Affiliation: | (1) Institute of Geography and Geology, T. ev enkos gatv 13, 2600 Vilnius, Lithuania;(2) Botanical Museum, University of Bergen, Allégaten 4 l, 5007 Bergen, Norway;(3) Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Vilnius University, iurlionio gatv 21/27, 2009 Vilnius, Lithuania;(4) Cedergrensvägen 18, 126 36 Hägersten, Sweden |
Abstract: | Previously published pollen diagrams from the coastal area of the south-east Baltic Sea including parts of the Polish and Lithuanian peninsulas, Mierzeja Wilana (Frische Nehrung) and Kur i Nerija (Courland Spit) respectively, document the former presence of heathland vegetation and an associated burning practice. This type of human influence can be dated back to ca. 1200 B.P. at the latest, and was maintained until the 18th century. It is suggested that this former Calluna-dominated vegetation belonged to the known west to north-west European heathland vegetation. Several dwarf shrub taxa, such as Genista spp. and Erica tetralix, normally connected to heathland vegetation, may have had a former wider distribution. |