EGU2020-12778
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12778
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Late Holocene ecosystem change and disturbance dynamics in central European mountain forests

Niina Kuosmanen1,2, Petr Kuneš3, Karen Halsall4, Helena Svitavska Svobodova5, Jana Beranova3, Gina Hannon4, Peter Fleischer6, Richard Chiverrell4, and Jennifer L. Clear7
Niina Kuosmanen et al.
  • 1Geosciences and Geography, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (kuosmanen.niina@gmail.com)
  • 2Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 3Department of Botany, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 4School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
  • 5Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 6Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia
  • 7Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK

Investigating past changes in temperate mountain spruce forest ecosystems and the processes behind them can provide valuable information for understanding present and future ecosystem dynamics. To assess the late Holocene ecosystem change and disturbance history in mountain spruce forests, we sampled four small forest hollows from the High Tatra mountains in Slovakia.  

We use pollen analysis to reconstruct changes in forest composition over the last circa 5000 cal. yr BP. Fire history is analysed using macroscopic charcoal counts and charcoal area measurements. As disturbance is one of the key factors shaping mountain forest dynamics, the analysed pollen records will be processed with a new method quantifying disturbance based on plant ecological indices (Kuneš et al. 2019). These indices for disturbance will be attributed to pollen taxa and then disturbance frequency and severity for the whole community will be calculated. We assess the role of climate and human impact as potential drivers on the past forest and disturbance dynamics. The climate variable will be constructed from modelled climate data for the last 4000 years and for the past 1000 years we will use climate reconstruction from the tree-ring records from the region. We use human indicator pollen taxa as the variable for human influence on ecosystem dynamics, and to indicate human activity in the region.

Preliminary results demonstrate opening of the landscape circa 800-500 cal. yr BP in connection with a change in the disturbance regime as indicated by the disturbance indices. The presence of human indicator pollen taxa in all small hollow records suggest landscape opening in connection with anthropogenic activity in the region. In addition, the charcoal records demonstrate periods of fire, which coincide with the opening of landscape and it is plausible that change in the fire regime is connected to the intensified human activity in the region. These results will be discussed further in the presentation in the light of climate data and further data analysis.

Reference:

Kuneš, P. Abraham, V. & Herben, T. 2019. Changing disturbance-diversity relationships in temperate ecosystems over the past 12 000 years. Journal of Ecology 107:1678–1688.

How to cite: Kuosmanen, N., Kuneš, P., Halsall, K., Svitavska Svobodova, H., Beranova, J., Hannon, G., Fleischer, P., Chiverrell, R., and Clear, J. L.: Late Holocene ecosystem change and disturbance dynamics in central European mountain forests, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-12778, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12778, 2020

Displays

Display file