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@article{Cruz-Silva:2024:10.1111/jbi.14749,
author = {Cruz-Silva, E and Harrion, SP and Prentice, IC and Marinova, E},
doi = {10.1111/jbi.14749},
journal = {Journal of Biogeography},
pages = {294--310},
title = {Holocene vegetation dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean region: old controversies addressed by a new analysis},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14749},
volume = {51},
year = {2024}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - Aim:We reconstruct vegetation changes since 12 ky in the Eastern Mediterranean to examine four features of the regional vegetation history that are controversial: the extent of non-analogue vegetation assemblages in the transition from the Late Glacial to the early Holocene, the synchroneity of postglacial forest expansion, the geographical extent of temperate deciduous forest during the mid-Holocene and the timing and trigger for the re-establishment of drought-tolerant vegetation during the late Holocene.Location:The Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea Caspian Corridor.Taxon:Vascular plants.Methods:We reconstruct vegetation changes for 122 fossil pollen records using a method that accounts for within-biome variability in pollen taxon abundance to determine the biome with which a sample has greatest affinity. Per-biome affinity threshold values were used to identify samples that do not belong to any modern biome. We apply time series analysis and mapping to examine space and time changes.Results:Sites with non-analogue vegetation were most common between 11.5 and 9.5 ky and mostly in the Carpathians. The transition from open vegetation to forest occurred at 10.64 ± 0.65 ky across the whole region. Temperate deciduous forest was not more extensive at 6 ky; maximum expansion occurred between 5.5 and 5 ky. Expansion of forest occurred between c. 4 and 2.8 k, followed by an abrupt decrease and a subsequent recovery. This pattern is not consistent with a systematic decline of forest towards more drought-tolerant vegetation in the late Holocene but is consistent with centennial-scale speleothem patterns linked to variations in moisture availability.Main Conclusions:We show the occurrence of non-analogue vegetation types peaked during early Holocene, forest expansion was synchronous across the region and there was an expansion of moisture-demanding temperate trees around 5.5 to 5 ky. There is no signal of a continuous late Holocene aridificat
AU - Cruz-Silva,E
AU - Harrion,SP
AU - Prentice,IC
AU - Marinova,E
DO - 10.1111/jbi.14749
EP - 310
PY - 2024///
SN - 0305-0270
SP - 294
TI - Holocene vegetation dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean region: old controversies addressed by a new analysis
T2 - Journal of Biogeography
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14749
UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14749
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/107328
VL - 51
ER -
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