Holocene Vegetation Dynamics and First Land-Cover Estimates in the Auvergne Mountains (Massif Central, France): Key Tools to Landscape Management
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: A multi-proxy palaeoecological investigation has been undertaken at high spatio-temporal resolution in the Lower Auvergne Mountains (France).It allows us to investigate the Holocene trajectories of landscape evolution arising from the interplay between human impact and adaptability, climate oscillations and environmental evolution.The mechanistic models for the regional vegetation reconstruction applied here provide the first quantification of land cover changes in this region.The results obtained allow an improved understanding of past vegetation dynamics and a discussion of: (1) the natural variability of the vegetation to climate oscillations; (2) the development of the cultural landscape and the land uses involved; (3) the timing and the extent of the landscape openness; and (4) the richness in vegetation units within the landscape mosaic measured by the floristic diversity.These long-term changes highlight the sensitivity of these mountainous landscapes: having formed socioecosystems that have been shaped over millennia.It is therefore crucial to consider this ecological and cultural heritage when directing future sustainable management plans.
Authors: CNRS, UMR 7194, Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France, Yannick Miras, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, GEOLAB, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France, Michela Mariani, Paul Ledger, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, GEOLAB, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France, Alfredo Mayoral, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, GEOLAB, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France, Léo Chassiot, CNRS, UMR 7327, Institut des Sciences de la Terre d’Orléans (ISTO), Université d’Orléans/BRGM, 1A rue de la Férollerie, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France, INRS – Eau Terre Environnement, 490 rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC, G1K 9A9, Canada, Marlène Lavrieux, CNRS, UMR 7327, Institut des Sciences de la Terre d’Orléans (ISTO), Université d’Orléans/BRGM, 1A rue de la Férollerie, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France
Institutions: Histoire Naturelle des Humanités Préhistoriques, Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Université de Limoges, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, The University of Melbourne, Université Clermont Auvergne, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans, University of Basel, Université d'Orléans, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2922519002