Anthropogenic and land use changes affect even high altitude montane habitats from about a 1000 years ago
Published: 15 July 2020
A new paper concerned with looking at montane biomes
Dr Nicki Whitehouse is a co-author on a new paper concerned with looking at montane biomes, which are under increasing threat from changing climatic conditions and anthropogenic pressure.
Sediment cores from a peat bog, Diera Hollow, in Tatra National Park, Slovakia, were studied, focusing on a fossil beetle (Coleoptera) record, covering the last 1000 years at 50- to 100-year resolution. The record provides new insights into changing flora and fauna of this region.
Findings reveal a diverse beetle community with varied ecological groups inhabiting a range of forest, meadow and synanthropic habitats. Changes in the beetle community were related to changes in the landscape, driven by anthropogenic activities. The first clear evidence for human activity in the area occurs c. 1250 cal AD and coincides with the arrival of beetle species living on the dung of domesticated animals. From 1500 cal AD, human (re)settlement, and activities such as pasturing and charcoal burning, appear to have had a pronounced effect on the beetle community. Local beetle diversity declined steadily towards the present day.
The work indicates that even in isolated high montane biomes such as the High Tatras Mountains, beetle communities and ecosystems were adversely impacted by anthropogenic and land use changes from about a 1000 years ago, changing the composition and diversity of the forest canopy and adversely impacting endemic and montane beetle species’ biodiversity. The work also suggests that when aiming to preserve or restore natural forest conditions, recording their past changes in diversity can help guide conservation and restoration. In doing so, it is important to look back beyond the time of significant human impact, and for this, information contained in paleoecological records is irreplaceable.
Schafstall, N. Whitehouse, N.J. Kuosmanen, N.; Svobodova-Svitavska, H.; Saulnier, M.; Chiverrell, R.; Fleischer, P.; Kunes, P.; Clear, J. (2020). Changes in species composition and diversity of a montane beetle community over the last millennium in the High Tatras, Slovakia: implications for forest conservation and management. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109834
First published: 15 July 2020
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