A new 7000-year high-resolution sedimentary pollen record from the ancient Lake Bientina alluvial plain (northern Tuscany, Italy)
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Type
conferenceObject
Abstract
Understanding the forces that have shaped present-day environments is essential for developing informed strategies to address the challenges posed by future climate and land use changes. Palaeoecological research
plays a critical role in this endeavor by providing long-term perspectives on how landscapes have responded to both natural and anthropogenic pressures. This has led to an increasing focus on reconstructing historical
human–environment interactions in order to clarify the extent, nature, and legacy of anthropogenic influence across different temporal and spatial scales.
Here we present the high-resolution palynological analysis of a new sediment core collected in 2019 in the Tanali Natural Reserve (Caccialupi, PI). Situated in the former basin of Lake Bientina – which was ultimately
reclaimed in the mid-19th century – the site offers valuable insights into long-term ecological change in a remnant wetland-woodland area that escaped modern reclamation and cultivation. The composite sediment
core, totaling 11 meters in length, was chronologically constrained using AMS radiocarbon dating on eighteen plant macrofossils, including wood fragments and leaves. The resulting age–depth model spans approximately the last 7,000 years. During the mid-Holocene, the pollen record indicates a gradual decline in mesophilous forest species, such as silver fir (Abies alba), reflecting the decline of silver fir populations in the alluvial plains likely driven combined early anthropogenic pressures and climatic changes. Evidence of cereal cultivation emerges during two distinct phases corresponding to the Copper and Bronze Ages, each associated with a noticeable reduction in arboreal pollen, suggesting significant land cover change. Over the past two millennia,
chestnut (Castanea sativa) became increasingly prominent, particularly during the Medieval period. Riparian taxa, notably alder (Alnus glutinosa) and willow (Salix spp.) – currently dominant in the Tanali Reserve –
began expanding around 2,500 years ago, following the decline of Bronze Age agricultural activity.
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Abstract Congresso SGI-SIMP 2025-5.pdf
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Checksum (MD5)
4475e0b1ed0ebb9ea43acb448540a62c
Conference(s)
International Conference “Geosciences and the Challenges of the 21st Century”