Three Millennia of Vegetation, Land-Use, and Climate Change in SE Sicily.

Fabrizio Michelangeli,Alessandra Celant,Federico Di Rita,Fabrizio Lirer,Donatella Magri,Nadine Tisnérat-Laborde

doi:10.3390/f13010102

Fabrizio Michelangeli, Alessandra Celant + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/f13010102

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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 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.

Highlights

The Mediterranean region has been the scene of an ancient human–environment coevolution, characterized by a complex cultural history and a considerable climatic variability that influenced the distribution and extent of forest ecosystems
This study presents the first Late Holocene marine pollen record from SE Sicily
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

Summary

Introduction

The Mediterranean region has been the scene of an ancient human–environment coevolution, characterized by a complex cultural history and a considerable climatic variability that influenced the distribution and extent of forest ecosystems. From this perspective, the past few thousand years represent a period of major environmental changes, marked by unprecedented societal progress and frequent climatic fluctuations that profoundly affected the Mediterranean vegetation. At the heart of the Mediterranean Basin, Sicily is highly sensitive to climate change due to the complex synoptic atmospheric configuration of the region [1] This pivotal geographic location exposes forest ecosystems to the influence of the southern sub-tropical climatic regimes and the northern temperate conditions of Europe, resulting in a fragile and dynamic environment susceptible to rapid hydroclimatic variations. The long history of human land use on the island left a strong imprint on ecosystems, affecting the vegetation structure and driving the evolution of rural landscapes

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