TITLE:
Reconstruction of the Vegetation and Environment during Different Climatic and Sociotechnical Conditions of the Last 3000 Years in Southwestern Hungary
AUTHORS:
Katalin Náfrádi, Pál Sümegi, Gusztáv Jakab, Gergő Persaits, Tünde Törőcsik
KEYWORDS:
Anthracology, Macrobotany, Palaeoecology, Pollen Analysis, Southwestern Transdanubia, Hungary
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.11,
May
16,
2014
ABSTRACT: Sedimentary basins
such as Lake Baláta in Southwestern Hungary provide information about the
development of lake-bog systems, the climate change through time and the
environment of the surrounding area. The present study provides combined
palynological, anthracological and macrobotanical data regarding climatic,
vegetation and hydrological changes of a protected area for the last 3000
years. Lake Baláta is a sedimentary basin developed in a wind-blown yardang
system in Southwestern Hungary. Due to its deeper location and the higher groundwater-level,
the boggy lake functioned as a sediment catch. Geological drilling with an
auger head drill provided an undisturbed sediment core. During the laboratory
analysis different methods, such as sedimentological, geochemical, macrofossil,
pollen and charcoal analysis were applied. The different stages and the
evolution of the lake-bog system and the vegetation around the lake could be
reconstructed and human impact was detected for the last 3000 years. Human
impact and the transformation of vegetation was detected from the Early Iron
Age (900/800 BC). Human impact reached its maximum during the 10th and 12th
centuries when extent plant cultivation and grazing field zones were created.
Climate change, increasing precipitation and consequently forest regeneration
started in the 13th and 14th centuries. Parallel to this human impact decreased
in the study area that indicates the reduction of the population and agrarian
activity. Later at the beginning of the 15th century human impact increased again
and remained significant until to the 16th century.