| Institution: | 1.Grupo de Investigación Arqueobiología, Instituto de Historia,Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, C.S.I.C.,Madrid,Spain;2.LETG CAEN GEOPHEN-UMR 6554 CNRS,Université de Caen-Normandie,Caen Cedex 5,France;3.Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Universitario de Fuente Nueva,Universidad de Granada,Granada,Spain |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the patterns and processes of vegetation change and fire history in the Late Holocene (c. 3,140 cal bp) palaeoecological sequence of El Tiemblo, in a mountainous area in central Spain (Gredos range, Spanish Central System), and provides the first Iberian pollen sequence undertaken within a Castanea sativa-dominated woodland. These new data reassess not only the autochthonous nature of the species in the region and in the Iberian Peninsula, but also the naturalness of well-developed sweet chestnut forests. The study focuses on anthropogenic dynamics linked both to the effects of livestock husbandry and the use of fire for forest clearance. With this aim, non-pollen palynomorphs (coprophilous fungi ascospores) and charcoal accumulation rate are useful indicators for assessing the increasing role of human influence on vegetation. |
