RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Climate–human interactions contributed to historical forest recruitment dynamics in Mediterranean subalpine ecosystems
A1 Sangüesa Barreda, Gabriel
A1 Esper, Jan
A1 Büntgen, Ulf
A1 Camarero, Jesús Julio
A1 Di Filippo, Alfredo
A1 Baliva, Michele
A1 Piovesan, Gianluca
AB Long-term tree recruitment dynamics of subalpine forests mainly depend on tem-perature changes, but little is known about the feedbacks between historical landuse and climate. Here, we analyze a southern European, millennium-long dataset oftree recruitment from three high-elevation pine forests located in Mediterraneanmountains (Pyrenees, northeastern Spain; Pollino, southern Italy; and Mt. Smolikas,northern Greece). We identify synchronized recruitment peaks in the late 15th andearly 16th centuries, following prolonged periods of societal and climate instability.Major European population crises in the 14th and 15th centuries associated withrecurrent famines, the Black Death pandemic, and political turmoil are likely to havereduced the deforestation of subalpine environments and caused widespread rewild-ing. We suggest that a distinct cold phase in the Little Ice Age around 1450 ce couldalso have accelerated the cessation of grazing pressure, particularly in the Pyrenees,where the demographic crisis was less severe. Most pronounced in the Pyrenees,the enhanced pine recruitment from around 1500–1550 ce coincides with tempo-rarily warmer temperatures associated with a positive phase of the North AtlanticOscillation. We diagnose that a mixture of human and climate factors has influencedpast forest recruitment dynamics in Mediterranean subalpine ecosystems. Our re-sults highlight how complex human–climate interactions shaped forest dynamicsduring pre-industrial times and provide historical analogies to recent rewilding.
PB Wiley
SN 1354-1013
YR 2020
FD 2020-02-14
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/74047
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/74047
LA eng
NO Global Change Biology, 2020, 26, 4988-4997
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 05-feb-2025