Mediterranean Forest Changes in Response to Climate and Human Activity during the Holocene

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 3573

Special Issue Editors


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Plant and Wood Anatomy Lab, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, via Università 100, 80055 Portici (Naples), Italy
Interests: environment; climate change; sedimentology; excavation; prehistory; palaeoecology; quaternary geology; archaeology; geomorphology; climatology; climate reconstruction; chronology; environmental archaeology; biogeography

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Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, via Università 100, 80055 Portici (Naples), Italy
Interests: ecology; biogeography; macroecology; global change ecology; conservation biology; biological invasion; landscape ecology; ecological modelling; remote sensing; spatial ecology
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Guest Editor
Italian National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), Unit of Palermo, Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Interests: floristics; vascular plant conservation; forest ecology and management; vegetation dynamics; palaeoecology; island biogeography; ethnobotany; history of botany; urban ecology; alien plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Holocene climate fluctuations and human activity since the Neolithic have shaped present-day Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The Mediterranean has been a dynamic landscape throughout the Holocene, suffering frequent and often irreversible changes in forest structure and diversity. Over the millennia, many species have experienced a decline, while other (e.g., Cupressus sempervirens, Pinus pinea, Castanea sativa) have been transported to areas outside their native range. Humankind and climate are the driving forces of these changes; separating anthropogenic effects from climatic impacts to better understand Mediterranean forest evolution over the last millennium remains a challenging issue. Human activities interact with natural climatic conditions; exploring these interactions helps inform our understanding of which forest ecosystems are most vulnerable to changing climate and land-use, therefore, helping guide management to mitigate the negative consequences of increasingly global changes that pose risks to human communities worldwide. This Special Issue calls for research papers on forest vegetation changes during the Holocene using palaeo-archaeobotanical proxies, historical documents and advanced approaches based on tools such as spatial analysis and ecological modelling.

Prof. Dr. Gaetano Di Pasquale
Dr. Luciano Bosso
Dr. Salvatore Pasta
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • native vs human induced species distribution
  • primary forest diversity and structure
  • deforestation
  • exploitation history
  • planting history
  • evergreen vs deciduous vegetation changes

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 3312 KiB  
Article
Three Millennia of Vegetation, Land-Use, and Climate Change in SE Sicily
by Fabrizio Michelangeli, Federico Di Rita, Alessandra Celant, Nadine Tisnérat-Laborde, Fabrizio Lirer and Donatella Magri
Forests 2022, 13(1), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13010102 - 11 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2464
Abstract
This study presents the first Late Holocene marine pollen record (core ND2) from SE Sicily. It encompasses the last 3000 years and is one of the most detailed records of the south-central Mediterranean region in terms of time resolution. The combined approach of [...] Read more.
This study presents the first Late Holocene marine pollen record (core ND2) from SE Sicily. It encompasses the last 3000 years and is one of the most detailed records of the south-central Mediterranean region in terms of time resolution. The combined approach of marine palynology and historical ecology, supported by independent palaeoclimate proxies, provides an integrated regional reconstruction of past vegetational dynamics in relation to rapid climatic fluctuations, historical socio-economic processes, and past land-use practices, offering new insights into the vegetation history of SE Sicily. Short-term variations of sparse tree cover in persistently open landscapes reflect rapid hydroclimatic changes and historical land-use practices. Four main phases of forest reduction are found in relation to the 2.8 ka BP event, including the Late Antique Little Ice Age, the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and the Little Ice Age, respectively. Forest recovery is recorded during the Hellenistic and Roman Republican Periods, the Early Middle Ages, and the last century. Agricultural and silvicultural practices, as well as stock-breeding activities, had a primary role in shaping the current vegetational landscape of SE Sicily. Full article
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