antiquity. Our results are consistent with similar shifts in fire regimes and vegetation assemblages derived from direct association with anthropogenic proxies (e.g. pastoral pollen taxa, fungal spores of sheep dung, and archaeological sites) elsewhere in the Pyrenees and other

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Vegetational changes and human presence in the low-alpine and subalpine zone in Val Febbraro, upper Valle di Spluga (Italian central Alps), from the Neolithic to the Roman period

Cited by 32 publications

References 24 publications

A plant ecology approach to digital soil mapping, improving the prediction of soil organic carbon content in alpine grasslands

A plant ecology approach to digital soil mapping, improving the prediction of soil organic carbon content in alpine grasslands

Anthropogenic and environmental factors affect the tree line position of Fagus sylvatica along the Apennines (Italy)

Colluvial legacies of millennial landscape change on individual hillsides, place-based investigation in the western Pyrenees Mountains

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