Holocene history of the landscape at the biogeographical and cultural crossroads between Central and Eastern Europe (Western Podillia, Ukraine)

0561019 - BÚ 2023 RIV GB eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Hájková, Petra - Petr, L. - Horsák, M. - Jamrichová, Eva - Roleček, Jan
Holocene history of the landscape at the biogeographical and cultural crossroads between Central and Eastern Europe (Western Podillia, Ukraine).
Quaternary Science Reviews. Roč. 288, Jul 15 (2022), č. článku 107610. ISSN 0277-3791. E-ISSN 1873-457X
Grant CEP: GA ČR GA20-09895S
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67985939
Klíčová slova: biodiversity * forest-steppe * pollen * macrofossils * charcoals
Obor OECD: Plant sciences, botany
Impakt faktor: 4, rok: 2022
Způsob publikování: Omezený přístup
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107610

Biologists have postulated the refugial character of the local steppes in Western Podilia, but a modern paleoecological reconstruction of the environmental history of the region has been lacking. We fill this gap here with a multi-proxy study (pollen, plant and mollusc macrofossils, microcharcoal, geochemistry) of two profiles sampled in calcareous fens adjacent to species-rich steppe grasslands. To link the reconstructed environmental history with the history of human settlement, we compiled available archaeological records from the studied region. All studied proxies support the hypothesis that an open or semi-open landscape existed in Western Podillia during the Holocene. The complete absence of wood remains in Holocene sediments, and the persistence of fen specialists showed the exceptional long-term stability of open wetlands. The continuous presence of pollen of light-demanding plants, low abundance of closed-canopy trees compared to open-canopy trees, and stable concentrations of geochemical indicators of erosion suggest a semi-open landscape with a mosaic of forests, steppe grasslands, and other open habitats. Multivariate analysis revealed the similarity of pollen assemblages with sites in the forest-steppe zone at the interface between the Pannonian Basin and the Western Carpathians. The continuous presence of non-woody microcharcoal in high abundance suggests a role of fire in maintaining open habitats, and the archaeological record provides evidence of human activity throughout the Holocene near the study sites. Our results indicate that Western Podillia has become a biogeographic crossroads not only because of its location on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, but also because of the unusual combination of relatively humid climate and continuity of open or semi-open landscapes since the Last Glacial.
Trvalý link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0333767