Journal ArticleDOI
Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity
TLDR
This paper studied C14-dated and taxonomically identified macroscopic soil charcoal record to elucidate the genesis of the southwestern White Carpathians (Czech Republic, Slovakia) landscape.Abstract:
The south-western White Carpathians (Czech Republic, Slovakia) are one of the few places in low-elevation Central Europe where a diverse landscape, including extremely species rich meadows, scattered oak trees, and mixed oak woodlands, has escaped modern transformation. We studied C14-dated and taxonomically identified macroscopic soil charcoal record to elucidate the genesis of this landscape. Thirteen soil profiles were sampled in grasslands along a gradient of elevation and history of human settlement. We identified clear pattern in the taxonomic composition of woody soil charcoal and anthracomass along this gradient, which we ascribe to different pathways of landscape development. Charcoal assemblages of chernozem-like soils in the promontories of the mountain range have a low anthracomass and are dominated by heliophilous and semishade species (Quercus, Pinus), with the oldest charcoals dated to pre-Neolithic times. Soils of the middle elevations have a high anthracomass and often show pronounced differences in charcoal composition at different soil depths; the oldest charcoal samples date back between the Neolithic and Early Middle Ages, and heliophilous species increase towards the topsoil. The soil of the summit area shows a medium anthracomass and charcoal assemblage dominated by shade-tolerant trees; the charcoal dates from the Middle Ages. Our results suggest continuity of an open to semiopen landscape in lower elevations of the White Carpathians, whereas middle and higher elevations experienced a forested period. Humans and fire played an important role in landscape development, as indicated by both soil charcoal and available palaeoecological and archaeological evidence. Local meadows with extremely high biodiversity thus appear to be a continuation of an ancient forest-steppe-like ecosystem.read more
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Formerly coppiced old growth stands act as refugia of threatened biodiversity in a managed steppic oak forest
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the consequences of the transformation of an old oak coppice, historically linked to ancient wood pasture system, to oak plantations, with the goal of evaluating the consequences for biodiversity conservation and identifying possible environmental drivers behind the observed patterns.
Journal ArticleDOI
Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe
Jan Divíšek,Michal Hájek,Eva Jamrichová,Eva Jamrichová,Libor Petr,Martin Večeřa,Lubomír Tichý,Wolfgang Willner,Michal Horsák +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used historical data related to the persistence of temperate taxa during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, openlandscape taxa in the Middle Holocene and taiga forests in the Late Holocene to model spatial patterns in species richness.
Journal ArticleDOI
Central European forest–steppe: An ecosystem shaped by climate, topography and disturbances
TL;DR: In this article , the authors provide an overview of the main hypotheses which stress the effects of climate, edaphic conditions and disturbances on the formation of steppe patches in Central Europe, and develop a general conceptual framework on how these three factors interact to form forest-steppe mosaics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Can relict-rich communities be of an anthropogenic origin? Palaeoecological insight into conservation strategy for endangered Carpathian travertine fens
Petra Hájková,Petra Hájková,Eva Jamrichová,Eva Jamrichová,Anna Šolcová,Anna Šolcová,Anna Šolcová,Jitka Frodlová,Libor Petr,Daniel Dítě,Michal Hájek,Michal Horsák +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, the assumption of naturalness and Holocene continuity of the current plant and mollusc communities occupying one of the best-preserved travertine fens in Europe was tested using a multi-proxy palaeoecological approach.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil moisture and a legacy of prehistoric human activities have contributed to the extraordinary plant species diversity of grasslands in the White Carpathians
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed investigation of 23 well-preserved regularly mown grasslands differing in their vegetation composition and species richness was carried out, and the relative importance of the hypothetical determinants of compositional variability within semi-dry grasslands was tested.
References
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IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0-50,000 years cal BP
Paula J. Reimer,Edouard Bard,Alex Bayliss,J. Warren Beck,Paula G Blackwell,Christopher Bronk Ramsey,Caitlin E. Buck,Hai Cheng,R. Lawrence Edwards,Michael Friedrich,Pieter Meiert Grootes,Thomas P. Guilderson,Haflidi Haflidason,Irka Hajdas,Christine Hatté,Timothy J Heaton,Dirk L. Hoffmann,Alan G. Hogg,Konrad A Hughen,K Felix Kaiser,Bernd Kromer,Sturt W. Manning,Mu Niu,Ron W Reimer,David Richards,E. Marian Scott,John Southon,Richard A. Staff,Christian Turney,Johannes van der Plicht +29 more
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World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2006
TL;DR: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Fire as a global 'herbivore': the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems.
TL;DR: The recent literature is reviewed, drawing parallels between fire and herbivores as alternative consumers of vegetation, and pointing to the common questions and some surprisingly different answers that emerge from viewing fire as a globally significant consumer that is analogous to herbivory.
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Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data
Jan Lepš,Petr Šmilauer +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a study material for the participants of the course named Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data that we teach at our university for the third year, which provides an easy-to-read supplement for the more exact and detailed publications like the collection of the Dr. Ter Braak' papers and the Canoco for Windows 4.0 manual.