Interglacial vegetation dynamics

@article{kunes_new_2013,
	title = {A new {Middle} {Pleistocene} interglacial record from {Denmark}: {Chronostratigraphic} correlation, palaeovegetation and fire dynamics},
	volume = {42},
	copyright = {© 2013 The Authors. Boreas © 2013 The Boreas Collegium},
	issn = {1502-3885},
	shorttitle = {A new {Middle} {Pleistocene} interglacial record from {Denmark}},
	doi = {10.1111/bor.12002},
	abstract = {Previously only three terrestrial interglacial periods were known from southern Scandinavia, all of which could be relatively easily correlated within the central European stratigraphical framework. Here, we present a new interglacial–interstadial pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal record from Trelde Klint, Denmark, and analyse its biostratigraphy, correlation with other European records, vegetation development, fire dynamics and absolute dating. Except for a slight truncation of the early part of the record, the pollen stratigraphy exhibits a full interglacial succession, including temperate trees (Quercus, Ulmus and Tilia) during its mesocratic stage. Macrofossil analysis allowed identification to species level for Quercus robur, Picea abies and two mosses. Conifers (Pinus and Picea) dominate the pollen record of the interglacial sequence, and the occurrence of Larix pollen in the top part of the interglacial record as well as in the interstadial sediments is especially indicative of this interglacial. The overall diversity of tree genera is rather low. These biostratigraphical features suggest that Trelde Klint is unique among Danish records, but it is similar to records from northern Germany. Numerical analyses (REVEALS and DCA) indicate that forests during the temperate stage were dense and that vegetation openness increased only towards the end of the interglacial, accompanied by increased fire occurrence. A short interstadial sequence with a dominance of Pinus and Betula and the presence of Larix is present above the interglacial deposit. We argue that lack of attention to differences in fire regimes may hamper understanding of between-site correlations of interglacial pollen records. OSL dating, using a novel feldspar technique, yields an average age of 350±20 ka for the sandy sediments above the interglacial layers at Trelde Klint, suggesting that the whole interglacial–interstadial succession belongs to Marine Isotope Stage 11.},
	language = {English},
	number = {3},
	urldate = {2013-06-23},
	journal = {Boreas},
	author = {Kuneš, Petr and Kjærsgaard Sørensen, Malene and Buylaert, Jan-Pieter and Murray, Andrew S. and Houmark-Nielsen, Michael and Odgaard, Bent Vad},
	year = {2013},
	note = {[IF2012=2.457]},
	keywords = {Denmark, OSL dating, Plant macroremains, REVEALS, charcoal, interglacial, pollen analysis},
	pages = {596--612},
}

Previously only three terrestrial interglacial periods were known from southern Scandinavia, all of which could be relatively easily correlated within the central European stratigraphical framework. Here, we present a new interglacial–interstadial pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal record from Trelde Klint, Denmark, and analyse its biostratigraphy, correlation with other European records, vegetation development, fire dynamics and absolute dating. Except for a slight truncation of the early part of the record, the pollen stratigraphy exhibits a full interglacial succession, including temperate trees (Quercus, Ulmus and Tilia) during its mesocratic stage. Macrofossil analysis allowed identification to species level for Quercus robur, Picea abies and two mosses. Conifers (Pinus and Picea) dominate the pollen record of the interglacial sequence, and the occurrence of Larix pollen in the top part of the interglacial record as well as in the interstadial sediments is especially indicative of this interglacial. The overall diversity of tree genera is rather low. These biostratigraphical features suggest that Trelde Klint is unique among Danish records, but it is similar to records from northern Germany. Numerical analyses (REVEALS and DCA) indicate that forests during the temperate stage were dense and that vegetation openness increased only towards the end of the interglacial, accompanied by increased fire occurrence. A short interstadial sequence with a dominance of Pinus and Betula and the presence of Larix is present above the interglacial deposit. We argue that lack of attention to differences in fire regimes may hamper understanding of between-site correlations of interglacial pollen records. OSL dating, using a novel feldspar technique, yields an average age of 350±20 ka for the sandy sediments above the interglacial layers at Trelde Klint, suggesting that the whole interglacial–interstadial succession belongs to Marine Isotope Stage 11.

@article{pearce_substantial_2023,
	title = {Substantial light woodland and open vegetation characterized the temperate forest biome before {Homo} sapiens},
	volume = {9},
	doi = {10.1126/sciadv.adi9135},
	abstract = {The extent of vegetation openness in past European landscapes is widely debated. In particular, the temperate forest biome has traditionally been defined as dense, closed-canopy forest; however, some argue that large herbivores maintained greater openness or even wood-pasture conditions. Here, we address this question for the Last Interglacial period (129,000–116,000 years ago), before Homo sapiens–linked megafauna declines and anthropogenic landscape transformation. We applied the vegetation reconstruction method REVEALS to 96 Last Interglacial pollen records. We found that light woodland and open vegetation represented, on average, more than 50\% cover during this period. The degree of openness was highly variable and only partially linked to climatic factors, indicating the importance of natural disturbance regimes. Our results show that the temperate forest biome was historically heterogeneous rather than uniformly dense, which is consistent with the dependency of much of contemporary European biodiversity on open vegetation and light woodland.},
	language = {English},
	number = {45},
	urldate = {2023-11-11},
	journal = {Science Advances},
	author = {Pearce, Elena A. and Mazier, Florence and Normand, Signe and Fyfe, Ralph and Andrieu, Valérie and Bakels, Corrie and Balwierz, Zofia and Bińka, Krzysztof and Boreham, Steve and Borisova, Olga K. and Brostrom, Anna and de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis and Gao, Cunhai and González-Sampériz, Penélope and Granoszewski, Wojciech and Hrynowiecka, Anna and Kołaczek, Piotr and Kuneš, Petr and Magri, Donatella and Malkiewicz, Małgorzata and Mighall, Tim and Milner, Alice M. and Möller, Per and Nita, Małgorzata and Noryśkiewicz, Bożena and Pidek, Irena Agnieszka and Reille, Maurice and Robertsson, Ann-Marie and Salonen, J. Sakari and Schläfli, Patrick and Schokker, Jeroen and Scussolini, Paolo and Šeirienė, Vaida and Strahl, Jaqueline and Urban, Brigitte and Winter, Hanna and Svenning, Jens-Christian},
	month = nov,
	year = {2023},
	keywords = {interglacial},
	pages = {eadi9135},
}

The extent of vegetation openness in past European landscapes is widely debated. In particular, the temperate forest biome has traditionally been defined as dense, closed-canopy forest; however, some argue that large herbivores maintained greater openness or even wood-pasture conditions. Here, we address this question for the Last Interglacial period (129,000–116,000 years ago), before Homo sapiens–linked megafauna declines and anthropogenic landscape transformation. We applied the vegetation reconstruction method REVEALS to 96 Last Interglacial pollen records. We found that light woodland and open vegetation represented, on average, more than 50% cover during this period. The degree of openness was highly variable and only partially linked to climatic factors, indicating the importance of natural disturbance regimes. Our results show that the temperate forest biome was historically heterogeneous rather than uniformly dense, which is consistent with the dependency of much of contemporary European biodiversity on open vegetation and light woodland.

@article{felde_compositional_2020,
	title = {Compositional turnover and variation in {Eemian} pollen sequences in {Europe}},
	volume = {29},
	issn = {1617-6278},
	doi = {10.1007/s00334-019-00726-5},
	abstract = {The Eemian interglacial represents a natural experiment on how past vegetation with negligible human impact responded to amplified temperature changes compared to the Holocene. Here, we assemble 47 carefully selected Eemian pollen sequences from Europe to explore geographical patterns of (1) total compositional turnover and total variation for each sequence and (2) stratigraphical turnover between samples within each sequence using detrended canonical correspondence analysis, multivariate regression trees, and principal curves. Our synthesis shows that turnover and variation are highest in central Europe (47–55°N), low in southern Europe (south of 45°N), and lowest in the north (above 60°N). These results provide a basis for developing hypotheses about causes of vegetation change during the Eemian and their possible drivers.},
	language = {English},
	number = {1},
	urldate = {2020-01-07},
	journal = {Vegetation History and Archaeobotany},
	author = {Felde, Vivian A. and Flantua, Suzette G. A. and Jenks, Cathy R. and Benito, Blas M. and de Beaulieu, Jacques-Louis and Kuneš, Petr and Magri, Donatella and Nalepka, Dorota and Risebrobakken, Bjørg and ter Braak, Cajo J. F. and Allen, Judy R. M. and Granoszewski, Wojciech and Helmens, Karin F. and Huntley, Brian and Kondratienė, Ona and Kalniņa, Laimdota and Kupryjanowicz, Mirosława and Malkiewicz, Małgorzata and Milner, Alice M. and Nita, Małgorzata and Noryśkiewicz, Bożena and Pidek, Irena A. and Reille, Maurice and Salonen, J. Sakari and Šeirienė, Vaida and Winter, Hanna and Tzedakis, Polychronis C. and Birks, H. John B.},
	month = jan,
	year = {2020},
	note = {[IF2019=2.364]},
	keywords = {Detrended canonical correspondence analysis, Extrinsic and intrinsic processes, Inertia, Last interglacial dataset, Multivariate regression trees, Neutral processes, Principal curves, database, interglacial},
	pages = {101--109},
}

The Eemian interglacial represents a natural experiment on how past vegetation with negligible human impact responded to amplified temperature changes compared to the Holocene. Here, we assemble 47 carefully selected Eemian pollen sequences from Europe to explore geographical patterns of (1) total compositional turnover and total variation for each sequence and (2) stratigraphical turnover between samples within each sequence using detrended canonical correspondence analysis, multivariate regression trees, and principal curves. Our synthesis shows that turnover and variation are highest in central Europe (47–55°N), low in southern Europe (south of 45°N), and lowest in the north (above 60°N). These results provide a basis for developing hypotheses about causes of vegetation change during the Eemian and their possible drivers.

@incollection{kunes_history_2017,
	address = {Cham},
	edition = {1},
	series = {Plant and {Vegetation}},
	title = {History of {Czech} vegetation since the {Late} {Pleistocene}},
	copyright = {All rights reserved},
	isbn = {978-3-319-63180-6},
	url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-63181-3_6},
	abstract = {A long-term perspective is a crucial dimension for understanding the present-day composition and structure of the Czech flora and vegetation. We outline processes that were important for the development of the present-day diversity of flora and vegetation including extinctions of taxa and ecological mechanisms operating within glacial-interglacial cycles. Further, we present the history of vegetation during the key stages in the glacial and postglacial periods. First, we outline the pattern in the vegetation during the last glacial, including a discussion of the existence of refugia for trees. We further describe the changes in vegetation during the Late Glacial, which were mostly the results of abrupt climatic events. We also present a new synthesis of the Holocene regional development in vegetation based on a Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm, which results in different regional vegetation trajectories and three main phases in the development of vegetation. Finally, we give some examples of the histories of local vegetation at several sites mainly based on plant macrofossils.},
	language = {English},
	number = {14},
	booktitle = {Flora and {Vegetation} of the {Czech} {Republic}},
	publisher = {Springer},
	author = {Kuneš, Petr and Abraham, Vojtěch},
	editor = {Chytrý, Milan and Danihelka, Jiří and Kaplan, Zdeněk and Pyšek, Petr},
	year = {2017},
	keywords = {Czech Republic, Holocene, Late Glacial, Plant macroremains, glacial, interglacial, pollen analysis, reconstruction, vegetation history},
	pages = {193--227},
}

A long-term perspective is a crucial dimension for understanding the present-day composition and structure of the Czech flora and vegetation. We outline processes that were important for the development of the present-day diversity of flora and vegetation including extinctions of taxa and ecological mechanisms operating within glacial-interglacial cycles. Further, we present the history of vegetation during the key stages in the glacial and postglacial periods. First, we outline the pattern in the vegetation during the last glacial, including a discussion of the existence of refugia for trees. We further describe the changes in vegetation during the Late Glacial, which were mostly the results of abrupt climatic events. We also present a new synthesis of the Holocene regional development in vegetation based on a Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm, which results in different regional vegetation trajectories and three main phases in the development of vegetation. Finally, we give some examples of the histories of local vegetation at several sites mainly based on plant macrofossils.