The last millennium vegetation and environmental history of the Hyrcanian highland region, a pollen record from Shekardasht mire, northern Iran

Abstract

High-altitude mires are sensitive to environmental change and may provide useful insights into past climate change and human impact. Here we present the results of a palynological study on a mire close to the boundary of a forest-steppe ecotone in western Hyrcanian area of northern Iran. Two major phases of anthropogenic deforestation were detected: one during the period 600–500 cal yr BP and the other over the last decades of the twentieth century. The cold episode of the Little Ice Age was possibly responsible for the abandonment of the original village and expansion of sparse stands of Quercus macranthera-Carpinus orientalis in association with Fagus orientalis, Ulmus carpinifolia/U. glabra, Acer campestre and Vitis vinifera. Our data are crucial for choosing suitable species in reforestation programmes in the highlands of western Alborz Mountains.