The Changing Vegetation of West-Central Wales in the Light of Human History

Abstract

The fact that modern man is exerting a profound influence upon the vegetation of Britain is obvious to any student of plant ecology. Also, a cursory study of historical documents will make it equally evident that this influence is long-standing and has developed as a consequence of man's advancing culture. However, little is known in detail of the extent of man's influence upon vegetation at any given time in history. Historical documentation has provided much useful evidence, but rarely were such documents written from a botanical point of view. Most frequently any reference to vegetation is brief and of a very general nature. Such documents are, therefore, of only a very limited value in providing data on the contemporary flora. Recently, the techniques of pollen analysis have been applied to this problem with some degree of success (e.g. Iversen 1949; Turner 1964). Data from this source provide greater detail regarding the species composition of contemporary vegetation as well as more information on the extent of man's influence than do historical documents. There is the added advantage that close interval sampling allows the study of the dynamic response of vegetation to human activity. This paper discusses the results of pollen analysis of a number of sites scattered over the blanket peats of upland mid-Wales. Some sites are situated close to known positions of archaeological interest, while others actually contain artefacts which are datable. From these results and from the study of local history, it is possible to build up a picture of the changing vegetation of mid-Wales as various cultures rose to prominence and died away.