Vegetation changes in relation to fire history and human activities at the Peña Negra mire (Bejar Range, Iberian Central Mountain System, Spain) during the past 4,000 years

Abstract

Human impact is a key factor in the evolution of landscape since the mid-Holocene. In this work landscape changes in a mountainous area in central Spain are examined through the analysis of pollen at Pena Negra mire (Caceres), since its formation during the transition period between the third and second millennium cal. b.c. The study focuses on anthropogenic dynamics linked to the effects of livestock husbandry and the use of fire for forest clearance, as the mire is located close to a natural pass across the Bejar Range. With this aim, non-pollen palynomorphs and charcoal accumulation rate are useful indicators to assess the increasing role of human influence on vegetation. Grazing activities are continuously detected from the base of the profile, with maxima in the last millennium, while the use of fire is more pronounced from 3000 to 1000 cal. b.p. The discontinuous presence through the profile of forest species like chestnut, walnut, beech, elm or yew has also been analyzed.